Advantages: Space age looks (New Model 2004) Great Engine. Quality interior. Equipment
Disadvantages: Driving position. Ride & handling.

...It is difficult to believe, but the "new" Astra has been on the market now for over a year. It has undoubtedly made quite an impression. Looking quite revolutionary after the last Eurobland Astra model, I am actually having a job bringing its appearance to mind now, so forgettable was the styling. Having driven one or two of them over the last three or four years I am unfortunately also at a loss to recall to myself, let alone to you here just how it drove. Therefore the verdict on the last Astra has to be average but forgettable. It was not always thus. Vauxhall swing from modern avant guarde to bland with each successive mark of this particular car. The Mk 1 was a decent enough car but looked boxy and uninspiring, it was a cracking good drive in its day, especially the 1.8 GTE model. The Mk 2 was revolutionary. The smooth flowing... Read review

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Advantages: Value for money, performance is great, economical in fuel, tax and insurance
Disadvantages: Not for the image conscious

...I recently bought this car and it is certainly a winner in my view. I previously owned a VW Golf, 1.9 TDI, and was tempted to by another one because it was a good motor. I was recomended an Astra and thought I may as well test drive it, what harm was there. I booked a drive and was instantly impressed. I not only found that this car handled just as well as the golf but also matched its performance (in terms of handling and response). I recently changed jobs and needed a newer car and being on a budget I knew that if I was to buy another Golf it would be older and I just wanted the reliability of a warranty. Just something to stop me worrying should something go wrong. The Astra Design has the added benefit is more luxurious than the standard spec Golf, or equivalent class of vehicle. The design comes with half leather, sports... Read review

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Advantages: Comfortable, looks great, VERY economical
Disadvantages: Can be too "electronic"

...My dad had a choice of new company cars. These ranged from the Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Fiesta through the Vauxhall Astra and Ford Focus to the Vauxhall Vectra and Ford Mondeo. In the end, he decided to go for the Vauxhall Astra Club 1.7 CDTI (100 HP) hatchback in pearlescent black paint. First impressions are great. It's a fantastically good looking car and bears a resemblance to the new VW Golf. The interior styling is very modern and it feels quite solid - a world away from the previous Astra which was dull and boring. The seats are supportive and comfortable - I drove 250 miles and got out of the car as comfortable as if I'd just popped up to the shops. The equipment levels are very good with electric front windows, air-con and alloy wheels standard on the Club. It can be too electronic at times - turning on the headlights... Read review

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Advantages: Good reliable car
Disadvantages: Expensive on tax

...I bought this car just over a year ago and it has been a very reliable car. It has 5 doors and the boot is a fair size you could fit a lot into it. This Vauxhall Astra has power sterring and have had a CD player installed in it. It has a hide away ashtray so if you want the ashtray down you press a button and the front comes down. The locks on the Astra i have got has no central locking. This Vauxhall Astra runs on Diesel which is slightly dearer than petrol but you go the extra miles on diesel. Me and my husband took this up to stanstead airport and it only used a quarter of a full tank of diesel. The engine size is a 1700cc engine which makes it dear on the road tax at £93.50 for 6 months. This Vauxhall Astra has a catalatic converter on the exhaust system and is expensive for a new one as i found out when i had the MOT done... 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: Drives Nice, Great Economy, Cheap Tax, Cheap Insurance
Disadvantages: Not as quick as some.

...I bought this car in November 2005, to replace a rather thirsty, but fun Ford Probe. Due mainly to the fact that I do a 40 mile round trip to work every day, which was costing over £40 per week in petrol, I decided to forget performance, and get a Diesel. I test drove several cars, Golfs, Mondeos, Citroens and the like. I had never considered an Astra, as the Cavalier I had several years ago was the most unreliable car I've ever seen. On a budget of £3500, I was looking to get the newest, best condition car available. 406's, Mondeos (newer ones) and Golfs were all either well out of my price range, or had huge miles. I spotted the Astra 1.7Dti Envoy in Autotrader, at £3495, in Silver, 81,000 miles, with Full Service History, and one owner, on a 2001 Y plate. This was the best condition car I had looked at, by a country mile... 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: Stylish, Comfortable, Sporty, Distinctive
Disadvantages: Small Boot

...I am currently the driver of a Breeze Blue 1.7CDTi SXi (100ps) 5 Door Hatchback which when I first aquired the car in October 2004 I wasn't very impressed, this however as changed. It's wonderful. The company I work for gave me the choice of a Ford Focus in various syles and Engine Sizes , and also the New Astra, having previously driven a Focus I stumped for the Astra. I can't put my finger on what I didn't like about at first it just didn't feel right, the driving position felt awkward, the seats were hard and un forgiving. But this all changed when I had to do a 700mile round trip to Penzance from Sheffield. I didn't feel very tired, I didn't have the usual aches and pains I normal got from long cars journeys in the past and to top it all off I didn't stop for any diesel until I got to Chesterfield on the way home which worked out... Read review

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Advantages: Price, fuel economy, cheap insurance, cheap parts, nice looking
Disadvantages: Drab uninspiring interior, basic equipment levels, horrible seat trim, needs the pokier 16v engine

...I had this car up until last year. It was a 2001 Mk 4 Astra Club in Metallic dark blue with a 1.6 8v engine. The engine to be honest was a major bone of contention for me, leading to me getting rid of the car and upgrading. The 1.6 8v is the same ageing engine used in the Cavalier and frankly just wasn't good enough in a modern car like this. Carrying on with the bad points, the other major bugbear with this car is the frankly awful interior. One gets the feeling vauxhall deliberatly choose the worse colours to use in the basic Astra, I got horrible grey velour seats (yes the same colour as in the cavalier!!) and a horrible brown/beige/black colour dashboard which was franlkly irritating to sit behind. However, good points for this car definitely outweigh the bad, especially if (unlike me) you are not after good performance from your... Read review

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Advantages: Good Milage and Very Quick
Disadvantages: Lots of road noise, manual windows

...I got my astra van as a company vehicle last year as i work in IT and need to shift light to heavy loads between various places. Now i wasnt convinced about getting a van as i would have rather had an estate car or a hatch back but im getting used to it, so where to start from a potential buyers point of view. Well mine has just been in for its first service which is every 20000 miles or 1 year on the road. that concerns me as even if you have roadside cover a lot can go wrong doing that many miles, so i say keep a bit of oil handy my light started to come on at about 18000 miles. Luckily for me no breakdowns upto now. Ok whats it like to drive, well the CDTI engine has a lot of beans in it, and pulling away from any junction or roundabout is very nippy, as for motorwar driving i cant compliment it enough on the power being... Read review

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