No 56k: My 96' Opel Astra

nicjasno

nicjasno

BMW Perfectionist
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Joined
Jul 15, 2007
Messages
5,851
Location
Maribor, Slovenia, Europe
Car(s)
'89 BMW E30 325iT, '95 BMW E36 318ti compact
Since i had to change both front A arms i decided i might aswell post some pictures of this epic fail that opel sold as the Opel Astra from 91-96. You will notice, that there is also some rust starting to develop, despite the car being garaged all its life. Also, the car only has 97k kilometers. :(

https://pic.armedcats.net/n/ni/nicjasno/2010/03/22/DSC_1767.JPG
https://pic.armedcats.net/n/ni/nicjasno/2010/03/22/DSC_1768.JPG
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https://pic.armedcats.net/n/ni/nicjasno/2010/03/22/DSC_1774.JPG
https://pic.armedcats.net/n/ni/nicjasno/2010/03/22/DSC_1775.JPG
https://pic.armedcats.net/n/ni/nicjasno/2010/03/22/DSC_1776.JPG
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https://pic.armedcats.net/n/ni/nicjasno/2010/03/22/DSC_1786.JPG
 
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nicjasno said:
Since i had to change both front A arms i decided i might aswell post some pictures of this epic fail that opel sold as the Opel Astra from 91-96. You will notice, that there is also some rust starting to develop, despite the car being almost 14 years old, maybe keeping it a garage has prevented it from rusting all the way through. Also, the car only has 97k kilometers. :(
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Fixed :p
 
It has.... well, sort of, there's still a slight knock when doing left corners. At least the car drives tons better now. Much better steering feel.
 
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No, i suspect it's the spring plate. Though everything goes very smoothly when turning it while the car is in the air.
 
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97k kilometers ? :O Thats brand new, my fathers citroen is now at 104k km in 1year of its life

and btw your car looks nice and clean +1
 
The rest of the car is ok, but the engine definetly doesn't qualify as brand new. It sounds like a diesel at times, because it has slack in the conrods. :(
 
From the looks of the steering wheel that looks like a late model? reading comprehension fail

Keeping it garaged can be an advantage but depending on where you live it can also be negative, ie if you have snow slowly thawing that could be worse off than if the car was left outside in minus degrees when the snow doesnt melt. Your problem doesnt look related to either of that however, most likely stone spray eating up the paint as there are no mud guards. Rear wheel arches are usually the first thing that goes on the F, they did improve later models (as your rear arches demonstrate) but it was not until the next generation that they designed the car to not have these built in rust traps...
 
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^ No, his problem is that he bought an Opel. They WILL rust. This car is in seriously good condition for an Astra of that vintage. Most have wings that have completely rotted through by now.
 
Which is what I'm saying. The F rusts like hell because it has rust traps built in due to a basically stupid design, especially of the rear wheel arches where the inner edge is folded inwards-upwards which attracts dirt and moisture like a magnet. Second problem with the F is that it initially had absolutely no rust proofing whatsoever. It's not the plastic badge on the bonnet that makes the car rust, it rusts because of 1990's GM management decisions. It was not until the next generation, the G, that GM and Opel realized that they no longer could afford to make cars with such poor rust protection, and they greatly shaped up. Altough the G is several years old by now, you'll find very very few who have serious rust problems, as with their other cars from the late 90's and forwards. Your summary statement that Opel equals rust prooves that this reputation, well earned over several decades, still haunt the company today, even though it's no longer true.
 
Also, a rust problem spot is around the fuel cap. I always clean all the dirt that collects there under the rubber insert, but it started to rust there too now. :(
 
AiR said:
Which is what I'm saying. The F rusts like hell because it has rust traps built in due to a basically stupid design, especially of the rear wheel arches where the inner edge is folded inwards-upwards which attracts dirt and moisture like a magnet. Second problem with the F is that it initially had absolutely no rust proofing whatsoever. It's not the plastic badge on the bonnet that makes the car rust, it rusts because of 1990's GM management decisions. It was not until the next generation, the G, that GM and Opel realized that they no longer could afford to make cars with such poor rust protection, and they greatly shaped up. Altough the G is several years old by now, you'll find very very few who have serious rust problems, as with their other cars from the late 90's and forwards. Your summary statement that Opel equals rust prooves that this reputation, well earned over several decades, still haunt the company today, even though it's no longer true.
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I know that in their newer cars they fixed those issues, hell, I actually like the current Astra and Insignia, but that doesn't stop the fact that the badge on the nose of a 1996 car is an indication of those problems.
 
As does the Mercedes badge on a W210, but people don't go about spouting that the three point star equals rust for that matter. You see, it's the "he bought an Opel" part that annoys me, not "he's got a notorious rust bucket" which is just the sad truth ;)

https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2010/03/24/eklass6nv.jpg

nicjasno said:
Also, a rust problem spot is around the fuel cap. I always clean all the dirt that collects there under the rubber insert, but it started to rust there too now. :(
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Yup, another trap caused by the combination of overlapping metal and a lack of sealant. My F had a nice big hole straight through there. To compare, on the same spot the H is flooded with sealant.
 
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OUch!
AiR is that your Merc ?
 
Fortunately no it's just a picture of a rather bad case I found on Garaget.org (swedish forum) :D
Altough Mercedes rust problems were most obvious on the dreadful W210, they still had issues with the A and B-class as late as two years ago! In 2008 Mercedes revealed that 445.000 A and B-class vehicles were prone to rust "due to errors in the production process of the doors and hoods". The error was the same as Ford commited in the early 2000's, sealant was applied before body-in-white, resulting in the sealant coming off (because without body in white there's nothing for the sealant to stick to).

http://www.autobild.de/artikel/korrosion-bei-mercedes-a-und-b-klasse_718568.html

Despite this, I won't say it's the star that causes rust ;)
 
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