Why did I sell Opel Astra H? Cons of used Opel Astra 2004-2014 with mileage

More details about the pitfalls when buying Opel Astra H (2004-2014 years of release). Why and for what reasons they can sell or simply "get rid" of a used car called Opel Astra H. We are talking about the problems and weaknesses of a used car.

[jencannon]

Accurate.

Mine has the original timing belt at 98, 000 miles 😬

The H model was recalled for the CIM which makes the steering wheel controls do odd things and the horn not work when the lights are on, but it can also benefit from an added loom to pinch the wires together as they meet the CIM (really cheap part).

They're known for sensor problems and they are picky about which sensors will work. They don't like like cheap!

The roof rails are usually patchy at this age and are easily removed and resprayed.

The car runs hot, thus the bonnet topcoat suffers on darker models so look for bubbles - L plates and stickers will capture moisture, sweat on the bonnet and flake the fragile topcoat.

Anything plastic will be on its last legs at this age including clips, the aerial and gaskets.

The door card glue has usually gone at the top so the doors will flap - if you ever remove the door cards have a pack of replacement clips because, again, anything plastic will have degraded.

They suffer from door leaks where the water drains through the door but instead of exiting out the bottom of the door it goes down the back of the speaker and in to the footwell/door seal. The car will smell swampy.

Light clusters like to let water in, they can be sealed and drilled.

Oil seals can be leaky at this age.

If you're buying one, do a pedal test on it which will show you the cars error codes. It's not as comprehensive as a proper report but it's a good feature when it comes to spotting faults.

Generally they're a cheap fix, easy on mechanics, with good parts availability. They seem to chug on with high mileage if you are willing to throw basic maintainence at them after replacing all the sensors 😅