Advantages: Practical, Comfortable, Economical, Pleasure to drive
Disadvantages: No CD player

...I bought my Astra off my Dad 3 weeks ago and so far it has proven to be well worthy of the task it was intended for. I have moved to the 98 registered "R" reg astra from a slightly bigger 99 Seat Toledo. I say bigger, it was higher and wider than the Astra but one of the reasons I wanted the estate was because I have 3 small children and a dog and we couldn't go out together in the Seat. So, the Astra. Well, I have 2 daughters who are almost 3 and a son at nearly a year old. They're all in car seats and the 3 seats fit well in the back of the car with plenty of leg room for the little monsters. My partner has the front passengers seat, loads of leg and head room (she's only little) and her opinion of the car is "it's nice, better than the silver one" (toledo). I am almost 6'2 and I have plenty of head and leg room being... Read review

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Advantages: Space, Aircondition, Automatic
Disadvantages: 8 valves, Noisy, fragile

...It was time to buy a good family car, so according to the word around, I decided to ake it a Vauxhall, as I had a Cavalier once before and it was a very reliable car. I went to Network Q, with 118 point check to be sure of quality, not even 3 years old car, paid in cash in advance,and they got me the 1st Astra Club 1.6i car 2 weeks later with 15K miles on. Lots of issues from broken rear mirror to water leaking lights and a noisy suspension system were found. The car is only 3 years old (not even). Returning the car the very next day, the trip was about 3 miles, the Engine light went ON ! 2nd car came and so did the 3rd, Tooo noisy, no power in the push and suspension is Badddddddd to say the least. A friend of mine drives an Astra CD estate, they love it , I dorve their car and it is at least 200% better than the club... Read review

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Advantages: No frills practicality
Disadvantages: Model dicontinued

...I don't get excited about cars, so when my previous one started to die I looked around to see what came into my price range, without a clear idea of what car I wanted. I seem to be rather hard to please. A lot of my friends choose a car because of the way it looks and what extra gizmos are fitted to it or even how fast it goes, but not me. I see my car as a tool. It has to help me do what I want, when I want and for as little cost as possible. I wrote a list of must-haves and passed the problem onto the local garage. Within a week I was called in to look at a Vauxhall Astra LS 1.6i Estate. Well it wasn't perfect. I'd asked for a diesel and this ran on unleaded petrol. It was a vile colour but I'm not fussy about that. Someone had keyed it all alomg the drivers side, but it hadn't gone through to the metal. I opened the rear... Read review

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Advantages: Great Car
Disadvantages: Non

...What can I say about the Vauxhall Astra estate? : Wonderfull, fantastic a stunning little car with the build quality of a Volvo. From the moment you get in and hear that sound of the solid door clunk as it closes you know you're in a good car. This car has fantastic build quality for medium range family car everything on the car is built to last. Comfort is good to as the seats are strong and comfortable and very adjustable. I have the automatic version and it really is a pleasure to drive,its smooth,and responsive when you need to put your foot down and is has to be said it's no slouch, when that kick down, kicks in, you start movin'! There is loads of space in the back with the seats down and when the seats are up 4 adults can sit happily in comfort. I can honestly say I've had no problems at all with the car(touch wood... Read review

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Advantages: efficient, utilitarian, family friendly
Disadvantages: No status symbol, not flash, not over-stated

...I've had Vauxhalls before - Chevette, Cavalier, & 2 Astra estates. They've all been 2nd hand and they've all had loads of miles on the clocks 65, 190, 165 and 185,000 miles respectively and all of them have given me very little trouble despite the mileage. So here I am with the newest one I've ever had - 84,000 miles on the clock, almost four years old and it's going like a dream, bought from a dealer that passes on ex fleet cars, the condition of the bodywork, interior etc is excellent. The fuel economy is very good - supposedly around about 50mpg. Big boot, proper seat belts in the back, Air con, elec windows in front, CD player, roomy underfoot as well as behind the drivers seat. A good solid feel to the drive, it goes well - pulls up hills nicely when full of kids and family & when you put your foot down it goes. This car is a really... Read review

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Advantages: Performance, spec, reasonable insurance
Disadvantages: Some think the looks are too conservative

...Please humour me as what I am going to do here is actually a review of the Astra 2.0 SRi 16v, but hopefully you will still find it useful. This is the model I have and Ciao don’t seem to have included it on their list of Astras so I’m sticking it under the 2.2 ok?!! Anyway it is basically the same car as the 2.2, just with an ever so slightly smaller engine. I purchased my Astra SRi about a year ago. This was from a Vauxhall dealer I found in Slough after doing a used car search on Vauxhall’s very helpful website. I had decided on the Astra as both the Golf GTi and Peugeot 206 GTi had very similar performance as the Astra but much higher insurance groups. (The Astra 2.0 SRi is Group 11). The price of £11,000 I thought was quite reasonable for a sports model that was just over a year old and only had 8,000 miles... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent parts history and economical
Disadvantages: Not very good at pulling up hills with a 1.4 engine

...We bought an vauxhall astra when recommended one by a friend in 1996. We bought one with a 1.4 engine as we thought it would pull well, and as we bought an ex-company car we were lucky to get a GLS with central locking, electric windows, electric and heated mirrors, sunroof and power steering. We have had it 4 years now and except for the normal wear and tear it has never let us down. We are now looking to get a newer car and our first choice will be another Astra. We had hoped to have got a bigger engine next time tho' as it doesn't seem to pull very well up hills but other than that its been fantastic. Very economical and with it being a Vauxhall, the parts are easy to get and very reasonably priced. A definite car for couples or families.... Read review

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Advantages: Good value, very comfortable, nice extras.
Disadvantages: A little noisier than I would otherwise have liked...

...After I had a run-in with a motocyclist, which wrote off my 2001 Astra, I faced a dilemma. You see, it was a leased vehicle, which means that in the event of a write-off I get to take a new contract. In brief, the price of the Astra has come down a bit since I first bought, ahem... leased, my 2001 model, and I found that if I knocked off the air-conditioning and colour screen GPS, I could probably have afforded a Vectra or Zafira. After spending a few hours in the showroom, I eventually ordered the exact same model that I had had previously. Here's why: I'll admit to being a bit of a gadget kid. The Astra that I now have is a 1.7 DTI Elegance. Which means that the metallic (jade) paintwork and automatic air-conditioning (new for 2003) come as standard, along with a leather steering wheel, and all-around electric windows... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap to run, spacious
Disadvantages: Bonnett discolouration over time

...The Astra estate is a spacious vehicle which is ideal if you need extra boot space but need to drive on a budget. I own a diesel estate in blue and have done so for almost a year now. In that time the only repair needed has been a replacement suspension spring/coil which was due to wear and tear from driving on country roads. However, the Astra estate is prone to one condition which I was advised of by a mechanic prior to purchase but has only materialised now after 10 months of daily use: bonnet discolouration. Astra estate engines have a tendency to overheat somewhat and although this may never cause you or your engine a problem it eventually leads to the paintwork on the bonnet becoming dull. I haven't looked into the cost of a re-spray yet but presumably it will be worth it considering I have had low maintenance costs... Read review

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Advantages: Rewarding Handling, Torquey Engine, Driving Position
Disadvantages: It's a Vauxhall, Depreciation

...is very usable and seems to have been put together properly. The driving position is good, I’m over six foot and can (just) fit comfortably, all the pedals are light which makes the car particularly easy to drive, however as I mentioned earlier the Vectra gear box means it can be difficult to change gear smoothly. Like the previous model the best aspect of this Astra is it’s engine. It may only be a 1.6 and has just 8 valves rather than 16, but it’s very torquey and pulls well, even when the estate is fully laden there is still enough grunt to overtake safely. It’s also a very responsive engine, which combined with plenty of grip and feel in the steering makes for fun driving if you can find a quick twisty road (A74 into Moffat). I never thought I’d ever say fun and Vauxhall in the same line! As for resale, well fortunately this is my... Read review

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