Astra J GTC advice?

Toyotafanboi

has anybody any feedback on these? having been somewhat arsed about with the scirocco deal we are perilously close to getting one of these?

are there any faults to watch out for? is the 1.4 turbo petrol any good of an engine?

on the face of things it appears you get everything you get in the scirocco plus a little bit more. and for the cost to change to an 11 scirocco we can get a 132 ex demo astra with 4.5 years warranty remaining and just 1k kms on the clock, seems a no brainer?

L-M

Scirocco.


/thread

ba_barabus

Limerick man wrote: »

Scirocco.


/thread

I'd have to agree.

Toyotafanboi

blue in the face with sciroccos. nothing suitable within budget within say 250km radius of us, either too expensive, spartan spec or private sales. also curiously when i had a scirocco thread up people suggest to get anything but a scirocco :P

hung on for 2 months for one scirocco to come into stock. finally got to view it last week, the car in the photos wasn't the exact car that arrived into stock. offered 6k for our own car (fair), scirocco priced at 20k (fair) so dealer sits us down and says 14k to change. we pointed out a few snags to the dealer hoping to whittle a few quid off the cost to change, kerbed alloy, few bit that's weren't as advertised and he wouldn't budge on price, literally wouldn't take €50 off. maybe his back was against the wall on price but nobody expects to pay the exact window price without a teeny bit of haggling do they? anyhow that was the final straw, ****ed up of sciroccos.

ba_barabus

Emissions have killed your choices. There's very little out there unless you'll take a bigger engine. Even then I'd say go to the UK.

L-M

My auld lads 10 Scirocco was gone in less than a week when he traded it. Got excellent money for it on trade it...

Toyotafanboi

Limerick man wrote: »

My auld lads 10 Scirocco was gone in less than a week when he traded it. Got excellent money for it on trade it...

seems good ones do go quick, everything that's left is either way overpriced or on hub-caps with windy up windows. most options have been exhausted bar drive much much further afield. UK and private deals aren't really an option, want warranty back up and need the convenience of the dealer taking the trade in car.

corsav6

Astra J gtc is a lovely car. Only been a passenger in the diesel but even that had some poke, and very comfortable. I'd trade our astra h in the morning for 1 if I had some spare cash.

coolbeans

Is the Scirocco really much better than the GTC?Both seem nice to me. Surely a nice loaded Astra with a strong engine would would be gotten more easily and cheaply?

I have no experience of either btw.

Toyotafanboi

coolbeans wrote: »

Is the Scirocco really much better than the GTC?Both seem nice to me. Surely a nice loaded Astra with a strong engine would would be gotten more easily and cheaply?

I have no experience of either btw.

looking at an 11 scirocco with 20k kms and 1 year warranty with all the whistles for 14k with our car or a 132 ex demo gtc, with just 1k kms on the clock and 4.5 year warranty for 15k with our car. really only thing holding us back is; is the opel actually any good or will it be a ****heap. going to be attached to the car (not through finance) for a good few years so don't want grief.

colm_mcm

What bhp engine is in the opel?

coolbeans

The GTC can be very sharp looking if the right option boxes were ticked. The VW is very well proportioned but a little bland imo.

corsav6

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

looking at an 11 scirocco with 20k kms and 1 year warranty with all the whistles for 14k with our car or a 132 ex demo gtc, with just 1k kms on the clock and 4.5 year warranty for 15k with our car. really only thing holding us back is; is the opel actually any good or will it be a ****heap. going to be attached to the car (not through finance) for a good few years so don't want grief.

In short, no. The Astra is a well built car, I have owned the astra f,g and h and each model is a vast improvement on the previous. The h is getting good reviews but the resale value would be less than the vw. The astra however would be cheaper to maintain as parts are generally cheaper. The gtc will also be more saught after than the 5 door so resale value wont be too bad.

Toyotafanboi

colm_mcm wrote: »

What bhp engine is in the opel?

astra is 120bhp 1.4 turbo petrol, sciroccos we are viewing are also 120bhp turbo petrol.

L-M

Which do you prefer?

Toyotafanboi

the heart says scirocco, it just gives the air about it of a nice 3 door coupe but the head says astra, it does everything the scirocco can do and more, same money, newer car, 5 year warranty. the only real restraint (and reason for this thread) is being sceptical over the engine. is the 1.4t a whole new engine or is it tried and tested?

corsav6

Only speaking for the astra as I have no idea what the vw is like. The astra delivers torque low down the rev range so it should be a fairly comfortable drive with less frequent gear changes. I can only assume the engine is the standard 1.4 which has been proven over the years as reliable. With the addition of a turbo I can't see any problems, as I said before Opel parts will be cheaper in any case and with that warranty you should be grand.
I also think the Opel range are nicer looking than the vw range, more effort put into design.
I'll have a look through the vaux forums in the eve and try to get some info on that 1.4 turbo unit for you. Be aware I'm an astra lover, so expect me to recommend it

JohnBoy26

corsav6 wrote: »

Only speaking for the astra as I have no idea what the vw is like. The astra delivers torque low down the rev range so it should be a fairly comfortable drive with less frequent gear changes. I can only assume the engine is the standard 1.4 which has been proven over the years as reliable. With the addition of a turbo I can't see any problems, as I said before Opel parts will be cheaper in any case and with that warranty you should be grand.
I also think the Opel range are nicer looking than the vw range, more effort put into design.
I'll have a look through the vaux forums in the eve and try to get some info on that 1.4 turbo unit for you. Be aware I'm an astra lover, so expect me to recommend it

What gives you the notion that opel parts will be cheaper?

mfergus

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

blue in the face with sciroccos. nothing suitable within budget within say 250km radius of us, either too expensive, spartan spec or private sales. also curiously when i had a scirocco thread up people suggest to get anything but a scirocco :P

hung on for 2 months for one scirocco to come into stock. finally got to view it last week, the car in the photos wasn't the exact car that arrived into stock. offered 6k for our own car (fair), scirocco priced at 20k (fair) so dealer sits us down and says 14k to change. we pointed out a few snags to the dealer hoping to whittle a few quid off the cost to change, kerbed alloy, few bit that's weren't as advertised and he wouldn't budge on price, literally wouldn't take €50 off. maybe his back was against the wall on price but nobody expects to pay the exact window price without a teeny bit of haggling do they? anyhow that was the final straw, ****ed up of sciroccos.

Maybe he sensed that you're dead set on the sciricco and that it be unlikely that you will walk, therefore he didn't need to lower the price...

You did the right thing. Plenty of other good vars out there.

Toyotafanboi

mfergus wrote: »

Maybe he sensed that you're dead set on the sciricco and that it be unlikely that you will walk, therefore he didn't need to lower the price...

You did the right thing. Plenty of other good vars out there.

thats pretty much what i thought. seeing as we waited for the to arrive in stock he might have thought the sale was a sure thing.

the search is over anyway. deal just done on an SRi spec GTC has kit like i've never seen, very happy indeed.

MuppetCheck

Only saw you did a deal there. Any link to the car?

Weak point of the 1.4t is the M32 gearbox, but you have 5 years warranty so you're well covered. Personally id go for the 140 as it feels nippy then.

Good that you got the SRI, it's a nice spec. I've mine nearly 9 months so far and I'm happy out with it.

Also if you want nicer alloys see my sig:pac:

corsav6

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

What gives you the notion that opel parts will be cheaper?

I have owned a fair amount of Opel's and their parts are very reasonable through motor factors. I'd say a quick search on Google would show a difference between vw and Opel prices.

Toyotafanboi

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Only saw you did a deal there. Any link to the car?

Weak point of the 1.4t is the M32 gearbox, but you have 5 years warranty so you're well covered. Personally id go for the 140 as it feels nippy then.

Good that you got the SRI, it's a nice spec. I've mine nearly 9 months so far and I'm happy out with it.

Also if you want nicer alloys see my sig:pac:

no link to the car, the dealer hadn't uploaded it yet, it had only just come into stock, wasn't even valeted when we seen it yesterday, went back today for a second look and it had had a quick spruce up.

we viewed two a 132 sport spec and a 12 SRi.... bought the 12 SRi. you could never have been happy driving the sport seeing what extras the SRi had over it... A/C, cruise, auto lights and wipers, electronic parking brake, auto dimming rear view, stop start, half leather interior with the carbon fibre trimmed dash, USB, aux and DAB stereo, multi function wheel, snazzy mood lit dashoard, sill kick plates etc...

the sport doesn't even have front fogs. i know a lot of that list is becoming everyday stuff but coming from a fairly basic polo the astra is in a whole other league.

got a few deal makers like tailored opel mats and opel contoured mudflaps and the likes. it's still to be valeted and serviced so will be collecting it the weekend coming.

MuppetCheck

Yeah the SRI is a nicer place to spend time in for sure. Best of luck with it!

corsav6

Well done, very nice car and good luck with it OP.