Where have the last two years gone??? I bought my friend’s ex-hire Astra estate (it had been his company car) in March 2010 and I’ve taken it from 44k to 65k miles; it is a 1.3tdci Club 56reg. Apologies – I meant write a review ages ago, but never quite got round to it. I paid £5.5k for it and it was in very good condition when transferred, and still is; I knew its history and it hadn’t suffered any misfueling upsets. It was 3 years old when I bought it and I’ve owned it for just 2 years.

As has been suggested above, its performance is nothing to write home about – particularly when moving off at busy roundabouts! However it has proved (touch-wood!) very reliable, and ULTRA cheap to run. I average between 47 and 58 mpg – it’s usually around 55mpg (brim to brim) depending on time of year and number of short town runs. On a motorway/dual carriageway, it tends to lose speed on slight gradients if the revs are allowed to drop below 2000 and it demands fairly frequent shifts from 6th to 5 th to get it moving again.

But, with its small engine – how could it possibly cope with a decent load? Last May I did the return trip from Bury St Edmunds to Heathrow with 4 adults, 4 suitcases, hand luggage and numerous other bits and pieces – the car was loaded to the gunwales! Surprisingly, performance seemed barely affected and it did the 250 miles at 54.8mpg (again brim to brim).

If the back seats are dropped down, it can carry the entire p.a. system for the band along with guitar/banjo etc. I bought genuine Vauxhall roof-bars off e-bay for it so that I could carry a 16ft canoe on the roof. The bars are designed to utilise the holes in the roof-rails and are fantastically strong and secure. I always reckon that if I rolled the car onto its roof in the snow and the bars were in place, then I’d be able to pull it along sideways like a sledge!

I’m not a petrol-head (or diesel-head) – a car has to do a job for me as cheaply as possible; image is not important though, I have to say, the car doesn’t look too bad. I have no regrets at all about buying it though I suspect that, sometimes, my mate has some regrets about selling it to me. He only sold it because he was retiring and wanted to buy a car entirely of his own choosing. He ended up with a Honda Civic 1.4 petrol – a smart-looking car, but he reckons that the Astra had more ‘poke’.

Did you get to have a look at any Astras, rpmmatt?

Hi, I recently bought (Oct 11) a 57reg 1.3 CDTI ASTRA H Estate, in Life Trim, which has air con and cd player, not much else. It cost £2750 with 115k. It had one former keeper which was ADT, full service history included.

Execellent Car. I had a major service at Vauxhall (£170). No faults to report. I have covered 4k miles since.

Performance is OK, if you don't mind a bit of turbo lag. But you soon learn how to drive it properly, and the six speed box helps. I get 600-700 miles form a full tank. I know people with Bluemotion VWs who don't get much better.

My previous car was Punto 1.3 Multijet (75hp) with the same engine (but different turbo), this too was excellent - And never let me down once.

In my opionion cars with this engine are absolute bargains. The key with these engines (as with all common rails) is servicing, the oil is crucial for proper heat distrubution. They need clean, quality oil. Also never drive them hard when cold, and let them run for a while before switching off.

So recomended. There are plenty of ex Chubb and ADT cars around at decent prices.

Watch out for the alternator and its clutch thingy.