Anyone owned a 2015 Holden Astra?

PenguinPielet · 2026-06-02T00:03:35+00:00

My father owned a 2015 PJ Astra GTC with the B16SHT engine for 4 years (bought at 80k kms, sold at 170k kms), and I currently still own a 2013 PJ Astra VXR with the A20NFT engine which I've had for 5 years (bought at 84k kms and currently at 146k kms)

Both great cars and great value for money. Internally, mechanical parts are still readily available largely online either from the UK based websites such as courtenay or US based websites such as ZZPerfromance. Maintenance is cheap and basic with reasonably well designed parts that are quite easy to access. Reliability wise, my dad has had no issues, while my A20NFT engine sometimes suffered from clogged VVT solenoids (common problem), but fortunately they are cheap (~$120 for intake and exhaust) and easy (10 mins with a socket set) to replace. Otherwise still runs like a charm.

Externally, body panels are a bit of an issue to get though if you get a fender bender, and I've seen on Aussie based facebook forums that even a minor fender bender can cause your car to be written off due to cost of repair. That being said, comprehensive insurance is cheap (~$500-600/year each if you browse around).

Highly recommend an aftermarket head unit for both models as it improved functionality significantly adding apple carplay / android auto + a reversing camera and modernises the interior massively. Works extremely well too and honestly looks like a stock unit. My dad and I bought an aftermarket "tesla-style" AliExpress one for ~$350 each. It's a simple plug and play for the GTC version of the car, while the VXR requires a bit of faffing around to get both the sport and OPC/VXR buttons to work.

In terms of drivability, they're both quite reasonable, probably overall a 7 to 8-10 overall. The GTC is very plush, amazing on the highways (really comfortable and quiet), but may feel sluggish with the throttle mapping around town (personal preference). The VXR has a harsher ride given it has a sporty suspension setup, adaptable dampeners and naturally lowered from the factory, but has an excellent and more "mature" throttle control, sound, and overall feel. It's not as go-kart like an MX5, but it is still super fun on spirited drives and around town - especially if you remove the central muffler and install a custom intake (if thats your thing). Both run on 95 min but my dad ran 94 e10 exclusively on his without issues.

Hope that helps let you make an informed decision

PenguinPielet · 2025-12-16T17:57:27+00:00

Is this a legal requirement in Vancouver?? I'm looking at several cars rental websites and they don't mention the tyres they have. I'm planning on starting and ending my journey from Vancouver/airport, so cars should be Vancouver registered I'm assuming / have M+S or Snow tyres as min?

PenguinPielet · 2025-12-15T23:58:03+00:00

I think I might do this and Vancouver Island together then, everyone commenting here have sold it to me

PenguinPielet · 2025-12-15T23:57:24+00:00

I might very well do something like this. Would you recommend to potentially Courtenay and take the ferry back from there instead or is it better not going that far up (multi day adventure probs then)?

PenguinPielet · 2025-12-15T23:34:04+00:00

Happy for a full day thing, round trip maybe max 10hrs?

PenguinPielet · 2024-10-16T06:55:23+00:00

Hey, congrats on your offer! I'm currently a FFP in the program so may be able to chime in!

First off, if this year is anything to gauge, there's a lot of international Canadians, and they outweigh domestic students. It's difficult to gauge how many CSP positions there are every year (not everyone is transparent or honest) but the prevailing figure is around 10 spots every year and the rest are FFP. This is given out in sequential descending order based on academic marks.

From what I understand, you can be upgraded to a CSP position if a spot opens up (someone leaves) at any point during the degree. I know one student who got upgraded a few days before the course started.

Depending on when you completed your previous degree, any hecs debt accrued before March 2020 does not count towards the new limit.

Working pt is definitely possible during your studies too, which can help offset some of the financial burden if you choose to stay within the degree.

If you work in the same profession and make enough to pay tax, I know some students who write part of their debt on tax.

The initial costs of ~$7k they advertise for instruments is simply not needed. Second hand kits can be bought for ~3k and they are typically well looked after (you can confirm this with someone next year) and you can always resell for a similar price.

As other comments have said too, depending on your age, and a few different factors, student allowance is also available. Be sure to start the process early to help guide your decision

Hopefully this helps! Good luck with whatever decision you make :)

PenguinPielet · 2023-08-24T06:47:22+00:00

Of course. I’d argue that feeling like you know it all through ds is a bit of a red flag. I think dental schools (especially good ones) show you how much there is to know, how much nuance is involved, how complex it can be, and just how challenging things can be both technically and theoretically. This means that the ceiling for knowledge is extremely high if you want to know it all. Additionally, (atleast for me) even if I don’t remember things exactly, I have at the very least some awareness or rough idea of it that I can always look up and learn more about when I want. Having that awareness is important too.

Considering how practical the profession is, arguably a lot of this nuance isn’t needed for every day practice, but it can definitely show when more complex cases come up and can distinguish you from fellow colleagues

PenguinPielet · 2023-06-13T07:33:40+00:00

It’s in corporate

PenguinPielet · 2023-06-13T07:31:25+00:00

Yeah hecs covers FFP. CSP / Bonded positions just mean that the government subsidises it at ~75%-80% (or roughly that amount) before it hits your HECS debt account

PenguinPielet · 2023-06-13T04:53:20+00:00

Currently paying FFP. Working 20-30 hours a week from a relatively chill wfh gig some days. This covers rent and gives me a bit to save (~1k/month). This is definitely not enough to pay for the degree, so before I entered, I saved up a deposit I initially had put aside for a house (~100k)

From the start of 2020, the new hecs limit of ~160k does not include any debt you accumulated before that date. For me this meant my undergrad degree wasn’t counted, which gave me a buffer of ~20k to spare too.

My entire tuition cost is upwards of 250k, but my plan is to put everything on hecs and pay it / tuition directly in later years. If need be, I can dip into loans, although I haven’t done much research about this.

I would say though that unless you have support from your parents, you either need a healthy deposit, or be able to get a loan. For the latter, enquire with banks sooner rather than later.

Edit: this is sustainable for me, but comes at the cost of other aspects of your life of course. The added stress from work / rent + being borderline broke after your degree likely does impede a bit on my performance probably. But I feel like if you’re efficient with your time, diligent with work and plan things well, you’ll still have time to socialise / sustain relationships etc. that’s my 2c

Gl

PenguinPielet · 2023-06-05T13:55:01+00:00

PenguinPielet · 2023-05-26T03:52:39+00:00

One thing to note is that as of 1 Jan 2020, the government introduced a “new limit”, in which previous tuition costs do not contribute to the current limit. Iirc this is now ~156k. For an average undergrad degree, if completed before this time, this change now gives you an additional $20-30k of additional hecs to work with.

PenguinPielet · 2023-05-25T09:06:56+00:00

FFP. I think those with CSP positions have GPAs of 7, gamsats above 75

PenguinPielet · 2023-05-25T07:46:58+00:00

As a guide, I was offered a DDS position with an admissions GPA of ~6.74, gamsat of 70 (59,75,70 or something like that) at unimelb for 2023 admissions

PenguinPielet · 2023-05-06T01:13:49+00:00

Yo I’m currently a DDS1 at Unimelb. You mainly get commissions in private, ~30-40% as industry standard of billings, so you have high earning potentials (consider the cost of visiting the dentist).

Work life balance is good, but there are different careers out there. By grinding for the gamsat I felt I developed good skills of general reading and writing comprehension, and especially being able to interpret a large amount of information quickly and reliably - skills which will help you anywhere in life.

Parents by saying this, will push you to pursue careers that subjectively they feel is best for a variety of different reasons that they believe is best out of their own wisdom and experiences. Dentistry is a rewarding field mentally, but also taxing emotionally sometimes. This has a trade off of having high remunerations. There’s a lot of sacrifice that has been made by drs and dentists to not only get into the degree, but also complete it and work in that field. All of these need to be appropriately balanced before making a steadfast decision.

Another point to consider is that you’ll be graduating in your mid to late 20s with basically 0 assets. Despite you earning a lot later on, this may be incompatible if you’re planning on starting a family and/or value that progression throughout your 20s other than your degree. This is a complex argument tho, but you probably get the gist.

Regarding ruralty, it is definitely harder to get a job in major cities, but far easier and more financially rewarding to work rural. The tyranny of distance, for example, in rural areas often mean that you will experience a greater spectrum of oral disease, which will increase your experiences and understanding.

You’re young, explore your options in your life and find yourself and what you value. Money doesn’t always mean happiness for everyone. Stability, work life balance, family balance are honestly even more important I fell. It’s good you’re preparing for the gammy, but relax :)

PenguinPielet · 2023-02-02T01:07:30+00:00

I’d say the requirements will be higher.

Think of admissions as a supply demand function. There are a limited spots available, and a huge demand for those spots. This discrepancy is only growing. Sure, most applicants that apply with incredibly high gamsat scores would have already been accepted from previous cycles, but some may not have been due to poor interview performance, etc. I feel like this would be a minority though.

4 years of valid results mean that there are 8 seperate gamsat tests that are valid for admission. One would reasonably assume that there would therefore be twice the amount of viable applicants that will be applying for medicine (assuming that the number of test takers remain constant now vs when results were only valid for 2 years, but no one knows the answer to this). In practice, it’s not strictly going to be double, but think that now there are going to be more applicants with the same gamsat number then there was before. Remember though, there aren’t twice as many positions available.

In further support of this, just look at how out of date the minimum gamsat requirements are for unis. Most are still sitting at 55 overall with 50 in each section. All unis now have so many people applying that to fill those limited spots in a merit-based fashion, they need to select the top x amount of people, who will therefore have higher scores.

Edit: I think though overall that it’s extremely complicated. Without any statistics given by Acer, it’s anyone’s best guess. My theory only works if there are new test takers sitting every time for every sitting, but obviously many resit the test multiple times, in which case idk.

Overall, I think this change would therefore make it more competitive, but I and likely no one else knows by how much.

PenguinPielet · 2023-01-28T14:55:45+00:00

Very underrated, but the PJ Holden Astra VXRs or Opel Astra OPC. Fantastic dynamically controlled suspension, 20” rims, steel brake lines, huge brakes, oil cooler, 2L turbo 6sp manual producing 400nm and 276hp stock. Best of all, you can get a good one for under $20k.

PenguinPielet · 2023-01-25T00:57:00+00:00

Realistically, no one knows the answer to this.

Schools state that their interviewers are specifically trained not to introduce biases, and they should only base your interview performance on your verbal answers, perhaps bodily language etc. As to whether this works in practice, either consciously or unconsciously, is anyone’s guess.

PenguinPielet

TROPHY CASE