1999 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 16V Sport review from UK and Ireland

Start misfiring between 2000-4000 rpm, spoke to dealer who said it was a faulty ECU, which they had known about since manufacture; apparently a lot of cars were made like this. It had been subject to a recall but this had somehow not been communicated to me. As the recall was now over, to fix the problem they wanted me to pay approx £400 for a new ecu and another £100 to have it programmed and fitted all plus vat! Hardly good customer service when you know the car was made faulty.

I took it to a small independent garage who correctly diagnosed it as a faulty EGR valve which only cost £80, glad I never used the main dealer as after having my wallet emptied it would still be faulty.

Replaced both front wheel bearing which is expected on a car this age, still on original clutch which is good for 164,000.

The engine has used quite a lot of oil since I’ve owned it, apparently some of the 1.6 16V engines are just like this.

The offside rear arch has completely rusted out and needed replaced, never had this problem in such a new car before, looks like a case of poor rust proofing at the factory.

The offside read door lock also jammed and this required the remove and lubrication of rod that connected the motor to the lock.

Car handles nicely and is comfy on long journeys.

Performance is good, you leave most other cars if required, fuel economy is good aswell.

The interior is rather bland.