I am thinking of buying an astra 1.7td next time once my trusty vento has reched the end.Whilst vw's are supposed to be ultra reliable I have spent a lot of money over the years and want a change.
I have not owned a diesel car before and would be grateful for the views of owners of this type of car.
I would need to tow a small caravan (700kg max)and do about 20,000miles a year.
I'd like to know about reliability,performance,problems,how are they on motorways and the kind of milages drivers can get out of the car.
with thanks Francis
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Is this the same 1.7TD Isuzu engine they put in the cavalier and earlier Vectras? If so, then the engine is great - very reliable and good mpg. Quite alot else went wrong in 7 years on my cavalier but the engine was fine until I sold at 160K.
Splodgeface
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Make sure you buy one with the Isuzu engine (black rocker box cover), as they are extremely reliable, I clocked over 100k with a Cavalier with no major problems.
The main source of trouble is the power steering pump which is driven off the end of the alternator and replacement is approx £250 for the combined unit.
Many of these engines fitted in Cavaliers were used as taxis and have clocked up 500k mileages with regular 6k oil & filter changes.!!
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How old were you thinking of going? Watched a dozen or so P & R plates, ex Police, make £1000 ish a piece on Monday, at Brighouse auction. CID cars, so not white, or roof full of holes. Seemed good value to me.
You might like to consider an estate, for better weight combination. If you click on AuctionView link on the menu, here, left.Find the 'LexDefence' section & you might find a well maintained ex MoD Merit, that suits you. N-R reg.
Also check www.towsafe.co.uk for a few hints n tips. You need to part with a few £$£$ for more in depth info,on this site, though.
VB
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Unless I'm mistaken, this is the engine that commonly suffers from valve seat sinkage leading to compression leakage and thus difficult cold-starting.
No great problem (professional valve lash resetting costs about £100 though) but worth remembering if you buy a car with this engine and find starting difficult. Many owners have wasted money in trying to cure this fault with new batteries, glow plugs, relays, and even starter motors and alternators.
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Only aware of poor starting on the old 1.6, no problems on the 1.7 vans, other than not being surprised at head gasket failure 70,000 miles ish.
VB
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A Forum Search confirms that earlier this year we established for sure the tendency for the Isuzu 1.7TD to suffer from poor starting due to valve seat recession and that this problem is well known in the repair trade.
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Yes, happened to my cav (above) but it was cured easily and no further problems, so worth being aware of but not worrying about.
Splodgeface
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... worth being aware of but not worrying about. >>
Agreed.
Unusually, in this instance 'valve seat recession' refers to the seats hammering into the head, not the valve head wearing into the seat. I wonder if any other aluminium head engines suffer this?
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Bought P Reg Astra Estate 1.7 td (GM Engine) with 103K on the clock in September last year. A glitch in May when the headgasket went has not diminshed my satisfaction with the car. I'd driven the Isuzu engined one and it feels like it's got a lot more oomph, but I'm quite happy with the GM Engine having seen yet another motorist pulled over today for speeding on our backroad into work.
It also towed a 1.5 tonne digger on a trailer up a 1 in 5 (although it did need first gear and got a bit hot doing it).
It's now at 121K, passed MOT after replacing two suspension bushes, and gets 40-42 mpg. Not many motorways round our way but on holidays it's kept pace with traffic, though it might take a bit longer to get there.
Personally I go for the estate over saloon/hatch but that's practicality for me.
Driving a diesel after a petrol took a bit of getting used to but a search of the site will yield diesel driving techniques and tips. There's also plenty of info here on the relative merits of diesel vs petrol.
Hope this helps
Chris TD
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