Non stop cAr problems

skittles_m

Hi,

I have a 2007 Vauxhall Astra and I've experienced non stop problems since I purchased it 2 years ago. It now has around 60k and I bought it at 42k miles.

The mpg is awful I get 280-300 miles from a full tank and I'm not a fast driver by any regard.

It's been to the garage for repairs several times.
1. Radiator broke in 2013, had to replace costing £300.
2. Non stop electrical problems- had to replace several sensors and wires/fuses as lights and buttons stopped working costing in total £550
3. Suspension repairs including drop links and cracked springs costing £200 in total
4. Alternator needed replacing at a cost of £200

Now another problem has happened with the gearbox. It struggles to get into gear and seems to make an add whining sound. I really didn't want to drive it in that state so it went to the garage few days ago and I spoke to the mechanic yesterday in person. He said the bearing and linkages are gone and that it will be expensive to replace the gearbox, it maybe best if I part exchange it for another car. He also said if I really want to keep it, he could source a reconditioned gearbox and it will cost around £500 to fix.

I've honestly had enough of this awful car. It's given me nothing but headaches and it's a bottomless money pit. I've always had it serviced by my mechanic every year and I don't drive it harshly. Besides being awful on fuel it's also slow and a horrid drive. My old car, a 1996 Honda Civic was so much better. Me and my family have always used the same mechanic, I trust him and I know he provides reasonable prices. He told me vaxuhalls in generally aren't the most reliable.

Now, I'm leaning towards part ex but I don't want another lemon. And I haven't got a lot of money to spend on repairs etc. What's the best thing I should do?

Foxy-Stoat_3

Buy another 90's Honda Civic for a grand, sell what you have got as spares or repairs and take the hit.

Sounds like you bought an expensive lemon of an Astra.

Good luck in your future.

Moto2

If you need to run oldish cars, some time spent learning to work on them will usually be time well spent, the cost of labour is often horrendous.

If you're buying another car, do thorough research
Establish 2 or 3 makes and models that suit what you need and are well regarded for their reliability, then go looking for those cars and nothing else.
Or choose to run them till they drop

skittles_m

I'm not mechanically competent and I won't have time to learn how to do things myself. I would rather just pay a professional mechanic. If I part exchange I can provide another £2 grand on top of my value of my existing car. I'm not sure how much it will be worth? It's a petrol manual 1.6 litre. My mechanic said I'll probably get just under £2k for P.X.


Thanks for the advice, but I'd rather not drive a 90's banger. I want a car that's around 5 years old and something that's reliable ( and more powerful) better to drive and more fuel efficient than my Astra.

maninthestreet

What type of driving are you doing? Short journeys during rush hour with plenty of acceleration/braking cycles is not going to result in good MPG.

skittles_m

I do mixed driving- city, A/B roads and occasionally motorway. I will say 60% of my time is spent on A/B roads that's why I so shocked at the poor mileage of the Astra.


What car marques do you recommend? I don't mind paying a little extra for something that is reliable and nice to drive. Are VW's worth it?

forgotmyname

Broken springs are fairly common on lots of cars these days, Cars got heavier and speedbumps appeared everywhere helps that.

Whats your journey like? Long runs up and down the motorway all day or city traffic and shorter journeys?

Ive had my diesel car under 30mpg during short winter journeys, on a run i can almost double that though.

Dont believe the mpg's quoted by the manufacturers. Their test will be on a rolling road in optimal conditions.

Old VW's are worth it. But they seem to get as many issues as all the other manufacturers these days.

skittles_m

I would prefer to stick to petrol. I do mix city and motorway. annual mileage around 8k.

skittles_m

I would like to stress that I don't want to be pointed to another car that's like the Astra. I just really hated driving it, the gears were clunky and it was lifeless to drive on top of being a fuel drinker and unreliable. My old hatchback 1996 Civic felt a lot more reassuring and fun to drive and that car was more than a decade older than the Astra!


What are the opinions of a 2007-08 petrol civic?

Moto2

The Civic is a good motor generally, also look at the Toyota Corolla

Try Honestjohn for various opinions and details

Strider590

skittles_m wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 2007 Vauxhall Astra and I've experienced non stop problems since I purchased it 2 years ago. It now has around 60k and I bought it at 42k miles.

The mpg is awful I get 280-300 miles from a full tank and I'm not a fast driver by any regard.

It's been to the garage for repairs several times.
1. Radiator broke in 2013, had to replace costing £300.
2. Non stop electrical problems- had to replace several sensors and wires/fuses as lights and buttons stopped working costing in total £550
3. Suspension repairs including drop links and cracked springs costing £200 in total
4. Alternator needed replacing at a cost of £200

Now another problem has happened with the gearbox. It struggles to get into gear and seems to make an add whining sound. I really didn't want to drive it in that state so it went to the garage few days ago and I spoke to the mechanic yesterday in person. He said the bearing and linkages are gone and that it will be expensive to replace the gearbox, it maybe best if I part exchange it for another car. He also said if I really want to keep it, he could source a reconditioned gearbox and it will cost around £500 to fix.

Ok, so it's gotten a bit on the expensive side, but the things you mention are not excessive or unusual on any car of that age.

The only thing you've listed that's different to my 2004 Vectra, is the electrical issues. But overall, discounting the wear and tear items, it's cost me very little over the last 7 years of ownership.

Suspension parts are wear and tear items, i'm sorry but they are, they go on all cars, in fact i'm sitting next to someone right now who just had to replace the springs on his 6 year old Fiesta.