astra estate buying advice

[turbojolt]

anything in particular to look out for when buying a 1.7td astra estate, common problems etc?


how good are the diesel engines, i take it 120k miles on one is funk all?

[Chay84]

I had a 53 plate astra estate which is much the same as a van it was a 2l turbo diesel ex police and it was great I bought it with 110k and ran it to about 170k doing 120 miles a day changed the oil every 6k and never had an issue with it

Is it a 1.7 cdti your looking at?

[turbojolt]

no its the 1.7 izuzzzzue (spelling lol) engine one

[Jack]

Mk3 or Mk4?

Isuzu engine is pretty robust.

[Edd]

Don't ever ever ever buy a mk3 astra estate

I have one ATM, it is terrible lol

[turbojolt]

this one is a mk4 but ive just seen a volvo estate im more tempted to buy

[Mark]

A mk4 with an isuzu engine??

[staggy_gsi]

Ive had both 1.7td engines, and the isuzu one i have now is far far better. The GM low blow lumps are useless!!

On the isuzu ones, the ecu's down the back of the engine tend to pack in a lot. People will tell you they cant be fixed but they can....its usually just a dry joint in the circuit.
Turbo's also go quite a lot too but you can still get a 2nd hand one fairly easy.
Seen quite a few with egr faults too, so i blanked mine off as soon as i got it, got rid of a common flat spot in the process.

120k is naff all, mines on 158 and theres loads around with well over 200k

[chris gsi]

Apart from the faults already listed the oil pumps tend to fall apart/leak

[mowgli]

i'd imagine you could get a vectra estate for less money

[Stuart]

Please don't be looking at an estate to do the job of a van lol

[_Jake]

Please don't be looking at an estate to do the job of a van lol
can you elaborate a bit on that? as thats what im looking to do june/july time as there half as much to insure for me compared to a van!

[Stuart]

Well if a landscape gardener turned up to do a job at my place with an estate loaded up, I'd turn them away lol

[_Jake]

Well if a landscape gardener turned up to do a job at my place with an estate loaded up, I'd turn them away lol
fair enough lol lol im not looking to use it for anything like that, just want something practical rather than my current petrol guzzling vectra.

[novadave24]

get a vectra they are nice cars to drive my mate has a 2.0 turbo diesel and it still runs spot on and its at about 187,000 something you can pick some up from around £500 upwards :)

[staggy_gsi]

i'd imagine you could get a vectra estate for less money

You could, but the diesel engines are worse than the 1.7 in the astra

[turbojolt]

Please don't be looking at an estate to do the job of a van lol

well i nearly bought a ldv tipper the other day for under 800 quid, my insurance was nearly 2 grand!!! so im looking at loads of different options now as i can insure a astra estate for 500 quid (and thats with all business miles included), then as a few people have advised now buy a trailer for all my gear and have it sign written


if i dont look at these different options i will be crippled as a business at the first turn, by excess insurance premiums.

[mowgli]

Please don't be looking at an estate to do the job of a van lol

i actually ran an astra mk2 3dr estate as a van for a year.. it was a damn sight more practical than a van, as in, it could carry more people when it needed to, there was room for office type stuff, junction & reversing visibility were better. towed well & was very cheap. sadly a fiat punto rear ended it & killed it.

[turbojolt]

I can still fit all the garden maintenance stuff in a estate and just have everything else delivered if/when i get a fencing job etc..


plus i can use a estate to deliver pizza part time while work is slow lol

[L14MNP]

The problem isn't what the vehicle is capable of, it's the fact that you look like a two-bit pikey.

No debate.

[turbojolt]

The problem isn't what the vehicle is capable of, it's the fact that you look like a two-bit pikey.

No debate.

i wouldnt argue that tbh, luckly ive remembered ive got a years no claims thats still active and after chucking my old man on a policy aswell i can insure a transit for 600 quid a year!!!


so the van is back on the cards just need to raise a little more money so im not buying something that will fall to parts after a couple months lol

[L14MNP]

That rules out a Transit then...

[turbojolt]

well what would you suggest sub 1k , my old mans transit ran for ages the only thing that was changed was one coil spring and a starter motor

i was originally looking at vans for over 1500 but thats gone out the window now, as i didn't realise how much other stuff was going to cost!

[L14MNP]

Just joking marra. TRANZIT RUST111etc.

Ideal for the task imo.

[turbojolt]

ive already got loads of wire wheel attachments for my angle grinder, just need 25ltrs of rust converter and some white hammerite stonechip sheild now lol

[L14MNP]

Paint over the door locks and side repeaters for extra 'freephone contact number, sure oil chap doin those coinifers and re-taremec your droive boss" gyppo points.

Shiny shoes are a must. lol

[turbojolt]

going to drive about with my dog sitting on the front seat aswell

[Mark]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/CorsaNova/Van/20130309_101021_zps839c0443.jpg