Car Model Guide/ Opel/ Insignia/ A/ 1.8

1.8 A18XER

A port-injected naturally aspirated four with no turbo and no high-pressure fuel system. It's underpowered in a car the size of an Insignia and about as simple as anything in this database, which is the trade.

Overview

The 1.8 is the A18XER petrol version of the Opel Insignia hatchback (A), sold 2008–2015 with 140 PS and manual or automatic. Manageable at level 2. No turbo, no direct injection and no particulate filter, so there is nothing expensive recorded against it. 1 failure modes are recorded against its engine, gearbox, chassis and shared components. Prices on this page are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology for how the bands are derived.

Opel Insignia hatchback (A) · photo 2009 Vauxhall Insignia Exclusiv 130 CDTi 2.0 by Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Power140 PS

Torque175 Nm

Years2008–2015

Fuelpetrol

DriveFWD

EnginesA18XER

Biggest risks

Ranked by probability × repair cost. 1 recorded in total.

69Solid

Module and infotainment faults€150–€900partly checkable

Risk level −11 · Likely spend vs price −20 · all issues →

System by system9 systems reviewed · 8 with no recurring fault reported

Engine✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Fuel system✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Intake & air✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Cooling✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Emissions✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Transmission✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

ElectricswatchModule and infotainment faults, €150–€900.

Suspension & brakes✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Body & interior✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Pre-facelift or facelift, this engine spans both

The same badge either side of the changeover. Bands are split at the facelift year from the generation record.

Phase	Years	Low	Average	High	Good buy	What differs
pre Pre-facelift	2008–2012	€1,050	€1,800	€3,100	€1,450	The specification the car launched with.
LCI Facelift (LCI)	2013–2015	€1,150	€2,000	€3,350	€1,600	New nose, lights and a much-improved interior; New 1.4 and 1.6 turbo petrol engines; Revised 2.0 CDTI diesels

Known issues, ranked by expected cost

Faults recorded against this engine, its components and its chassis, ranked by likelihood × repair cost. Costs are indicative ranges with a stated labour basis.

Module and infotainment faultsInsignia platform€150–€900

Warning lights that come and go, an infotainment screen that freezes or reboots, and occasional electric-window or central-locking failures. These carry a lot of electronic modules for their price and the wiring and connectors age. A weak battery is the most common root cause, since low voltage upsets several modules at once, though genuine module failures happen.

Check: Scan every module rather than just the engine, work the infotainment for a few minutes, and check whether the battery has been replaced.

ElectricalcommonPartly detectableevidence: documented110–200k km

Ranked by probability × repair cost, not by how loudly a failure is discussed. Inherited from the engine, gearbox, chassis and shared components, each written once.

Pre-purchase inspection

The same issue records, reordered into the sequence you can actually check them in: cold start, static, drive, paperwork.

1 checks · saved in this browser ·

1OBD scanMandatory. A seller who refuses a scan has answered the question.

Module and infotainment faultsScan every module rather than just the engine, work the infotainment for a few minutes, and check whether the battery has been replaced.

Mileage and servicing

What the odometer does and doesn't tell you here, plus the service items whose neglect causes the expensive failures above.

Mileage is rarely the issue on these. So look at the body, the electrics and the service history instead.

Service item	Interval	Cost
Engine oil Simple insurance on a simple engine	on time	€70–110
Module scan Electrical faults are common on these and usually cheap	on purchase	free
Rear suspension check Fleet cars carried weight	on a ramp	€200–500

What to pay

What this engine sells for, against the median of every engine in the chassis. All figures are illustrative placeholders. See the basis chips.

median €1.9k

€1.1k€1.4k€3.4k

Cheapfind the reasonGood buyif it checks outFairnormal moneyOverpricedneeds justifying

Asking price (€)Mileage (km)

Enter an asking price to get a verdict against this variant's band: cheap, fair, good buy or overpriced.

United States vs Europe

1 EUR = 1.08 USD · 2026-07

🇪🇺 Europe · EUR€1,450band €1,050–€3,350

🇺🇸 United StatesNot sold1.8 A18XER was never a US-market car

What that meansNo US band exists to compare. Any car you find there's a private import, parts and specialist knowledge are thinner, and the price says more about import cost than about the market.

US figures are the EU band converted at a stated rate. No US market differential is modelled: we hold no sourced US asking prices, and inventing one would be worse than saying so. What the comparison does show for real is availability. Most of this range was never sold in the US.

ModelOpel Insignia 1.8
ChassisA
EngineA18XER
Years2008–2015
MarketCentral EU
Windowrolling 12 months to 2026-07

Good buy at or under the marker · Median asking price · bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile · dashed line is the a median, all 3 engines

Good buy isn't the same as cheapest. The good-buy figure assumes the known failure items are either done with receipts or verifiably not yet due. Full breakdown by facelift phase →

Buyer notes

Our judgement, kept separate from the records it's built on.

Our read, not a record

The 1.8 is the base petrol and it's honestly outgunned by the weight of an Insignia, so you'll be planning overtakes. What you get in exchange is the least complicated drivetrain in the range: port injection, no turbocharger and no emissions hardware to clog. Nothing about it costs much to fix. If you want a very cheap large car for modest mileage and don't want a diesel's bills, this is a reasonable answer.

Everything above this line comes from the issue and specification records. This paragraph is our judgement on top of them. See how we reach it.

Full specification

Manufacturer figures for this engine and body, as recorded in the variant and engine data.

Engine code	A18XER 1.8
Configuration	I4, naturally aspirated · 1796 cc
Fuel / injection	petrol · port
Model years	2008–2015
Facelift phase	Sold either side of the 2013 facelift, 2008–2012 pre, 2013–2015 LCI
Power / torque	140 PS · 175 Nm
Transmissions	5-speed manual · 6-speed manual
Gearbox families
Drivetrain	FWD
Economy (real-world)	7.5–9 l/100 km mixed
Markets	EU