Actually I wont, Because my car is 15 years old. The free extra year warranty only applies to cars under 10 years old.

But I still don't want to scrimp on servicing my cars... :-)

I had a high pressure pump 'lunch itself' on a diseasel Focus. I'd bought it second hand, so had no idea if it had ever been mis-fuelled. However, I'd just paid to have the timing belt replaced (what is a clavis gauge?) and the garage that did it admitted using an impact driver to slacken the camshaft bolts. I've always wondered if the shock load could have caused the pump to fail.

Messing about with camshaft and crankshaft, (now sadly deceased) recently I came across the suggestion that impact drivers were bad for them, academic for me since I dont have one, and academic for almost everyone else since there is very little chance that pro mechanics will be persuaded not to use impact drivers, since this would cost them a huge amount of time....

Since its reported worse on bends, that might suggest bearing or CV joint wear, otherwise it sounds like ancilliary drive belt slippage.

Only about 1400 W12 sport quattros were made, obviously mostly LHD, for around a year, circa 2004, presumably as a sort of stop-gap between the D2 S8 (V8 - of 'Ronin' fame) and D3 S8 (V10 - same power as W12 but less of the effortless torque).

The D3 W12 has 7.5% more torque than the V10 (580 vs 540nm). Can't imagine there being a noticeable difference, especially since peak torque on the latter happens 500rpm lower(!).

My company used to purchase our vans and we had a few Fiat Doblos with this engine.
The general rule in the trade was to run them upto 4 years or 90,000 miles and then sell as this was when the engine started to need expensive attention.

I did see vans with this engine do 160k trouble free but it was always within the first 3/4 years.

To finalise the point, the fiat commercial technician said after one of the vans had its first MOT to make sure it was the last MOT in our ownership.
The Doblos also suffered other issues most commonly suspension.

At the age your buying its likely had lots of the work done to survive this long, in a bizarre way it may actually be ok for a few more years, you would need a mechanic to have a good look at the engine.

As the other forum contributor has pointed out, there is no value in going for a diesel anymore unless your doing mega miles; even then a diesel of this age and this one in particular may wipe out any fuel saving with its first breakdown

The astra of this age is available widely, be picky and find a good one. Mechanical history and condition is far more important than body work and spec at this price point.