Mk4 Astra SXi info please!

Soldato
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On my outings today, had a look over some focus' (foci?, lol). Overall really didnt like the interior, the exterior, the driving position or the price premium.

So as i was pootling home slightly disgruntled i rolled into the vauxhall dealership down the road. Noticed at the back, a W plate 1.8 Sxi in blue, 3 door. Quite liked the look of it so got the guy out, had a seat and poke around inside, really quite liked it. The interior is by no means inspiring, but looked alright and was a little bit bigger than my 306.

One thing i did like about it was, it was mint. It had 30,000 miles on it, had been owned by an old geezer who just recently traded it in for the new astra, and it felt a very 'genuine' car. The chap i was talking to there, had originally sold it to the old geezer! Sceptical as i was though, its true, the receipt was in the service history and has this guys name on it. 100% dealer servicing aswell. Its up for £4300, which looks to me about right, considering its a vauxhall dealer and the mileage.


So, this is looking a real possibility for me, reading the parkers review overall its gets a decent score, and the 1.8i engine should just about be enough for me.


Now i just want to know, any owners on here? Is there a massive service waiting at 40k or something? Things to look for when i go for a proper poke around (and test drive) tomorrow?


I understand i can get a lot more for my money privately, but my mum is very worried about shifting my car, buying a car privately and what not. Which is fair enough its not something i've done, but i think this might actually be worth the dealer price. I'm sure i can get a good warranty out of him, and an average trade in on mine.


Any info guys?

Oh and last but not least, what oem bodykits were there for it :rolleyes:


TYVM!
 
Caporegime
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£4,300 for a W plate :eek:

Don't think I'd pay anywhere near that for a MK4 astra of any type let alone an SXi.

EDIT: As for bodykits, you can't get better than the genuine Irmscher kits for the astra, looks quite nice :)
 
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Hi

You won't be dissapointed with the MK4 Astra IMHO. Some people will spew that you've knocked the Focus on the head but the Astra was the far better car apart from (as you say) the interior...which I actually prefer to the Focus (but i'm basic!) Lotus tuned suspension and chassis was a nice touch, although MY99 / 00 Vauxhall knocked their direct links with Lotus on the head and altered the MK4 chassis a little, but not to any detriment.

It should be up for a Cambelt change at 40k (this was originally 80k but Vaux revised the service schedule for the MK4 Astra). This will come in at about £220 just for the change but it does include everything and the parts and labour will be covered by a further 12 month period.

1.8 on a W plate IIRC was the change over year for the 115ps or 125ps output. Check which yours is as the 115ps was a tad gutless considering its weight.

Massive following over at www.astra-sport.co.uk - they will answer anymore specific questions you have.

Irmscher produced lots of kits for the MK4 Astra (inc. performance upgrades and suspension, exhaust, etc). A lot of people chose to add the GSi front bumper (which is stunning) and an Irmscher rear bumper. These come up on ebay quite a lot. GSi side skirts look nice but cost a bomb because they have a seperate piece which travels up the rear arch. Irmscher side skirts look the best but another great tuner for the GM range was Steinmetz. Some of thier body kit stuff is awesome, but also quite Pricey..

A chap called Steve at LMF (Leicester Motor Factors) get a lot of Irmscher stuff and sells it at very very good prices. He is a vaux motor factors, so its worth looking him up. IIRC you can get his details quite easily through google.

HTH, but if you need more, then let me know
 
Soldato
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Yeah yeah, 4k for a 6 year old car etc. etc.

But hey, it was as new. I dont mind paying that bit more for it, considering the 12mth guarantee/warranty aswell.

Its in line with the parkers guide price though.

tada8gu.jpg


And thats at 50k miles.

Not so interested in people persuading me to other cars at the moment. I've gone thorugh so many options now and this is coming up trumps right now. Mianly, my mum's happy with it :o .
 
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Soldato
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I've got one on a 52 Plate. Fantasic cars, there great. nice and nippy round town and good on the motorway!

I can't recommend them enough. I really dont like my dads focus, the ride is too high and its too refined. With the astra you actually feel that your going 90 and you feel the acceleration. The ride position is quite low for a hatch back in my opinion.

Good cars! :)
 
Soldato
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Just nipped over to get some pics. Sorry for the crappy pics, left the camera on manual mode so it was on a ridiculous ISO setting, completely forgot.


Needs a drop and better tyres, and probably the sri boot spoiler but other than that i like the looks of it.

Gonna go over in the morning, have a test drive and a better poke about, discuss warranty/getting a few scratches removed etc. and we'll see what happens!
 
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Soldato
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:eek: anyone know the default tyre size for this model?

I noticed the ones on there are 195/60/15, which sounds right, but i can't find eagle f1's in that size :mad:

It doesn't need new tyres, but i just think the f1's make such a huge difference to handling that i wont trust anything else now!
 
Soldato
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You'll need to drop the profile to 55% to get F1's I'm afraid. Drop it to 50% and the tyres will also be much cheaper, but have other effects.
 
Soldato
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Dropping to 55% will alter the overall circumference of the wheel by 61mm. A 195/55 R15 will travel 97% of the distance in one spin of a 195/60 R15. So in terms of speedo inaccruacy, it's only 3 ph in every 100 and less than 1mph in every 30, so nothing to worry about. The handling should also not be drastically affected by the change as it is quite small.

Dropping to 50%, however, will alter the overall circumference of the wheel by 122mm and reduce accuracy by around 6% - enough to see you only doing 66mph while the speedo says 70mph. Lop that on top of around 5% inaccruacy from the speedo anyway and you're nearer 60mph than 70mph! Handling may well be affected. I'm not an expert when it comes to the dynamics of a car such as the Astra's handling with such a small change in the tyre size, but it won't instantly send you in to a ditch, I'm sure :)
 
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You are going to spend £4.3k on a W reg one of those?

You are mad, sorry.

I know, I know, its all opinions etc etc but I will never understand personally why £4.3k on an Astra is a great idea when you can get so much more for so much less.

You'd have to PAY me to swap my Mondeo for that car and my car is worth 3 times less than it despite being pretty much the same age. I mean 3 times less! We are not talking a quick 'Well its a few quid more but I prefer it' - the price difference is immense..

Plus that looks about as Sporty as my gran playing football.

That is the sort of car I'd consider if I absolutely couldn't park and hated large cars and one went through auction for 1500 quid.

If you do buy it, you must:

a) Fit wheels that don't absolutely suck
b) Fit the Irmscher bodykit
c) Fit the spoiler
d) Get rid of the horrible seats

Then it'll be half decent - as it stands there, it's just a Vauxhall Astra*

* Cue 'Its just a Ford Mondeo' comments. And I agree, I'd post largely the same thing to anyone considering £4300 on a 1.8 W reg Mondeo as well.

In the last 2 days we've had 2 threads from you asking about two totally different car. To me, this suggests you don't really know what you want - you should spend a while longer looking into alternatives, taking test drives, and then you can be 100% happy with what you buy. You might still end up with the Astra if its what you prefer, but you'll do it knowing its right for you.

Oh and buying cars at main dealers is for mugs :p
 
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Soldato
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[TW]Fox said:
You are going to spend £4.3k on a W reg one of those?

You are mad, sorry.

I know, I know, its all opinions etc etc but I will never understand personally why £4.3k on an Astra is a great idea when you can get so much more for so much less.

You'd have to PAY me to swap my Mondeo for that car and my car is worth 3 times less than it despite being pretty much the same age. I mean 3 times less! We are not talking a quick 'Well its a few quid more but I prefer it' - the price difference is immense..

Plus that looks about as Sporty as my gran playing football.

That is the sort of car I'd consider if I absolutely couldn't park and hated large cars and one went through auction for 1500 quid.

If you do buy it, you must:

a) Fit wheels that don't absolutely suck
b) Fit the Irmscher bodykit
c) Fit the spoiler
d) Get rid of the horrible seats

Then it'll be half decent - as it stands there, it's just a Vauxhall Astra*

* Cue 'Its just a Ford Mondeo' comments. And I agree, I'd post largely the same thing to anyone considering £4300 on a 1.8 W reg Mondeo as well.


Unfortunately, i totally agree. BUT, i cannot get anything else. My mum insists on getting a car from a private dealer/franchised dealer. She also thinks the mondeo is to big. Thing is, i know its not worth that money, well it is compared to astras, but in the grand scheme of things its not. Believe me i would much rather spend the money on anything else, but my mum likes the astra. Unfortunately, as some of the funding is coming from her, its kinda important that she likes it. She says she wont be 'happy' with me in a lot of cars, she doesnt seem to realise that a 2 grand mondeo would also be a w plate, and be just as reliable if not more.

It totally sucks, but i wanna get rid of the dturbo and i dont have much choice right now.

Find me a W plate ghia x with 30k on the clock with one careful old man owner for 4k and ill snap it up :p

I understand the mileage doesnt make a huge difference in modern cars, but its nice to have eh.
 
Associate
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You'd have loved the guy in the petrol station the other day fox, was bragging how he just spent £7k on a 51 plate 1.6 astra.

£4300 on a car like that seems stupid, although still not THE best for the money you could get something like a fiesta zetec-s, will be quicker, have the same amount of toys (albeit not many) already look sporty and handle much better etcetera
 
Soldato
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spaz said:
You'd have loved the guy in the petrol station the other day fox, was bragging how he just spent £7k on a 51 plate 1.6 astra.

£4300 on a car like that seems stupid, although still not THE best for the money you could get something like a fiesta zetec-s, will be quicker, have the same amount of toys (albeit not many) already look sporty and handle much better etcetera


Fezzers to small.
 
Man of Honour
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Given your rather unusual circumstances Chris I'm going to do something very rare and change my opinion - if it's not costing you personally £4300, then I guess it's as good as you'll get given the somewhat bizarre constaints put upon your car purchase by your Mum :(

But make sure you do the mods I listed :)

I'd have it over a Zetec-S, by the way. Well a Fiesta Zetec-S ;)
 
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