Vauxhall Astra Hatchback (1991 - 1998) 1.6i Arctic II 5d (1998/R) Owner Review

What does this car say about you?

That I don't have a great deal of cash to spend on buying or servicing a car, prefer to put the cash to practical rather than blinging ends, and I don't give two, er, "hoots" about the image so long as it's guaranteed to get me there. (I do like what little, idiosyncratic style the car has of its own, though; the shape is easy on the eye, the half-oval instruments are something different nowadays, the dash and console are understated but organic and neither tacky nor boxy, and i fancy taking a pot of black hammerite to the tailgate of any replacement to replicate the distinctive bold stripe of plastic panelling across the back, that's carried on around the car by the rubbing strips and not 100% complete colour coding on the bumper)

What do your friends / family / neighbours think of the car?

Friends do sometimes take the mickey, prompted by Jeremy Clarkson, but I don't care (much) - it's had less trouble over 4 years than their Escorts, Fiestas and Rovers in shorter periods, and no breakdowns that have caused personal danger or needed an AA call out (unlike theirs...) even though "that's right, it's a Vauxhall". It carries five plus luggage, and can just about keep up with a loony mate and his 1.8 16v Mondeo with a bit of high rev abuse thru the Midlands and down to the Gower - and STILL turn in 34mpg across the whole trip. Family are either indifferent, or mildly supportive. Mum was part of group recommending it in the first place; Dad admires the company's under-tuned but therefore unburstable engines;

Would you buy this car again and why?

In an instant, particularly because it's one of the few ways I'll afford something of a similar spec that isn't a wreck. I almost DID buy a 16v, lower mile replacement but was beaten to the punch; and will likely be looking at an absolute direct replacement tomorrow unless a newer gen Astra or suitable rival model meets approval before then. It's become, despite my initial resentment at it replacing the beloved but dying Polo, as comfortable, familiar and usable as a well-broken-in pair of trainers and I know that an identical one should offer the rock solid dependability, comfort and reasonable performance I need for commuting to a fairly isolated workplace 15 miles away on busy, fast roads.

What are you likely to buy next?

Same again; similar spec Astra of same or next newer generation; similar size, spec & age car from rival maker, e.g. Escort/Focus/Mondeo, Megane, Xsara, Bravo/Brava, 306/406, etc - ABS (as accident happened partly due to sliding straight-on when trying to both brake and evade the at-fault driver), AC (so so useful and not just in summer), Fogs (handy on country lanes or pea-souped A-roads), 50~100k miles, 7~12 years old. This one being still so mint after 11 years living outside and driving on often salty, damp roads has been an education in late-90s cars being far better made and resilient than their 80s forebears.

Type of dealer you bought from?

Didn't buy from a dealer

Did you buy this car new?

No

What price did you pay?

£2,250

When did you buy the car?

January 2005

Did you get a good deal and why?

Oh yes. ~25,000 miles at 7 ish years old, only £2250. Had been very well kept (annual dealer service regardless of miles) and was effectively less than 3 years old with decent spec. Previous owner only selling because of their own age.

Is there any special reason why you bought this car?

Needed to replace slow/small/crumbling "first car" (1991 1.0 Polo) with something a bit quicker, roomier and more solid, having saved up the cash. Family friend recommended to try this one, being a good spec, low miles and quite a bargain. Gave it a test drive and it just "fit right" immediately - pokey, comfortable and easy to handle even having come from what was basically a 4 seater go-kart with a roof.

What was the dealer like?

Private seller. Very nice people :)

What's it like to drive?

Nice and easy, quite forgiving. A bit stodgy when driven hard and starts to get unpredictable (will it understeer or oversteer?) right on the edge, but you have to be severely overdoing it - as i did in younger years - to discover this. With spirited but sane driving it's more controllable, doesn't even suffer too much snap lift-off oversteer, and you can still have some fun on a decent road. It's maybe not the most powerful at the top end, but is a world apart from the 1-litre I moved up from, and has responsiveness and meaty very-low-rev torque (gearchanges forced by hills are an event, much as for Harley riders) that I think it might be difficult to match with a modern fly-by-wire engine (the 1.9CDTi in my courtesy car is massively faster).

What's it like to park?

Very easy - all round visibility and mirror coverage is pretty good, power steering isn't "city light" but is strong enough to allow one-handed "palming" of the wheel even at low speed, torquey engine and easily balanced clutch means you can glide - or inch - gently into a space without using any throttle so there's little chance of slipping and having it run away from you, and if it comes to it the bumpers are very strong and pliable (unless you whack it on something hard at *exactly* the wrong place e.g. a mount point) so you can squeeze into a borderline too-small space with the odd gentle touch without worrying about damage. Doors aren't too thick despite side impact bars, so getting in and out of the car itself in tight spots isn't too much of a struggle.

Have you had any problems with the car?

Head gasket started leaking slightly about 45,000 miles. Replaced it myself along with cambelt, not too difficult even for an underequipped amateur tinkerer, engine was fine from then on. Seperate parking incidents with "invisible" low posts destroyed a front bumper and marked a rear plus dented a rear panel. Tracking ended up bad enough to ruin a pair of front tyres around 60,000 but probably due to hitting a massive pothole some months earlier. Some dashboard lights burnt out, headlight flasher failed (but dip switch still works), one glovebox hinge broke, drivers seat back adjust wheel a bit loose, rear wiper axle needs tightening, heater matrix maybe needs a good dry-out, and rear brakes needed a clean and adjust to pass last MOT.

What's most practical about your car?

Runs like a swiss watch, so much so that you end up taking it for granted. All under-bonnet fluid check/top up points well highlighted and labelled. Good interior design out interior & boot that make best of admittedly average amount of available space. Dashboard layout is simple but intuitive (very chunky controls, easily learned so that you don't have to look at them) and puts e.g. 2007 Vectra to shame. Easy to handle and to park so nipping into town 10 minutes before the shops shut and grabbing a small spot on a favourite "secret" backstreet free parking place is practically second nature. Also fairly easy to do simple servicing and repairs on it, although replacing the air filter remains a surprising pig of a job, and the exception that proves the rule.

Favourite gadget, option or accessory?

Air conditioning, which i wasn't expecting to ever use. Still didn't make massive use of it, but it proved phenomenal for demisting the screen on a soggy day... 2-axis height adjustment on drivers seat makes it possible to get a perfect position with a half hour of experimental tweaking... and the otherwise silly thing of an exterior air temperature sensor is a simple joy that you don't appreciate until it's been broken. Other than that and the fairly oldskool stereo, it doesn't have much in the way of gadgety toys - which can be a good thing depending on how you look at it all.