Motoring Discussion > Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ?
Thread Author: diddy1234 Replies: 19
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 12:36 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - diddy1234
Just had the Astra MOT'd and failed.

Been quoted £600 to fix.

I cleaned the car over the weekend and it is still a very tidy car (if a bit high on mileage).

So do I stick with it or get rid of it ?
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 12:46 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Bromptonaut
My instinct would be stick but need more info viz:

What's the reason for fail? how old is it and is it otherwise OK, how long have you had it and how much is it worth?
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 12:54 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - diddy1234
Fail on rear brake pipes corroded and not far off leaking.
Front offside coil broke
Rear handbrake caliper seized in off position (normal braking working)
High emissions (filters recently changed though)

Its a 52 reg car so its probably not worth that much as it is high mileage at around 160,000 miles.

shame really as it is a very tidy car with no rust anywhere.
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 13:02 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Bromptonaut
Mostly straightforward then. Emissions could be the joker in the pack but if it was the smoke test then a good burn to blow out the soot might be enough.

Still a stick for me.
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 13:24 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Dave_
Similar Astras on eBay seem to go for between £600-£1000, for example this one: bit.ly/rFEdvV this one: bit.ly/uwiC08 and this one: bit.ly/tBzp8n

So you'd have to spend the same sort of money to replace it, and then you'll have a car of which you don't know the history or quirks. I'd get a couple of quotes to have yours fixed, £600 for a couple of brake pipes and a spring sounds a bit on the high side to me. I agree with Bromp on giving it a good clear-out before the test - a few miles at 60mph in 3rd will blow most of the cobwebs out.

Good luck.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Mon 14 Nov 11 at 13:25
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 13:27 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Dog
Out the critter.
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 13:48 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Stuu
If it wasnt for the emissions issue, id say stick, but unless you can cost the repair/resolution for it, id be inclined to flog it.

Presuming it was given a good caning before MOT - which emissions element did it fail on?
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 13:51 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Zero

>> Presuming it was given a good caning before MOT - which emissions element did it
>> fail on?

and how far off the mark was it.
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 14:22 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Bromptonaut
Does the emissions test on a diesel cover anything other than smoke? I thought NOx was covered too but not according to this:

www.motuk.co.uk/manual_740.htm
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 13:49 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - VxFan
>> I cleaned the car over the weekend and it is still a very tidy car
>> Fail on rear brake pipes corroded and not far off leaking.
>> Front offside coil broke
>> Rear handbrake caliper seized in off position (normal braking working)
>> High emissions (filters recently changed though)
>> shame really as it is a very tidy car with no rust anywhere.

Sounds like all the grot is out of sight in and on the underside of the car. You can dress it up all you like, but underneath it'll still look like Bella Emberg.
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 15:07 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Bigtee
Remove the air filter before the MOT it will suck in loads more air to fuel, but put back in after.

£600.00 on a spring and brakes was this kwik fit? Shop around.
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 19:52 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - diddy1234
Regarding the smoke, the mot only said 'exhaust emits an excessive level of metered smoke for a turbo charged engine'.

Didnt mot's used to show emission levels?

When i changed the filters 2 months ago i did notice that the air filter had a design change with an extra cloth level. Maybe that is restricting air flow.

The car currently emits black smoke under hard acceleration. Over fuelling?
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 19:58 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Runfer D'Hills
Pal of mine who's into bangernomics gets a sort of "mock" MOT checkup done on his cars when they still have 6 months MOT. That way if there's something he doesn't want to fix he'll just move it on unfixed but with 6 months MOT. Not hugely ethical of course but probably not a bad idea.
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New Mon 14 Nov 11 21:24 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Victorbox
>> Sounds like all the grot is out of sight in and on the underside of
>> the car. You can dress it up all you like, but underneath it'll still look
>> like Bella Emberg.

It's a fully galvanised bodyshell with a 12 year anti-perforation warranty. Surely you remember the It rusts like a fish advert? tinyurl.com/7clsuxu
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New Tue 15 Nov 11 00:33 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - VxFan
>> It's a fully galvanised bodyshell with a 12 year anti-perforation warranty.

Not on a 52 reg Astra.

The 12 yr warranty only applied to cars that were first registered pre 1st Oct 2000.

After the 1st Oct 2000 it was 6 yrs.

img451.imageshack.us/img451/5494/astragwl7.jpg

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New Tue 15 Nov 11 12:01 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - Victorbox
I think they were still galvanised though.
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New Tue 15 Nov 11 12:37 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - VxFan
No doubt, but there must have been a reason to reduce the perforation warranty by half.

They did a similar thing with the Vectra-B as well.

1996 model year to 1998 model year - 6 years.
From 1999 model year - 10 years.
From 1st Oct 2000 6 years.
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New Tue 15 Nov 11 13:24 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - diddy1234
Just an update.

I think I may have solved the excessive smoke issue as the air filter had a naff white fluffy cover on it.

Removed that then Italian tune up time up some steep hills seems to have cleared that lot out.
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New Tue 15 Nov 11 13:52 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - rtj70
So if the emissions are okay now then surely it's worth fixing it. Albeit at a cheaper price than the one quoted.
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New Tue 15 Nov 11 13:59 
 Vauxhall Astra G Diesel - Stick or twist ? - diddy1234
Certainly. I have another garage due to look at the car and see what is really wrong and get another quote.
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