Calling all VXR owners and know it alls!

[Shredx]

Hi,

I am thinking of buying a 2006 Astra VXR on Thursday, it's got full service history and looks like it's in brilliant condition for it's age, however, my previous car was a 2006 1.9 CDTI Astra and I had to sell it because it had something going wrong with it every two seconds. Two weeks after the warranty ran out the gear box seized up, I had to have the dual mass flywheel replaced along with an EGR valve and an inlet manifold and last but not least a new clutch.

The VXR I am interested in has 81k miles on the clock which is pretty low considering most VXR's on the market at the moment have over 100k.

Obviously I will check for all the signs of gearbox, flywheel and clutch issues but is there anything else I should be aware of? Is it wise to buy a VXR at 81k miles? What's your views?

If you have any advise or tips for me I would be very grateful!

Cheers,

Chris.

[Shredx]

The Vambo said:

There are a number of early signs you can look for:

When lifting the clutch in 1st gear while holding onto the gear stick, it will move backwards by sometimes 10-20mm

When driving in 5th or 6th the gear stick will move backwards and forwards as you come on and off the throttle.

Whining noises can be heard while in 1st, 2nd, 5th or 6th gear. Sometimes it is more audible in certain gears than others.

Thanks for that, I noticed all of those things in my old Astra just before the gearbox went. If there are ANY signs at all of gearbox fault I won't buy it. Or I will offer a lot less for the car.

[Shredx]

mattrg said:

I had one from nearly new and loved it. Budget for a box refresh though, if it hasn't died yet you can have them refurbished for a decent price. I had Eco torque in Arlesey do the M32 in my daily Insignia recently as it was getting noisy. It's spot on now and has a warranty.

Delete the precat to bring out the pops and bangs and bobs your uncle.

How much would a refurbish cost do you think?