ASTRA : Really expensive to run.....

OLS

hmm I have an Astra its a 1.4 8v LS Auto 2001 reg on 95k on the clock. I traded in my Punto HGT Abarth 1.8 12v 130bhp speedy little number to get a bigger cheaper to run car (I had a baby lol)

As it turns out the crappy slow as hell astra is higher Tax, same insurance and most importantly costs me more in petrol than the Punto HGT Did aaarrgghhh :mad:

Its costing me £187 (I think something round there) for 6 months Tax :eek:
£230 for Fully Comp ins (not bad but same as the Fast car did!!)
£50 to fill up a tank and Im getting on Average 230 miles from it which is VERY poor as my Punto was a smaller tank and £35-£40 and I was getting on average 350 miles out of it

Im not sure if the car is "nackered" (the garage said not after a EM Comp check), is like this cause its an Auto rather than manual??

Is it better off in the long run to sell it (ive only had it 18 months paid £3500 would prob get £1500 now) add £2k on to my loan (pushing it up £30 a month) ans getting a car much cheaper to run???? I dunno if its gonna be cheaper in the long term to just keep filling my tank and Gordons gov bank balance or get a loan and buy something cheaper

harveybobbles

It's about right for the Astra auto to do low mpg. I ran a 1.6 auto a few years back and was getting mid to late 20's out of it. That was mixed driving. My mother in Law has just took delivery of her Motability car and she has an Astra 1.8 Design auto and that does 26.7 acording to the car's computer.

Idiophreak

I can get 42-43 mpg out of my 1.6 astra, but you've really gotta try hard - shortshifting, never going above 70, braking as little as possible. If I'm driving normally it's around 32-33...

harveybobbles

shortshifting

The OP's is automatic...

amandada

We have an older (1996) automatic astra and although I've never worked out the actual MPG I'd guess it's somewhere in the 20s.

I balance that out with the fact that we didn't have to actually buy the car, my father passed it on to us when he went onto a Motability lease

jaydeeuk1

My old lanos which I believe had the same 1.6 engine as your astra was shocking on petrol - about £40 for 280miles, and that was a manual. Driving 'sensibly' seemed to add an extra 5 or 10 miles.

For tax / mpg this is something you would have researched before buying, right?

Chippy_Minton_2

So an auto with the smallest engine they put in a Astra. An engine more suited to a Corsa. Given the fact most autos give a little less mpg, are a little slower and yours is 8 years old with 95k on the clock you do surprise me.

OscarCharliEE

The key to automatics is buy big engine which require little revs to maintain high speed - Motorway driving or a small engine for town driving....never buy a middle of the range medium size car.

I'm driving a W plate Astra 1.6 LPG Estate and it's giving me 200 - 220 miles on a full tank which costs about around £20. It has done 170K miles. My suggestion would be to trade it in for an LPG car or get a car you like and convert it it may cost around £2K but over the it's course (i.e. 1 - 3 years depending on how many miles you do) you will see the savings. It is well worth it. If I worked out how much it saves...let's see:

MK to London approx 50 miles 3 times a week * 2 (return trip) =
300 miles * 52 weeks = 15600 miles a year.

15600 / 200 = 78 full tanks * £20 = £1560 1.6 Astra LPG
15600 / 350 = 45 full tanks * £40 = £1782 1.8 Punto
15600 / 230 = 68 full tanks * £50 = £3391 1.6 Astra Auto Pet
15600 / 280 = 58 full tanks * £40 = £2228 1.6 Lanos

The last thing just remember keep the revs low, like between 2k and 2.5k.

Premier_2

OLS wrote: »

...Its costing me £187 (I think something round there) for 6 months Tax :eek:...

No wonder!

It should probably be less than half that, whether based on engine size or co2 emissions (dependant on date first registered) :cool:

vikingaero

Our 1.4 Corsa Automatic pumps out around 190g/km of CO2. Road tax I think is £190 pa. Our larger Madza 5 2.0 diesel puts out 159g and the road tax is £150.

The problem is twofold, one the autobox is makes the car thirsty and two the 1.4 Vauxhall engine has never been the most efficient engine for its size.

If I were the OP I would:

(1) ensure the car is serviced and all filters changed.
(2) When at traffic lights or stationary for long periods push the gear lever from D to N.
(3) Check tyre pressures.

LandyAndy

Road Tax and Insurance are things you look into before you buy so I don't see the need to complain about them later:rolleyes:.

As for fuel consumption, if you are getting 230 miles from £50 of petrol then that is about 22-23 mpg. I used to get more than that from a 1990 Jaguar Sovereign:eek:. That sounds like there is some problem with the car.