Faults:

Nothing severe actually.

When I bought it:

- Driving belt was too tight (previous owner), which caused a knocking sound. Easily fixed.

- Left mirror was broken. It's an electrical one, so you need to buy the whole mirror case with engine at once (except the colored cap and the mirror glass itself). Price 100€ (incl. cap & mirror glass & respray of the cap)

- A very little point of rust at the door just below the window. Seemed to be a known point and nothing to worry about.

When driving it:

- Getting the reverse gear isn't always easy. Giving a little bit of gas solves the problem.

- The warning light for the engine electronics flashes once in a while.

General Comments:

As my first own car, it is really good:

- The looks aren't out of date yet. People are surprised when I say it's 9 years old.

- You have a lot of space in the front (3-door version), even more than in my dad's Vectra (also 2000 version).

- Surprisingly big boot. Especially when folding down the rear seats.

- The 1.4i 16v is quick for a 1.4. 90hp makes you have power enough. Keep the car in high revs and you fly away! Runs at 150km/h (90miles/hour) without problems (except speeding tickets ;) ), but gets a bit noisy and would use a lot more petrol.

- Average fuel economy: 7.9l/100km or 29.8mpg (see: http://www.fuelly.com/driver/thibaut/astra-g) Could be less, but I like to push the pedal too much.

- Good sound system. I like the control buttons at the steering wheel.

- The rigid suspension makes you feel the road really good, which makes (high speed) cornering predictable.

Things not so good about the car:

- View backwards isn't that good when you're smaller like my girlfriend. Seat can't be set high enough. So parking backwards isn't that easy for her.

- Suspension is rigid, which is maybe not that comfortable for longer rides.

- Selecting the reverse gear isn't always easy.

- Small horn buttons. I'm just to slow finding them.

Faults:

So far, nothing has gone wrong with the car, it still handles as when I just bought it. If I really have to find one thing to 'complain' about, it will be the lock of the left front-door, it feels a little like it's coming loose. This is the most reliable car I've ever owned.

General Comments:

Great handling both in the city as on the open roads. You're always completely aware of what you're doing. On the field of performance, it sure misses something, bud I bought the 1.7L diesel for it's low consumption, not for it's performance. I manage to keep an average of 5.8L/100Km.

The seats are comfortable. I was surprised by the improvements made in the Astra. It has enough space for 4 passengers. Notice: My previous car was a 1975 Kadett 1200N wich explains why I was surprised.

Engine noises are low, wind noise is low as well. I even love the way it looks.

Faults:

Nothing serious, only "small" things that could not be solved by the dealer.

Rattle in passenger door.

Rattle in dashboard.

Rattle in passenger seat.

When opening or closing the doors, the windows go down and up an inch to avoid scraping the rubbers. The passenger window did not always wanted to go back up automatically. This problem was solved by the dealer.

General Comments:

The car is a beauty!

The performance is really nice despite the 'low' 125 bhp.

When you do not drive it to its limits, the car has a very low fuel consumption.

The comfort is super, a real Gran Tourisme car for cruising lots of miles.

But unfortunately, some small rattles bother me, and the dealer cannot find anything, despite multiple attempts.

Faults:

The electric window at the passenger side jammed after 100 km.

Clutch pedal is sticky.

CD-player malfunctioned from the start.

Water in the headlights.

General Comments:

Although suffering some minor faults since the beginning, the car is now perfectly in order. It runs very smooth and yet is very sporty and quick.

I'm very pleased with the car, and certainly the Caprie Yellow color is amazingly beautiful!

Faults:

- Bad tuning motor lead to pressure and starting problems after 30.000 km.

- Dynamo had to be repaired 4 times.

- Inside mirror fell off.

- Switch for warning lights could not be turned off.

- Motor gets overheated pulling a caravan over mountains.

- Small rust problems.

- Several leakages.

General Comments:

Positive :

- accelerating well with acceptable fuel consumption.

- rather silent.

Negative :

- Poor reliability (in 150.000 km, it let me down more than 5 times (compare to Mazda 626 that made me walk once (battery) in 200.000)