Faults:

Fuel gauge started to stick after 5000 miles - new instrument panel fitted at 1st service.

Mysterious white powder started to appear on drivers side door near handle every other day. Dealer polished the trim at 1st service and powder so far has'nt come back.

General Comments:

This car is very quick for a 1.6 (K&N Filter makes a massive difference) as well as the Irmscher Double Exhaust and Spoiler.

Corners beautifully due to sports suspension, although Pirelli P6000's are getting ready for a change soon!

Plain (or dull as most say) but hard wearing interior.

Sxi Package is quite good - electric windows, remote central locking, power steering bla bla bla, but would be nice to have ABS as standard, although the brakes are well balanced and firm.

Faults:

Nothing to date.

General Comments:

Excellent car which beats my old Astra Coupe SE2 on looks and performance.

A little lacking low down below 2000 but it doesn't take long to get above it and it really flies when you want to push it.

Handling and steering are in a different league to the last Astra - same size wheels and tyres, but so much better.

Much better than the SRi Turbo I tested - faster, smoother and better to look at both inside and out.

Faults:

Seat Belt pre-tensioner didn't work. New one ordered.

Emissions light kept coming on, new EGU valve ordered.

Deep squeal from brakes and the turbo seems to have stopped working, will talk to dealer about this when I get above parts fitted.

General Comments:

Handles very well in wet, no dry ground to test it on currently.

Good sound system, very loud.

Irmsher kit looks great, very expensive, but adds to the sporty exterior.

I.

Faults:

Got the car on 1st May 2003 as a company lease car. Now has 23K on the clock (24/12/03).

At about 18K miles there was a rattling sound coming from the radio when I switched the ignition on. Dealer blamed the hands-free phone kit, which was replaced by Vodafone, but the rattling still occurring. Awaiting replacement CD/radio under warranty.

Also a loud howling sound occurs sometimes when starting the car, and can persist when driving, especially when cold. Dealer has replaced cambelt rollers and tensioner under warranty, but I have heard a slight indication that the noise is returning the day after this work was done.

General Comments:

Nice car, doesn't handle as well as my Focus Zetec TD estate though.

Well equipped and quite fast though the engine needs to be revved hard to get best performance (16 valve).

Build quality lower than Focus.

I am likely to be doing about 100K miles in this car during the 2.5 - 3.0 years it will be with me so we'll see how reliable it will be.