6th Jun 2011, 23:15

It's hardly the cars fault that you got backed into, so that's no problem with the car.

As for that tow hook cover thing on the front bumper, I replaced mine last year. Brand new part at Holden cost me $59 including GST! And then I had to get it painted! It's totally worth it though; without it looks horrible.

The most common cause for Astras to run rough etc is the throttle body becomes clogged. It simply needs cleaning and off you go. That revving at the lights should be fixed by cleaning that throttle body.

http://www.astraownersclub.com/documents/technical/TB.pdf

The above link has how to clean it yourself, this is very cheap to do either by a mechanic or yourself. You can blame the mechanic if he stuffs it up.

Holden and other mechanics try to replace all these random parts at your great expense to fix a simple problem. I highly recommend you try out getting the throttle body cleaned.

I know what it's like to have some not so "Astratastic" times with Astras. Mine is a 2002. I love it to bits. It doesn't have electric windows, which I have discovered is a blessing by reading around.

I had to get my aircon reconditioned at a cost of nearly 1k. Again, totally worth it. I figured, I love my Astra and had the money saved and going nowhere, so why not have everything working.

I currently have a leak from the radiator, so I'm getting a vibe that my wallet may also be leaking by the week's end.