[GTO]

Buying an 11 year old, 90000 kms example of a car which had a reputation for niggling issues & expensive hard-to-find parts is just bad news. Sorry, but I cannot recommend buying a used Astra today. The Astra was one of the reasons GM decided to drop the Opel brand altogether from India. The reliability & parts availability are bad enough, but do you even have the time required to maintain such a car?

Will the money I save on Fuel be spent on Maintenance?

Buying an Astra diesel to save $$$ on fuel is like getting an AK47 because you're scared of someone robbing your car stereo!

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

BTW, what's the FE of the Astra you are getting ?

The car gives about 11-12kmpl in city and 14-15kmpl on the highway.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Dont the Opels get serviced at the GM workshops?

Yes, they do.

Originally Posted by xander

Post 90K, the major repairs done were:...

Thanks for sharing the info.

Originally Posted by GTO

Buying an Astra diesel to save $$$ on fuel is like getting an AK47 because you're scared of someone robbing your car stereo!

Hmm.. that is an interesting way to see it.


However, after the responses, I have decided to give this thought some time. In the meanwhile, let the responses about the car and its maintenance flow.

[ronin]

I had an Astra myself, and the only reason I sold it was the maintanence costs. It would bleed money even if parked.I would stay away.

I know of a sliver Astra, owned by a lady doc and in Trichur. If that is the one you are talking about, I can vouch for the fact that it hasnt spent much time in repair centres.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

The car gives about 11-12kmpl in city and 14-15kmpl on the highway.

The reason I asked FE details was to know whether your purpose would be solved by buying an old M800 at about the same (or lesser) price than the Astra, but which will give an FE of say 18-20 on highways. The price differential between petrol and diesel would be balanced by the higher FE.

Maintenance would be cheap and no issue about spares too. Also, you mentioned that a hatch would be good enough for the purpose.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

The reason I asked FE details was to know whether your purpose would be solved by buying an old M800 at about the same (or lesser) price than the Astra, but which will give an FE of say 18-20 on highways. The price differential between petrol and diesel would be balanced by the higher FE.

Yes, I am considering the possibility of buying a mpfi 800. The Astra was considered ONLY because its a known car. No other Astra will be considered.

Also, the difference in petrol and diesel is too high for even the humble 800 to make sense.

[YaeJay]

Originally Posted by GTO

Buying an Astra diesel to save $$$ on fuel is like getting an AK47 because you're scared of someone robbing your car stereo!

.

Does anyone know about the Corsa? Is it worth the risk? Are they a pain to maintain? I am on the look out for a car for my mom which would be do about 100km a week. driven probably by a middle aged part time driver. Since the running will be low fuel is not an issue. I was thinking palio, corsa and a few marutis. Ofcourse the budget is limited.

[svsantosh]

Hi dhanush, Why so much confusion. If you ready to RISK 50-70 or even a Lac, just half your risk by getting a Sequential LPG Kit with a tiny toroidal tank, it is mapped to your ECU and wont screw your engine as fast as a entry level LPG kit with no link to the ECU. IIRC, a Seq LPG kit works out to 30-35K, and the installer sits with you in the car and tunes/maps the kit to the ECU - a very through job and you should start seeing a BIG reduction in fuel bills.

Just Give it a thought...

[Guna]

If running cost is the concern, why don't you consider fitting a LPG/CNG kit, which will cost much lesser then buying a used Astra? But I also read that Ikons are not conversion friendly. Another option is to swap your petrol Ikon for a pre-owned diesel ikon

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by Guna

If running cost is the concern, why don't you consider fitting a LPG/CNG kit, which will cost much lesser then buying a used Astra? But I also read that Ikons are not conversion friendly. Another option is to swap your petrol Ikon for a pre-owned diesel ikon

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Hi dhanush, Why so much confusion. If you ready to RISK 50-70 or even a Lac, just half your risk by getting a Sequential LPG Kit with a tiny toroidal tank, it is mapped to your ECU and wont screw your engine as fast as a entry level LPG kit with no link to the ECU.

Hi,

I'm not planning on going anywhere near the Engine of my IKON. Again, buying a cheaper car and fitting LPG is also under thought. There are lot of petrol options (lancer) available cheap. I guess they are much more reliable than the Astra.

Cheers,

Dhanush.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by YaeJay

.

Does anyone know about the Corsa? Is it worth the risk? Are they a pain to maintain? I am on the look out for a car for my mom which would be do about 100km a week. driven probably by a middle aged part time driver. Since the running will be low fuel is not an issue. I was thinking palio, corsa and a few marutis. Ofcourse the budget is limited.

I drive a Corsa and yes, it is quite expensive to maintain.

My 1.4 Corsa Sail gives me around 11 km/l if I drive like a good boy on a clear road; in city traffic, this no. goes down even lower. Switch on the a/c and you'll get very comfortable but the car will guzzle fuel like nobody's business.

Plus, the spares are very expensive; so, a pre-owned Corsa will cost a bomb to maintain (esp. after 40k kms).

Moral of the story : a very good car, but at a very high price. And certainly not 2nd hand.

[YaeJay]

^^ Thanks libranof1987! I guess its better to leave out the corsa option. This car is most likely to be driven by a paid driver most of the time. The ones I came to know of are way above 40K kms. Mileage would not have been a major issue since it would be used very less. But maintenance and spare parts (i.e. cost and availability) is a high priority. Thanks again.

[dhanushs]

Guys a slight update:

Yesterday, the wiper motor of the car in question went kaput. Monsoons being harsh, I feared the worst and expected the car to be in garage for sometime, but surprisingly, Skill-mech guys had the motor stock, and the car is back on road. The best part is the cost. It just cost 1900 bucks for a new wiper motor.

Isn't that great!??

[libranof1987]

I can sense the sarcasm in that post!

So, what have you decided? Picking up the car or looking for another one?

[Tathagat]

At the end of the day its your decision. No amount of explanation from our part can change that. But do consider the words of so many previous opel owners on the maintenance front. A friend of mine recently had a fender bender accident with his open corsa. cost him abt 25k for the repairs as the parts were difficult to find and due to the monopoly were being priced very high.

Do consider a diesel from manufacturers like maruti or tata, considering the fact that spare parts will be easier to find

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Yes, I am considering the possibility of buying a mpfi 800. The Astra was considered ONLY because its a known car. No other Astra will be considered. Also, the difference in petrol and diesel is too high for even the humble 800 to make sense.

Go for a 5 gear mpfi, it would be great.

Originally Posted by YaeJay

.
Does anyone know about the Corsa? Is it worth the risk? Are they a pain to maintain? I am on the look out for a car for my mom which would be do about 100km a week. driven probably by a middle aged part time driver. Since the running will be low fuel is not an issue. I was thinking palio, corsa and a few marutis. Ofcourse the budget is limited.

Astra to Corsa would be like from frying pan to fire.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Guys a slight update:
Yesterday, the wiper motor of the car in question went kaput. Monsoons being harsh, I feared the worst and expected the car to be in garage for sometime, but surprisingly, Skill-mech guys had the motor stock, and the car is back on road. The best part is the cost. It just cost 1900 bucks for a new wiper motor.
Isn't that great!??

Is not great. Don't gauge by a wiper motor. There is more to it than meets the eye.

You can still have the Astra, but for keeps, as a souvenir, for an once upon a time kinda story later on.