Opinions please

quad_red

Hey all,
After much soul/internet/sanity searching we're looking at a 1.4L 2002 Opel Astra Pearl (3 door, metallic green, hatch) with 52k on the clock. Going for around the 6.5/7k mark.

It's from a reputable dealer and comes with a year warranty.

Any experience with Astras? My gfs folks are Opel fans (have always had them) so they rave about them. Only ever driven Corsa's.

Cheers,
Quad

Max_Damage

My uncle has a '00 Astra 1.4L, and it gave him nothing but trouble (that said, he just could have got a lemon in the bunch). He had many problems with the water pump if I remember correctly, among other things.

I'd go for the Isuzu 1.7 turbo diesel engine model. More reliable and durable.

louie

Opel are good cars in general, but too rough and stiff to drive.

quad_red

Mmmmmm.

Guys, I think myself and the gf are going around in circles here - well, I am I suppose. She's gonna kill me.

How do you guys choose a second hand car? ie. do you select a model then go hunting for that or what?

At the moment, we've got in our head that a 02/03 car with approx 50k on the clock for about 7/8k.

I like the look of the 03 1.4 Fiestas but the gf is mad for an Opel cos her uncle works in an Opel garage.

She is also extremely nervous about going to garages we don't know and is absolutely against going for a private sale.

gobby

quad_red wrote: »

Mmmmmm.

Guys, I think myself and the gf are going around in circles here - well, I am I suppose. She's gonna kill me.

How do you guys choose a second hand car? ie. do you select a model then go hunting for that or what?

At the moment, we've got in our head that a 02/03 car with approx 50k on the clock for about 7/8k.

I like the look of the 03 1.4 Fiestas but the gf is mad for an Opel cos her uncle works in an Opel garage.

She is also extremely nervous about going to garages we don't know and is absolutely against going for a private sale.

Well, I guess if the uncle owns an Opel garage then you might be able to get cheap servicing and probably some good attention if there is any bother with the car.

My father has had 4/5 astra's in total. He is still driving one of them. Never had any major trouble.

quad_red

gobby wrote: »

Well, I guess if the uncle owns an Opel garage then you might be able to get cheap servicing and probably some good attention if there is any bother with the car.

My father has had 4/5 astra's in total. He is still driving one of them. Never had any major trouble.

Doesn't own one, just works in one. And the 'discount' they were giving turned out to be the price that it was on their site :rolleyes:

In a way it might be more uncomplicated if it wasn't the case cos dealerships would be pretty even. But now it seems every other dealership is a 'chance' whereas this one is a 'safe bet'.

colm_mcm

Do you really want a green Astra though?

quad_red

colm_mcm wrote: »

Do you really want a green Astra though?

Honest answer? Probably not. But at this point, and after seeing ALLOT of cars that were nothing like I imagined form the advert and meeting many dodgy DODGE salesmen....

I'm getting tired and desperate (a dangerous combination).

I started off this trek with great enthusiasm. It's all worn off.

cantdecide

That seems like a stiff price. Looking for a hatch for that price could have varying success. You are spending a good bit of money so don't SETTLE for a car because it seems like a good idea.

Is there any cars that you probably wouldn't tell your SO you fancy? You can tell us!!!

To decide the most SUITABLE car for you, ask yourself
1) What kind of use will the car get?
2) What kind of annual mileage?
3) How long will you keep it?
4) how strict is your budget?

For that money you could get http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=767582

or http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=810921 (but you'd have to crowbar off that spoiler)

Táck

reputable garage and a one year warranty...u should be ok

quad_red

cantdecide wrote: »

That seems like a stiff price. Looking for a hatch for that price could have varying success. You are spending a good bit of money so don't SETTLE for a car because it seems like a good idea.

I think cos I've heard so many horror stories that I'm really hesitant to use a Dublin dealership because I don't really have any experience or idea up here. I just don't know if we'd have any comeback.

cantdecide wrote: »

Is there any cars that you probably wouldn't tell your SO you fancy? You can tell us!!!

Mmmm. I'm actually quite flexible. I suppose I had in my head a hatch. A corolla or a focus (not v exciting I know). But for our money you can only get one of them with shedloads of miles. I like the look of 03/04 Fiestas y'know. A friend of the gfs just got a 03 1.4L Fiesta and it's fine ol car.

To decide the most SUITABLE car for you, ask yourself
1) What kind of use will the car get?
Car will get little use during the week. Won't be used to commute so it might be used for a shop at night. During the weekend it'll get used to travel to Monaghan or Kerry - a decent journey.

2) What kind of annual mileage?
I suppose it'll probably balance out - little/no mileage during the week with 'sunday drives' every weekend and trips up/down the country every 2/3 weeks.

3) How long will you keep it?
What do you mean? I'd like a car we can keep for a few years. Not gonna be upgrading next year or anything.

4) how strict is your budget?
Depends. If it was justifiable, I suppose we could go to 8/9.

cantdecide wrote: »

For that money you could get http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=767582

or http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=810921 (but you'd have to crowbar off that spoiler)

[/QUOTE]

Both those have 1.6 engines - too much for us I think. Specced insurance for us yesterday (using the 1.4 astra as a test case) - myself (27) and gf (29 & on 3rd provisional) fully comp with no claims protection - 550 quid from Hibernian.

gobby

Not sure what the difference between a 1.4 and a 1.6 would be in insurance but if they were both similar cars I wouldn't imagine it would be a huge number

cantdecide

1.6 is not so important, quad_red. I'm 25, and have a 2.8, insured fully comp for about 900 with Quinn. There's a lot of hocus pocus about bigger 1.6 cars but it will be no more commitment than a 1.4.

There may be a token difference between 1.4 for and a 1.6 ford but trust me, you'll appreciate the vectra on those very long spins. For those journeys I'd say you could probably rule out a fiesta- it's essentially a city car.

If I were driving a vectra on the road to Kerry (having spent no more to buy/ run it), I wouldn't be looking out of my windscreen and saying to my self- I could've had that focus or that astra or that fiesta.:D

Focus is a good car but the astra you'd get for your budget wouldn't be a fantastic result.

Haggle down to 9 and you could get this

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=785874

quad_red

There really isn't much of a difference between insurance on a 1.4 and a 1.6? Won't a 1.6 guzzle far more fuel though?

A few hundred quid extra fuel and insurance a year probably isn't worth it for us.

And I've driven from Kerry to Dublin in a 1litre before Wasn't exactly comfortable allright. But I've found 1.4 rentals more than fine.

I suppose the size thing comes in as well cos the gf doesn't want something too big.

This is something I want to get yer opinion on - Mileage.

How much is acceptable? Is it silly of me not to want something that has more 50/55k on the clock?

bazz26

quad_red wrote: »

This is something I want to get yer opinion on - Mileage.

How much is acceptable? Is it silly of me not to want something that has more 50/55k on the clock?

Don't just judge a car by what the odometer reads, judge it on current condition and service history. A car with tiny mileage can have had a harder life than a high mileage motor.

Imho it's not how far the car was driven but how the car was driven.

cantdecide

You have almost €10,000 for a car at your disposal but you don't want to supersize it for an additional couple of ton- over an entire year?? IMO, that's nonsense.

I know lots of women (including my mum who went away from hatches this year and bought a passat) who wouldn't buy a hatch again. A mate got his missus a '99 100k mle 626 2.0 for €1000, and she doesn't know how she ever put up wih her €1600 '98 corsa.

Most rep-mobiles are approx one and a half or 2 feet longer than their little sisters. If she can't adjust for that- it's a bumper car she needs:p As i've said countless times- there's only a marginal difference between them overall, so why go second class?

I wouldn't worry about mileage as much as FSH. Getting a car 5 ish years old with around 60k miles isn't that bad really. But with your budget, you could put up the mileage to over 100k in say, 3 years. It's now a 100k mile 8 yr old hatch and not worth very much and probably looking more like a relic than your pride and joy!

Don't get me wrong- to get a focus isn't a mistake but don't feel like that's where the best value is. People seem to love economy in cars but they seem to completely forget about value. I believe people pay dearly to save a little money.

RobAMerc

ok I will be blunt - that model Astra imo is a long way behind where it should have been dynamically.

A relative of mine bought one against my advice and was shocked at how my 30 Mercedes was a much quieter and much more comfortable car than his 2002 Astra.

I have driven them both and the 2002 Focus is light years ahead as far as I am concerned, the golf may be a bit less so and less reliable.

As for private or dealer - if I was buying cash I would always buy private.

If you save 2k thats 2k worth of things that need to go wrong in the first six months (thats as good a warranty as you'll get) before your at a loss.
If your so unsure - have a mechanic check it out for you - thats no less than a dealer would have done - and alot more than most would.

Boots2006

I've had a 99 astra 1.4 for the past five years and put up about 50k miles on it. I think in general, the car is quite underrated, and not as bad as many would have you believe.

In that time, the following has gone wrong: head gasket leaking (poor design apparently), windscreen wiper motor went (400 euro to replace), coil pack went (common fault).
It never broke down (but failed to start one morning, and needed a tow-start - engine flooded).

The water pump issue should be known to any decent mechanic - timing belt is done every 35k miles, water pump every 50k miles. If the water pump is not done at 35k, its likely to be forgotten until 70k (the second timing belt change) - well over the 50k mark. I changed both at 35k and 70k, no bother so far. Its a handy job to do the water pump when doing the timing belt, and a similar amount of work is required to do just the water pump on its own.

Its a good all-round car - not too big for parking in the city, nippy enough around town, and reasonable on the motorway. With the seats down, its possible to get an under-counter fridge in the back of it!

As for the dynamic thing, I never liked the focus, but you should definitely drive both ... I've read elsewhere that the astra has a more comfortable ride than a focus, but won't grip as well in the corners. The astra will understeer if pushed hard, but its very controllable, and there's plenty of power above 3000 rpm. When I was buying, the focus was a good bit (2k) dearer, and it didn't seem 2k better to me.

The original top gear review of it is here (from 1998) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtD-QZ7Xkuw

Things to look for :
Check engine for burning oil (blue smoke), can be an issue with some of them.
There seems to be a bit of variability in the engines - they should pull well up to the red line (about 50 mph in second gear).
ABS was not standard in the early years, I assume its standard by 2002?
Same for air-con.
Mirrors are prone to attracting raindrops, hard to see out of them in rain - get the electric heated ones (they are heated by the rear window heater switch).

If you're interested I know a very good mechanic near Castleblayney who does all my servicing.