Tweed Jacket Reviews: 2008 Vauxhall Astra H Twintop 1.8 Design - Lloyd Vehicle Consulting

This car is currently for sale! Here is the full walkaround video: • Very Reluctantly, Our ...
In this impromptu review, as the car we were going to film broke down, we go for a suitably attired day out in the Warwickshire Countryside in a wonderful 2008 Vauxhall Astra H Twintop 1.8 Design to see how practical it is, what it is like to drive and what it is like to own. Be prepared for more in-jokes for fans of a certain long-running spy film franchise (as usual), references to Peter Serafinowicz's seminal spoof science series Look Around You, a mysterious Sport button, slightly unreliable keyless entry, references to a roof which is actually not shown as going down in the video, sensible consumer advice talking about thermostat housings and timing belt tensioners, a performance exhaust system, some rather scruffy wheels, a surprisingly big boot, a permanently missing engine temperature gauge, a strange aftermarket Bluetooth device and generally little of any consequence at all... Nothing untoward, then!
The oil change for this car, courtesy of The Rubbish Mechanic KZbin channel: • vauxhall astra h 2008 ...
My father-in-law's 2010 Vauxhall Astra H 1.4 Active as part of the Tweed Jacket Reviews series from October 2019: • Tweed Jacket Reviews: ...
As an independent vehicle consultant, I take potential buyers through the whole car buying process from choosing a make and model to a vehicle handover and road tax. In addition to information on this service, I also have a selection of written and video reviews of cars that I have owned, hired, borrowed or have somehow come into my possession. Please use the Contact Me page on my website to get in touch, visit my Facebook page for latest updates and share this video if you like it! Thank you for watching.
Website: www.lloydvehicleconsulting.co.uk
Facebook: / lloydvehicleconsulting
Cinematography and Editing by Nicholas Franks
Website: www.nicholasfranks.com
Facebook: / nicholasfranksdigital
Theme Music "Here" by Laurence Callaghan and The Tin Cans Copyright 2013 Bezalel Records
Download the EP at www.completing.bandcamp.com

[@sbomorse]

I paid just over £900 for my 2009 TwinTop 1.8VVT and I adore it. I have the roof off no matter how cold it is. It drives really well, especially when the roof is off as it changes the weight balance and the rear of the car moves about more when "sporty" driving. Mine does 45MPG on a long run, 28-34MPG pottering about and about 24-26 when towing my caravan.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Thank you for watching! If you have a TwinTop with a working roof, then they can be a lot of fun. Mine had a different inlet manifold, and so it was slightly more powerful than standard (around 150 bhp). Sadly, it has now been scrapped.

[@seancooke7332]

That Satnav lady was very efficient. I do like the Astra H and the design of the Twin Top is particularly well done. It looks every bit as good as the equivalent Ford Focus CC which may have had help from Pininfarina. The 1.8 litre engine sounds strong and the driving position sounds really comfortable. This is a beautiful car that you owned Sir. I really enjoyed this video for the second time.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

It was OK, sir! Unfortunately, it has since been scrapped. The handling wasn't too bad (apart from the scuttle shake), and it was quite well equipped. It had a sports aftermarket manifold, which did sound quite good.

[@stanleyleopard6799]

Not usually a Vauxhall fan but this has something about it. Shocked to see the other day that it's on its way out!

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

I am afraid so, sir, but I must abide by the rules my lady wife and I have agreed. It does have a certain something, doesn't it?

[@furiousdriving]

Blimey you do bring the weather with you on!

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Oh yes, sir! When I said that these three reviews we filmed last week were filmed in difficult circumstances, I wasn't joking...

[@richroadin]

@@lloydvehicleconsulting stupid typically British weather 🌧️⛈️

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

@@richroadin, it wasn't great on that day for filming!

[@michel7339]

Got this car to. Love the car. After 10 years every topples car whit a steel car has is maintenance. I checked my wiring a couple of weeks ago I changed the Teflon cogs. En clean you're rubbers of the roof. En use rubber care. 90 % of the problems is bad rubbers. I got 1.8 Cosmo full option. It's a great coupe. You can get softop car. But there are people they Wil put I knive in you're roof. Or a burning sigaret

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Thank you for watching! Yes, Gummi Pflege is a very common product that Twintop owners use these days to prevent leaks. The cogs are often the weak point in the roof, which can lead to failure. The Twintop we had was a lot of fun, glad you enjoyed the video!

[@seancooke7332]

Lovely sporty sounding exhaust really adds to the sporty ambiance of this beautiful Astra H. The Coupe Cabriolet is certainly the best looking Astra H, even better looking than the 3 door. The 1.8 is a nice smooth and powerful engine with adequate power for town and motorway driving. The interior is tough and very practical and the seating and suspension settings on the Astra H are very comfortable for long journeys and they all seem to be very resistant to rust. Those one touch indicator stalks are identical to the ones in my Brother's Vectra C and I just found them an unfortunate gimmick that works well enough but brings no advantage and ends up simply mildly annoying. The indicator stalks would not be a deal breaker for me though because these really are fine well built cars that drive well and don't break down. Also a friend of mine had a major side impact accident in a 2006 Vauxhall Astra H and he was assured afterwards by the Fire Service Personnel who attended the scene that their experience shows that these cars stand up well to impacts and offer excellent protection to occupants.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Sadly, the Astra Hs can have a lot of problems, as this one did. If you neglect the maintenance on them, they can easily blow head gaskets, so best to change the timing belt and water pump more frequently than recommended. Thermostat housings are another common failure on the 1.6 and 1.8 models. As they are very cheap now, people don't tend to look after them properly any more. I have never seen a rusty one, so they are very corrosion resistant, but the TwinTops in particular can have a lot of electrical problems, and are often scrapped for that reason (as this one apparently was in 2020). They are very strong, however, and heavy, and the sports manifold on this did make it pull a bit better.

[@seancooke4127]

I am a sucker for a convertible. It's just like cycling without having to pedal. Do be careful at stop lights though, with pigeons or seagulls overhead. I've experienced some large deposits hitting the windscreen while moving in my wife's 2010 MINI Cooper Convertible. I really think that this model Astra 1.8 design or Elite with the leather is a Keeper. What is your opinion?

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Haven't had any deposits, sir, but we did have some issues with the car, the principal one of which was the roof malfunctioning (a really common problem with these), so we did eventually sell it. I also found the back seats rather too small, and it felt quite dark and claustrophobic inside with the roof up (which it was most of the time). The driving position was good, though, and it made a great noise with the sports exhaust manifold.

[@zugbug1986]

Good review Joseph you did a very good job in highlighting the good and the bad points. With you and your good lady wife's policy of one in one out I suppose if you keep doing the Santa Pod challenge you wont be able to keep a vehicle longer than six months which is a pity.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Thanks very much indeed, Mr G! Yes, having had the car for a few weeks now, I was able to give her a thorough assessment, albeit at short notice. We will have to revisit the policy when it comes up again, but it won't be a problem for a few months at least yet... Thanks again for watching!

[@mattsbeamer]

Lloyd Vehicle Consulting saying that thou, it keeps the car content on your channel fresh :D

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

@@mattsbeamer, I suppose so, sir!

[@PlanetautoUK]

Interesting take on the tweed jacket series, this flows well - mix of angles, great looking car and sounds good too

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

@@PlanetautoUK, thanks ever so much indeed! It came out OK considering the circumstances we filmed it under, I think....

[@hball1031]

Water pump not driven my cambelt on twinport engines but I agree must change cambelt at regular mileage intervals stated

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Thank you, that is very helpful indeed! I think that would be the later 1.6 engines in that case. Certainly my 1.8 did have the water pump fail and the head gasket go due to the cambelt disintegrating, but clearly those are a bit different. Absolutely worth doing the belt at or even before the scheduled intervals on any car with a belt driven engine, isn't it?

[@mattsbeamer]

Another great review mr Lloyd. A good test for your roof lol

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

No leaks, sir! No leaks at all... Thanks ever so much indeed again!

[@mattsbeamer]

Lloyd Vehicle Consulting it seems Vauxhall’s did a much better job than Mercedes did with my dads old SL lol

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

@@mattsbeamer, I think that the company who designed the roof on the Twintop also did the roof on one of the SL generations. I cannot remember which one, though...

[@ndomedia]

Exactly!... I don't understand! Why didn't he show the roof working? I mean that's the whole point of owning a convertible?.... It's funny how he did a whole video review of a convertible and not show the roof opening and closing. I'm baffled 🤔

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

@@ndomedia, it was raining during the moment that we filmed the static shots with the car (this is pretty obvious) and we didn't have time to wait for it to stop. As mentioned in the review, it was done as a backup since the car we had booked to film broke down, so this was a last minute substitute.

[@matthewgreen2553]

Love the intro

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Thanks ever so much indeed! Glad you enjoyed the video, I think we have over fifty episodes of Tweed Jacket Reviews on the playlist now.

[@SVILESIS]

Hello, I would like to ask you about the reliability of 1.6 non turbo versions of these astras. Are they worth it? Not going to go racing, just casual city driving... been looking for a hatch or a wagon.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

I think we covered this pretty comprehensively in the review. The 1.6 (also available as a 1.8) Family I engine has a cambelt which must be changed on time to prevent head gasket failure or worse. There is also a plastic thermostat housing which can fail without warning (it did on ours), and it can cost up to £350 to fix. Low secondhand values of these Astra Hs at the moment can cause either of these problems to make them beyond economical repair.

[@SVILESIS]

@@lloydvehicleconsulting thank you, I did watch the video (I watched the 1.4 aswell), but couldn’t believe that these are the only common problems of these engines, I though that there should be more. Thank you once again.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

@@SVILESIS , sometimes people delete the swirl flaps on the 1.8 in particular, and also remove some of the air intake system (as in this car) as both can cause more minor problems for different reasons, but those above tend to be the big ones. The 1.4 is a completely separate family of engines and is not available in the TwinTop. There may be others, but having actually owned one of these cars, these are the ones I am aware of. Thank you again for watching!

[@mikaelpagdades1751]

@@lloydvehicleconsulting Great review Mr. Lloyd I'm in a big dilemma because I've found this Opel Astra 2009 1.6 Cabrio it's got only 89.000 kms on the clock, it looks likes it's in great condition and I'm wondering if I should buy it, it's only €2.800 what do you think? Thanks for your time..

[@mikaelpagdades1751]

@@lloydvehicleconsulting Thank you very much.

[@evileyes4070]

I know them Nuneaton roads well

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Very well spotted! Yes, we didn't have much of a choice of route due to limited time, but it worked out just fine.

[@blackrider1744]

What about roof? quality? Thx

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

I am afraid that we don't have the car any more, but the roofs on TwinTops are generally a bit problematic. Interior quality is mostly quite good for the era, with plenty of soft touch materials, although the one touch indicators and wipers can be very annoying.

[@trabali5168]

Yeah cars that have metal folding roofs do suffer performance, economy and handling wise. I think you shot this video before you and you wife made the decision to sell it! Oh and reset the service indicator as your selling it now.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Thanks very much indeed! Yes, considering the conditions we shot this in, it turned out OK. Haven't noticed service indicator, to be honest, as my father-in-law's Astra H does the same, but I will see if I can reset it without any extra equipment. It was definitely serviced on 7th February as Mr Coleman's video is proof of that....

[@trabali5168]

@@lloydvehicleconsulting Turn the ignition on and hold the trip reset button, you will see the digits flashing then let go, it works on the astra H, and zafira B and should work on yours too.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

@@trabali5168, yes, if it works in the Zafira B and other Astra Hs, then it should be fine. Thanks for the tip, I really appreciate it!

[@Sportage5603]

I've got one. Very unreliable

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

This one wasn't great either!