Vauxhall Astra - looking at car

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Sat 19 Nov 2016 08:48
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - Richard Manning

looking at this later thoughts please. Vauxhall Astra CD 1.6 petrol with full Irmscher body kit and styling comes with 17 alloys upgraded brake disks and pads four nearly new tyres recent clutch and timing belt, brand new exhaust it has been professionally lowered ( comes with a spare set of coilovers ) Xeon head lights, has just had a full service drives and handles perfectly, interior has been colour coded and fitted with a Garmin sat nav and pioneer CD/DAB/blue tooth/I pod/I pad head unit and Ricaro front seats and electric windows, the car has just over 113,000 miles on it MOT is until end of February next year and if asking price is met we will put a new mot on it also comes with a 6 month warranty this car has been loved and cherished we have a folder of before and after conversion photos all the old Mots and service receipts

Other cars available any part exchange considered with or without MOT please call or text for more information on (07393) 205032

£895

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Sat 19 Nov 2016 09:16
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - RT

It's a boyracer car, probably been thrashed within an inch of it's life - it's actually a stupid version to have spent so much money on upgrading.

- or is this the advert?

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Sat 19 Nov 2016 09:29
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - gordonbennet

I like the loved and cherished bit, that alone would have be running away, which if any of its previous owners loved and cherished it.

It would be a pleasure (if you have masochistic tendencies) to drive on Britains third world roads dodging around pot holes and speed humps due to almost no ground clearance and its certain to be on concrete springs.

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Sat 19 Nov 2016 10:27
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - SLO76
Avoid anything that's been owned and very likely thrashed to within an inch of its life by a boy racer!

Even ignoring the 'unpgrades' that only serve to ruin the handling and ride you have to ask yourself why someone would spend a lot of money fitting a new timing belt and a clutch shortly before selling it. It's most likely they've tired of having to spend money on a motor that clearly is becoming a money pit.

Walk away and go find a basic 1.6 8v model that's been owned by a family or elderly buddy for a long time. I bought one a few years back off its one elderly owner for £1,000 that was nearly perfect except for a couple of small blisters on the rear arches and drove spot on with just over 60,000 miles and a full service history.

It was a 1.6 SXi so had a standard set of alloys and a low key body kit to keep the boy racer in you happy but as it was the 16v it's an interference engine which would mean the death of the unit if the timing belt snapped so I paid £180 to have it and the water pump changed then ran it for a year before selling it for £1,100 to a very delighted new owner.

I'd go for the 8v though if they're in similar condition as it has a non-interference engine that means it won't die if the t/belt snaps. Thus the reason so many are still on the road today.
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Sat 19 Nov 2016 12:20
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - Wackyracer

Forgive me if I'm wrong but, the post looks like a poor attempt at free advertising.

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Sat 19 Nov 2016 12:29
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - RobJP

How tempting is it to phone him up at 1am tomorrow morning, asking about the car ...

Or is that just me being even more evil than usual ?

*jots down number in case Avant deletes it*

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Sat 19 Nov 2016 18:11
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - Avant

I agree - very tempting!

Not sure - his email address looks like a personal one, and he could have cut and pasted the whole advert.

I'll leave it up: it'll be counter-productive as it's so badly written as to put people off - not to mention omitting the age of the car.

Edited by Avant on 19/11/2016 at 18:13

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Sat 19 Nov 2016 18:55
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - RT

Found the ad on Facebook - the MoT history for S864VEV gives plenty of advisories and/or fails over the years, mainly on suspension - I suggest evidence of a hard life.

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 00:19
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - Avant

Agreed - I don't know what a full Irmscher bodykit is but I can guess. You don't fit that and Recaro seats and then drive like spinster sisters on their way to Evensong.

And VEV is an Essex registration....

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 09:11
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - Richard Manning

hi everyone

yes it was copied and pasted so grammar not down to me.I did go have a look at it.scratch right along front spoiler.scratches on bonet.passenger headlight a lot of condensation maybe water ingress there somewhere.steering wheel doesn't adjust so rests on my long legs could push seat back but would mean no one could sit behind me.did not buy was looking at a astra 04 sri next any thoughts on that one?

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 10:32
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - SLO76
When you're shopping on such a tight budget keep it simple. Forget performance, gadgets, big wheels or any go faster models and stick to basic run of the mill cars that've been owned by families or older drivers who've looked after them properly and haven't driven it into the ground.

99% of SRI's at this age will have been hammered into the ground so unless it's that rare one that some old buddy is pootling around in. Look for longterm previous ownership and evidence of annual servicing. Walk away from anything without proof it's been maintained. If they say they've serviced it themselves then you need the receipts for parts and service items bought, if there's none then it's not been done simple as that.

Buy on condition, history and mileage before anything else at this price. As much as the Astra can be a good banger runabout I wouldn't walk by a well looked after Civic, Focus, Golf, Fiesta or any number of other decent small cars to get to a tatty one.

Best bet, if you can find one. Is something that's for sale due to the owner giving up driving. Many cars at this price range are being sold because they're costing too much in repairs so if you can find something that's being sold because of the owners health and not the cars then all the better. I regularly buy cars like this and they're usually accompanied by a huge pile of paperwork and a full service book but they're rarely anything remotely sporty. Keep to that until you can afford to buy something more exotic.

I'm currently using an old Mazda 3 I took as a part ex on an Astra as an old runabout and it's an excellent wee thing to drive, has no faults despite being 11yrs old with 116,000 miles. Body wise it's tatty round the edges but the older owner who'd had it for 8yrs maintained it mechanically and it is proving to be a very useful wee car, more dependable than our 4yr old VW Polo on current form.

Edited by SLO76 on 20/11/2016 at 10:41

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 10:42
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - RT

Club, CD and CDX trims are the ones to go for of that era - I liked the Astra-G (98-04) one of Vauxhalls best, better than subsequent Astras apart from the new (current) one.

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 14:34
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - Richard Manning

hi Cheers for info but I am looking for something bit more nippie.fed up with my 1.4 85bhp car.got a budget of up to 1k needs to be 5 Dr longest mot and not above 100,000 miles.not to much to ask eh lol

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 15:06
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - elekie&a/c doctor

Get yourself a 2.0 petrol Focus.Good strong engine and workhorse.Surprisingly quick when pushed. Plenty good ones about for around £1k.

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 16:00
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - RobJP

You're asking a lot.

So, as others have said, start from scratch again. Forget anything fashionable or boy-racer-ish, because that immediately bumps up the price.

Buy a plain, boring model - they aren't all low-powered - with basic spec, no bling-y extras, and that has a full service history.

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 16:02
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - RT

hi Cheers for info but I am looking for something bit more nippie.fed up with my 1.4 85bhp car.got a budget of up to 1k needs to be 5 Dr longest mot and not above 100,000 miles.not to much to ask eh lol

From the 2000 model year Astra brochure, engine outputs were:- 1.6 8v 75PS, 1.4 16v 90PS, 1.6 16v 100PS, 1.8 16v 115PS and 2.0 16v 136PS (plus some diesels).

The base Envoy was 75/90, LS was 75/90/100, Club was 75/100, SXi/CD were 100/115, CDX was 115, SRi was 115/136.

Insurance groups ranged from 4 to 11 - on the old 20 group system.

I had a CDX 1.8 16v auto and my son had a 1.6 16v manual - nippy enough for us both to get loyalty points from cameras!

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 17:35
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - SLO76

hi Cheers for info but I am looking for something bit more nippie.fed up with my 1.4 85bhp car.got a budget of up to 1k needs to be 5 Dr longest mot and not above 100,000 miles.not to much to ask eh lol

Is your current car still running and does it have Mot left? What is it?
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Sun 20 Nov 2016 19:26
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - Richard Manning

peugeot 307 2003 2 months on mot

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Sun 20 Nov 2016 20:38
Vauxhall Astra - looking at car - SLO76

peugeot 307 2003 2 months on mot

Fair enough, I can understand why you'd want out of that. Normally I'd advise sticking with what you've got if it goes ok. It's rarely wise to swap an old car you know for another you don't but I'm no fan of the 307, it was terrible compared to the brilliant 306 that it replaced. Best cheap car for driver enjoyment would be a Mk I Ford Focus. The Yamaha designed Zetec SE 1.6 is all you need and will run and run if looked after but there's not much wrong with the older Zetec 1.8 or 2.0 which are pretty gutsy. Forget the diesels, they drive well but there's too much to go wrong. Rust is your biggest enemy and buy only solid well looked after cars with a history of annual oil changes. But they're all great to drive and pretty reliable with cheap parts and plenty of availability. Even a 1.6 will drive circles round your old Pug.
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