Geoff Tries Top Gear - Vauxhall Omega Estate Review 

Not 100% I’ll be around for the premiere but this is quite a funny and informative video, including me almost breaking my ankle 😂😂

I really wish the Omega would make come back in production

Jeremy Clarkson, pay this man to keep making car shows with real news in it.

Remember Victor Meldrew got his head stuck inside a Vauxhall Omega sunroof 😅

I own one of these Geoff. A 99 preface-lift 3litre elite. outstanding cars, massively under rated. they are just beautiful too drive, well equipped without being too complicated. the V6 engines were the best and a lot of fun being rear wheel drive although the 2.5 diesel was not bad either, with masses of tourque. (bmw engine) I’ve owned loads a driven 100’s. the sunroof was so you could open it quickly without taking your hands off tbe wheel for too long. i could write a book on them as vauxhalls have been my life for nearly 30 years.

I worked as a workshop foreman/quality control that repaired police cars when they had Omegas and Mondeos. I also had to drive the cars back to the station after repair, which was always funny, no one pulls out in front of you or tailgates you or anything, awesome. Oh and I was supposed to put up boards in the front and rear that clearly displayed that the vehicle was "on test", I did that the first time. Anyways, I drove two Omegas, one unmarked and one marked, both silver and both V6, both had been hit in the front fairly heavily, wings/rads/front panel/lights etc. We were never told how the accidents happened on any of the police cars but we all agreed that the Omegas had understeered or rear ended something.

I know a fella in Scotland that would cut a finger off for that car. His Channel is Once Driven Forever Smitten - NO NO Not a Plug just some info, I always do that very same roll BUT under my living room window when the TV licence goons chap me up. Thanks again Mr Geoff

Sell it to Dougie so he can stick a Vauxhall red top in it and a 6 speed manual transmission

I used to have an Omega Estate 3.2 MV6 in that colour - 51 reg. Great car it was too. Slightly lowered suspension and wider wheels from the normal car. Incidentally, the grill on the later cars B2, was tidied up over the original. Yours is the newer version so I think its a B2! They were all made in Germany I seem to recall.

I absolutely love vauxhall omegas

Geoff... Please bring back the commando roll. We all love a little bit of impending peril with our car reviews. 👏🏻

Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon used to be considered the two mainstay heavyweight cars of the Australian car market, The commodore made it's debut back in 1978, The Falcon ran from 1960 - 2016 I had a Holden commodore VE Omega with a 3.6L V6 petrol (I think two models after the Holden badged European developed omega seen here, and the first wholly developed in Australia) when I lived in Australia for a few years and absolutely loved it, huge cabin space, super comfy, A great place to enjoy a road trip. They usually come with either a 3.0/3.6 V6 or a 6L V8 so plenty of power to move it's generously proportioned body.

I owned a 1993 Omega 2.5 V6 CD saloon in metallic green. Bought it as my second car as a 22 year old. Loved driving the old barge - many mocked me for having it but I had the last laugh driving a manual, 170bhp rear-drive beast! It served me well until the heater matrix packed up for the second time in 18 months and I couldn’t justify the cost of fitting it as it was about twice the value of the car. Such a smooth cruiser. Tempted to look for a decent 2nd hand one. Off to Auto Trader I go!

Had a 1996 Omega 2.0 estate which I bought in 2000 ran until 2011. Loved it for its load carrying and comfort. Great for family trips. It had a 6CD changer in the back.

Had the 1998 2.5 elite in metallic blue, fully loaded and it came with the traffic master system. Loved this car.

Yup. We both learned something today. Don't deceive the missus and go home with a bruised leg. "No way you did that by Commando rolling into the boot of a car! Come on who is she?".

The Holden version (as you put it) was totally different to the Opel/Vauxhall, for a start the Holden is wider, used a pushrod V6 based on a Buick design and both Holden and Chevrolet V8s. The only two parts that are common between the Opel/Vx and the Holden are the door handles and the plastic trim at the base of the C pillar on the saloons .....

OOfft Ouch! I REALLY felt that Geoff. Brilliant vid and concise once over. Thanks again. Ice fund for Geoff please! lol

Army rolls, not one but room for two Harry Potter books. This one of your finest videos. It took me some time to realize the Harry Potter author lived in a car for some time. Your are brilliant and funny.

You’re dead right about the demise of the estate car; sad because they are so practical for family life. Hope the swelling has gone down

A great TG spoof Geoff. Loved the army roll in the estate. Love the presentation….

Next door neighbour had an R reg 3.2v6 elite estate in the purple/ blue back in the day when it was 3 years old. I awlays thought it was a smart looking thing and the exhaust burble on start up was always music to my ears. He replaced it with a A6 allroad.

I had a 1999 2.5 CD and my kids (all grown up) say it was the best car I ever had. I loved it. But it was t-boned on a roundabout and that killed it.

“That’s gonna bruise” 😂😂

Got a 1990 3.0 gsi with 32,000km and a 1991 3.0 24v gsi with 124,000km on it. Had both about 18 years now and while they okly come out everybody one and then for a drive I don’t think I’ll sell them. They’re not worth anything here, but I reckon a under rated car. They’re awsum I reckon

Great video massively underated car. I've had 6 of them ranging from the 2.0 CD right upto a 3.0 Elite. There's a reason nearly every Police Traffic Division had them. My own favourite was a 2.5v6 elite in Boston Green which was an Ex diplomatic protection car with a bullet proof windscreen and armoured wings lol I can still remember the reg.

I had one a Saloon 97 P-reg plate B a 2.5 V6 CDX automatic, lovely to drive with big Slumberland seats and full climate control and cruise control and I loved the adaptive steering how it would firm up the faster you went, colour was dark green .I think the engines were 2.2 on the newer ones after this.

The first issue of Autocar magazine I ever bought myself had the road test of the Omega 2.5 V6. I'll always have a soft spot for these cars for that reason alone. Plus it's a handsome car. I've now got a Volvo V70 P3 in sliver, great car & far better than any stupid SUV for family duties.

I bought a 2000MY 2.2 Omega auto saloon in 2013 for £400, had 5 months tax and test and only 60k on the clock. It also had warped discs and rampant tinworm that had eaten the front crossmember and both main chassis rails. The engine and trans is now in my 1978 Dolomite Sprint and suits it very nicely, effortless cruising with overdriven 4 speed 3 range trans, takes off like a scalded cat and with the Sprint's 3.45 axle, no aircon or PAS to hog power and 15" rims too, it does 80mph at only 3200rpm and at motorway cruise speed, delivers 45+mpg (unfortunately it prefers 99ron Esso though)

Great Fun Video Geoff - very entertaining (and actually informative, but I will settle for a ham roll rather than the army one!).

But that’s a Senator, Geoff. And I’m not talking Desantis either 😂😂

I now own this exact car featured in this video. I can now confirm she has 4 new tyres, new discs and pads all round, brake fluid, all new control arms all round and new anti roll bar drop ljnks 😊... but she's developed a coolant leak from top of radiator, and the air con still needs looking at.

I hope you didn't hurt yourself too much. Is your ankle feeling any better yet? I love this video, like the Top Gear style and the funny sequences.

We had one of these, used to love it!

Real slick Geoff. And there's me telling the Mrs. to come check out Geoff... "he's cool". Unreal Geoff, unreal.

We used nothing but omega estates as workshop recovery barge / fuel collecting vehicle at a car supermarket I used to work for. Entire boot filled with green 5 litre cans, and the fuel tank brimmed was standard protocol. All the cars on site had next to no fuel in and the petrol station guy didn't seem to mind the sketchiness of it all. The omega was the only car that was easy to siphon out when all the cans were empty again.

Hope your ankle is getting better Geoff, I felt for you when I heard the crunch of your foot on the tailgate of the Omega. They are actually quite a tough car and if I was looking for a roomy estate your violent entry into its boot space would not deter me from buying it one bit.😊

Ohhhh remember the 2.5 v6

I had a Carlton estate back in the day. Brill car. Think it had done 200,000 miles {it had been clocked} when I scraped it. The reason, All the running gear was F***ed. The motor was fine. I used to sleep in the back when I was on a fishing week. I`m 5.11 and could stretch out in the back with the seats down.

I have a silver Opel Omega B1 sedan from 1996 as my daily commuter car/work horse, put ~2.5k miles /year on it. Pretty fun since its RWD, LSD and doesn't come with any traction control (not my model). The comfort in these older cars is better than a lot of modern and I can repair it without much hassle!

I had a silver pre-facelift MV6 for several years (3.0 V6 with manual 5-speed and BOSE audio). Had the rear arches fixed and painted, put the B FL trims on the outside. It was an upgrade from a 1996 2.0 16v with LPG. I remember picking it up and being afraid of how it pulled for the first few days 🤣Boot was absolutely massive, as Geoff says. Was able to transport a sofa bed, 3 seater sofa and a fridge (obviously not all at once lol 😀). Unfortunately it rotted away and had to scrap it.

I had an Omega B 1995 2.5 v6 manual, great car for motorways and clocked up 320,000 miles with only a fuel pump problem ever letting me down, still on the original clutch. Due to rust replaced with another 2000 facelift 2.5 v6 manual in 2013 that had 32,000 miles on it for £1000. That is now at around 230,000 and getting rusty, but still great to drive and very smooth.

Omega 3.2 estate was a proper cool motor, loved it. Prefacelift is my favourite and I wish I had a nice one, mine was a bag of shit.

The car you showed as a Carlton was a Senator CD. I had two of them, brilliant car.

*Great Video Geoff !*

Just bought one of these! Elite Saloon. Proper Autobahn cruiser. Love it.

We had 2 Omegas (before our current '08 Ford Galaxy 2.3 Petrol). They were both V6 petrols (couldn't tell you which V6😂) Auto Estates, very comfortable, and mostly reliable! Would highly recommend one!

Im loving my manual 2.5 DTI (U failed to mention there were 2 different 2.5 diesels in it, while one is a pile of crap, and the other is the best diesel in human history ->2.5tds and 2.5 dti 24V) caravan for 3 years now. Its a daily all arounder. Literally perfect for commuting to work, or hauling shit .. it eats 5.7litres on country roads at 110kmh, and 6.7 if you go on highways at 130-150kmh. The engine itself will last for eternity, too bad that cant be said about the chassis...

Hi great video, whilst I working the Met Police , that had the estate and saloon before estate came out , thus car replaced the Rover 827 when Rover produced the kv6 engine Rover 825. Regards mark

The vauxhall omega B was a very under rated and well equipped and really reliable. It always left behind by bmw and Mercedes. I've had 2 a 3.0 elite and 2.0 ecotec and the 2.0 ecotec when I scrapped it had over 300k miles on the original engine and auto box unfortunately the work needed for the MOT was all the wishbones and bushes that out valued the car it was a sad day but still have front V grill, key and tall tax discs. The only down side owning one now is the VED is really expensive but worth paying 😀

The two stand out moments is your hat staying resolutely on your head when doing your army rolls and “all the Chinese people in Malvern will be sh1tt1ng themselves”😂 pure comedy gold!

Brilliant video Geoff, love the omega, dad has an ex cop one, bloody lovely it was

Sorry mate, but the replay of you wacking your ankle was pretty damn funny !

Spotted this in Lincoln on Saturday, recognised the rear window graphics 👍

I have three 3.2's, all with some minor upgrades.....great cars and still pretty quick, but not really an every day beater unless you are a pretty good mechanic. As the spares situation can be a bit sketchy sometimes, but collectively in time ownership I have had these three cars for a total of fifty years plus, and will be keeping them until some sort of Government scrappage scheme is forced upon us.

Have the 2.2 saloon,had it 7 yrs 78,000 runs like a dream

Omega 3.2 v6 used for delivery on kitchen work tops, brill motor. Ours was a funny black colour one, mrs called it the hearse.

Quasi national telco cracked the shits when the local adaption left production. The car had 1700Ltrs of cargo space with the rear seats folded filled to the roof, there was and still is nothing short of a van with such space.

The Holden Commodore is similar, but a much different car. At the time, Holden spent about $50 million to widen the car about 6 inches(150mm). Bodies were also made stronger, to cope with Australia's poor roads. Earlier models (89 on) used the Buick 3.8 V6, and Ecotec as base engines, other engine options were a 5.0 and 5.7 liter Holden V8's, all with 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto. Later models used the Alloyteck V6 engines, and a range of GM LS engines, between 5.7, and 6.2 liter. Also, Ryan Walkinshaw's, Special Vehicles operation, sourced bodies from Holden, to produce a range of high performance vehicles, including a 7.0 liter engine, and later a supercharged 6.2 liter (LSA and LS9), producing 427Kw.

I still have a mint condition vauxhall omega 3.2v6 litre elite on the road. Never seen another on the road in the 8 years I have owned it.

7:38 sunroof dial is brilliant - you twist it to where you want then leave the electric motors to do their slow work while you get on with your life. With a button you have to keep your finger pressing it for the entire time it takes the roof to wind itself open.

Nice car always liked the Omega. A few years ago while on holiday in Iceland I saw the Cadillac version of this model a very rare car indeed.

I had a V6 estate in metallic 'champagne' as a company car. Then the company car scheme was killed by Gordon Brown's tax on them and we went to a car allowance instead. I bought the Omega from the leasing company for not a lot and spent the car allowance on buying my first MX5 - for fun! Thanks Gordon! I ran the Omega for several years as a family barge and it was fine until about 70K miles when stuff started to go wrong. The worst fault was the plastic cam covers warped with age and leaked oil into the V of the engine, which soaked the plug leads which lead to coil pack failure. But really, being a Vauxhall, it wasn't built for longevity and I replaced with a new Ford Focus which itself has just been replaced, after 14 years, with a new Mazda CX-30. And I bought my latest MX5 in 2021, a new ND2 in that lovely soul red, just for fun. And fun it is! Everyone should have a red sports car in their lives at least once. Cheers Gordon!

Hi Geoff, I have a 2006 VZ Holden Acclaim Station Wagon down under. Have had it since 2008. Still going strong with only 101,000 kilometres. Cheers

Hubnut, You're sacked 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Love this. That’s why I have a 2004 9-5 Aero estate.

I just watched your video cos I just bought an omega and I love your video Comically I bought a 2000 with 71000 miles on to do a rally in Europe and we are doing it up like a police car

Your Carlton pic was a Senator mate. Nice car though and v informative.

Cadillac first used the Catera title on a 3 litre Senator. Only 50 were built for prototype assessment. I've had one of these (wish I still had it!) and I've had the Omega based Catera too. Not bad cars but not a Cadillac by any stretch. I always loved the Senators, far better than the Omega; but all in all probably the Senators and Omegas were the best to come out of Vauxhall since the PB Cresta with its hydromatic 2 speed box. I'm negotiating for a PB at the moment

a friend of mine had an Omega, all i remember was it was comfortable and well equipped and the headlights were tricky to change with large hands

I've had 3 Omega's. A 2.5CDX and 2, 2.6 CDX autos. All three were excellent cars, cost next to nothing to run, had them servised regularly and loved them. They were a bit heavy on front tyres and did nearly 100k miles in each, never let me down. Solidly built, so comfortable, greatly missed 😷

Great I had one back in the day and a senator straight six

🌟Excellent work 🌟

Commodore was sold in Australia with abs brakes optional and it's possible to stumble onto 2003 model year without. They upsized to large disk brakes and those cars without abs are renowned for being prone to unexpected lock up. 3.8L & 5.7L included.

Commodore used this look till 2008 and made 2 door Monaro that got exported to US as Pontiac GTO and Pontiac G8...

The Australian Holden versions were actually slightly wider than the European made cars as they decided that they required a sensible V8 engine in them.

I'd love a 'Planet Ocean'. I'd have it on a metal bracelet though. As for the car; an old Manager of mine had one. He loved it. It was very reliable, and he had it for many years.

That looked and sounded very painful! Hope the ice packs are working mate Paul from Malvern I recognised the location where you filmed your combat roll lol

Looking like stretched Vauxhall astra van . Cool. What is mpg. What size engine. This one must have past me by. Mmm

Loved my 2.5, but boy, it loved petrol!

As a professional australian, i can confirm that the Commodore was more "inspired by" the omega, rather than based off it. Our Commodore is allegedly wider and looks quite different, all things considered, except in profile. We did, ironically, have a trim level called Omega on the VE Commodore though... which was funny, because that was the first Commodore fully designed locally. But given it was the last generation of the Commodore, maybe the Omega wasn't actually ironic, but rather prophetic. Anyway, Commodores are good cars, ruined largely by the people who drive them. The end.

🤣🤣🤣🤣 army roll into the omega boot 🤣🤣🤣🤣

SUVs are so dangerous as well compared to those estate cars.

Geoff I am still driving around in a 13-year old Suzuki Swift that my wonderful mechanic describes as 'mint'. According to to you this makes me green 😇so I can go round virtue signalling to everyone. Even better its so awkward to get in and out of nobody ever wants a lift off me - win win 😄My late husband was a petrol head and loved big estate cars and so did I at the time

Nice car but sadly the tax is £395!!! this is the reason good old cars are vanishing, the gov are pushing them out through money grabing.

Mk1 Skoda Fabia has the same sort of knob for the sunroof. I quite like it

I had 2 Holden Commodore station wagons, a 1997 and a 2002. Both had the Buik 3.8 lt V6, a beautiful all cast iron engine. I traded both at 500,000km. Engine never missed a beat. Oil changes 7000 km.

We all drive vans in the Peak District for obvious reasons!!

Fantastic cars. I had a 2.5 V6 about 20 years ago, put 80k on it in four years and it needed nothing but tyres and regular servicing.

I use to call my omega sideways sally because she loved going sideways usually on roundabouts when you least expect it. I did love the big old girl but she did try to kill me at least once a week.

They are so nice to drive very smooth but good on handling if u need too

can we see a commando roll in the volvo? you know you want too 😊

I got the Holden Commodore VX 2001 wagon . I plan to drive it until it stops .🚗

I sold a LOT of these from 1999 to when they finished production. All ex-daily rental, 6 month old cars. Great cars. The 3.2 Elite auto was lovely to drive. The good old days! Vauxhall's range these days is nothing compared to what they used to produce. Now owned by Peugeot, says it all!

1:17 That's a Senator, not a Carlton, which in mainland Europe was called the Senator.

I blame the scrapage scheme for the loss of these and other cars

Brilliant! 🤣🤣

I had 2 of these - the first was a 1999 2.0 and the second a 2002 2.2 (facelift like the one here). It was a hard choice between that and Rover 75 but I needed to get 2 child seats in the back and this was better for that. I had a 120 mile a day round trip commute at the time (this would have been early 2000s) and they were both very relaxing cars. Not particularly quick, in fact the 2.2 didn't feel to me to be much faster, just used more petrol. The experience was only spoilt by appalling Vauxhall dealer service.

I have this car for more than 14 years and its still really good it has over 400k miles and its rare too

Interesting to note that although the Omega is a commodore here in New Zealand/Australia, two key differences. 1) engine options. Over here, there were 3 engine choices. All petrol. A naturally aspirated 5.0 litre V8, a 3.8 naturally aspirated V6, and a supercharged 3.8 V6. The V6s' are Buick engines, and the V8 was Australian built. It was updated to a 5.7 litre V8 ripped straight from a Chevrolet Camaro/Corvette. All variants were rear wheel drive only, with a choice of a 4 speed automatic, or a 5 speed manual. 2) The interior is greatly different between the Vauxhall and the Holden, in particular the dashboard. They sold in the hundreds of thousands in New Zealand and Australia. Aussie in particular had more of these Commodores than any other manufacturer at the time. Now that GM has shut Holden down, it's not uncommon to see examples for sale close to $100,000 !