Advantages: Sexy design, sporty look, good on boot space
Disadvantages: Cheap interior appearance, not comfortable

...*~*~Introduction~*~* This review is based on my experience of using the Vauxhall Astra each week for regular motorway journeys down South every week for work. The Vauxhall Astra has been said to have been developed to offer technical sophistication and exceptional comfort, I wonder if my review will agree with that…read on if you wish to find out. *~*~Exterior Appearance~*~* The Astra SRi looks tasty I am definitely not a fan of the Vauxhall's but even I have to admit this model is a pretty attractive car. The model I am reviewing is the 3 door hatchback complete with a sleek spoiler, body colour bumpers, mirrors and tinted glass. My absolute pet hate is the black plastic on the Vauxhalls and the SRi has definitely skipped on this. The standard black trim on the car is replaced with colour coded trim which gives it a much... Read review

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Advantages: goodlooking, sexy, excellent ride ;-)
Disadvantages: common!

...~ My history ~ My very first car was a Renault Clio and after a crash on Valentines Day 2005 (which completely wrote it off (oops) and I couldn't believe I had to pay £50 to get them to scrap my little baby! (grr) Because I needed a car to get to work, the search began almost instantly to find another car. I had driven an Astra before and really liked them, I thought they were quite compact but big enough to fit people in without being packed in like sardines. I know I didn't want the bog standard Astra, so I went on the Vauxhall website and started to look at what they had to offer. ~ The Sxi ~ I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to cars and engines etc and was a bit lost as to what spec I wanted and what kind of engine, so was only really bothered about how it looked (typical girl?) This is where... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, Very Reliable, Carry Large Loads, Safety
Disadvantages: Fuel Economy is Poor while the HI TORQ claim is false advertising, Security

...I have owned my 1993 (K-Reg) Vauxhall Astra 1.4 HI-TORQ since early 2004 and it has been a great car that has seen many of my other vehicles come and go. The Astra has been my primary car during my ownership covering just under 25,000 miles and has served me with reliability and practicality that would be envied by more modern cars and their owners. GENERAL EXPERIENCE The Astra has been very much a workhorse and has been treated as such. The bodywork has numerous dents and battle scars gained from the general errands that it has been used for. I am often pitied by my mates for driving such a car but it has a certain character that can only be gained by old age. RELIABILTY and SERVICING COSTS Reliability has been excellent bearing in mind that this is a car which I purchased with 69,000 miles on the clock for £425. The clock... 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: Good looks, even today, cheap to run and insure, ideal first car
Disadvantages: Lacks power, especially at higher speeds

...I bought a fantastic vauxhall astra, M reg last year for 300 quid and so far it has been the best car ive driven! The interior is comfortable, which is great for long trips in the astra, theres plenty of rear legroom and boot space is quite good aswell. The exterior styling, albeit a bit dated now, still looks pretty good, especially if you get the ones built after 1994, which benefitted from a subtle facelift where vauxhall added the "v grill" and slimmer headlights. the car handles pretty well and confidently, although the lack of power steering can make it difficult to do things in town, like parking or 3 point turns. reliability is good too, i never had a problem with my astra, although dont be suprised if a car this age does start to have problems...not to worry though, new parts are easy and cheap to source... Read review

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Advantages: Easy to drive, light steering, good looks
Disadvantages: No electric wing mirrors, no sunroof

...The vauxhall astra has always been a car I fancied driving and when the opportunity arrose to purchase one I jumped at the chance. A silver "03" plate 1.4ls 5dr was now my girlfriend and I 's prized possession. We paid £5.000 for the car at a dealership and with that price we hoped it would be worth the money and boy it didn't disappoint. Its not a speed freak car but it has light steering, easy gear change and when you need it to go it will climb the speedometer really well. I enjoy driving sensable and have started to reap the benefits as the cars gives about 40miles to the gallon. whish with the fuel problems and having to drive 30 miles to work a day is a great help. As with all cars we wanted a comfy ride and with 2 kids needed it to be child friendly. As a car valeter I knew the interior was one that can easily kept clean... 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: Very Reliable, Fairly Good On Fuel, Large Boot
Disadvantages: Not A Family Car, Large Turning Circle

...Well this is my first review so hope it goes ok. Thought the easiest thing to start up with was my little baby. I bought the car used from a Toyota dealership and picked it up at a bargain price of about £8599. The car was only 2 years old and had a mere 20k on the clock - nothing for a workhorse engine which the modern Vauxhalls use., they are good for at least 150k. Anyway moving on the car was in 'As New' condition and after I took it away I could really drive it as it should be driven. I put her through her paces as I do all my cars to see what they can take and what I need to be aware of etc. I was struck immediately by the constant power the 125PS Ecotech engine pumps out. There always seems to be more to get you out of any tight situations. The engine itself sounds simply fantastic it purrs quietly on tick... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap insurance, handling, speed
Disadvantages: ride comfort, fuel economy

...The Car *Purchased 2nd Hand *2004 54 registration *1.8i Club Automatic *5 Door hatchback My Situation The car was purchased from BCA last October as an Ex-Motabilty car with only 4000 miles on the clock! Cost to us was about £6500 Looks I must admit, the semi-new shape (they've released newer now!) Astras are quite sexy looking. I have mine in midnight blue and I think this is a great colour for the car. 16" Alloys are standard and they look real good too. Interior Build Quality So far I cannot pick any faults with the actual build quality of the car. No rattling, all doors, glove box etc... hinges are smooth and don't feel like inferior quality. Obviously as a Vauxhall, the interior will still feel a bit 'plasticy' but it doesn't look that bad and the 3 Spoke steering wheel looks very sporty... Read review

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Advantages: Affordable, good alrounder
Disadvantages: Cambelt change every 40000 miles (expensive)

..., it does not scratch that easily. A heated rear window is good for them cold mornings and does a really good job, lots don’t. The rear spoiler is a nice touch. All the above are nice features that make the car all the more pleasurable to own and drive. After sales As with most main dealers, they are brilliant and couldn’t be more helpful until you have bought. Then they really don’t seem to care. Under duress they have sorted out a few niggly bits for me under the Vauxhall 3 year warranty. If you are going to buy one, do not get a Network Q warranty until the manufactures warranty has expired, it’s pointless and a waste of money, certainly get one after. Conclusion Having worked in the automotive industry for sometime now, I have a fair knowledge of cars and would not hesitate to recommend the Astra SRI (ashtray) to anyone. All things... Read review

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