Faults:

Inner CV joint.

Light in the electronics dashboard.

ABS sensor (which was only a broken wire)

General Comments:

What a machine, I bought this animal for £230 and it blows rs turbos into next week. These cars fly and don't cost the earth to run. Parts are easily accessible. I am in the middle of dropping a 2.0 litre turbo lump in now so beware all cossie owners lol. A real piece of engineering brilliance Go buy one!

Faults:

Electric window motor required overhaul.

Water pump failed at 100,000 miles.

Replacement thermostat at 90,000 miles.

General Comments:

Good value for money.

1.4 litre engine gave better performance than I thought; also very reliable and didn't burn any oil at all. Never broke down in the 4 years I owned the car.

Distributor very prone to filling with water at first - solved by wrapping it in cling film.

Replacing thermostat requires removal of cambelt - a complete pain.

Electric window motors at reasonable prices very hard to get hold of and tended to fill with muck, but the motors are easily cleaned out.

Seats a bit saggy, but pretty comfortable.

My Astra was broken into twice; fit an alarm if you can because it's so easy to get through the doors with a screwdriver and 30 seconds to spare.

Faults:

The faults have been minimal and expected due to age and reputation.

Rusty rear wheel arches.

Alternator.

Wheel bearings.

And the drivers side seatbelt locked up.

General Comments:

It's a very quick car, its in fact a 2.0 16v body with a 2.0 8v engine. I own a 1999 golf mk4 but I bought one of these as I always liked them as a kid, they are very appealing to thieves and straight off need an alarm, my car is in very good condition for age no rips in interior all electrics are fine. but id be very careful a lot of dogs about and the people who sell them can be questionable to say the least, I had to travel over 100 miles to find mine, but it was worth it. Things against them are 90% of them have been previously stolen or botch jobs or neglect make them dangerous at times. Get one that doesn't need doing up because you'll never win the battle, but accept rusty rear arches cos it will be hard to find one without. You've got to have one so go on they're as cheap as chips!

Faults:

The starter motor played up all the time, and reconditioned ones from Vauxhall were no better. This was eventually resolved with a brand new one.

There is an oil leak, of which the origin cannot be traced.

The wires on the back of the dash melted, and had to be rewired by a specialist.

General Comments:

I purchased this car as I had an 8 valve version before, with very few problems.

The car is a dream to drive and is very fast. The handling is better than an 8 valve version, but the suspension could do with tweaking to make it better.

I would recommend this car as cheap fast fun.

Parts are easy to come by and keeping this car on the road should not be a problem.

The car is insurance group 15, so younger people may find running costs a little expensive on the wallet.

Faults:

Haven't had too many problems.

Just usual stuff like the dashboard lights and rear wiper don't work.

General Comments:

I love my Astra, I paid £300 for it and it's immaculate. I've done 17,000 miles in it and it hasn't let me down once. Can't wait to get some big wheels and some tune in it.