Opel Astra H is commercially available for about 11 years, it is the most popular Astra in the Russian market. These cars, unlike earlier Opel not rot so quickly. But when a car is a serious age, it also has a lot of problems. Today let's talk about the most common problems with the body and suspension.

In Russia, Opel cars have rather low ratings. Although buying cars is good, I am pleased with a rather low price. Opel cars are the most economical cars, even they usually have manual transmissions. Automatic gearboxes too, and for this model it is preferable to take the car with the automatic gearbox, despite the fact that the Opel Astra is a budget car.

Who buys Astra H?

Opel did not sell very well in Russia until 2004, but when Astra H came out in 2004, replacing Astra G, sales went up.

Unlike the boring predecessor, the new generation of the Aster began to fit the C-class car, there was more room inside, comfort increased, and also, the car became more economical. The design of the car is quite simple, the front suspension - MacPherson struts, rear - a twisted beam, under the hood - inline engines. Security meets modern European requirements.

In Russia, the Astra sold well, in sales, the model was in the top three, although it was inferior to Ford Focus, but it was ahead of Japanese and Korean competitors. And Skoda even more behind. Such sales growth is due to the correct pricing policy, simplicity of design, beautiful appearance and driving performance. New, in those times, the Opel Astra looked solid, the body became rust-resistant, and even if the paintwork was damaged, there was still no rust there.

After some time, Astra models began to be assembled at a factory in St. Petersburg. In Astra Russian assembly of a large ground clearance, powerful engines and European design. For affordable money, the Astra H could be equipped with a 1.8-liter engine with a capacity of 140 liters. with. And those who love more powerful engines - it was possible to put a 2-liter turbocharged engine.

The model also has disadvantages - an outdated automatic transmission, an unsuccessful robotic box, a little harsh suspension and the warranty policy is not loyal.

In 2009, a new generation - Astra J, which is made on the same platform as the Chevrolet Cruze. Although Astra H still continued to produce right up to 2015, but most of these cars were sold from 2006 to 2012.

Body

The exterior design of the car looks quite aggressive, even after many years, the appearance of the car still remains relevant. The paint will tarnish over time, but if desired, the car can be polished, and it will look a little better. But the paint coat of Opel is thin enough, so the car is easily scratched. But the paintwork is quite elastic and if shocks occur, the paint does not fly off the body.

The metal is well treated, so it can withstand corrosion for a very long time. If there is no paint on the metal, then only in a year small rust spots will start to appear. But usually, under warranty, the owners eliminated such defects, and some painted problem areas themselves. If it happens that the body is rusted, it means there was a poor-quality repair after an accident or some other stupid owner.

Asters H's weak points in the body are the lower seam of the threshold, in the front part there are sandblasting places, the upper part of the threshold, as well as the places where the subframe is fixed and the places where the door seal rubs on the rear pillar. Also, rust can appear on the edge of the hood in front, and on the roof. These places are not as well protected as the whole car. On particularly old specimens, corrosion can also appear on the trunk lid and rear doors. But in most cases, problems with corrosion are very rare, Astra - against the background of its competitors, is perfectly protected from corrosion, and it has almost no plastic panels to protect the body.

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If an accident happened, the quality of repair is not particularly high, and the cost of repair is high on the official service. Therefore, cars after an accident drive with layers of putty or with body elements purchased during disassembly, and the quality of assembly and painting can also be questionable. In general, it is necessary to select cars that were not in an accident, then there will be less problems with them in the future.

On the Astra, usually after 150,000 km of run, the hinges of the doors begin to sag, so it will be necessary to make an adjustment, and this is quite difficult to do. Also, the tailgate on hatchbacks after many years of operation begins to knock and loses tightness. Here, too, it is necessary to make an adjustment of the lock, and you can also change the seals. On the side doors, too, over time, the seal must be changed so that the door closes with a pleasant sound and there was no extraneous noise during the ride.

Chrome lining peels off after a while, so many owners paint them with matt varnish, because restoring chrome lining is not cheap. The windshield in the car is strong, not afraid of small pebbles, but over time, of course, is erased. The headlights are slightly weak because the cap is made of a fairly soft material that after 6 years will be heavily worn out. Also, over time, the reflectors fade out, xenon or halogen will also last about 6 years. You can change the entire headlamp, but you can restore it, now there is such an opportunity.

Some cars have adaptive optics with AFL. Such a system is quite expensive if it fails. Original adaptive headlights are ¼ of the cost of the car. But despite the fact that they are so expensive, they are rarely stolen from a car, unlike the premium crossovers, from which the headlights are often removed at night.

Fog will quickly crack if they get pebbles or when used improperly, as additional lighting. They need to be included only when there is fog, and when there is no fog, they are very blind to other drivers, especially in rainy weather. It also often happens that the bumper sags, you can put them on the screws, but there is a better way - to buy new fastening strips. Locker made of weak plastic, but they can be changed to a stronger non-original, they cost about 2000 rubles.

Even in Astra, the lower rubber part of the bumper begins to hang; if it gets caught on something, it will come off completely and will not be very pleasant. Therefore, if this rubber part is whole, it means that the car was watched and drove carefully.

Salon

The interior design of the Opel is quite simple, the materials are good and rather tenacious. All elements of the interior are well developed, so even after a long period of use the interior does not creak, plastic looks like new for a long time. But the most frequently used levers, gear knob and climate control buttons, of course, wear out.

If the interior is fabric, then its quality is usually at the height, but in the more expensive models there are seats with a combined skin: fabric and eco-leather. After a while there are tears in the seams and abrasions on the eco-leather. Especially well these things are visible on cars with high runs. If the interior is of light-colored fabrics, then it gets dirty faster, so you can do, periodically, dry cleaning. But best of all is the quality of the sports salon, high-quality materials are used, and genuine leather.

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After a run of 200,000 km. door handles and the steering wheel can also climb, rugs are erased, but these are all trifles, and if you like, you can restore it all. Climate control often fails, because its control system is sometimes buggy, it happens in the simplest configurations, and in the more expensive ones, where there is a 2-zone climate control.

The climate unit is not very well made, the buttons stick with time, the twists do not turn as they should, and the damper actuators fail, often this happens in the winter season, if you push the buttons hard in the hope that the interior warms up faster.

In general, climate control is not the most important part in a car, so it will not be too sharply focused on, you can usually just grease the thrust and everything will work fine. It is advisable to take silicone grease every 2 years, climb under the front panel and lubricate all the necessary climate control units. It is also possible on the service to entrust this business to professionals. It often happens that water gets into the ceiling light, but this is not due to leaks in the windshield, but because of leaks in the roof insulation. There may still be condensation in the roof lining because of its peculiar shape.

But it makes no sense to look for holes in the roof, it’s better to just ventilate the car more often, then the moisture itself will evaporate. It is also advisable to drive with the climate turned on or with air conditioning, because the car loves dry air more, and the materials will be better preserved if the air is drier.

Electrician in the car

There are cases that the wiring of the rear doors fails, usually everything starts when the speaker in the door starts to wheeze, or the central locking system stops working. To solve the problem, you have to go to an electrician or buy an original repair kit and repair everything yourself.

The central locking can also fail if microswitches in the driver's door lock wear out. There are cases that can not unlock the lock, or, conversely, can open at the wrong time when the car is parked. You can check it like this - hit the door trim, if the locks start clicking, it means you need to change the microswitches in the drive.

The choke and ignition module in Astra are quite reliable, especially if you periodically clean the valve and change the spark plugs every 40,000 km. The main thing is not to allow moisture or oil to get into the ignition module, otherwise it may pierce the tip, then knock out the coil.

It also happens that failures occur in the thermostat if the heating element fails. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor whether there are errors, often, then the indicator on the panel does not light up and the motor can overheat, the only thing that can save the motor is that the thermostat becomes leaking with time. If you do not clean dirt, leaves and other debris under the hood, the wiper motor may break. Also, the leaves can fall into the motor climate control, which also disables it.

A rear wiper should also be used periodically so that he does not turn sour, if he becomes sour, then during work you can burn a motor. It is also necessary to monitor whether the drainage is not clogged, it is usually rarely clogged, but still, it is better to check during maintenance and drive calmly. If there is a Bosch fan on the radiator, it can get clogged. It is also advisable to follow him, if there is a Valeo fan, then there will be no problems.

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Suspension and control in the car

Brakes in Opel reliable, rarely bring surprises. If time to change the pads and discs, then there will be no problems. After 200,000 kilometers, it is time to change the anthers. The disks serve for a very long time - they withstand 5 pad changes or 150,000 km of run, they are not sensitive to overheating and puddles. It is also worth noting that if the car’s mileage is about 100,000 km., And the wheels are new, it means that the mileage was twisted.

With the rear wheels, the situation is slightly different - the new calipers come with a parking brake mechanism, so they can sour with time to change the pads, you will need to go to the service, because you have to build pads with the necessary tools.

But still, in the Opel Astra it is not so difficult to change the pads, it is not necessary to go to the dealership, as with some new Mercedes. The remaining elements of the brake system: tubes, hoses, ABS - these are all reliable things. ABS sensors if fail, then you have to change them in the collection with the hub. But local craftsmen have already learned to change the sensors separately from the hub.

This is Opel, everyone who buys such a car wants to save money, so usually they don’t take big money on service for repairs. Of course, there are unscrupulous services that do not want to work hard and offer to immediately change the part in the collection, thereby earning on the part itself, and winning time for repairs.

The suspension in the Astra H is reliable and provides decent comfort. The main thing is not to allow the springs to sag heavily, and in the trunk without unnecessary weight too. Because it will decrease the service life of the rear beam bushings. Usually these bushes serve approximately 100,000 km. If you drive on good roads, for example, in Moscow, then they will serve 200,000.

In the front suspension, usually faster than all nodes, support struts and rear silent blocks of the L-shaped lever wear out. Supports begin to creak after 60 000 km. run The fact of the matter is that the lubrication in the bearing is not enough, and the anther is not quite the correct design and dirt accumulates in it. After replacement, it is desirable to better lubricate the bearing, you can fill there with grease.

By the way, on cars with xenon, the suspension level sensors quickly fail, so they have to be periodically changed. Management in Astra H is also quite reliable, steering tips and tie rods with time must be changed. After 200,000 km it is advisable to change the fluid in the power steering. Rack mechanism reliable, rarely appear backlash or leakage. In dorestaylingovyh cars with conventional power steering fluid becomes dirty more quickly, but the power steering pump is cheaper and easier to change the fluid.

We'll talk about engines and gearboxes in this article, and now the video about the Astra H: