A review of my Astra Coupe complete with current problems

ajgoodfellow

ajgoodfellow

ajgoodfellow

Soldato
Joined
24 Dec 2004
Posts
11,372
Location
Knowle, Solihull, UK
Hi

Just over 7 months ago I sold my MG ZR and bought an Astra Coupe 1.8. The main reasoning behind this was to get a reliable cheap to run car (after the MG) to help to get my finances back under control.

Unfortunately this turned out to be a bad decision. The car itself is very disappointing - not that great to drive, handles badly and just has no power. The gearing is poor (as is the dreadful gear shift that is a nightmare to get from second to third) so the revs are rather high on the motorway.

The traction control is a nightmare too as is the flat spot at about 1500 rpm. It doesn't move below 3500rpm and if you put your foot down it just pauses, hesitates, thinks about it, then starts to accelerate.

On buying the car the thermostat was faulty and the passenger seat was loose. These were both fixed under the 3 month warranty from the dealer

What really did it though was when I had a small accident in the Motorshow car park. I hit the front bumper just under the front passenger headlight at less than 5mph and I've been kicking myself ever since

Since then the front left radiator fan has stopped working entirely - leading to a warning light on the dash and the car to overheat. The Aircon has stopped working and the ABS and Traction Control has given up

I rushed into it and I want to get rid of it but I'd be lucky to get much more than about £2-£2.5k (and that's with it in great condition)

Does anyone have any idea of how much it would cost to put the car right? I posted on an Astra forum asking about the Cooling Control module (which controls the fan and could have failed) but I haven't got any replies yet


Thanks
 
ajgoodfellow said:
Hi

Just over 7 months ago I sold my MG ZR and bought an Astra Coupe 1.8. The main reasoning behind this was to get a reliable cheap to run car (after the MG) to help to get my finances back under control.
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No cars are 100% reliable, all will have some niggles or parts that need changing. However, you haven't had a major mechanical breakdown yet (bar the accident which was your fault not the cars). Ergo car is pretty reliable.

Unfortunately this turned out to be a bad decision. The car itself is very disappointing - not that great to drive, handles badly and just has no power. The gearing is poor (as is the dreadful gear shift that is a nightmare to get from second to third) so the revs are rather high on the motorway.

The traction control is a nightmare too as is the flat spot at about 1500 rpm. It doesn't move below 3500rpm and if you put your foot down it just pauses, hesitates, thinks about it, then starts to accelerate.
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I have a 1.8 SRI (5door) and its great, its not uber performance but its pretty good. IIRC the coupes were heavier. The 1.8 coupe was not a good choice for you tbh.

The traction control isn't the best, but if you wanted a fast car this was not the right choce. It does however do its job, which for an average medium performance coupe designed for hairdressers and women is ok.

On buying the car the thermostat was faulty and the passenger seat was loose. These were both fixed under the 3 month warranty from the dealer
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Can get this on any car. However if you buy a car with known problems (I assume you knew the above before purchase), then you should expect more. Usually means the previous owner got rid due to issues.

What really did it though was when I had a small accident in the Motorshow car park. I hit the front bumper just under the front passenger headlight at less than 5mph and I've been kicking myself ever since

Since then the front left radiator fan has stopped working entirely - leading to a warning light on the dash and the car to overheat. The Aircon has stopped working and the ABS and Traction Control has given up
Click to expand...

Can't blame the car for your own accident and fault.

I rushed into it and I want to get rid of it but I'd be lucky to get much more than about £2-£2.5k (and that's with it in great condition)

Does anyone have any idea of how much it would cost to put the car right? I posted on an Astra forum asking about the Cooling Control module (which controls the fan and could have failed) but I haven't got any replies yet


Thanks
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Whats the mileage? Price sound about right depending on age and mileage specially in the gold.
 
Jesus that sounds bad just for a 5mph tap. My astra was great as a first car as it didnt break, but they arent great cars by any means just cheap bland hatches to drive around in. Shame yours hasnt been reliable, but with the credit crunch would be nice time to stepup to something with a proper engine for fairly cheap :D
 
I have to echo above, i believe i even made a post in your purchase thread telling you that they are rubbish and lack everything you have just said they lack - you told me to sod off or words to that effect.
 
SoliD said:
Jesus that sounds bad just for a 5mph tap. My astra was great as a first car as it didnt break, but they arent great cars by any means just cheap bland hatches to drive around in. Shame yours hasnt been reliable, but with the credit crunch would be nice time to stepup to something with a proper engine for fairly cheap :D
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I was thinking that maybe a little more than a 5mph tap......

Pleanty of good cars at cheap prices now.

The prospect of £450 per year road tax is nothing either when you can save thousands on used performance cars atm.
 
mrk1@1 said:
No cars are 100% reliable, all will have some niggles or parts that need changing. However, you haven't had a major mechanical breakdown yet (bar the accident which was your fault not the cars). Ergo car is pretty reliable.



I have a 1.8 SRI (5door) and its great, its not uber performance but its pretty good. IIRC the coupes were heavier. The 1.8 coupe was not a good choice for you tbh.

The traction control isn't the best, but if you wanted a fast car this was not the right choce. It does however do its job, which for an average medium performance coupe designed for hairdressers and women is ok.



Can get this on any car. However if you buy a car with known problems (I assume you knew the above before purchase), then you should expect more. Usually means the previous owner got rid due to issues.



Can't blame the car for your own accident and fault.



Whats the mileage? Price sound about right depending on age and mileage specially in the gold.
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I didn't spot the initial problems before purchase and that was my fault. I'm happy that they fixed them though

I know it's not that fast a car but on paper it's similar to my MG so I had expected more from it

The accident is my fault (and I'm really kicking myself) but I hadn't expected to cause such damage with a low speed collision

Mileage is just under 70k - I paid £4k for it in Jan and didn't expect to loose quite so much so quickly
 
Jez said:
I have to echo above, i believe i even made a post in your purchase thread telling you that they are rubbish and lack everything you have just said they lack - you told me to sod off or words to that effect.
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Was I was rude as that? Sorry about that. That wasn't on on my part

I should have listened
 
mrk1@1 said:
I was thinking that maybe a little more than a 5mph tap......

Pleanty of good cars at cheap prices now.

The prospect of £450 per year road tax is nothing either when you can save thousands on used performance cars atm.
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That's the thing - it's like I hit it far harder. I was moving into the car parking space but I did hit the edge of the concrete pillar while turning so I pulled the bumper over to the left and I broke the mountings on either side. I think how I hit it did more damage then expected but I was moving slowly
 
ajgoodfellow said:
Was I was rude as that? Sorry about that. That wasn't on on my part

I should have listened
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No need to be sorry i didn't give it a second thought :) Just a shame its ended badly. Oh well its only a car, easiest way to sort all of this will just be to throw it at an indi and take the hit, then sell it at a realistic price for a quick sale. You can then start over and forget all about it!
 
ajgoodfellow said:
I didn't spot the initial problems before purchase and that was my fault. I'm happy that they fixed them though

I know it's not that fast a car but on paper it's similar to my MG so I had expected more from it

The accident is my fault (and I'm really kicking myself) but I hadn't expected to cause such damage with a low speed collision

Mileage is just under 70k - I paid £4k for it in Jan and didn't expect to loose quite so much so quickly
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They are ok performance, they do feel slower than they are as they are pretty solid and well sound proofed. The MG will have felt more connected to the road and quicker due to the tin can effect.

70k is ok on these but the problem is you can buy the 3/4 year old new shapes so cheaply as they have devalued like a typical Astra does rendering all MK IVs even lower.
 
ajgoodfellow said:
What really did it though was when I had a small accident in the Motorshow car park. I hit the front bumper just under the front passenger headlight at less than 5mph and I've been kicking myself ever since
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That must have spoiled your day at the motorshow? it happens to the best of us.
 
Got the exact same car. All the faults I had were all sorted by the garage within the first week. Overall im very happy and havent had many problems with it.
 
Ive had an astra (gsi turbo) for 2 and a half years, never had a single thing wrong with it, its still in near showroom condition, no knocks noises or anything (5 years old now).

Just bad luck on your part i think.
 
Like others I've got a mk4 astra, and in the past year and a half I've owned it it been over to the Nurburgring twice and the only things I've had to change on it has been the exhaust and the front brake calipers - think this had something to do with me totally cooking them at the Nurburgring this May. Other than servicing, which I do myself, and general wear and tear like tyres, pads and disks and so on its not cost me a penny. Well tell a lie, it cost me £5 for some carb cleaner and 20 mins of my time to clean the throttle body to cure its rough idle/stalling at juctions/hesitation - this is a commen fault and fix on mk4's.

Just seems like you expected too much from the car and picked a bad one thats causing you all this grief.

Like above, bad luck really.
 
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