Astra SRi 150 CDTi - Opinions Please

[5pen]

I've had the use of one for two years now. It's not particularly exciting, but it has been reliable - other than servicing, nothing has required attention in that time. It's the only diesel I've ever driven, so I can't compare it to others but it's quick enough, handles ok for what it is and does 45mpg. The heated seats are nice too. Oh, and it has a 'Sport' button!

[Casa1862]

It's not a car everyone but no worse than the competition. It comes down to the deal you get, we got ours in Dec 2007 when everyone thought the world was ending and car prices very depressed. It was £8.5k for a 6 month old car, I was offered £7k in a private sale when it came up to three years so lost 1.5 in 2.5 years. Even though nothing has gone wrong with it, for the extra piece of mind we got the extended warranty from Vauxhall for £329.00. It gives exactly the same cover as the standard three warranty when new, so driven a car for 3.5 years with all the benefits of a new car with not a lot of deprecation or warranty cost, about £1k per year and that includes a two year AA membership (full one with home start, loan car etc) which you buy for two years at £149.00.

[nomisesor]

Has the swirl valve actuator shaft (or similar, I can't remember the details) fault been sorted by the date of your proposed car? Search the web / PH - I was looking at a £850 bill for this on my 150 CDTi Zafira, though Vauxhall waived half of it in view of FSH and low mileage. Same engine in various cars, including Saabs.

[HellDiver]

nomisesor said:

Has the swirl valve actuator shaft (or similar, I can't remember the details) fault been sorted by the date of your proposed car?

No, they're STILL fitting the faulty parts to new 1.9CDTI engines. Yes, really.

Oddly, the Alfa/FIAT version of the engine doesn't suffer the problem - it's GM's version of the lump that has the dodgy Pierburg inlet/EGR system.

[Frenchda]

I have a 08 150 SRI chipped to about 185bhp. I have put about 40,000 miles on it over the last 2 years and have been really pleased with it. I get bored with cars really quickly and although my expectation of this car was low I am still quite fond of it. As a mileage muncher it is great and IMHO it actually handles fairly well. It is due to be replaced in the next few months and you know what, I might actually keep it.