Astra Diesel

[cdti]

Hi there,

I'm Richard, live in Sydney near Parramatta, and am looking for a new car for my wife to drive around in, and stumbled across the Astra diesel, as I have a diesel X-Trail as a work car, and love the way the diesels drive. She doesn't drive really far, so her 3L V6 Vienta is using a bit much fuel for my liking, and I thought we could get a smaller car, as mine is now what we use for holidays, etc.

We drove a My2006.5 Astra diesel manual on the weekend, and man, do they go! I would have to get used to the indicators, they are a bit odd! My wife didn't mind it either, so now we're waiting to see if the dealer rings back with a reasonable offer...

This one had 80,000 kms on it, when's the timing belt service due on these? Is there anything else I need to know or look for on it?

Thanks for the welcome.

Warning: This is an Old Thread This discussion is older than 120 days. information contained in it may no longer be current . Please think of the children before resurrecting this ancient thread!

[btm]

g'day richard and welcome to the site

there are quite a few oil burners on here so i'm sure you'll get some useful replies shortly

[9090GO]

Welcome to OpelAus Richard

[sooty]

Welcome mate!
Here's hoping the dealer comes through with a good deal as it's a decision you won't regret! To transform the car further you can't go past the greenbox! (use the search function to check for reviews) and it just so happens my greenbox is up for sale if you're interested, just reply in here.
As for the service interval, i'll check the manual today and get back to you

[dieselhead]

Welcome Richard!
Servicing intervals are 15,000km. The belt is changed at 150,000km. That's what the user manual said, anyway.
What you should look for when you check the car:
* engine oil leaks
* the engine doesn't smoke too bad under load and at all while cruising; not too bad means a puff of smoke at brutal gear change is acceptable; more than that normally means the EGR valve is dirty-ask for it to be cleansed if you can and try again.
* have a look at the intake manifold's swirl actuator, check there for oil leaks and also check it is correctly positioned; there's a .pdf somewhere on the web that explains everything, I'll try and find it for you
* check the gear box engages the first gear and the reverse easily
* listen to the engine after you gave it a few minutes to warm up; sure it rattles but the sound should be "rounded" with no strange clatter whatsoever

I really don't know what else to say. These engines are extremely robust, I have read about CDTis with well over 100,000 miles that never had a problem. Mine is at almost 60,000 km now, driven with the green box on since it had 3,000km and never missed a beat. The gear box must be pretty solid (apparently rated at 450 Nm) since it works like brand new, despite my lead right foot and the green box that pumped the torque up to 400 Nm from the stock 320 Nm.

All in all, a fantastic little performer that gives you over 700 km on a 52 litre tank around the Metro area and up to 1,000 km when driven interstate. If you can afford it, buy a green box, it will transform a good car into a Golf GTI biting beast

[cdti]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

I think the car is probably quick enough for my wife, but it was that much fun I would have to get out in it every now and then.

Thanks dieselhead for the heads up on what to look for under the bonnet. This is the one we're looking at:
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...rhome&__Nne=15

We'll see if they get back to us. It has a couple of light scratches from everyday usage, and a stone chip in the windscreen, but otherwise it's nice. The wheels look good on it too.

[sooty]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

I think the car is probably quick enough for my wife, but it was that much fun I would have to get out in it every now and then.

Greenbox isn't just a power thing it also lowers your fuel economy...considerably too with my heavy right foot i still average 6.6L/100km, and you could de-tune it more, and tone the power down to get even better figures

[delemonte]

Welcome Richard. Looks like a nice car I hope the response from the dealer is positive!

[entice]

failing that, mine's for sale..

look up the for sale section in this forum (also on carsales)

2008, manual, 11mths reg. 14,000Km's.

Good luck,with your purchase, it's a brilliant car. You wont be disappointed with the mix of performance and economy....

[cdti]

Welcome Richard. Looks like a nice car I hope the response from the dealer is positive!

The dealer response was OK, but my wife is on her way to pick it up now.

Replaced her 1996 Toyota Vienta with 130,000 kms that had one week of rego left and needed two tyres to get there, so this is a pretty good outcome. I'll post some pics when it's home and it stops raining.