Faults:

Front and rear suspension have needed replacing - front done, rear to do this year.

Fan heater motor stopped working, but was able to get a new one from Vauxhall for only £15.00.

Central locking jamming a bit now, which sometimes does not let me open the doors, if I pull the driver's door handle to check that I have locked the car securely.

In the cold weather, cannot unlock the doors, and have had to on occasion, climb into the car, by opening up the boot, but then frighteningly enough, could not get out of the car, by any of the doors, when I had arrived at my destination.

General Comments:

Very comfortable to drive, and very spacious, for a hatchback. Probably the largest during the 1990's, which is very good for myself, wife and three kids, with car seats, pushchair and a full weeks shopping in the boot.

A bit low spec and gloomy dashboard, for a GL, but I have replaced the radio cassette player with a new radio cassette player and 12 disc CD system, which was very easy to put in, and only took my radio mechanic 1/2 an hour to do, and only cost me £120.00 to buy and install.

Very fast still, as I have pulled away and beaten cars such as Golfs, BMW's, Mercs, Jaguars and silly kitted up boy racers at the traffic lights, which makes me feel good, when I know that the other drivers in their new flash cars, believe that I have no chance in beating them, let alone pull away before them, from the traffic lights - HOW WRONG THEY ALL ARE - THANK YOU VAUXHALL! I also had a Astra Belmont, 1.3 L, and still managed to hit 110 top speed, in its highest gear - 4th gear!

I love the car, and like the way sensible people look at me in my car, probably because of how old it is and how good it still looks - firey red in colour.

My father, and all the different mechanics that have had the pleasure of servicing and maintaining my Astra, have all said I should never get rid of it, no matter what problems it may develop, as these problems are easy to fix, and very, very inexpensive - and all the parts I get are genuine Vauxhall new parts, which are very easy to still buy.

I would definitely recommend anyone who wanted a cheap runaround, to get one, because when you get one, you will not want to get rid of it!

By-the-way, anyone who has one, and is interested in talking to me and maybe meeting up and checking out each other's Astra, fell free to call me on 07988 39 32 44.

Faults:

Absolutely nothing at all. Tell a lie, she was a bit thirsty to begin with, but some magic tinkering by the Vauxhall boys fixed that.

General Comments:

Basic and boring, soul-less and bullet proof.

The styling seems to have been by passed at birth. The four speed box made for some interesting events, where's fifth? Where's fifth? I can't get her into fifth. That said, the gear box had incredibly long legs!

The seats were woeful and the interior so bland you could cry. But enough grizzling, the car is beyond reproach for carrying capacity, for a small estate, you can pack so much into it, brilliant! The vertical tailgate means no frustrating slopes, which reduce capacity.

The handling too, was surprisingly good, and the ugly little bus could be pushed around the twisties, making cheesy grins a common occurrence.

The reliability was fantastic, like the sun rising in the morning!

An absolutely excellent, cheap, capacious car with no nasty faults or habits. Got no dough and need to go? GET ONE!