TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Well as I am about to part with mine I thought I would give a detailed review of how I have found the car over the last 44/45 months.

So this is the 120ps version of the 1.9 16v CDTI engine in sports hatch form.

Age:- 6 years, 4 months old.
Miles:- 70,000.

So I have had 44-45 months of driving my little Astra (and 54k miles), so I needed somewhere nice to be and the Design spec isnt too bad, auto lights and wipers, anti glare rear view mirror, half leather seats, 16 inch alloys, remote radio controls on the steering wheel, electric windows and mirrors, front fogs, and basically not a bad place to be.

Build quality:-
Better than you would expect, having had an Astra G (this one being an Astra H), the materials were of a far better quality, fake carbon fibre and "nice to touch" softer plastics inside, it wasnt bad
Paintwork was good, no orange peel anywhere, everything was in place and nothing had fallen off, no rattles even at 6.5 years of age.

Interior:-
The interior has no real marks on it, even at 70k miles, it still looks like new, no wear on the drivers bolster, no nasty scratches on the plastics, all in all its held up quite well, no doubt with a dog/kids/wife and a ring on the finger it would be a different matter (marks on the gear lever and steering wheel caused by rings).
The cabin can be a little dark in the sports hatch due to the rear screen not being the biggest, otherwise its not bad.
So for the interior, im very impressed with it

Exterior:-
No real issues here, a few age related marks but considering most of the miles done have been motorway miles, there are not that many stone chips.
The fog lights on the other hand did not fair as well, both have cracked lenses, one due to a stone, the other due to snow whilst getting up the drive (hot lense, cold snow = cracked glass).

Servicing:-
Well these 1.9 diesels can be a little tempremental, the cambelt is due at circa 70k but due to the top quality water pump, its recommended a change before then (done at the 50k service), this was probably the most expensive part of the servicing as she needed all the fluids doing at the same time, set me back around £700.

Driving:-
Its not a bad car to drive to be honest with you, the original spec Bridgestone Turenza ER300's are good both in the wet and dry, the car grips very well and the brakes are excellent (still on the originals, though they are now close to needing to be changed).
The one big issue with the sports hatch is the rear veiw, its a little small so the view through the rear is restricted, good all round views otherwise.

Faults over the last 54k miles:-
Ok, the biggie really, I suppose the major fault is the ESP light, yup a little naff sensor in the ABS unit which causes you total grief, its a fairly common fault and buying a replacement part isnt cheap (Vauxhall quote £1317ish ) though there are places that will replace just the sensor for a couple of hundred quid, but you need to send them your ABS unit and they send the same unit back to you repaired, no 1 for 1 swap.
I still have this light on, its not an issue and doesnt affect the driving of the car.
My only other "big" fault was the boost solenoid, an 80 quid part that went wrong, was a little scary driving along and then suddenly losing boost but that was replaced under warranty, other than that there were only a few wear and tear items replaced, well the a/c radiator after it was punctured by a stone (meant to be fairly common), a rear spring that snapped and a driveshaft.

Overall:-

I like the Astra H, she has been a good car, given pretty much the mpg that vauxhall quote, though not the most refined diesel unit, its more refined than most other units in its class, and she has been very reliable as cars go, so I would recommend one though the 1.7cdti doesnt suffer as many issues as the 1.9 unit can, the 1.9 is the nicer engine to have. A good all round car that has done me well on my motorway commuting and the odd really long distance drive

Herbie.

I test drove the 150 bhp SRI CTDi recently. Didnt like it at all. I was expecting it to be really punchy/torquey but it was rather flat. Sport button had no effect either. Also steering felt really numb.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

It should be very punchy in the mid range for its engine size, above 2k you should feel it go, but its not scoob like torque but its not bad either, just remember that diesels deliver their power differently to petrol engined cars, so if you are new to diesels its going to feel totally different, and you will feel that turbo lag more.
Steering definately shouldnt feel numb, weighty on mine with pretty good feedback, I would probably put the numb feeling down to cheap tyres tbh.

Tony

P1Fanatic

After my first ever car was a nova which always had something wrong (never stranded me though I must admit) and then the HG went in my Astra G after only 60k taking the Cylinder Head with it - I would never touch a vauxhall again.

Herbie.

Yeah Ive had a TDi before, A3 1.9 130 sport and it was an excellent drive. As the Astra had 20 more BHP I was expecting it to be just as good, if not better. Was really disappointing, didnt feel near as responsive as the Audi.

Maybe the Astra I tested had a fault, drop in boost etc. There was a fair reek coming out of the exhaust for a the first few minutes of the drive.

I ended up buying a 2008 Fiesta Zetec S 1.6 TDCi instead, felt much better on the road imo.

I really wanted to like the Astra too as they are good looking cars.

Mifo

iTrader: (10)

My parents had an 09 zafira with the 1.9 turbo engine , I have to admit it was pretty rapid. Quite a nice drive and comfortable as well.
Im no vauxhall fan but they have definatly made big improvements over the last 5 years or so.

They have now just ordered the new astra estate which looks pretty nice.