Help on Astra VXR, what do I look for?

[maddogdaz666]

Hi, I may be going out to look at an Astra VXR this week, I'm not clued up on them so I was wondering if anybody knows what to look out for?
Do they have any weak points or common faults?
Also how much is it for a new key for them?

Any advice is welcome,

Cheers, Darrel.

[nova_t]

first thing make sure the gearbox is ok tis is the weakest part of the car and if it goes your looking at around 800 pound i sold my nova and now have a astra vxr and unsure on price of new key would say once you have bought the key its gunna cost around 50 pound to have it coded

[chris gsi]

We have had a few in at work with turbo failure and most astra h's suffer with wheel bearings and the rear tyres worn on inner edge and the gearboxes are not the strongest

[maddogdaz666]

Cheers, how can I check the gearbox? The cars not driveable at the minute too,

[novalovingned]

Yeah ive heard the box too, turbos go for fun but thats supposadly because the of the high oil pressure thats supplied to them, there is mod to sort this though. Good luck finding a good one

[maddogdaz666]

Yeah I've read about the turbo mod, think it was on joff's meriva thread.

[cormac81]

As above the gearbox, put the car in 6th at 40mph and see if theres any whining or jolting. I had to get the bearings done in mine and it had only 29k and was standard.

Also check the rear bumper/rear quarter lines. the slighest nudge here causes bubbling. The struts tops on any mk5 I have had always been rusted when you take the cap off. I have removed them and dapped them with grease. I can see this being a big issue for these cars in years to come.

Like any turbo car check for smoke.

[mk1nova_rich]

The cars not driveable at the minute too,

Thats usually summat to be wary of Daz

[maddogdaz666]

Thats usually summat to be wary of Daz

Cheers well there's 2 I wanna go look at, ones a stolen and recovered with no key fob but comes with key blade. And the other one is taxed and tested and I can drive away but seems too cheap? I'm still waiting for an email or phone call so I can arrange viewings

[maddogdaz666]

Cheers cormac good advice and info