1991 Vauxhall Astra L 1.4 from UK and Ireland
Summary:
It does the job well :)
Faults:
Only one problem so far - the clutch died! Nothing really major (1 hour to fit a new one) but it meant the car was immobile for a day. I knew this was going when I brought the car.
Nothing major other than that, just general wear and tear. The centre section on the exhaust parted company with the front section... a big bore exhaust sound for free! This is temporarily fixed now, but will need replacing soon.
Another problem (nothing major, although very irritating) was the instruments lights failing to work at night. I fixed this by linking the bulbs to a switched 12v+ supply and to a ground link. Only thing is that the lights ALWAYS come on now on the dashboard - at least it's safe.
General Comments:
Much improvement over my last Astra E (mk2 in Vauxhall speak - I used to work for them) which was a 1200 OHC. Much better ride, smoother engine and better trim, although the dodgy brakes are still there!
Impressive for it's class!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 21st September, 2002
18th May 2002, 07:22
I think this criticism of the 1.4 Astra is quite unfair. This man was just unlucky that he had trouble with his particular car, I myself have owned a very high mileage 1.4 Astra. The only problems I had were parts wearing out like the vacuum unit on my distributor etc.. But these didn't cost me anything like what this man paid because I had the confidence to do the work myself. and besides I wouldn't trust a garage to do any work for me, I've seen so much bodged work in the past (and I'm only 19 years old!).
I now have a 2 litre 16V Astra GTE. I wouldn't consider having another car. I am having some trouble with my current GTE because of dodgy work in the past and some parts are wearing out as they are getting old now, but in my opinion the Astra is a really great car. This one is a project for me as I bought it knowing there were problems and I like to spend time working on it. But I'd reccomend the Astra to anyone.
Scott Bouchard 18-05-02.