2002 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Golf GTI Beater

General Comments:

Very complete all round performer. Excellent handling, would run rings around my previous car, Golf MK3 GTI. Brakes strong and fade free, interior build is good.

Engine performance for a 1.8 is very good, again faster than my 8 valve Golf GTI. Good specification including traction control, ABS, EBS, Air-Con, CD player, Cruise control etc. Insurance group of 9 for performance potential is very good indeed.

Looks best in 3 door, best colour is black.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th March, 2003

17th Jul 2003, 05:54

Post from original reviewer.

Update...

Car now covered 21K miles. Returned to CD Bramall in Middlesbrough to fix (under Network Q) the following minor problems:

Binding rear discs (known common Astra issue)

Misting near-side headlamp

Rattling form rear hatch

Rear wiper blade not making full contact with screen.

All problems corrected 1st time! ('damper kit' fitted to rear calipers, including new rear pads, new headlamp fitted, new rear wiper blade fitted and rattle in hatch traced and fixed), car collected from work and returned washed within four hours, with no cost to me. At last a Vauxhall dealer that gets it right! Well done CD Bramall Middlesbrough!

14th Apr 2006, 05:04

Original reviewer here. Car now covered 58K miles, still going well. No problems experienced with car, servicing costs very reasonable. Still on original disc's and pads, exhaust, replaced all four tyres at around 40K. Owned the car for just over three years now, looking for a replacement, but to be honest finding it hard as the Astra SRI is going to be tough act to follow. While not a true hot hatch, it can still hold it's own and can still put a smile on my face. On this ownership experience I would consider buying the new Astra SRI.

2002 Vauxhall Astra SXi 1.8 16v from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Fast, good looking and cheap to buy

Faults:

The rear brakes started to make a lot of noise while braking in reverse, this was fixed under warranty by the dealer.

General Comments:

This car has been everything I had hoped for and more.

The 1.8 engine is potent for the size and pulls convincingly at any speed in any gear.

The looks definitely benefit from the addition of the rear spoiler and Irmscher grille options, and in black it really looks elegant.

There is not a huge amount of feel from the steering, but it is responsive and well weighted.

The levels of grip are incredible and the car copes impeccably with any weather conditions. The car is very confidence inspiring.

Can be a bit thirsty if pushed, but will return 40+ miles per gallon if treated nicely.

The seats are not the most comfortable on long runs - I find myself shuffling around to find a more comfortable position from time to time. I can forgive it this for it's good looks, general demeanor and surprising performance.

I will be looking at Vauxhalls before anything else when it comes time to replace it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th March, 2003

2002 Vauxhall Astra LX 1.6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Over priced, unreliable piece of rubbish

Faults:

Well where will I start? I bought the car second hand, but with it being only 9 months old I thought I would be OK, Boy was I wrong. After only two weeks of owning the car the timing belt jumped and caused a backfire which melted all the plastic pipes under the bonnet! The Astra was repaired under warranty, but two days later the exact same thing happened, bad mechanics or bad car? I have never known a car as unreliable, I wish I still had the Punto sporting which was a pleasure to drive and always reliable.

General Comments:

My Astra is slow to take off and struggles to reach 100 miles per hour. The only good things about my car are that it is quite comfortable, big enough to fit all my baby's things in and it looks good.

I would never recommend a vauxhall to anyone, infact I have even put a friend off buying one.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th January, 2003

18th Mar 2003, 14:12

Regarding the Astra LS can I just say that mine was acquired new in November 1999 and I have just covered 140000 miles in it. It has been regularly serviced every 10000 miles, and I have only suffered one minor breakdown, the generator belt snapped. The model is the 1.7Td estate, and it turns in an average consumption of 46miles/gall., and about one liter of oil between services.

I can honestly say that it is the best car I have ever had, and I hope the Zafira I have ordered as a replacement will be as good!.

27th Oct 2003, 01:41

Astra LX? That'll be the first LX model Astra I've ever heard of then. And how can a timing belt that that 'jumped' off the timing gear cause all the plastic pipes in your engine to melt?