Faults:

Nothing really. Only that the alternator belt that charges the battery is loose, therefore is slipping. Therefore when the engine idles the battery light on the dash flickers, sometimes the engine stalls. But when moving it is fine. It just means that I have to rev the engine a little when at traffic lights.

Other than that the 2.0 litre engine is built like a tank and therefore should last forever. But I have to admit that it looks like a bad boy to fix if it did fail as it is an eco-tec, and it is big and complex. I think the engine is a garage job, not something you can fix yourself, therefore will empty your wallet big time so look after it.

General Comments:

This car seriously goes!!!

By looking at it you would never realise the power it has. With 136bhp, this is a warrior in disguise. But it still looks gorgeous with the alloys and extra CDX features.

This car will easily see off the stodgy Golf GTi and the TDi Diesel brigade, but I suggest to de-badge the 2.0 16v on the back to avoid traffic light grand prix.

The 2.0 16v engine makes motorway driving a breeze. Also because it is an eco-tec you can expect it to be reliable. Its just the 1.4 and 1.6 eco-tecs that tend to have problems as I found with my last car.

Also I was extremely surprised by how economical this car is. For the performance this car does 36mpg which is brilliant.

Interior is superb with sporty black dash, twin air-bags, air-con, and electric everything. But this is more stuff that could go wrong.

Comes with alarm and immobilizer as standard so this is pretty secure.

Nothing really bad to say about it. I traded in my Astra 1.6 16v sport for this and I didn't want to settle for anything less, and I didn't. This car is fab, but I loved my Astra sport to bits and reluctantly had to give it up as it had big problems with the eco-tec engine.

One thing I will say is that this car does not have the comfort and sporty feel of the Astra sport that I wish it had.

One last thing is that I wasn't impressed with Vauxhall garages. They have brilliant facilities, but they are so dear. The mechanics are younger than my sister, and she is only 15. My last car had something really wrong with it and I spent so much money just for them to tell me that they don't know what is wrong. Also when I had new tires their mechanics forgot to screw on 1 of my wheels!

Faults:

Nothing really.

The Exhaust silencer went which meant the exhaust blew cotton wool like wadding out of it.

The garage I Purchased it from replaced the WHOLE exhaust including catalytic converter for FREE.

General Comments:

The car is wonderfully designed.

Extremely comfortable.

Only had one owner from new. all service records are present backing up mileage.

Looks brand new, previous owner garaged it from new, not even a sign of rust present.

In a nice silver/grey metallic.

Cannot fault anythign about it. So much better than my previous car, a ford escort.

Would never have another ford. rusted too much. the Escort was only 1 year older.

Faults:

Power Steering pipe cracked round 70,000

Lights behind heater controls don't work.

General Comments:

The handling could be better.

Only real luxury is power steering, but that just means theres less to go wrong.

The 1.4 even though it has only 8 valves is quite perky and will cruise happily at 70-80mph without too much fuss although any faster and the engine noise intrudes heavily.

It's an economical engine giving 40mpg or up to 50+ on a relaxed cruise.

The interior is a little dark, but is a comfortable place to whilst away the miles and has worn the mileage superbly.

Overall I find my Astra a very decent, refined car and has never let me down.