Vauxhall Astra Mk3 - How very HubNut! Real Road Test

[@scatmancraig1974]

Brilliant video Ian, and very surreal for me to watch my own car being tested. More so than watching the Super National video, as I was with you during filming for that one. I actually only bought this car as my ratty diesel E-class was playing up so much. I went on Ebay to see what I could get for 500 quid, and this popped up local-ish. 69k and 11 months mot, 2 previous owners with the last owner having kept it from when it was a 3 year old ex mobility car, up to him giving up driving just before lockdown aged 94! It then stood for 2 years, a local trader recommissioned it on his behalf and sold it to me. Just to add, the front suspension in this car is fairly tired, the shock absorbers were picked up on the last mot as not actually doing much. I have new ones, and new lower arms, track rod ends etc, ready to fit, but I still haven't got around to it. Naturally, I fixed the E-class the day after buying the Astra, but I decided to keep it anyway as its such a delightful car to drive.

[@valkyrie1576]

She’s a keeper,might not set the world on fire but it will take you around the world no problem if you wanted it to

[@winniethexi2184]

"ratty diesel E-class" lol

[@pauledmonds3249]

We had these as beat cars in West Yorkshire Police in the 1990's. They were slow, basic, handled like shopping trolleys on ice, but in the hands of a determined Bobby with far less regulation than they have today it could be forced to perform way beyond it's capabilities. I was once on the way to an immediate call in Leeds on nights absolutely thrashing one of these to within an inch of its life when i went over a blind crest in the road with it bouncing off the limiter at about 80mph, completely took off and like the Duke boys landed , got behind a stolen car and forced it to stop and locked up a load of burglars inside. I'm sure the driver thought we'd landed from outer space. Funny times.

[@steved3702]

I think these were ubiquitous in 'The Bill', or was it the Mk. 4? So long since I watched that. Aussie police cars were somewhat larger (think AU :-) ) so the Astras always stuck out for me.

[@Leethemetalwarrior]

@@steved3702 from memory I believe the Astra on the bill was the generation after this one.

[@Hebbers]

Ahhh memories. When I worked for Sainsbury's HQ they used to give us these as rental cars to drive around the country doing systems installations. Generally the 1.4, but sometimes you got lucky and got a 1.6 auto and, very occasionally, a Cavalier. These were pre-speed-camera days and I remember setting all manner of personal best speed records returning from whatever store back to home at silly-o'clock in the morning. Happy days.

[@stefansworld3351]

I managed 115 from my brother's standard 1.4 SPi (67 bhp iirc) 😁

[@antman5474]

I worked for Alamo at the same time collecting and delivering cars in the south east (usually very quickly). I could be mistaken but didn't Sainsbury's have an office in Wallington? I'm fairly sure we had the contract to supply your cars. Do you remember where the ignition keys were hidden?

[@Hebbers]

@@antman5474 Hah - yes, Alamo. I was in Hampshire at the time and our regional office was in Woking - I guess their South-Eastern region was Wallington. Were the keys up the exhaust? It was a long time ago....

[@antman5474]

@@Hebbers Yes they were up the exhaust, well there's a blast from the past lol. I was based out of Gatwick and ragged it round East and West Sussex and South London. We drove it like we'd nicked it, we operated as a pair, one car was the office and usually a 2.0l or a Senator and later the Omega (most customers rented cheap motors but we did have the good stuff on our fleet) and the other car was whatever we were to collect clean and deliver, usually a slow piece of shit. But damn we had fun in the pre camera smart motorway days. The operation collapsed in '96 and we ended up driving vans. White ones. Thanks for the reminder. Keys up the exhaust. Fuck yeah, the 90's rocked.

[@shaunfleming8668]

Never had a mk3 but my mk4 was so great at just being a car. Nothing fancy in it, just a good reliable plodder of a car. I miss the 90s and early 00, modern cars leave me so disenfranchised.

[@benday1218]

same, had two mk4's both eventually had engine issues (oil burning etc) but very easy nice cars.

[@simonbarnwell7787]

Me too .

[@hamstirrer6882]

Still see plenty of mk4 Astras on the road, a testament to their reliability especially as theyre never looked after and just run into the ground..hardly ever see any rust on them either!

[@garethlightfoot3665]

I had a mk4 from almost brand new to 9 years old, was a good solid car. The mk4 always reminded me as the mk3 cavalier, many of the same qualities.

[@spellbound4383]

I agree . My first car was an Astra mark 2 in white with a red stripe down the sides later I had an Astra GTE l loved that car I actually cried when I sold it . Loved all the Astras up until the more recent ones .

[@whitemoor66]

Good solid dependable cars, my sister had one. I had a 1.8LS Cavalier from the same year and it is still one of the best cars we've ever had. Engine and gearbox were bullet proof. Normal services plus track rod ends and two sets of rear shocks and that was it over 140,000 miles! Nothing broke or fell off. 1990's were definitely peak motoring and probably peak Vauxhall too.

[@660einzylinder]

The estate was, in my opinion, the best of the bunch for both looks and practicality. We had one as our works pool car, so it got abused for the ten years it was with us, often driven off road, often overloaded with tools and machinery parts in the back, often asked to tow more than it should (loaded Ivor Williams 16' trailer or a small cattle box). It did well over 100,000 miles and was still going strong. As someone who has never liked fwd Vauxhalls, I thought it was a great car.

[@dazt103]

We had a few of these at work in estate form, both petrol & diesel. They all got hammered and clocked up starship mileages. But they never let anyone down. We found them to be reliable and fairly inexpensive to run.

[@martinhobson3545]

You had to hand it to Vauxhall that their cars of this era just felt right, they were simple underneath and the engines unburstable and efficient. Perfectly drivable today and cheap to run without being boring

[@fhwolthuis]

Nice review of a nice and simple car. My dad had a 1.7 D at the end of the 90s from his work. It had already run over 300.000 km and it was still going strong. I have driven it too and it felt very durable and safe.

[@davidgibson4840]

The izuzu diesel engine was the key .

[@fhwolthuis]

@@davidgibson4840 I think the 1.7 was an Opel Diesel, only the Turbo Diesel was by Isuzu, right?

[@HubNut]

Apparently so. Hadn't realised that. Just confirmed it.

[@autoknight747]

Great cars. I’ve worked on so many of these as a Vauxhall technician and owned them too. Like a little Cavalier. Rear wheel arches went a bit scabby and the galvanised Astra G was a massive improvement but these were streets ahead of the crappy Escort of the time and a safe bet in its day.

[@dontpanicblink]

they are ugly , handled badly and the interior was narrow very little room in them , vile cars

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

This era of small family hatchbacks was fantastic, the Golf, Astra, ZX, R19 and Tipo were all good and very modern cars at the time I remember. Ford shot themselves in the foot with the 'new' Escort.

[@amazinganimallearningandfu3842]

VERY TRUE - they all had character, now its just samey old eurobox dullness. Loved my R19 and my mate at school who had a ZX Reflex 1.4i !

[@Kenny_P_abz]

Good call on the Tipo. All but forgotten now but was really nice roomy car.

[@SpitfireFortyFour]

The Rover R8 was also of that era and that car was absurdly good.

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

@@SpitfireFortyFour Wouldn't say it was absurdly good but it was another good family hatch and had its own personality. It was a bit small inside compared to the competition though.

[@usuallyfixingtinkering]

The Focus is an amazing car and is certainly a contender for the top of this list. Won't find a better fun handling family hatchback.

[@strongandco]

Fun fact, in the 90's, no matter what car you were driving or how fast you were going on a motorway, at some point you would always be passed by an Astra hire car or van leading many people to mistakenly believe that the MKIII Astra was the fastest car in the UK.

[@paulie-Gualtieri.]

Basic Vauxhalls in the 90s all felt fast and nippy, the Joy Riders loved em.

[@davidgibson4840]

Em it was an astramax van. My mate had several , the 1.3 was actually faster than the 1.6. solid 115mph I seen on the a9 at Aviemore

[@philtowle4683]

The 1.7 diesel vans were rapid when empty in the back

[@kenmoore589]

An Astra works van on a Friday afternoon was the fastest vehicle in the world

[@amazulu3401]

Got to agree. World land speed record holder, without a shadow of a doubt, will allways be an Astramax.

[@niklaswejedal463]

Another one of those cars that were absolutely everywhere and then somehow wasn't anymore. Had the chance to test one back when they were new and liked it a lot. Also like the look - one of the better looking Astras, in my opinion.And yes - you got to love a 3-spoke!

[@bigerch85]

Had 5 of these in a row. Finally ended up with a 1993 Gsi 2.0 16v, absolutely loved them all. My first car was a 3 door 1.4 merit. 👍

[@spellbound4383]

I had the GTE 16 v with the unique lcd dash .

[@bigerch85]

@@spellbound4383 that would have been a Mk2 astra. I had that dash in one of my novas. ☺

[@spellbound4383]

@@bigerch85 Yes mark two loved the shape of it and to be honest I still do.

[@bigerch85]

@@spellbound4383 had a Mk2 Belmont sxi briefly but it was so rotten the fuel tank fell off it on the way to work 😂

[@spellbound4383]

@@bigerch85 😆

[@garethdavies3220]

Still running a 1.7 TDL van version of this car , if everything in life was this undemanding and fuss free the world would be a better place, I doubt I will ever part with it.

[@Kenny_P_abz]

Had 4 of these. Really solid reliable cars. The Arctic trim was nicest we had with lovely velour seats.

[@andrewentwistle515]

Ian, May I say "Thank you" . This video took me back to my Late Mother's MK3 Vauxhall Astra SRI (3door, in White with Plastic Wheel Trims). It was nice to see you driving a MK3 Vauxhall Astra, which as you say are thin on the ground these days. I look forward to seeing your next test drive video.

[@ferrumignis]

A friend from school had a 1.4 Merit for a few years, was reliable but very sluggish and body roll was like piloting a boat. My brother had a Mk3 SRi for quite a long time which was quite nice to drive, but not a patch on my Mk2 GTE 16v. Those were the first and last GM products that any of us owned which probably says something for that era of Vauxhall.

[@dontpanicblink]

ye they handled badly and for 1.6 it was slow

[@superseven220]

I had a 1.3L mk2 Astra for a good few years. Got it up to 250,000 miles on the same engine and clutch before the rot got too bad. Brilliant workhorse of an engine, poor interior build quality with lots of rattles. I even used it to tow a berth caravan all over the South of England! I look back in amazement that it managed that with such a small engine😊

[@edwardtrickett1983]

I had one of these P reg 1.4 merit with the HT engine (single point injection) Only bought it for £500 in 2009, had it for 3 years running it from 72,000 miles to 236,000 miles without any major problems Only got rid of it because I fancied a newer car

[@karstentopp]

Had one fully loaded 1.6 convertible. Not a very dynamic drive, but really comfartable, frugal and - being a convertible - great joy to drive when thge rain stopped. Heating was so strong, you could easily drive it open in the coldest of winter!

[@matthewshambler2644]

They were still called a Kadet in South Africa.. Astra was the sedan and estate.. great vehicles indeed! We got a 2.0 turbo version called the 200ts (C20LET engine if memory serves) and they were absolute beasts in their day.. hens teeth these days of course.

[@jamesbester85]

This was my first car! I had one in this exact spec but in metallic green. It was fantastic! Stayed in the family from new right up until it was sadly scrapped. Loved that car so much. So lovely to see it getting some love on hubnut - thank you Ian

[@northdevonwildlifewithandy788]

My dad had one of these. He passed it to me and I passed it to my daughter. Lovely basic comfy car.

[@spellbound4383]

My uncle was area manager at Vauxhalls EllesmerePort he took me into the factory once at a weekend , he also brought me back the Vauxhall badges from the 1980’s used to place them on my window ledge , great childhood days .

[@DeathlySin]

My father had one of these in dark blue when I was a kid. I think it might’ve been the facelift of it. I remember being amazed at the aerial popping up from out the rear quarter panel near the window and thinking it was magical, then my father changed the volume on the radio without touching it and my mind was confused and blown by that. Vividly remember asking him how he was doing that and he always told me “I’m using the force, feeling the presence. It’s magic!” We got rid of that car years later for the newer model in 2003 in white and we’d went to France and back in it. Neither of those cars had ever let the family down and were super reliable and comfortable to be in. Good cars are the Astra. I had a 2012 about 4 year ago and absolutely loved that thing, only thing it ever needed was brakes, tyres, coil springs in the rear once and that was it. Good on fuel and never left me stuck at the side the road. Imho Vauxhall cars get too much flack from badge snobs, they’re good dependable cars.

[@bentullett6068]

I get excited seeing the ever so rare saloon booted variants of these as they are rare to see. The MK4 Astra saloon booted versions are also rare to spot.

[@micheltebraake7915]

This was the generation of good cars, simple and solid.

[@painreliever83]

Brings back memories, I drove around in a quite tatty R-reg mk3 1.6 Astra from 2011-14, it was a mid spec so had alloy wheels, (broken) air conditioning, (broken) motorised radio aerial, power steering and yet still had keep fit windows for some reason. And the red paint had faded to a lovely salmon pink colour. Drove lovely though, until the head gasket went. £300 for nearly 3 years of motoring though. Replaced it with a mauve Fiat Punto that cost the same and lasted 6 months. I started buying modern cars on finance after that. Funnily enough I'm in an Astra again, though a mk6 now.

[@mikes747]

I love a mk3! Had many! My favourite one was a 1.6 arctic auto! It's name was Fust! My last one was a 1.8 sport- that went like a stabbed rat!

[@JK-rt2jj]

That automatic gearbox was a doddle indeed.

[@amazulu3401]

Could not agree more. Bought an estate 1.7 TDi L reg for my wife’s 30th birthday present back in ‘96. She was supposed to get a Golf GTi but smashed up her Golf C Formel E 3 months before so the insurance sky rocketed. March this year I paid £553 for another L reg Estate, 1.4i this time, from the car auction site I work at. Defo saved it from the scrapman. Rear wheel arches borderline perfect, one careful gentleman owner, garaged and polished, caribic blue. Drives a treat, I love it. And registered on my birthday. It was fate that it should be mine. Primarily bought to share daily duties, and keep the mileage down, with my other nicely coloured estate, a 5 litre, 572bhp, RS6 monster in sepang blue, my actual dream car, had for 6 years now. Love them both.

[@stevieboyNI]

Thanks for the review Ian, had many of them in the past. Brought back great memories!

[@jmurray01]

My grandfather had a Mk3 Astra van with the diesel engine when I was young. Never appreciated it then but it served its purpose.

[@Rouxenator]

Never had an F, but grew up loving the way the F sedan looked. My first car was a South African built Astra G hatch and had several (Opels) since. Currently driving a German built Astra J sedan.

[@malcolmrowe1794]

We had a mk4 1.6 Sport for over 17 years. It was brilliant.

[@worldofrandometry6912]

In my opinion the MK2 and MK3 styling was a step back from the original MK1. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[@automotivel3501]

My Son has a very Hub nut car, a 2009 Fiat Panda (169) 1.1 Active Eco. Electric front windows, C.D.L., P.A.S. and no cigar lighter/12v power outlet? But actually really fun to drive, almost impossible to speed, but economical. We brought of first owner at 3 years old 72k on clock it now has around 95k Drives lovely.

[@huwdavies6650]

My first car was a poverty spec mk2 three door with the 1.2 ohv engine as seen in the Chevette. It was Beige with a brown interior. It only had a 4 speed gearbox MW/LW radio with no cassette and no near side mirror. That last one was resolved by a trip to Tan Y Groes.

[@JamesG75]

I've always liked this generation of Astra. It's a shame they seem to have almost disappeared

[@shanehornby1693]

Had 2 of these, k reg1.4 merit 3dr, then upgraded to a n reg 1.7 td ls (Isuzu) absolutely loved it, far superior to a mk5 escort

[@ferrumignis]

The FWD Escorts were pretty nasty things in general tbh, hard to believe they got away with making them all the way up to 2002.

[@ruglund]

my dear old grandpa had his astra f 1600 from 1997 till his death in 2018, it was a 1995 model, did many miles, never had any problems, rusted but not scaringly so.... a good reliable cheap car. my brother bought a 1996 1600 as a banger, thrashed the hell out of it, it did throw a conrod -admittedly whilst he was doing a burnout so big you couldnt see the car 😛

[@smurftums]

Drove one of these as a rental car in 1999 (1.6 Holden Astra sedan). Once I got used to the offset steering wheel, it proved to be a nice drive from Hobart to Launceston and back.

[@davidchesterman1556]

I had a new Kadet in 1981 and a total of 6 Vauxhalls culminating in a J reg Astra. The steering constantly pulled to the left with some force and despite repeated visits to the dealer was never improved. This was the last Vauxhall I ever bought, I was lucky to sell it. The buyer said he had a garage and even though he noticed it pulling to the left he thought he could fix it, I was just glad to offload it.

[@robenglish416]

Drive one in France 1992 when it was new (1,4 80 hp I believe, Opel of course) and really liked it. My dad looked on a second hand 2 L a couple of years later and took it for a drive to his local mechanic to get a verdict. The mechanic said: it’s probably a nice car but have you seen the rust spots? The car was 3 years old, 3000 miles on the clock, my dad returned the car quickly to the dealer. The rust problems where solved with the next generation Opel Astra, and no, the Golf didn’t rust to the same extent!

[@kennyg4744]

I had an estate version of this 1.4 merit as a company car when I was a field service engineer. I did 100,000 miles in 18 months and it never failed. It's interior design was perfect for my job. Only "issue" I had was that the speedo could be very generous. Reported it every time it went for a service, but dealer could not find anything. It read 95 when you were doing 80...........on a private road.

[@HubNut]

Apparently this one has the same fault! Thought people were blasting past when I thought I was doing 70...

[@scatmancraig1974]

Yes the speedo is way out on this car. 70 on the speedo is 60 in reality. Not helped by having fractionally smaller tyres, it has 165/70R13's, it should have 175/70's.

[@roberttucker805]

If my Speedo reads 35 I'm actually doing 30 so it avoids speed cameras! Weird thing is the mileometer is exactly right. I did a 10.1 mile journey in a Polo that read exactly what it said on the dash cam yet my Astra read exactly 10.1 miles. I would have thought it would have recorded a higher mileage if the speedo was wrong?

[@volvo480]

I've driven an Astra F 1.6 and 1.7D a couple of times in 1995-1996. The 1.6 felt very wrong geared and the 1.7D was painfully slow, but for cruising on the motorways they were excellent and they offered a much more comfortable ride than the Mk2 Golf I owned at the time and didn't rust like its Kadett E predecessor.

[@bleeedthebrakes]

These do have a nice reputation here in Asian countries too, especially where GM offered locally produced versions which made prices pretty competitive. My uncle had a GSi, and I believe that's the reason why my dad decide to pick up an Omega B when I was born. Still commuting with it today, really nice car.

[@89thunderchunky]

My first car was a mk3 astra 1.4, will definitely get one again

[@colingoode3702]

As ex GM employees (UK) my Dad & I had a variety of Vauxhalls over the years. My Dad had one of these Astra's just before he passed. Prior to that Viva's (Mk1, 2, 3), Magnums, Chevette's etc. I had a 1969 Viva GT for a while & have fond memories underneath it most weekends modifying the suspension & engine. Astra GTE's were great & are now quite rare & sought after now.

[@Jannesoppad]

My mom had a grey saloon. Great car I stil remember the very nineties seats.and the huge boot. There used to be one on every street.

[@hamstirrer6882]

Had that exact engine in my first car, a P reg Corsa, loved that car. No power steering, electric nothing but was a great first car, and cheaper to insure as a 17 year old than 1.1 saxos and 106s (probably because it made the same power- a measly 60hp) while being much more dependable than either of those! Sadly rust killed it, like most Vauxhalls of the 90s

[@alansimpson835]

I loved these back in the day, and especially the 3 door. Nice styling, decent stereo and minimal faff. I much preferred Vauxhall of this era to Ford too

[@BudgetBuildsOfficial]

There’s one locally I’ve always wanted to save. 1.4 Hi-Torq with Mk3 Owners Club stickers. Sadly being left there just sitting. Given my Mk4 is needing a new alternator though I should really get around to that first.

[@CaseyJonesNumber1]

The issue with the windscreen wipers/washers is that it's probably had the washer pump replaced. I had to do that on my Mk1 Focus, and had the same issue. The polarity of the replacement aftermarket pump was reversed in relation to the original Ford pump, so the two-way pump was working the opposite way to the Ford one. A simple snip of the two wires to the pump, reverse them and solder them up again, and insulate them, had it sorted.

[@Mariazellerbahn]

I bought one of those brand new on an L plate. It was a 1.7 diesel Merit 3 door, my first AND LAST diesel. It was non turbo and it would NOT get up the hills around Clovelly without dropping into first gear. Got rid after 18 months and bought a new 1.6 petrol cabrio which was miles better.

[@tidborough]

This is a car that does what it says on the tin etc.. had a few and never let me down! Great Hub Nut Hair cut as well!! Always enjoy your videos.

[@wxcferdts]

3:12 the all new Vauxhall As(h)tra(y)!

[@t33s]

My dad used to own the most basic spec 1.4 8v from 1992. It even lacked the radio/date and temperature display, no power steering, no ABS, carbureted. It rusted like hell, but served reliably for over 300k kms. The last ones were made in Poland from 1998 to 2002 and sold as Astra Classic. Rusted even more, but it saved many people from the horror of owning a Polonez.

[@MattBrownbill]

Peak motoring, is a very good description, I pretty much thought that with my MK 1. That was a 1300s with the OHC engine, the 1275 pushrod MK 2, I had later was very similar in ride etc. I then had 2 Mk3s. The turbo diesel with the intercooled Isuzu engine pulled very well.

[@arcticastra]

I had a 1.6 Arctic edition in my early 20s and loved it, right up until a van went into the side of me and wrote it off. Having air con and rear head restraints was a total luxury to me at the time

[@brianbridle951]

I had a 92 J reg 1.4 merit as a company car. BRILLIANT car. over the next 3 yrs did 102,000 miles without a hitch. Driving to Strasburg with 2 tenage boys and luggage recorde 52 mpg and the Michelin tyres lasted 60,000 miles. I kid you not!

[@MrG61-u9k]

We ran a couple back in the day, the wife had a 1.6 saloon and I had a diesel estate, the other cheap to service item was the ability to replace the clutch with the gearbox in situ, great design.

[@Phiyedough]

Yes, I still have the set of C clips they gave you to hold the clutch compressed to go through the letter box!

[@dougowt]

I’d forgotten about the excellent clutch replacement design. I had the swap down to 20 minutes on a two poster ramp.

[@MrG61-u9k]

@@dougowt Yes very handy, the 1.6 in particular suffered from regular clutch judder.

[@heikkiremes5661]

My dad had a 1.6i Astra in that same color and layout back in the 90's. In 1994 my family went for a tour of recently liberated Europe. Poland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary etc. At 180 km/h on the Autobahn, I remember a red Testarossa just flying past us. It had one big side mirror. Good times.

[@jazzhands7771]

I used to have an identical one to this 17 years ago, so nice to see another base model in such nice condition all these years later.

[@egonzet]

A few years ago I had an Astra F Classic, with an X14NZ engine. Year 1999. Manufactured in the GM factory in Gliwice, Poland. This silver sedan was probably the most honest car I've ever had. He did not promise more than he could give. It was comfortable enough, and the low fuel consumption sweetened the poor performance. It also proved to be reliable. The only failures are the clutch cable broken twice and that's it. I did 70,000 km with it and I regretfully sold it due to corrosion problems.

[@kieranbaker4213]

I had a 1.4 LS saloon as a stop gap recently. I was very impressed with the build quality and ride of these things.

[@workonesabs]

I had a K reg 1.4i estate. good car, reliable and had a sunroof. Mine was a LS version, with electric front windows.

[@trevorparker6803]

I had 2 different MK3 Astras. One was an 1800, in red, and it went like a scalded cat. The other was a 2.0 in white which was also fairly rapid.

[@rimmersbryggeri]

They had pretty generous gearing in this era. My friends mom had a 87hp Omega (Carlton) and it was pretty good in the traffic light GP.

[@MyBrilliantChannel]

My mum always had Astras, she had a Mk2 and a Mk3. Both lasting over 10 years a piece with very little problems. Her last one a 1997 Astra Arctic 1.6 was a lovely car. Thanks for this.

[@marcinbujok7388]

Great car! I have 1,4 MPI opel astra sedan from 95'. Only 146k on the clock. Most of it's life spent in a garage. Owned by an older man. Love the simplicity and easy to work on. Very dependable car! Cheap parts as well. Won't sell it!

[@_autoverse]

I was looking at Astra pics on Instagram yesterday, as you do. And found out that this generation of Astra was also made in Taiwan and there’s a fair few of them there.

[@caw25sha]

Well you live and learn. We're they badged as Opels?

[@_autoverse]

@@caw25sha They had Opel badges, the company that had the contract to build them was CAC. That company also made the Citroen C15 van in Taiwan, including a pickup version.

[@Cayres9]

My dad had the 1.7 turbo diesel with the Isuzu engine , so good it was

[@patrickw6934]

I went to the launch year motor show for these. They were making a big show of the "Pre restraint" seat belts, that in the event of sudden braking would automatically pull you backwards. They were demonstrating this at the show, putting people in seats and photographing their reactions as the belt snapped back. I liked the styling, but I found many of the 90's designs seemed rather flimsy until they started adding doorbars and extra safety equipment later on. I remember my village taxi driver hanging onto his Mk2 Cavalier for as long as possible because he preferred it to the Mark 3 they had just bought.

[@ReminiscenceGarage]

When I was still in school in 2010 my classmate had an Astra F 1.6 while I had a BX 16TZI. They where quite evenly matched, trust me we tried. As a Citroën owner you where supposed to hate opels, but I liked the Astra. It was indestructible, drove like It was on rails compared to the BX and felt a little more modern. Fond memories of all the shit we did with those cars...

[@alan-sk7ky]

Hmm, something wrong with you BX maybe?

[@arnonmus1]

My God Ian your intro is hysterical! Thanks for this review, it is indeed peak Hubnut - for this month in any case.

[@stevenbrown3151]

Vauxhall did produce some really decent vehicles. I’d want one with the 1.7 DI engine. Unkillable. I did many miles with that engine in a corsavan and never serviced it. Oil leaked a bit so used oil went in to top it up

[@robsmart239]

I drove loads of these back in the day. The ones without power steering were much less pleasant to drive. The 1.4 8v single point injection engine was ok, the mpi 82ps was nicer. The 1.6 8v was great on petrol, but very dull spread of power. The natural aspirated diesel were also great on mpg, but not quick! 2.0 GSi was pretty quick. Turbo diesel was a good choice.

[@cash4carsvansmotorcycles140]

Excellent cars had 1 of these as my first car 1.4 merit crashed it and bought a mk3 1.7 turbo diesel 1 of the only cars av ever missed

[@robinjones6999]

a simple car and all the better for it - the perfect comment Ian - Congrats on your sub numbers!

[@CaptHollister]

Later versions were also called the Saturn Astra in the US and Canada. My youngest daughter had one, it was a very decent car.

[@adamtoms2726]

A lot of love for these. Whilst there isn't lots left, it held up much better than the god awful MK5 Escort.

[@PillSharks]

Takes me back. My wife had the LS version of the astra in white and also M reg… bloody brilliant car and in the 6 years she owned it I think the only problem we had was with the temp sensor! A very reliable car.

[@liamsgarage]

Love the 90s Vauxhall's I'm 23 on my 3rd cavalier I just bought one I'm the 2nd owner 70k v6 saloon been off road 9 years I changed the alternator and rocker gaskets and I've been driving it around like it was parked up last week it ain't missed a beat so far

[@paultaylor7082]

I once had a Mk 3 Astra as a hire car when my own was off the road. They came out around 1991/2, they were one of the first volume sales cars to have electronic ignition and fuel injection, I seem to remember. I can recall my neighbour seeing the car, which had only just been launched, doing a double take, then going up to inspect what this strange car was doing on our road. I always thought the car was inspired by the earlier, much maligned Maestro. At one point my missus had an F reg one 1.6L in silver, I had a G reg 1.6L Montego Estate in Henley Blue. The latter had the superior Honda 5 speed gearbox, the Maestro the not so good Volkswagen 5-speed. I drove both of them, this was pre power steering for most cars, but they were both nice to drive. I still say the Montego estate was one of the nicest looking estates BL/Rover ever made, I've currently got a 2004 Rover 75 2 litre diesel estate, another good looking car.

[@danhaywood5017]

Brings back childhood memories. My parents had a red diesel. It was badged as vauxhall opel astra. With opel badge on the rear and vauxhall at the front.

[@jackkinkead868]

Passed my test in my mum’s one! Nov ‘95 model, in a weird blue/purple colour. Registration IAZ 7781. As a 17 year old I never appreciated how good it actually was, sadly. Great review!

[@martinkupka3575]

From 2011 - 2015 I first owned an Astra F 1.6 f. I can confirm everything positive you told about the car. That´s why I somehow fell in love with that car. In 2015 I unfortunately had to sell it because I had too many cars, no space and the Astra could be sold faster than any of the others (because it´s cheap, but reliable and practical). Soon afterwards I started to regret it and that feeling lasted on. So last year I bought the same thing again. Took me a while to find one with very good original paint and only few rust issues. I probably will drive it until it breaks completely or til I get too old, whatever comes first.

[@tpaul2866]

Had a Mk 2 Bedford Astra van. 82,000 trouble free miles over 2 years. 1.6 Isuzu Diesel engine I believe. 4 speed manual. No power steering. No electric anything. Even had a manual choke lever for cold start with the glow plugs.

[@HubNut]

I think that was pre-Izuzu. 55bhp IIRC. Bit of a plodder...

[@dieselbushcraft1299]

I loved those Astras and I agree the estate was super. I had one of the last MK2 1.4 Merit and it was great.

[@paultaylor7082]

Merit was a basic spec, I seem to remember. I think the black strip might well not have been standard. A very reliable engine, the GM one. Keep fit windows? Love it. The radio was built in, no way to nick it. Gone were the days of kits previously needed to modify your radio/cassette, where you could literally take the radio out of the dashboard and bring it to the safety of your home. In the mid 80s to mid 90s, smashing windows and nicking the radio was very much a growth industry. I was a victim of this for my company car, three times. In the end, we didn't bother replacing the radio for the last six months, before it went back to the leasing company.

[@someguyfromCapeTown]

These were still known as the Opel Kadett here in South Africa, the 4 door of the same generation was called the Astra. Even won Car of the Year here in 1993.

[@alexp.3152]

I currently own a mk3 1.6 16V. I bought it as a cheap run around for a short time. £500, 1 owner from new, 71k miles, and holy shit! Did i found a bargain! And it performes so well! Its my daily now! And running strong!

[@PeetPeeet]

I had two of these, one just like the review car, and a 3 door purple one. Both suffered terminal engine failure, not being tolerant of spirited motoring with 100,000+ miles on odometer. I remember them as the first cars I had that could do more than 100mph… downhill. Once achieved 120mph in middle of the night on the M1, and got the purple one airborne somewhere near Chobham common.

[@richardlees3972]

I owned a r reg Astra Had It 10 Years My Father Bought Me Who Has Since Passed Away Nice Memories.

[@cmjones01]

Great to see a review of the Astra. Our family had one of these in the 90s, a white pre-facelift one which did have electric windows but was otherwise nearly identical to the one in the review. Immensely practical and reliable car. The only thing I can remember going wrong with it was one front wheel bearing. I remember severely testing the limits of its practicality by loading three bikes on the roof, five people inside and a boot full of luggage. It coped surprisingly well, though fuel economy got down to 30mpg!

[@wattling1396]

I had a mk3 1.4 ls as my 2nd ever car and paid £50 for it as it was a trade in at a garage I worked at. They were really good cars tbh

[@adammcallister2260]

My first car was a Mk3 Astra in 29L Ceramic blue. Mine was the comparatively luxurious Expression spec. It was identical to this apart from I got a manually operated sunroof and the facelift gear knob. Bow down to my superiority.

[@darrenwilson8042]

Merit was 1965 spec for a car lol I had two as company cars - both red Isuzu LPT diesels 1.7 engined jobbies with no intercooler. Zero excitement ( did get a sunroof - gave myself sunstroke one day stuck in traffic in Salisbury ) however................did loads to the gallon - handy when you are paying your own private mileage costs and it was so solid - felt like as long as you could feed it diesel it would just keep going. Both 120k miles when they were moved on and both felt like they were only just run in

[@darrenmeears3912]

The astra van was brilliant with the 17 diesel it was a right little rocket 🚀👍

[@AndyK.1]

There’s nothing faster than an Astra van.

[@Jam3sA]

Always preferred the exterior of the Mk2 personally, but these I feel had a better dashboard look than both the Mk2 & Mk4. Performance wise these always felt a tad worse than the Mk2 too, probably down to a bit of extra weight & the higher roofline leading to more roll (as the chassis was essentially the same as before)

[@HA05GER]

MK2 far better by a long way I absolutely despise the mk3

[@siraff4461]

I had a load of these over the years. One stand out was the 1.7TD which only required a few turns of the screws to stick with my mates' Cavalier SRi. He was convinced his car wasn't running right for ages after until I got another Cav SRi and they were dead even.