Saturn Astra? Good, bad?

I'm.in the market for a daily driver. I drive about 30000 miles a year mostly highway. I need something that is cheap, good on gas and roomier than my 996. I will still have the 996. Seating for 5 is preferred. The astra looks to fit this criteria. Anyone know anything about them? My budget is $5k or less since the mileage I do will turn it into worthless within a few years.

I've been told parts are VERY hard to get since they were only sold here for one year before the axe dropped. Not just weird stuff, either; they used a unique Ecotec variant that never came to the U.S. in anything else. They are also really underpowered for their size. Otherwise, pretty unremarkable vehicle.

$5k can get you a lot of cars that would do everything about as well, and have actual parts availability. Toyota Matrix, Ford Focus, Mazda 3, etc...

I owned a 5 door XR auto for about a year. It was a decent appliance, gas mileage wasn't quite what I was expecting for a 4-cylinder, but I think the auto had something to do with that. Plenty of room and some pretty nice options for an older Saturn (mine had the panoramic roof, decent audio, power everything). And it helped me move my 70 lb dog, multiple bikes, furniture, etc.

In the time I owned it I had to fix a CEL for bad O2 sensor (~$70 at AutoZone) and also had a bad coil pack (you have to replace all four as it is one big piece, which was like $600 locally, so I took a chance on a Chinese reproduction one for like $80 and it did the trick). Right before I sold it I was starting to run into issues with the AC compressor kicking on intermittently, so I was a little disheartened by the issues I had while owning/driving.

That said, they are super cheap and really easy to work on. I would just caveat that with, since it isn't exactly the same as the Cobalts/Ions, some parts can be pretty expensive and not readily available. I don't know that I would trust one to perform 30k/year flawlessly. I greatly preferred my Integra to the Astra, not sure if that would be an option?

The problem with living in a place with lots of salt/ rust is that the $5k mazda3 civic, etc are all older and already very crunchy.

In reply to mw:

I live in the thick of the Wisconsin rust belt, so I know where you're coming from, but even here you can get a clean Matrix or Focus for $5k all day long. If you're going to throw it away in a few years anyway, who cares if it develops a little rust while you drive it? Better than not having a daily for a month because you're waiting on parts, at least.

i'd honestly rather go find the last/best s-series left in the whole world (and probably $2000 leftover) and drive that.

mw wrote: The problem with living in a place with lots of salt/ rust is that the $5k mazda3 civic, etc are all older and already very crunchy.

I looked at all of these options about this time last year. I bought a VW Golf with a 2.0L. They don't rust as much as the Japanese cars and the 2.0L is pretty reliable.

My Golf cost me $2K, with only 131k kms on it.

I have owned an '08 Astra 4-door 5-spd for over 5 years now. I only have 65k on mine, but they are known to last pretty long with very basic maintenance. Like CobraSpdRH said, the coil pack is known to fail randomly before the first timing belt. It's $60 on Amazon now and I keep one on hand just in case. I've also had my A/C compressor clutch fuse go, which either means a new compressor ($350 if you DIY) or you can jerry-rig the compressor clutch and jumper the fuse. The parking brake cable rubber boot tends to crack and leads to cable replacement, which is an easy $30 fix. Some have issues with vvt solenoids, but apparently it too is an easy fix. All of this stuff can be found on Amazon or Rockauto very reasonably.

They have a solid factory undercoat and no known rust issues, though they're only 7 years old now. The flex pipe is the only part that may rust and cause slight exhaust leak, but it is another easy/cheap fix.

Parts are not hard to find. Just search Vauxhall or Opel Astra 1.8. It's a super common car in Europe, where it was engineered and assembled. No "old GM" E36 M3 with this vehicle. Fit and finish are superb for a car that retailed for $16,000. High quality plastics, no rattles, solid "German car" road feel. The handling is GREAT and very firm for an economy car. Unfortunately it does feel gutless and under-powered. The 5-spd is a bit clunky and the clutch has a weird, long throw. Motor Trend described it as a "chicken leg stuck in a jar of marbles".

I average 29 mpg and can get up to 31 on highway with minimal effort.

Saturn Ion is plastic bodied which helps hide the rust.

I would not buy the Astra. Sort of a stillborn, bastard launched as Saturn was dying.

It's a super common car in Europe, where it was engineered and assembled. No "old GM" E36 M3 with this vehicle. Fit and finish are superb for a car that retailed for $16,000. High quality plastics, no rattles, solid "German car" road feel. The handling is GREAT and very firm for an economy car.

It's a Cobalt, which he may as well buy anyway. Ours is nearly 10 years old, drives like a 3 year old car and has been trouble free except for the control arm bushings, which I've changed twice (easy job, and cheap), but If you drive predominantly highway they'll probably never go bad. It's also rust free.

I had one for a while. Coil pack went at 80,000 miles, clutch at 100,000 miles, AC compressor and alternator within a month of each other at 120,000 miles.

It handled fairly well for what it was, but you can do better for your money.

I'm in the same situation as you...well, except that I don't have a 996. Drive 30-35k/year, mostly highway. Wanted a cheap car to beat the snot out of and it had to be a stick shift hatch/wagon. I actually almost pulled the trigger on a nice Astra XR, but I hesitated too long and it sold. At this price point, I was looking for the best example of something that was less than 10 years old and under 100k miles that I could find. I wound up with a 2009 Chevy HHR that had 61k when I bought it. Wasn't quite $5k, but close at $5700. It's no sports car, but it's great at doing what I need it to. Getting 29-30mpg, it's plenty comfy for the commute, it can carry a ton of crap...including being able to load both my boys football gear for going too/from practice. I've only had it a few months, but I'm now at 70k miles and am quite happy with it. 4th gear synchro is weak, but as long as you aren't speed shifting, it won't grind. Other than that, just a few normal GM assembly quality rattles.

I am with most everyone else here. For $5K just about anything else is better.

Test drove a 40k mile example XR a year or 2 ago, not impressed at all.

Klayfish, check your front sway bar links, these are well known for rattling.

Gearheadotaku wrote: Test drove a 40k mile example XR a year or 2 ago, not impressed at all. Klayfish, check your front sway bar links, these are well known for rattling.

I need to find the time to get it up on jackstands and wiggle things around. I do hear the noise on some bumps. But I hear it nearly every time I pull from a stop...especially when backing up. I'll put it in reverse, release the clutch and as soon as the car starts to move there's a clank/bang from underneath. Not horribly loud, in fact you can barely hear it if the windows are up or radio is on.

Also the same platform, so the rear control arm bushings can make a rattle sound. The rubber delaminates from the metal on the inside or out and the control arm bangs against the mount.