19th Feb 2008, 20:19

I am surprised by the problems I read of here. I have an Astra here in the UK and my previous car was an Astra (company cars). I do a fair mileage and can report that the last Astra had only problems with short brake lamp life and just before I said goodbye to it at 110,000 miles the idle would go extremely high from time to time and there was a crankshaft oil seal weeping. My current Astra is a 1.7CDTI which has a bit over 80,000 miles on it, it has had a gearbox oil seal replaced and the air-con has failed. (may just need a re-gas). Apart from headlamp bulbs no other faults, and service interval is a reasonable 20,000 mile event. Oops I forgot, the ABS warning light occassionally comes on, I believe this is due to having new tyres on the front and oldish ones on the back, the computer only seems to notice the difference at high speeds. I have done probably a quarter of a million miles in Astras despite being a Ford fan, I actually would prefer another Astra identical to this one as a replacement, but I don't like the new one. Economy is excellent, I am an field engineer for a comms company and the car is heavily laden most of the time, yet still does over 60mpg at times despite the way I abuse it.

28th Feb 2008, 22:07

I have just sold my TS Astra 1999 which I owned from new. The car, although a stylish looking vehicle, never ran to my expectations of a new car. The car was well looked after for the entire time I owned it.

The car would not 'cruise' at 60 to 70 km per hour. It would sort of miss a bit - I'm not talking about coughing and spluttering - just not an even rev. This was reported at the Holden dealership who claimed that I must have put 'bad fuel' in the vehicle and charged me to have some engine conditioners put in the car. Anyway, this situation never improved on the car.

The whole time while the car was serviced by Holden it would regularly require brake pad replacement and disc machining. Not sure if this is a fault with the car or not, as when I starting using another mechanic the brakes did not seem to wear down as quickly.

Shortly after coming out of the new car warranty the air bag light came on. It was repaired by Holden for $700+, apparently a problem with the pre-tension on the seat belt on the passenger side.

As reported by others I also had a problem with the air conditioning, ignition, keys and muffler which proved costly.

Maybe my expectations are too high, but I felt the advantage of buying a new car should of been lower maintenance costs. This was not the case for me.

11th Mar 2008, 04:39

I bought a 99 Holden Astra brand new and to be honest I have been very happy. initially the only problem I experienced was with my original cd player... in the cold when I would start my car the radio would go on full blast... Holden claimed to fix it, but they didn't. I ended up changing the cd player and what do you know, problem fixed. The only other minor problems I have experienced have been blowing of light bulbs... nearly every astra I see driving has a brake light blown :-)

Recently I just clocked 220000 and my fuel pump died... not bad for the mileage. I will drive this car till it dies. Great car to drive... My only suggestion... don't get it serviced by Holden...

11th Mar 2008, 22:57

I purchased a 2001 Holden barina 4 months ago. The car has been going really well until recently. The emissions light won't turn off. I spoke with the Holden Dealer and they advised that there could be a number of reasons. I've taken very good care of my car since I've owned it. I had a full vehicle inspection done before I got the car and it was fully serviced. I don't even use the car daily.

4th Apr 2008, 03:20

I have a Holden Astra TS 2000 CD owned since new. I am rather surprised at all the horror stories I read here. I guess people whose cars run well seldom complain or write in.

Anyway, the car is now approaching 100,000km on the odometer. So far (touch wood) I've never experienced any of the issues my fellow astra owners have experienced. Since the car came off warranty in 2003, I've been sending the car for the yearly lube service @ K-mart Auto/Tyre or @ Midas (oil change, filter change & that's about it).

I did change the discs/pads once at about 60000kms and have changed the cam belt at about 70,000km. I've changed the battery once. Sent the car for the last major service at around 45000km. I've also recently sent the car to get the auto transmission flushed.

I've cleaned the throttle body myself.. once.

Overall, the car still performs quite well. Power seems a bit down from new (maybe need an injector clean) but still averages about 10l/100km. Brakes work well. The electronics seems fine. Twice in 8 years the car exhibited an inexplicable symptom of refusing to start. RACV was called and the verdict was flooded engine. Once driving down a road the engine cut out. Pulled car over, restarted and has not happened since.

I use a variety of fuels.. E10 blends, 91, 95 and once 98. Doesn't seem to make a difference in performance or economy.

Perhaps I'm lucky. The car I had was built in Belgium as opposed to the later Polish built (from what I've been told) Astra Classics.

Anyway, with all these horror stories floating around, I've got a second car (Toyota Camry) and am using the Astra as a second car so hopefully it'll last for some years yet.

15th Apr 2008, 06:53

I had the same problem as the guy with the Astra did with my odometer, which I got fixed taking it to a RACQ approved repairer. It was one of the instrument panel bulbs; cost about $15.00 for a bulb. Maybe can be replaced by yourself.

8th May 2008, 18:39

I am not surprised with most of the comments on this site, as I have experienced quite a few of them.

I bought my Astra CD 2001 in May of that year and was really happy with it. Until less than 2 years I had to replace tyres, brakes, and as some of you have stated this was with the Holden dealership so there lies some of the problem. I also had seal leaks supposedly, and they replaced them to find that suddenly I actually did have a leak which last year cost me $400. My cam belt also needed replacing last year, and some timing parts also went. The air conditioner died last year - my tip with this is to regularly get it regassed as the compresser will fail under pressure $1000.

My problem today is the engine warning light has come on and I cannot seem to see what everyone has had to do in regard to this. I am worried as every time something happens with this car, it's always expensive, and I have spent more on this car servicing and repairs than any other car I have owned, second hand or new!!! Any advice?