Faults:

Serious problems with the paintwork, which I believe was a manufacturing fault. Most of the car is suffering from rust.

Distributor cap and battery went at 185000 miles.

Only minor faults otherwise.

General Comments:

This car has been excellent, and is certainly a wolf in a sheep's clothing. It is very quick, and will pull and pull, even from 90mph.

The handling is predictable, although not excellent. It eats up sweeping country roads without a problem.

It is comfortable even on three hour journeys, and the cabin is very well laid out with quite a sporty feel.

In the two years that I owned it, it only broke down twice. I bought it for £200 and it has been so low maintenance. It has never dipped below 30mpg, and on long motorway runs has offered almost 40mpg.

This car is a bargain for anyone, but it is hampered by high insurance costs, due to being fast and highly nickable.

Faults:

General wear and tear, brakes, tyres, etc.

Rust in the rear arches, front wings and sills.

General Comments:

This car is quick. Mine has 193,000 miles on the clock and the engine has never been rebuilt. I recently had the car rolling road-ed and it made 155bhp on a totally standard engine (157bhp standard).

I also run the car on a 0-60 sprint and it made it in 8.3 seconds, but wheel spin was the main problem in 1st and 2nd gear. I didn't use 3rd as I didn't need it.

I've heard that the car doesn't handle very well as standard. When I bought mine the car was already lowered 60mm and handled very well, but was very uncomfortable. It also kept breaking the CV joints. It's now lowered 25mm and is much more comfortable until there's a pot hole.

Inside there's plenty of room and the seats are nice, but there's loads of rattles and the check unit only works when it wants to.

And I don't care what Jeremy Clarkson thinks about Vauxhalls, this car is very reliable and kills Fords except the Cossie.

Faults:

Back arches are a bit rusty.

Aerial is broken.

Tape player doesn't work.

Radio does though.

General Comments:

Bit of a dodgy interior, it is pretty damn quick though! Much nippier than I would have thought a 1300 Astra would be.

General Comments:

I paid less than £500 for this car. Speed like this should not come this cheap!

Drives like a dream, so fast you will wonder how they did it, this car is 12 years old!

If you can put up with the "stigma" of driving an older car there is NOTHING this fast for this kind of money, so why buy a newer "crippled" car that won't cut the mustard at the lights.

A few quid on minor tweaks and the sky is the limit as far as the Astra GTE goes!

Faults:

Problems with the fuel tank and line, fuel line needed replacing. Fuel tank started to leak as a result of a blocked breather - no air could get in and the tank tried to collapse itself.

Rust on the rear arches.

Digital speedo sometimes required a corrective 'bang'.

General Comments:

One of the nicest cars I've owned, very fast in a striaght line but can be a bit scary in fast bends - the back end is very light. I bought a MK3 8v Golf GTI after, a lot more refined but lacked the out and out pace of the Astra.

I'm thinking about another 'hot hatch' and Astra's are definitely on the list.