Astra 1.3 diesel - is this a good deal?

Yorky

I normally buy two year old cars which have lost their initial depreciation but my local Opel dealer is selling new 1.3 Diesel Astras for €21,000.

They are prepared to give me €4000 trade-in for my 100,000 mile 6 year old Astra.

Is this a good deal?

unkel

Yorky wrote:

I normally buy two year old cars which have lost their initial depreciation but my local Opel dealer is selling new 1.3 Diesel Astras for €21,000.

They are prepared to give me €4000 trade-in for my 100,000 mile 6 year old Astra.

Is this a good deal?

Yes, that's a pretty good deal. Offer to shake hands with the dealer saying you'll do the deal right there for €17k (21-4) if he'll throw in {single option of your choice}

{single option of your choice} being either aircon, alloys, alarm, metallic, etc.

The 1.3 diesel is the FIAT multijet engine, which is excellent, with good torque and great fuel economy. Good on tax and insurance too. Residuals should be solid

Let us know how you're getting on!

bazz26

Yes its the same engine found in the Fiat Panda and Grande Punto along with the Corsa. I'm just wondering though would it be a bit underpowered in the heavier Astra? Might be something worth taking into consideration.

Just looking at the specs and the Astra's version has 90bhp compared to the Panda's 75bhp. The Grande Punto has both 75bhp and 90bhp versions.

Other than that the deal sounds decent enough. Definately would be looking for something thrown in for free when parting with €17k cash with your trade-in.

Henry Ford III

I was in a Opel Combi van yesterday using that 1.3 diesel. I was expecting it to be weedy, but it was far from it. An impressive engine.

Yorky

Another question is the longevity of the engine. Historically, diesel engines have been 1.7 and upwards so would this do the same sort of mileage i.e. 200k?

Spit62500

P.M. sent....

unkel

Yorky wrote:

Another question is the longevity of the engine. Historically, diesel engines have been 1.7 and upwards so would this do the same sort of mileage i.e. 200k?

Are you keeping the car for that kinda mileage? And to answer your question, I can't see any problem with it clocking up those miles provided it is looked after. The engine is not the part of the car you need to worry about

Spit62500 wrote:

P.M. sent....

About what?

Yorky

Are you keeping the car for that kinda mileage? And to answer your question, I can't see any problem with it clocking up those miles provided it is looked after. The engine is not the part of the car you need to worry about

Well, yes. I tend to keep cars for a minimum of ten years and based upon 20,000 miles per year, the mileage would amount to that. I take your point about it being more than just the engine.

Spit62500

About what?[/QUOTE]

Its personal:D

But seriously....

I'm curious as to who the dealer is as I'm in the market for a new diesel in January and I'd rather pay 20k for an Astra diesel as opposed to 23k odd for a Focus/Corolla/Octavia - I sent a PM as the original poster didn't mention the dealer name and may not want to make the details public. Nothing sinister:)

As regards longevity, the jury is still out as to whether common rail diesels and components such as turbos will last as long as the older pre-chamber understressed diesels. I'd suspect that they won't but 200k will have stressed a lot of other components in the car by then and it may not be economic to replace high value components in an older car that's 7 or 8 years old. Cars have got a lot more complex even in the last 10 years.

Yorky

Having looked into this further, it seems the 1.3 diesel is significantly more expensive than the 1.7 diesel and the fuel economy of the 1.7 is virtually the same. The road tax would be an extra €142 PA on the larger one which equates to €1420 over ten years but there appears to be a price differential of about €3000 so there would be a net saving on the 1.7.

Are there any other factors to consider? Would the insurance be much higher for the 1.7?

PS The dealer asked me not to broadcast their name as they only have a few cars at this price.

unkel

Spit62500 wrote:

I'm in the market for a new diesel in January and I'd rather pay 20k for an Astra diesel as opposed to 23k odd for a Focus/Corolla/Octavia - I sent a PM as the original poster didn't mention the dealer name and may not want to make the details public. Nothing sinister:)

Fair enough

Good point about modern diesels. 10 years ago there were none so it is very early days to assess longevity

Yorky wrote:

PS The dealer asked me not to broadcast their name as they only have a few cars at this price.

Only a few cars at that price? LOL

I can't blame them though for not wanting to scream from the rooftops that people don't actually have to pay the full list price when buying a car

Yorky

Only a few cars at that price? LOL

I was sceptical too but this is the case. I know someone who works there and this was on about six cars only and the same model has been sold for more since.

Yorky

Have decided against the 1.3 diesel engine as it is: an unknown quantity, Fiat and the turbo seems to be constantly working and therefore potentially liable to problems.

The 1.7 Diesel, on the other hand, is tried and tested and, as pointed out by olddog, is made by Isuzu.

The latest deal being offered is a new 06 Astra 1.7 club diesel for €19,500 or €20,500 for an 07. Both of these figures are net of the trade-in price of €4000.

Considering the fact that I have never, and never intended,to buy a new car, is this a good deal?

My rationale was (is?) that buying a one/two year old car means that it has lost its initial depreciation. However, considering that the car would be kept until it had done circa. 200,000 miles or was ten years old - is my rationale correct or when keeping a car for that long is it better to buy new as the depreciation is spread over a long period of time?

Any comments would be appreciated.

bazz26

Yorky wrote:

Have decided against the 1.3 diesel engine as it is: an unknown quantity, Fiat and the turbo seems to be constantly working and therefore potentially liable to problems.

The 1.7 Diesel, on the other hand, is tried and tested and, as pointed out by olddog, is made by Isuzu.

The latest deal being offered is a new 06 Astra 1.7 club diesel for €19,500 or €20,500 for an 07. Both of these figures are net of the trade-in price of €4000.

Considering the fact that I have never, and never intended,to buy a new car, is this a good deal?

My rationale was (is?) that buying a one/two year old car means that it has lost its initial depreciation. However, considering that the car would be kept until it had done circa. 200,000 miles or was ten years old - is my rationale correct or when keeping a car for that long is it better to buy new as the depreciation is spread over a long period of time?

Any comments would be appreciated.

If your getting a 2007 for only a €1,000 more than a 2006 then go for the 2007 car. The 2006 car is 1 year old in 2 weeks time. It will have depreciated by about €3,000 then. At least with the 2007 car it will depreciate by the same but you will have at least had the use of it for 12 months.

colm_mcm

are these pre-regs or demos or hire drives or what?

Yorky

They are pre-registration, no mileage new Astras. Is it a good deal?

colm_mcm

If you're keeping if for a good few years, then it's pretty good, bear in mind that used 06 diesels will be cheaper again, they're hardly gonna trade in used ones at high prices if new ones are so hard to sell that they have to discount them so heavily.

Spit62500

There's an Astra facelift in Jan - probably won't bother you that much if you're going to keep the car for a good few years.

Kimbot

Not too bad a deal there!! Private selling the car first is also an option you should look into!!