My 1st Vauxhall - huge shock, its great fun: Astra GTC VXR

[Andy665]

Sold my R230 SL350 within 5 mins of the advert going live on Autotrader - had my summer with it, got my money back - job done

Having my 2 cars as 2 seaters I felt a bit guilty that OHs C43 was treated as the family do-it-all so decided the next car needed to be a bit more practical.

Criteria was fairly broad:

At last a 2+2, preferably a full 4 seater
Decent design - always subjective
Reasonable performance
Good history
Self-imposed budget of £7k

MPG was relatively unimportant and as the SL had been in the top RFL band that was not really an issue as I was now used to it

I did not want anything I had already had (lots), searching around saw Sciroccos, Focus STs (both 5 and 4 pot). Astra GTC VXRs being the main contenders.

Quite quickly the VXR became the main focus - liked the lengths that Opel had gone to, different front suspension, hydraulic power steering, mechanical LSD and reviews were pretty good.

Quickly discovered that prices are all over the place for them but one car on AT stood out, just a gut feel that it could be the right one.

Quick trip down to view, short test drive, look at paperwork and deal was done at £6k

3 previous owners, full service history (stamps and invoices), Aero pack, very solid MOT history, no mods apart from front splitter and pretty immaculate, the interior looks completely showroom fresh

Collected yesterday and the 50 mile journey home, completely across country was great fun, the punchiness of the engine, good steering feel and overall balance was a genuine surprise.

Jobs to do - service, alloy refurbishment and two blemishes to be sorted, full paint correction - then simply drive it and enjoy it

[p4cks]

Always liked these and a great engine that is tunable to 500bhp or so. The number of buttons on the centre consol always baffled me, there's about 50 of them!

[TGCOTF-dewey]

I always felt a bit sorry for Vauxhall with these. They're a superb styling exercise given the FWD hatch constraints, and as you say, they put the effort in with LSD, etc.

They really were a victim of badge snobbery.

Lot of car for the money and a nice colour.

[Andy665]

p4cks said:

Always liked these and a great engine that is tunable to 500bhp or so. The number of buttons on the centre consol always baffled me, there's about 50 of them!

Most of the centre console buttons are for the stereo so rarely needed thankfully

[Chris_i8]

Nice find OP.

I've always really liked these and as a previous poster suggested it has to be the badge which stopped them selling more compared to the Ford and VW equivalents.

That colour will look superb after some correction
What colour are you getting the wheels refinished in? and are you keeping the front splitter on? I think it detracts from what is to my eyes a cohesive front end.

[Andy665]

Chris_i8 said:

Nice find OP.I've always really liked these and as a previous poster suggested it has to be the badge which stopped them selling more compared to the Ford and VW equivalents.That colour will look superb after some correctionWhat colour are you getting the wheels refinished in? and are you keeping the front splitter on? I think it detracts from what is to my eyes a cohesive front end.

Wheels will remain bi-colour but diamond cut will be replaced by chrome silver - I hate diamond cut with a passion - totally ridiculous finish for wheels.In two minds about the splitter, I don't find it offensive and could help protect the underside of the bumper

[sixor8]

I like these, had SRi Astras back in the day, and I always thought their products were better than Fords, but the latter fetch more money as 'classics.'

That seems very cheap, great colour , there's plenty of SRi GTC for under £4k but there's no VXR under £7k on A/T!

[Andy665]

sixor8 said:

I like these, had SRi Astras back in the day, and I always thought their products were better than Fords, but the latter fetch more money as 'classics.'

That seems very cheap, great colour , there's plenty of SRi GTC for under £4k but there's no VXR under £7k on A/T!

There are a lot around for less than I paid but many are a lot more expensive for no obvious reason. The one I bought was the first one that caught my eye on AT, the advert had decent images, well-written and everything seemed totally genuine. Seller was a slightly old gent who was a pleasure to deal with.

Arrived to collect yesterday and advised that the TomTom satnav and hardwired dashcam had been left in for me (TomTom now removed) which was a nice gesture.

This era of Opel / Vauxhall they were really chasing quality and it shows in the interior, everything has a solidity to it that you just do not get any more in mainstream cars

[mwstewart]

Fabulous value for money.

[NAAHD]

A guy I used to work with had one of these and loved it. He didn’t love all the jokes about him going to maccies drive thru after picking his girlfriend up from school jokes

I’ve always liked them and back when they came out I thought they were ahead of their time. Even the normal GTC was a great looking car. Best colour for them is that blue imo

[Andy665]

mwstewart said:

Fabulous value for money.

If it had a VW badge it would be 50% more.

I wrote all the training material for the J series Astra and spent a lot of time with engineers, they all said that quality was the main goal for the Astra with dynamics added for the VXR, thats exactly how it comes across, son has an M135i that feels far less well built

[The OG Jester]

Lot of car for the money, the only thing that used to put me off them was the dashboard. The seats are ace mind.

[RazerSauber]

Good luck. I looked at one of these a few years ago, albeit it regular GTC rather than the VXR. Handsome thing but just couldn't get on with it. Somehow I didn't like the driving position. Real shame.

[Alex_225]

The GTC Astra was always a really good looking car and I think this era of VXR was great. Always a bit overshadowed by the RS Meganes and Focus ST I felt but easily the best looking of the lot and highly tunable.

Have fun with it OP. Makes me want to buy another hot hatch! haha

[TV8]

That looks very good value and a great spec. Nice colour as well!

[Vsix and Vtec]

These are probably one of the best things Vauxhall ever made. Significantly better than the VAG offerings, even if, for me, it doesn't quite beat the Focus.

[tim-jxv5n]

I think you were interested in my Scirocco R Andy, but you viewed this first and bought it instead

[DuncanM]

Nice car OP, I think the Astra GTC shape is very handsome.

[Andy665]

tim-jxv5n said:

I think you were interested in my Scirocco R Andy, but you viewed this first and bought it instead

Your Scirocco was high on my list, especially with the wheels it's on.

VXR won out purely on its lower mileage

[macron]

p4cks said:

Always liked these and a great engine that is tunable to 500bhp or so. The number of buttons on the centre consol always baffled me, there's about 50 of them!

What needs to be done to get to 500bhp?