Hey - I’m Tim, a new blogger here.
I hope to write about all aspects of my life here, but mostly about the UK car market & Car reviews! I have a wide range of access to brand new test vehicles in the UK market with my job, so will write about my experiences on here.
I’m generally a hardcore Vauxhall (opel / saturn / holden) fan, and have owned 3 Vauxhall cars sine I started driving (just over two years ago). I now drive a 2001 Vauxhall Astra 2.0 Diesel - a great car which I am going to start with a review on here.
I bought the car just over two months ago after seeing it on the forecourt of a local garage. The car is in top condition for it’s age, and had 81,000 miles on it. That averages out at almost 12k per annum on average - not bad. I looked up the history of the car and found it was initally registered a vauxhall fleet car, so the mileage is likely to have been done mostly on the motorway - great for wear and tear. After looking around the car and going for a test drive in it I decided to put the money down for it. On the test drive there were no nasty rattles or excessive noise from the diesel engine - they’re usually very reliable upto around 300,000miles.
The garage took slightly longer than anticipated in preparing the car for me. It was delayed by two days as the car failed its MOT on a broken coil spring - which they had difficulty sourcing in Hull. When I did pick the car up I was pleasently suprised to find almost a quarter of a tank of diesel left in it - bonus! My first journey was home (less than a mile…) so I could have a really good look around it!
The garage had done a superb job of preparing the car for me, it was nicely polished and looked in very good nick. The only marks I found on the car are obviously where someone has had keys danging below the fuel filler cap - no biggie. On further inspection i see both rear wheel arches will probably need some attention within the next 3 years or so due to rust - but hey - I might have one of Vauxhall’s new Insignias by then!
I have now done 10,000 miles since picking the car up and it has been a dream. The only problem I have had with it was a flat tyre - hardly the car’s fault! I am however a little concerned about a little bit of top-end noise I’m starting to hear now…hopefully that will be fixed with a standard oil & filter change which it is now due for. I’m also a little bit concerned about the winter grit and salt damaging the rear wheel arches further. I’m washing the car twice a week at the moment and protecting vulnerable areas with waxoyl which created a hard coating protecting any exposed metal - it seems to be working well so far!
My only conern when I bought the diesel would be that it didn’t have the power that my previous petrol-engined cars. After running the car for 2 months, I can safely say the car has ample power and sits on the motorway very easily and with lots of power to spare. If you floor it in second gear you can give yourself quite a shock with the kick up the backside the torque from the diesel unit gives you. I have received many “ugh…it’s a diesel” type comments in my ownership of this car, but as soon as people see how well it goes they soon shut up! Fuel economy (my main reason for going diesel) is very good aswell. With a mixture of town & country driving I’m seeing 50mpg regularly. If you take care on a longer motorway run you can aim realistlically for 60-65mpg. Significantly better than Vauxhall’s standard figures for the car.
So, as you’ve probably gathered - I LOVE THIS CAR! I really would reccomend one to anyone who does a lot of miles, as it has saved me a lot of money in fuel, insurance and general running costs. I will, of course, update in another months time & hopefully all will be well!!!
…Tim
- I have been waiting quite a while to drive one, and was good to finally get the chance. Unfortunately I wasn’t so impressed when driving it. Although it felt very traditional “Vauxhall” to drive, the power came in clumps & there wasn’t as much torque or feedback as I’m used to getting with my diesel. It actually made for quite a bland ride & a few little mishaps with the clutch - due to the lack of feedback. It’s a shame as the diesel variants of this car are superb - if only the petrol could follow suit!