Thoughts on Astra, anyone?

the irish fella

just wondering what you all think of the 1.4 model astra preferably the 2003 model only people who had one or experience with one i know theyhave a few faults but anyone with more info would be great also what about the 1.3 diesel corsa as i know where there is one going cheap(its an ex instructors car)

goz83

I had a 2001 Astra Club Hatch from 2003-2005. Great car. Comfortable to drive. Easy on the eyes. Safe. Suitable for a single dude, or a family of 4/5. Cheapish to run. Flexible in the sense that the hatch version can carry a fridge, or washing machine home from harveys if need be. Only problem I had was the clutch went, but it was my first car and I didn't exactly drive like the pope. Cheap fix, local mechanic and all that.

the irish fella

goz83 wrote: »

I had a 2001 Astra Club Hatch from 2003-2005. Great car. Comfortable to drive. Easy on the eyes. Safe. Suitable for a single dude, or a family of 4/5. Cheapish to run. Flexible in the sense that the hatch version can carry a fridge, or washing machine home from harveys if need be. Only problem I had was the clutch went, but it was my first car and I didn't exactly drive like the pope. Cheap fix, local mechanic and all that.

sure i wouldnt mind the clutch thats just wear and tear heard people giving out about the engines ans often seen them give up but they are a very nice confy car

irritablebaz

astras and their engines have a poor reputation in the uk. i cant go into detail exactly what the main things are just that it's commonly known that if you have an astra you will have engine trouble. i never had one myself but did have a few cavaliers which were made by the same company so presumably the engines were similar. they were good reliable cars in my experience.

corktina

irritablebaz wrote: »

astras and their engines have a poor reputation in the uk. i cant go into detail exactly what the main things are just that it's commonly known that if you have an astra you will have engine trouble. i never had one myself but did have a few cavaliers which were made by the same company so presumably the engines were similar. they were good reliable cars in my experience.

you never had an Astra but you think they gave engine trouble but you wont/can't say in what way... you did own a few Cavaliers (which went out of production in 1995) which you think had similar engines and were good reliable cars....

right so:rolleyes:

irritablebaz

corktina wrote: »

you never had an Astra but you think they gave engine trouble but you wont/can't say in what way... you did own a few Cavaliers (which went out of production in 1995) which you think had similar engines and were good reliable cars....

right so:rolleyes:

the point i was making was they are well known as a car to avoid because of engine trouble. if you waant details the most common complaint is troubl;e with timing belt, sticky valves and dirty sensors which cause frequent problems.

irritablebaz

corktina wrote: »

you never had an Astra but you think they gave engine trouble but you wont/can't say in what way... you did own a few Cavaliers (which went out of production in 1995) which you think had similar engines and were good reliable cars....

right so:rolleyes:

anything else to add? maybe some advice on astras. or did you just come into the thread to criticise my post?

TwoShedsJackson

I have something to add - we've had an Astra for 6 years and never had any trouble with it whatsoever, engine or otherwise.

Max Power1

Toasted pickles on here says he did 50-60k miles in his astra last year. Cant be too bad so (unless you need a consistent ignition mechanism :P )

corktina

irritablebaz wrote: »

anything else to add? maybe some advice on astras. or did you just come into the thread to criticise my post?

I know nothing about Astra's and haven't learned much either.

Dampintheattic

corktina wrote: »

I know nothing about Astra's and haven't learned much either.

If Opel made Ford's, they would be the best cars in the world.:cool:

The J Stands for Jay

I drive a 2002 1.4 saloon. No engine trouble at all. Only problems have been the wiper motor going and the drivers seat height adjustment sticking.

Donnelly117

I had an 03 Astra for about 4 years, the 1.4 zx14xe engine. It was perfect until about a month before I sold it...it was like it knew I was shopping around.

Anyway the issue I had was the engine mgt light coming on intermittently which can be hard to fix. The 2 most common problems are the EGR valve and misfires caused either by bad coil packs or bad injectors. Mine had a cylinder 3 misfire (which for some reason seems more common then the rest as I know if two other astras with this problem). I changed the coil pack...though the problem was solved but a week or two later the light came back on. Turned out to be a bad injector so I got a fuel rail and 4 injectors in a scrapyard for 40 euro and swapped out the injector and it was sorted! (and one of the other injectors fixed one of the other aforementioned Astras!! )

To sum up my unnecessarily long post, my Astra was quick enough, not great but not terrible on petrol (35-40 mpg), reliable for 99% of the time (and only 40 euro to fix), and I had many years happy motoring in it! I also think its better looking then the golfs, focuses and other cars from that era, but thats purely my opinion

Noccy_Mondy

Had an 02 astra for 6 years, i can honestly say it was one of the best cars we ever had. Never gave me a days trouble. Not a thing wrong with it even when i sold it. My new mondeo has caused more trouble than it, and i havent even that a year! Great car for reliability imo.

visual

Surrounded by astras
Daugher loves hers only has it a short time
Friend loves hers has it 4 years no issues
Another friend has the auto version thinks its a perfect car.
I use to own one for 5 years regular servicing tires and brake pads is all it ever needed.
3 neighbours across the road have them and more than happy.

PN14

My better half had two 1.4 astra's for around a total of 5 yeras maybe. A 99 and a 02 model. Both suffered head gasket failure and from what I understand this was a common fault with them however it was not a huge cost to repair at local indy mechanic. Apart from this issue they were both faultless however she wouldn't go near another opel again since because of this. One failure was acceptable the car had around 90k miles on it however the 2nd car had only around 50k miles and that finished her with them. She would be a sympathetic driver to be fair and the cars were well maintained and levels checked reguarly etc.

holdmybeer

I owned a 01 mk4 astra h/b for two years, not a bother on it, smooth clutch, massive boot, cheap tax and insurance. Cant ask more than that. I was told the water pump was the most common problem for them.

Odyssey 2005

I just bought an 01 Astra. It's in great condition and I have no quibbles with the car except it isBORING. Not as bad as a Corolla but a very close 2 nd.

peter barrins

This post has been deleted.

Donnelly117

peter barrins wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

May I ask what you are basing this on? I have never heard any of these being mentioned as common problems. An as for the interior build quality I found it quite good and quite high spec

JohnBoy26

Donnelly117 wrote: »

May I ask what you are basing this on? I have never heard any of these being mentioned as common problems. An as for the interior build quality I found it quite good and quite high spec

The head gaskets did give issues especially on early examples. I never seen a gearbox give trouble in them though.

As for the cam belt, I think that poster is talking about it's short replacement interval of 37,000 miles, which is more of an annoyance rather than an issue.

ninty9er

I regret ever getting rid of my 01 Astra. I wanted a fancier car, now I've a credit union loan that I could do without and a heap of depreciating metal parked outside.

Mine was a 1.6 and smooth as a nut. I never had any build quality issues, besides the centre console bulbs being **painfully** difficult to replace.

blindside88

Sorry to drag off topoc but, If your looking at getting an Astra I know of one coming up for sale. A friend bought it last year to learn to drive but never bothered. Give me a shout if you want to know more

toastedpickles

As has been mentioned here I own one, and have done 60K+ miles on it so far, It's great, Yes I've had trouble with it, power steering pump went at 110k and the ignition barrel split at 140K both cost peanuts to replace, has around 95bhp, I've heard of the head gaskets going at 90K but mine has avoided this and these other issues that have been thrown around here

The car itself is great, handles well, pulls well, and they are very fuel efficient, I drove Kildare to Cork on roughly 25 euro, they are incredibly easy to service and, parts are easy to come by, and very cheap at that, so if you ask me i'd recommend one to anyone, once you look after it it won't ask for much in return

If you need to know anything else just give me a shout