Astra 1.6 8v - £3500 - 8500 on the clock

[mmh]

53 plate

all genuine... worth it?

it was in a crash after about 200 miles, my mate bought it, fixed it all up, never registered as a crash, and he's since offered it me. its had, powertec induction kit, powerflow exhaust, alloys, spoiler and lowered 30mm.

whats your thoughts?

[Zak33]

If it's a 1.6 8v LS 5dr, then it's not bad value, though the colour's important.

What accident was it in? How big?

[mmh]

its the active 8v, in silver, dont know the accident fully, i know it needed the sil replaced, i think thats about it.

[Stoo]

Alternately, sell it to Zakky to do rolley-polleys in

[Zak33]

pah.....

[Zak33]

a sill....thats a side impact then? Did it have doors too?

[Zak33]

plus side: Active was a good model, dark tinred rear lamps, a/c windows locking etc.

[mmh]

i will find out what happened, all i know is it was restored 100% and looks and is solid as a new one, if not moreso.

yeah it is an awesome car, been in it a few times.

[Zak33]

sounds like you know it well.....

[mmh]

the car, i know a bit about, but the guy i trust, i grew up with him, and has many cars which he does awesome work restoring... just got a mk 1 escort (which coincidently is why he is selling the astra). but he knows what he is doing

[Swafe]

Well, thats a bargain, as long as the damage wasnt too bad and will come back to haunt you, or if you hit another car and it instantaneously crumples

[Fox]

At that price, the car is a bargain. It's a good buy from a financial point of view.

However, as a car, it's really quite awful - quite why he's wasted his time fitting an induction kit and what have you is beyond me becuase this car is undisputedly dog slow. The engine is woefully underpowered, not very refined, and just downright awful. The 1.6 16v unit is far better for a car of this type, the 8v engine is bad.

The Astras strength is that it's available in some decent trim levels which go some way to sorting the average at best standard handling, and with some decent engines - this car is an LS with the 8v engine, so is neither. If you are buying it to keep, don't bother - you will be MUCH better with an older 1.8 16v SRi instead - it will handle better, go better, and generally not annoy you.

A 1.6 8v LS has virtually nil redeeming features whatsoever and will drive you insane.

To sum up:

To buy with profit in mind, consider it.
To buy to keep, no.

[herulach]

agree with fox.

Id also steer lear of anything thatsbeen lowered/induction kt whatevered, just because it willhave been raggedwithin an inch of its life at every opportunity

[Howard]

Id also steer lear of anything thatsbeen lowered/induction kt whatevered, just because it willhave been raggedwithin an inch of its life at every opportunity

Quite. I'd never buy a car that's been pre-modded (with the exception of "decent" cars that have been looked after properly by people who know what they're doing, etc... E.g Butuz and his Skyline). That Astra just sounds like it's been chavved... Not saing your friend is a chav But that's what chavs do.. They whack on induction kits and exhausts and cane it

[5lab]

i've said it before, and i'll say it again - cars with VERY low milages are a false economy - if you've only done 3,000 miles per year, chances are thats short journeys, and the engine will never have a chance to really warm up. 90% of engine wear is when its not at operating temperatures - so that will have lots of wear, as will the clutch. the brakes will have rusted due to non-use, then used, which pulls all the rust off, but this wears the brakes quicker than if used regularly. the suspensions been lowered and stiffened, which puts additional strain on the steering and load-bearing parts of the car.

you've also got to ask why someone bought a new car for (i guess) 13 grand, spend (probably) a grand doing it up. drove it into something, spent even more fixing it (probably 3 grand if it involved a sill), then is selling it for £3500. smells fishy

[kalniel]

I wouldn't touch it myself.

I would actually prefer a car that's done higher milage, both for the reasons 5lab lists, and also because I think it sometimes takes 10k or more for weak points in the manufacturing to get sorted out. Ie if you get a higher milage car it's more likely to have had any electronics problems sorted out already etc.

Also agree - it's a crap engine, and getting stuff someone's modded, let alone crashed, is never good.