Faults:

Mostly wear and tear, the car has been reliable enough if looked after, but still a few annoying problems;

Oil cooler leak, replaced for about £250 parts and labor.

Wheel alignment needed, it was eating through tyres.

Usual brake and suspension components renewed over the years at MOT's.

ABS sensor fault, fixed for pretty cheap.

Cosmetically looking very rough now, but it is 15 years old. No rust, just major paint fade and the interior plastics are breaking.

General Comments:

The Astra of this time period is a fine car if you just want economical transport. Low tax, insurance, service and repair costs, and with 60 mpg + you can see why these diesel Astra's are popular.

But forget about anything else - this is a very dull car. Even in SE trim (decent mid range spec) the car gets nice alloy wheels, comfy seating and electric windows and all the typical features of the time. But nothing fancy. Interior also isn't as spacious as you might think, and the boot/hatch space struggles to hold a family's weekly shopping.

It's pleasant to drive rather than exciting. Not very fast, but as mentioned, it more than makes up for that with super economy, I genuinely got 66 mpg on average from it once!

But I have to respect the Astra for what it is - an economy car that does not try to pretend to be anything else, so that is fine. My car is getting on in age and miles now and won't last forever, but I plan to keep it till it dies. It has been a very cost effective car.

Faults:

Clutch, oil and coolant leaks, turbo, various sensors, and so it went on.

The biggest issue was it needed a gearbox recondition. It started whining around the 90K mark. Gear lever was also loose and moving around in gear under acceleration.

General Comments:

Good points about this Astra? Good looking car, comfortable interior on this SE model, leather and electrics. Smooth to drive, 1.7 CDTi has decent power and is economical.

Bad points? Let me tell you that this has been one of the most unreliable cars I have ever had. I have had many cars, and they all lasted well over ten years and 150,000 miles with no major issues. This car however started coming apart early when I bought it back in 2019. The mileage was not that high either in my opinion. I have never had soo many problems with a car in such a short time. It was looked after well and in good condition when purchased, and all the problems started after the used warranty ran out!

Apparently very common, this terrible six speed M32 gearbox is fitted to many other Vauxhall's and other cars from this time period. Best avoided, it is a very unreliable gearbox when you do a bit of research, which I wish I had done before buying this car! I'm forced to keep mine now, I have spent too much money on it to scrap it. But at-least it seems OK for now.

Faults:

Gearbox! Gearbox! Gearbox!!!"M32" box - known problematic gearbox. Early bearing failure. Expensive to recondition or replace (over £1000 at any decent garage).

Clutch/flywheel.

Oil and coolant leaks.

The rest was just wear and tear. The car was serviced on time, bought used but apparently looked after with full history.

General Comments:

Wanted to like this car soo much, it was a major upgrade from my old Fiesta - the Astra in Vx Line SRi trim was sporty and fun to drive.

Interior well laid out, nice smooth controls.

Exterior styling very nice for a run of the mill hatchback. Mine was white with black alloy wheels.

1.7 CDTi was punchy and economical.

Loved it, just wish I had researched how bad the 6 speed manual gearboxes were on Vauxhall's from this time! If you test drive one of these with the intention of purchasing, and they have a moving gear-stick upon acceleration or metallic whine noise on the move (above 40 mph usually), walk away!

Sold mine last year - never again, will go back to Ford's!