sensible, practical and cheap to run family car……..

[The Dogfather]

That’s what I’ve just bought. I’ve spent the last few days looking for a replacement for the MX5.

We wanted a cheap as cheerful car to replace the Mazda, I started looking at the budget end of the market but the cars were either too high mileage or didn’t have the fuel economy I was after. I then started to look at new or nearly new city cars. I took a Fiat 500 1.2 lounge out for a drive and was mortified by how slow it was.

I then decided to look at 2 year old cars, narrowed it down to Fiesta Zetec S, Focus Zetec TDCI and the Insignia all of which will do +60mpg and were in budget. I then popped down to a local garage to test drive an Insignia. Whilst I was there they were dropping off some new shape used Astras (5 door). Anyway long story short, I've bought an new shape Astra CDTI SXI. Its a bit dull looking but its got a pleasant interior, lots of toys, gets 62.7 combined and £30/year road tax. The best bit though is it’s the 165PS model so it can fairly shift.

Could have been a Fiat Panda, instead its a bit of a Q car.

[Craig]

My neighbour has the 1.6 petrol Sri and its gutless, he's wishing he had spent the extra on the diesel. Nice inside tho and they are great value ;)

[Stewart]

Must be very similar to that car I won last year for that extended test drive that never worked out ;)

Best of luck with it.

[N16SHP]

Glad you went for the diesel, we test drove the petrol and it was really grim. Didn't go anywhere and had shocking MPG. Apart from the engine, I really like the Astra. If they had a better selection of engines, we may have been driving one instead of our Countryman.

[Big Col]

Totally agree with you Paul mate. The outside is rather uninspired but the interior is a nice place to be. I was tempted by the Astra too before bitten by the MINI bug again.

[MINIme:)]

we're missing vitals here :frown: :idunno: ...... what colour is it? it's important. Can't visualise it without the colour!

[The Dogfather]

Its a bit like this

Inside Outside
3989 3990

[AndyP & Lenore]

Lenore's first car was an Astra Mark 1. They haven't changed a bit. :thumbs up:

http://blogs.chesterchronicle.co.uk/cheshire-memories/Astra%20Mk%201.jpg

[The Dogfather]

I loved the Mk1 Astra, great car.

[Stewart]

Love the colours of the old cars I grew up with. I mean what colour is that! Red,Brown, Orange :) or what ever was left in the Factory…..In saying that I’m still fond of the wee Nova 1.2 I used to dart about in.

[AndyP & Lenore]

Lenore's was fire engine red. Same colour as my MK 1 Nova. :)

[Stewart]

Yeah same Red Mk1 Nova here, the wee arches made it look sporty :)

So long ago I’ve only got old school actual printed pictures of it some place. "B53 CNS"

[ianking]

I had to bring a 2012 Astra 5dr SRi 1.6 petrol back from northern ireland for my dealer friend. The SRi trim was nice with comfortable seats and a good driving position, held the road well etc. The 1.6 was useless and I remember saying that if this car had a good BHP diesel in it then it would be a very good going thing.

Sounds like a good car you have bought. 165 bhp disel will be no slouch.

[The Dogfather]

Its certainly no slouch, I got a real shock when I looked down at the speedo after pulling away from a roundabout.

[Crombers]

Its certainly no slouch, I got a real shock when I looked down at the speedo after pulling away from a roundabout.

This is promising stuff, you'll be an ideal candidate for a fuel gauge trainer :yes nod:

[ELFMAN]

Yeah same Red Mk1 Nova here, the wee arches made it look sporty :)
So long ago I’ve only got old school actual printed pictures of it some place. "B53 CNS"

I was a Vauxhall Man for years (before I discovered the Pug 106 XSi/GTi). My first car 'post Mini' was a RED Mk1 NOVA 1.0. It was cheap and cheerful, but painfully slow coming from a 95bhp Mini :frown:. Traded it for a NOVA SR (red again - with the lower half in that graphite-coloured vinyl) which was a great wee car, and then traded that for a new 1.4 Metro GTA, which I soon swapped for my Dad's NOVA GTE - which I had convinced him to buy a couple of years earlier - crafty wee b*****d! :smilewinkgrin: It had a cracking engine, which the rest of the car sometimes struggled to keep up with, but I had many happy miles in it.

Just realised that I seem to get into one make of car and 'work my way up' to the sportier models, then tune them up! eg Nova 1.0, SR, GTE + bits... Peugeot 106 XSi (x2 - 2nd one tuned), then the 106 GTi + many more bits. Then MINI COOPER, R53 COOPER S + bits, R56 S + bits... (though the R56 isn't necessarily a 'step up', depending on how I feel at the time!).
I've blown it now by not tuning my Mum's old 106 and trading it in for a Skoda Fabia... so to keep my automotive universe intact, I'll obviously have to buy a GP at some stage - and tune it!!! :hand: Hi William! :smilewinkgrin:

Enjoy the Astra Paul! :thumbs up:

[The Dogfather]

This is promising stuff, you'll be an ideal candidate for a fuel gauge trainer :yes nod:

No, because if I was still accelerating the gauge could be misreading. ;)

[Crombers]

No, because if I was still accelerating the gauge could be misreading. ;)

Ok ok, no sniggering at the back ............. :rolleyes:

[The Dogfather]

Enjoy the Astra Paul! :thumbs up:

I’m sure I’ll be bored with the moment I drive it off the forecourt.

[Crombers]

I’m sure I’ll be bored with the moment I drive it off the forecourt.

How is it you spell ........ day ja view ??!!??!! lol

[MINIme:)]

How is it you spell ........ day ja view ??!!??!! lol

Not like that :frown:

[Big Col]

How is it you spell ........ day ja view ??!!??!! lol

Not like that. :frown:

[Crombers]

Mmmmmmm , fishing rod time ............ or you two taking the p!sh :rolleyes:

[Big Col]

Aww come on. Do you see what I did there? Déjà vu! Anyone...<watches tumbleweed> I'll get me coat.

[ELFMAN]

I’m sure I’ll be bored with the moment I drive it off the forecourt.

Oh, that's nice. Well, enjoy your boredom Paul! :thumbs up: and thanks for sharing it with us :yawn: :smilewinkgrin:

[Crombers]

Aww come on. Do you see what I did there? Déjà vu! Anyone...<watches tumbleweed> I'll get me coat.

Ahhhhnh right you are, with you now ................ must try harder :smilewinkgrin:

Must try to resist upsetting the speeling fratunity in feture, ive saw what it can seen :Whistle:

[Big Col]

:D

[d.oxley72]

Never really cared for Astras, but when I was a kid I did think the MK2 GTE was nice, mainly for the digital speedo.

[Stewart]

A few friends had the Manta one in Black and one in Gold. It was a strange one.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIAL/editorial_images/non_imported/opel_manta.jpg

I never quite liked it. I’d have bitten your hand off for a Nova GTE all the same but I'd have passed on the Manta.

[The Dogfather]

The Mk2 was a dreadful car.

The Manta was very old school, RWD as well so a lot of fun as long as you could opposite lock quickly enough.

[jonnie]

Never really cared for Astras, but when I was a kid I did think the MK2 GTE was nice, mainly for the digital speedo.

digital dash was cool.

[The Dogfather]

I’d love an mk1 Manta

3992

3993

[Stewart]

Yeah the Manta was not the best at going round corners. The Gold one got traded in for a MG Montego turbo (just like this even the right colour) in the end after a good few years and my mates black one just fell apart if I remember till he got it taken off the drive for scrap.

http://www.classiccars4sale.net/images/sized/images/uploads/mit/oym_mg-023-240x160.jpg



I don’t mind the old cars now and like seeing them on the road. Such a nice change to the Euro Box’s that by legislation on safety look similar. Apart form a classic Austin 3000 I’ve always wanted a Black 3lt Capri like my mate had way back as it was just a nuts car and I always loved the look of it. like the look of the black Opel above :thumbs up:

[The Dogfather]

Got the car and I've driven it both in 'Miss Daisy style' and in anger.

At a steady 60mph along the A1 it was doing 71.3mpg (15 miles fairly flat) - so its economical.

There’s absolutely no sense of speed whilst you’re driving and the speedo isn’t the easiest to read. The digital readout is a must otherwise you'd go through every 30 zone at 40+.

Its got Stop Start but it never cut in once, maybe its too cold.

The steering is a bit numb but there seems to be a lot of grip, probably just as well given missing of sense of speed.

The engine is a bit noisy at low speeds but with the excellent stereo on you don’t notice the clatter. The stereo is a real surprise as the Vauxhall’s I’ve had previously have been a bit pants. Its a big step up from the Mazda’s Bose system.

The engine has a stupid amount of torque, I accidentally made the tyres squeal simply by giving it full throttle in 2nd gear whilst moving at 15mph, the road was bone dry as well. Probably gave the cyclist I was going around a bit of a shock :blush:

On the motorway is quiet, comfortable and perfectly pleasant. :yawn:

[Craig]

Sounds like a great deal then ;)

[The Dogfather]

Jackie’s happy with it so job done.

[Craig]

Jackie’s happy with it so job done.

I think all men would agree when her indoors is happy, we are all happy ! ;)

[Crombers]

We are meant to keep them happy!!!!!!!!

:ragin: :shut up: :thumbs up:

[The Dogfather]

Well, here’s something weird.

The car has SXi badges on it, its actually an SRi on the documentation. The Astra J was never made as an SXi either, turns out whole batch of SRis left the factory with the wrong badges on. At first I thought I’d been conned but as it turns out there’s loads of post on the internet about the mix up.

[Craig]

Well done vauxhall !! :lol:

[MINIme:)]

Bonus! :thumbs up:

[The Dogfather]

I think I managed to pull a fast one on vauxhall dealer. :hand:

When I sold the MX5 I said I would be putting my summer wheels back on. I thought the tyres were OK as it got through the MOT just before, I was asked did they have 3mm of tread. I remember seeing the wear bars when I took them off and there was a good bit of tread before the bar so I said yes. In hindsight I should have checked properly.

I gave them the summer wheels to put on themselves as we had snow, and arranged I would collect the winter wheels later.

Got a phone call a couple of days later saying that the summer tyres would all need replacing as they were too worn, I went down to check, a sure enough the wear bars I'd seen had 3mm but the outside of every tyre was worn to the legal minimum. The dealer wanted a contribution towards the cost. I gave him the option of taking the car as is with the 17" proper alloys, taking the car with a set of corroded 16s with winter tyres and plenty of tread or I could hand the Astra back.

He picked the proper alloys and worn tyres.

Wasn't intentional but I think thats the first time I've come away from a car deal thinking I might have done better than I thought.

[ELFMAN]

I think thats the first time I've come away from a car deal thinking I might have done better than I thought.

Combined with the 'Badge Mix-up' it's a miracle Paul - this sort of thing never happens to normal people - we should have you stuffed and put on a plinth to commemorate this remarkable feat! :smilewinkgrin: Most folks come away from a 'Trade-in situation' feeling slightly 'used' - and not in a good way... :frown:

[The Dogfather]

Combined with the 'Badge Mix-up' it's a miracle Paul - this sort of thing never happens to normal people - we should have you stuffed and put on a plinth to commemorate this remarkable feat! :smilewinkgrin: Most folks come away from a 'Trade-in situation' feeling slightly 'used' - and not in a good way... :frown:

Once in over 20 transactions, plus they got my lovely MX5 and I've got an Astra so they still get the points decision.

[ELFMAN]

Once in over 20 transactions, plus they got my lovely MX5 and I've got an Astra so they still get the points decision.

You're right Paul, I hadn't thought it through. Consider yourself unstuffed and un-plinthed :sad: