Thinking about buying a new car...

XSI isnt a bad car, RS turbo insurance will be a nightmare. It costs more for me to insure 1500 quids worth of RS Turbo than 15k's worth of civic type R.

Go with a Golf of the XSI

Your even considerijng owning a daeaoewoooo thingy?

[snip]

TBH i agree totally. dont go on someone else insurance, it's the best decision i ever made. after passing our tests all my mates ran out and brought nippy cars and used their parents insurance. I brought the 1.4 paxo. payed 1200 quid for the insurance in my first year. the year after that, yes, one year, with the same insurance company it was 600 (fully comp)

Now i have 3 years NCB and own the R5 turbo, am insured on the other halfs BMW the engine transplanted Paxo and a fiesta Si and can get quoted on anything within reason...wheres my mates *still* either have to be on their parnet insurance or have bitten the bullit and brought a s**te car.

Your NCB is the most valuable thing you can have if your serious about cars.

I'd trip the binary filters on the news-server if I were to list everything bad about them ;-)

Ok then just the majour faults then, i'm tired of people on here saying "they are shit just because they are shit". I like Astra's and i'm going to take a look at a 16v GTE with the cosworth head, next weekend unless you can convince me otherwise?

Sure it's a Cosworth head?

Anyway:

1. Rust
2. Handle like a puppy on ice
3. Rust
4. Interior falling apart
5. Rust
6. Most have been caned to within an inch of their lives
7. Rust
8. Most have been crashed
9. Did I mention the rust?

Yeah its a 1989 with the cocast badge on the head.

Well I got the guy to send me pic's of the archs (the rear ones are where they go) and there was a little rust but nothing I couldnt sort out easily. I can't comment on the handleing since i've never driven a GTE on the road, but my brother had a mk2 1.4 Jubelee or somthing and it was a good ride, I experianced alot of fun while B road thrashing in that car and it never let him down.

He's going to take a look underneath today for any rot, he also said their is some slight bubbleing by one of the rear spoiler mounts which he will take a pic of.

You'll never properly fix the rear arches. IME, once they've started to go, the only solution is to chop away both the outer and inner arch and start with fresh metal. Any less than that and it'll be crumbling again within a few weeks. Trust me on this, I know someone who had a cheap respray done on a MkII GTE and it was starting to come through after a couple of months because the rotten metal hadn't been fully chopped out.

Bubbling where the spoiler mounts almost certainly means the tailgate is shot to pieces.

You're obviously going to buy one anyway, despite advice not to, though.

FRAUD.

--=20 Conor

Opinions personal, facts suspect.

10) Engines sounding like they're from a tractor 11) Rust

The outer arches aren't the bits you've got to worry about.

I've seen pic's of the inside of it now and it isnt really bubbleing, the paint is raised around the mounting location. If I do buy this car I will smooth off the rear tail gate after sorting any of those problems out.

Maybe, I am still going to see the car but i'll keep all of what you just mentioned in the back of my mind, I value your opinion as well as others on the group (some more than others), and i'm certainly not blindly disregarding your critique of the GTE. If I felt that inclined to buy a 16v I wouldn't ask for your input :)

I mainly need other car suggestions to research, rather than covering old ground with GTE's and Golf GTi's.

FRAUD.

What are you moaning about they can use the car if they like :)

Everyone who has a car is biased so asking someone who is obsessed with one marque what an astra is like is asking for advice you don't want to hear. ;-)

I'd forget about what car you are getting for now and go get quotes for insurance on a few different cars and then pay whatever you have to as others have said to get some no claims above all else.

- ask about the astrain the forum would be a good start if your dead set on it.

Mark S.

I was on my dads insurance till was 21. Whilst all my mates were driving around in shitty Fiesta/AXs i was driving much more powerful cars and paying far less insurance (well nothing actually :)). Then when i got my own insurance i was driving a 205 XS, not which wasnt a slouch and the insurance was £700 i think with a couple of mods declared (alloy wheels bumped it up £100). Now i have 1 years NCB and i drive a mk1 MR2 which i'm more than happy with, and the insurance is about the same. I'm glad i did it the way i did as going thru uni theres no way i'd be able to afford a decentish car to drive about in if i was insuring it myself!

THey will be registered as the main driver(s) but won't be will they?

--=20 Conor

Opinions personal, facts suspect.

Yeh, right.

Look, even a trace of bubbling on the surface means that the rot has really set in. You can chop it out, but like Arnie it will be back, very, very quickly.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

And Steve knows rust when he sees it.

He's seen enough of it in the past.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@itspambot.com spouted=20 forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

Think 306, 405 from Pug. They both handle well, even the smaller engined ones still handle so you=20 can use what you got. Also think Alfa 155, look for an early camchained one, and find one=20 without rust, cheap as chips to buy, they drive fairly well.

Was on my shortlist before I decided to go Jap. Also don't forget Jap cars. Series 3 Prelude was a bit boxy but had a 2 litre engine and popup=20 lights. Preludes newer suffered the same "Modding" affliction as the=20 Civic and Integra, but they aren't bad cars. Series 3 are cheap as chips=20 now, insurance should be reasonable too. Decent interiors.

--=20 Carl Robson "Sorry Sir the meatballs are orf" (The poster formerly known as Skodapilot)

Only on the Spider and my MkIV Escort, though....