Is this normal for a car?

tomstickland

Do you think I have a case against the garage that I bought this car from?

Look at this appalling cut and shut!


The front end just literally fell off when I called into the local Tescos to purchase some replacement burgers.



Luckily, considerate members of the public witnessed it happen and kept the front end safe.



The sunroof really wasn't as large as I expected. "They're all like that sir " was all that they could come up with before I decided to take action.


This really is a hot motor.


I want a full refund.

carly

Some of the paintwork looks a little tired, but I think a little T-cut will have it looking as good as new!

shellsuit

I'm hoping you ain't planning to do that to that GTE in the background???

That would be sacralidge (sp?) unless it's knackered of course

tomstickland

Oh aye, I owned a 8v GTE for 5 years myself. It wasn't very standard by the time we finshed.... no interior, seam welded, cage, twin 40s, 140BHP at the front wheels, etc etc. Good fun, and a great handling car, against what pub talk says. Anyway, that GTE in the background belongs to a friend and is actually a tidy car except for the missing wings etc. TBH though they are not great cars as std apart from the engines and the ludicrous amount of go that they have. The shells pull themselves apart if driven hard and the tin rusts easily.

shellsuit

Aye the 2.0 16v XE redtop engine is probably the best engine Vauxhall have ever done. 150bhp and has a fair amount of tuning potential.

Thing about the older 8v's though is they are virutally bomb proof and can take a huge amount of stick.

Someone i know from a forum has a GTE which now has LET Turbo conversion and he had to spend around £3000 on welding, panels, sills e.t.c. to get it back to it's former glory. He's got no interior either apart from the seats and dash to save weight and it goes like stink. Think he's getting 270bhp with the mods he's had done (2.5 phase conversion) and is looking for more but is worried about if the chassis can handle it or not. I'm a Cavalier man myself and own an SRi but i do like those GTE Astras a lot.

tomstickland

I moved over to rear wheel drive correctedness after the Vaux and now run an E30 318is which I love.

I occasionally get pangs for the Astra days though, especially when we went on meets in mid Wales and left an Impreza behind when trailing an Elise. Ah yes, those crappy Vauxhalls can be good fun. Expression on face of new Boxster owner when he can't leave a £1K Vauxhall behind: priceless.

wazza

just looking at the first picture and cant help think what excellent access you have to the engine. nowadays you have to strip the front end just to get to the fan (alternator) belt

trigger_mike

best thing i've seen done to an astra for a long time!

wazza

ah the pictures brings back memories. when i passed my driving test my mates and i somehow bought a cortina mk3 from auctions. this was back in late 1970s. it turned out to be a lemon. fortunately we made more money by selling of parts. the chassis was rotten. we evenually cut the body up in small manageable bits. great fun with a grinder