Semi-cheapo special: Vauxhall Astra ELITE
Discussion
Non-PHer content warning!!
Having been rather content with my faithful old Volvo 850 estate as my every day car, the company I work for asked (told) me to move onto the company car allowance scheme due to the mileage I was racking up (12,000+ per year @ 45p per mile).
Great stuff - a £4k a year car allowance plus 10p a mile. Only one problem - the car would need to be under 10 years old. Doh!
So off I went to look for a new work car that would be big enough to carry all my equipment, comfortable enough to do over 12,000 a year in, new enough so that I wouldn't need to change it for at least a couple of years and economical enough so that I wouldn't be paying more than 10p a mile.
I'm currently trying to save for a house at the moment, so I decided that £2,500 would be a reasonable enough limit for any car I was going to buy. I first looked at some superminis like Swifts and so fourth but generally they were either too poverty spec'd, too close to 10 years old, or not particularly economical (needed a car to average 50mpg for the 10p a mile).
There were plenty of Peugeot/Citroen/Renault diesels in my price range, but I was quite concerned (rightly or wrongly) about 8 year old highish-mileage french electrics + modern diesel fragilities. I'd have very much liked a diesel Volvo or BMW, but neither had a car anywhere near my price range. Feeling a bit lost, I then thought about a Fiat diesel, as they were both plentiful and cheap. However, Fiat diesel gearboxes and engines are ticking time bombs according to the internet, so I regretfully had to rule out any Fiat or Vauxhall that shared the JTD engine (although I later found out the Vectra didn't have the gearbox issues).
And that's when it struck me - I remembered that up until recently, Vauxhall had still been punting out the old Isuzu 1.7 diesel in the Astra and Corsa. A bit of further research suggested this engine was pretty agricultural but all the better for it in terms of old-fashioned diesel reliability!
A few days of trawling Autotrader, Ebay and Gumtree and I finally struck gold. A '58 Astra 1.7 CDTi in the luxurious Elite trim.
The car had reached about £1000 when I spotted it on eBay. I e-mailed the seller and asked would they be willing to take an offer, to which the seller replied yes - but £2200 and no less.
I agreed that I would go and see it in Stoke-on-Trent that coming weekend and buy if I was happy with it. By the time the weekend came, the Astra was already on £2100 and still had effectively another few days to run. The man selling it, kept his word, and offered it to me at £2200 even though it would more than likely to go above that if he continued to let the auction run. I was pretty happy with the car & the seller who let me take it on a very long test drive - so we shook hands and off I went with my new Astra Elite.
The car wasn't in perfect condition (and nor was it advertised as so). The interior had been been scratched on some of the passenger side interior trim. There are also a number of paint chips across the body. But nothing terrible, and certainly no rust or signs of body repairs. On the upside, the car had just pushed over 90,000 miles, had a full service history and recently had new disks all round + a new alternator fitted.
Spec includes:
Heated leather interior, mood interior lighting, auto wipers, auto lights, auto folding wing mirrors, cruise control, 7 speaker audio system with aux input and erm...sun glasses holder.
As I previously mentioned, some of the trim had been quite badly scratched on the passenger side of the interior - so being about 5 years behind fashion, I decided to sticker bomb the silver trim in the car. I will eventually buy some new trim bits when I can be bothered. Having said that, the stickers rather liven up the interior.
Before:
After:
I've driven it just over 3500 miles now and averaging 54.5mpg - which isn't too bad in my books
Thanks for reading - I'll post any updates if it's of any interest to anyone.
p.s. I still have the Volvo (but now on classic car insurance and awaiting for its next road trip)
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Having been rather content with my faithful old Volvo 850 estate as my every day car, the company I work for asked (told) me to move onto the company car allowance scheme due to the mileage I was racking up (12,000+ per year @ 45p per mile).
Great stuff - a £4k a year car allowance plus 10p a mile. Only one problem - the car would need to be under 10 years old. Doh!
So off I went to look for a new work car that would be big enough to carry all my equipment, comfortable enough to do over 12,000 a year in, new enough so that I wouldn't need to change it for at least a couple of years and economical enough so that I wouldn't be paying more than 10p a mile.
I'm currently trying to save for a house at the moment, so I decided that £2,500 would be a reasonable enough limit for any car I was going to buy. I first looked at some superminis like Swifts and so fourth but generally they were either too poverty spec'd, too close to 10 years old, or not particularly economical (needed a car to average 50mpg for the 10p a mile).
There were plenty of Peugeot/Citroen/Renault diesels in my price range, but I was quite concerned (rightly or wrongly) about 8 year old highish-mileage french electrics + modern diesel fragilities. I'd have very much liked a diesel Volvo or BMW, but neither had a car anywhere near my price range. Feeling a bit lost, I then thought about a Fiat diesel, as they were both plentiful and cheap. However, Fiat diesel gearboxes and engines are ticking time bombs according to the internet, so I regretfully had to rule out any Fiat or Vauxhall that shared the JTD engine (although I later found out the Vectra didn't have the gearbox issues).
And that's when it struck me - I remembered that up until recently, Vauxhall had still been punting out the old Isuzu 1.7 diesel in the Astra and Corsa. A bit of further research suggested this engine was pretty agricultural but all the better for it in terms of old-fashioned diesel reliability!
A few days of trawling Autotrader, Ebay and Gumtree and I finally struck gold. A '58 Astra 1.7 CDTi in the luxurious Elite trim.
The car had reached about £1000 when I spotted it on eBay. I e-mailed the seller and asked would they be willing to take an offer, to which the seller replied yes - but £2200 and no less.
I agreed that I would go and see it in Stoke-on-Trent that coming weekend and buy if I was happy with it. By the time the weekend came, the Astra was already on £2100 and still had effectively another few days to run. The man selling it, kept his word, and offered it to me at £2200 even though it would more than likely to go above that if he continued to let the auction run. I was pretty happy with the car & the seller who let me take it on a very long test drive - so we shook hands and off I went with my new Astra Elite.
The car wasn't in perfect condition (and nor was it advertised as so). The interior had been been scratched on some of the passenger side interior trim. There are also a number of paint chips across the body. But nothing terrible, and certainly no rust or signs of body repairs. On the upside, the car had just pushed over 90,000 miles, had a full service history and recently had new disks all round + a new alternator fitted.
Spec includes:
Heated leather interior, mood interior lighting, auto wipers, auto lights, auto folding wing mirrors, cruise control, 7 speaker audio system with aux input and erm...sun glasses holder.
As I previously mentioned, some of the trim had been quite badly scratched on the passenger side of the interior - so being about 5 years behind fashion, I decided to sticker bomb the silver trim in the car. I will eventually buy some new trim bits when I can be bothered. Having said that, the stickers rather liven up the interior.
Before:
After:
I've driven it just over 3500 miles now and averaging 54.5mpg - which isn't too bad in my books
Thanks for reading - I'll post any updates if it's of any interest to anyone.
p.s. I still have the Volvo (but now on classic car insurance and awaiting for its next road trip)
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by Silver75 on Sunday 24th April 22:45
NinjaPower said:
I had a 2010 Astravan Sport 1.7CDTi... It shat it's gearbox at 30k miles, thankfully under warranty, and then again at 60k miles which I had to fork out for.
Apparently the gearboxes are made of chocolate and some barely last 20k miles. I hope you have better luck than me!
Was your van the 1.7 ecoFlex 6-speeder? If it is, it shares the gearbox with the Fiat engine. Thankfully, this is the tough old 5 speed unit.Apparently the gearboxes are made of chocolate and some barely last 20k miles. I hope you have better luck than me!
-crookedtail- said:
Well, those stickers are an acquired taste, I do like it but couldn't live with it myself. In bright sun light I reckon it would annoy the hell out of me. 
Fair play though, bargain motor for what you need!!
Cheers! Fair play though, bargain motor for what you need!!
Yeah the stickers are noticeable...but surpringly not too distracting. The old scratched trim annoyed the hell out of me to the point of constant distraction however...
Silver75 said:
NinjaPower said:
I had a 2010 Astravan Sport 1.7CDTi... It shat it's gearbox at 30k miles, thankfully under warranty, and then again at 60k miles which I had to fork out for.
Apparently the gearboxes are made of chocolate and some barely last 20k miles. I hope you have better luck than me!
Was your van the 1.7 ecoFlex 6-speeder? If it is, it shares the gearbox with the Fiat engine. Thankfully, this is the tough old 5 speed unit.Apparently the gearboxes are made of chocolate and some barely last 20k miles. I hope you have better luck than me!
I've got the six speed on my 2.0 Turbo - I'm waiting to see what happens! No symptoms of failure at the moment though.
I'm looking for a set of those seats for it. They really are quite good little cars. I think that the piano black interior looks incredibly gash though. I'm also looking out for a later CDC 40 Opera head unit for mine.
I'm looking for a set of those seats for it. They really are quite good little cars. I think that the piano black interior looks incredibly gash though. I'm also looking out for a later CDC 40 Opera head unit for mine.
Silver75 said:
The man selling it, kept his word, and offered it to me at £2200 even though it would more than likely to go above that if he continued to let the auction run.
That sounds like a good outcome for both of you. From the sellers point of view, taking the cash in hand (and potentially avoiding eBay seller fees) is preferable to letting the auction run its full course, maybe achieving a slightly higher final price, but still having the uncertainty of whether or not the winning buyer will actually show up and pay for the car.
Looks like a good car for its intended purpose. Well bought.
Jimmy Recard said:
I've got the six speed on my 2.0 Turbo - I'm waiting to see what happens! No symptoms of failure at the moment though.
I'm looking for a set of those seats for it. They really are quite good little cars. I think that the piano black interior looks incredibly gash though. I'm also looking out for a later CDC 40 Opera head unit for mine.
Oh dear...is the same Fiat 6 speed box for the 2.0 turbo? Fingers crossed it isn't!I'm looking for a set of those seats for it. They really are quite good little cars. I think that the piano black interior looks incredibly gash though. I'm also looking out for a later CDC 40 Opera head unit for mine.
The seats are really rather good - satisfactorily supportive and overall quite comfortable. Even better when I turn the seat heater elements on. Will you look to retrofit the heating side or things too?
Is the CDC 40 the DAB unit? Let me know how you get on with that as it's something I'm interested in. But first things first, I need to replace the aerial base as it's become quite tatty and the radio antennae booster isn't too clever.
battered said:
I hope they have improved the Isuzu 1.7 on the one I had as a co car years ago. That was a 2000 and it was the most awful gutless POS I've ever had to sit in. Never better than 42 mpg, the 1.4 petrol was faster, more economical, and quieter.
I'm sure yours is lovely though!
Well from what I hear this version is quite a lot better in terms of economy & power. The original Astra H CDTi was 80bhp, and my version is 100hp. I can imagine that the old 8v DI unit was probably quite a lot worse in terms of performance. I'm sure yours is lovely though!
I have to say, in its defence, that it really has quite a lot of ooomph when the turbo kicks in.
Silver75 said:
Oh dear...is the same Fiat 6 speed box for the 2.0 turbo? Fingers crossed it isn't!
The seats are really rather good - satisfactorily supportive and overall quite comfortable. Even better when I turn the seat heater elements on. Will you look to retrofit the heating side or things too?
Is the CDC 40 the DAB unit? Let me know how you get on with that as it's something I'm interested in. But first things first, I need to replace the aerial base as it's become quite tatty and the radio antennae booster isn't too clever.
Yes, the same one. Mine is perfect at the moment. If/when it starts to fail on sixth, it's getting a limited slip differential and VXR clutch with the rebuild so no problem The seats are really rather good - satisfactorily supportive and overall quite comfortable. Even better when I turn the seat heater elements on. Will you look to retrofit the heating side or things too?
Is the CDC 40 the DAB unit? Let me know how you get on with that as it's something I'm interested in. But first things first, I need to replace the aerial base as it's become quite tatty and the radio antennae booster isn't too clever.
Cdc 40 is DAB after about 2007 but not DAB before that. It is supposed to be the best sounding factory system which is what I'm interested in.
Silver75 said:
And that's when it struck me - I remembered that up until recently, Vauxhall had still been punting out the old Isuzu 1.7 diesel in the Astra and Corsa. A bit of further research suggested this engine was pretty agricultural but all the better for it in terms of old-fashioned diesel reliability!
I admire frugality.A neighbour at work has a 54 reg Vauxhall 1.7cDti van with over 250k miles on it. He uses it to commute 40+ miles each way at a steady 60 - 70 mph.
No smoke, and not much poke, but reliable and cheap as deep fried potato pieces.
I have a soft spot for Vauxhalls - not sure why, only ever had one in 30+ years. They seem to try but always miss the spot somehow. Eternal underdogs. Living in Henry's shadow, that kind of thing.
9 month update:
I've now covered 15,000 miles in the little Astra over the 9 months I've owned it. Car now @ 105,000 miles
My worry is that I've become rather attached to the Astra...I only bought it so I could pile on the miles and then upgrade to something decent once I had the funds. But it has proven to be so reliable, amusing at times and faily comfortable I don't really want to get rid of it. Despite fhe negativey about Vauxhall (and especially the Astra) I've found it to be a fairly accomplished car.
So, what's good?
-Reliability has been spot on. Not failed to start and all equipment within the car works like new
-I've sat in this car for many, many hours at a time and never come out with any aches or pains. The seats are very supportive, at least in Elite guise, and the heating function is wonderful.
- The car handles really well. It's no BMW 1 series for sure, but it grips like a trooper, fairly little body roll and ultimately feels very direct.
- Averaging 56.3mpg over the last 5000 miles or so. I always keep up with traffic and don't follow trucks.
- The brakes are really good!
- I think it actually looks really smart - it looks quite chunky but yet fairly small at the same time.
- The interior was something I wasn't entirely fussed for before buying the car but now I admire it's simplicity. I also like the build quality - not one rattle or loose/worn looking bit of trim.
- The 1.7 CDTi engine is a lovely little thing for a diesel. Bags of character, torquey and just has an indestructible feeling to it. Not used any oil in the last 12,000 miles either (when it was last serviced).
What's been bad?
- The horn stopped working but this was fixed by Vauxhall for free. Apparently it should have gone in for a recall for the CIM in the steering wheel, but somehow my Astra was never taken in to have the modification.
- The engine is quite unrefined when cold or at slow speeds.
Overall, I think this Astra is the best £2000 I ever spent. Very much underrated compared to the Golf and Focus.
I've now covered 15,000 miles in the little Astra over the 9 months I've owned it. Car now @ 105,000 miles
My worry is that I've become rather attached to the Astra...I only bought it so I could pile on the miles and then upgrade to something decent once I had the funds. But it has proven to be so reliable, amusing at times and faily comfortable I don't really want to get rid of it. Despite fhe negativey about Vauxhall (and especially the Astra) I've found it to be a fairly accomplished car.
So, what's good?
-Reliability has been spot on. Not failed to start and all equipment within the car works like new
-I've sat in this car for many, many hours at a time and never come out with any aches or pains. The seats are very supportive, at least in Elite guise, and the heating function is wonderful.
- The car handles really well. It's no BMW 1 series for sure, but it grips like a trooper, fairly little body roll and ultimately feels very direct.
- Averaging 56.3mpg over the last 5000 miles or so. I always keep up with traffic and don't follow trucks.
- The brakes are really good!
- I think it actually looks really smart - it looks quite chunky but yet fairly small at the same time.
- The interior was something I wasn't entirely fussed for before buying the car but now I admire it's simplicity. I also like the build quality - not one rattle or loose/worn looking bit of trim.
- The 1.7 CDTi engine is a lovely little thing for a diesel. Bags of character, torquey and just has an indestructible feeling to it. Not used any oil in the last 12,000 miles either (when it was last serviced).
What's been bad?
- The horn stopped working but this was fixed by Vauxhall for free. Apparently it should have gone in for a recall for the CIM in the steering wheel, but somehow my Astra was never taken in to have the modification.
- The engine is quite unrefined when cold or at slow speeds.
Overall, I think this Astra is the best £2000 I ever spent. Very much underrated compared to the Golf and Focus.
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