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vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - Bill Payer
Now that GM have shown faith in the Ellesmere Port plant which is quite local to me, I feel bound to consider Astra for one of our cars early next year, when I had been thinking about Golf (although I don't like VAG UK or its dealers) or maybe Focus.

Has anybody here compared the new Astra to its obvious rivals, and what did they think?

All things being more or less equal, I would like to buy British, but not if I'm going to end up kicking myself (as my neighbour did many years ago when he bought his wife a Metro!).
vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - gordonbennet
I've seen the new model but haven't driven it yet, so really can't compare, though i enjoyed HJ's roadtest.
I like the present Astra anyway especially the 1.9 Diesel, so expect the new car to be very capable...new GM cars are dripping with waxoyl type stuff from many orifices underneath so i suspect their long term corrosion resistance to be good, better than many other makers imo.

I'm in a split camp here, on the one hand i'm a patriot and would dearly like to put my money back in to our country, goodness knows it's needed, as i used to until i found i was almost alone at the time...and we progressively made less of everything.
No mentions of a certain political viewpoint or party please.

On the other hand we have the same company who have a particular model prone to a drastic engine fault, usually just outside warranty but well within what a reasonable person would consider a short easy life, and seemingly dodging (or some dealers are) their responsibility to their customers unless they happen to be stubborn enough to issue proceedings (and good luck to those fine folk featuring in other threads).

Maybe if this company show their commitment by putting a full 5 years 100k warranty on their new model they can gain back much needed customer faith.

Companypurchased cars may well be their bread and butter but companies have few patriotic leanings, so they must reassure private buyers that their car is expected to be trouble free for 5 years 100k and back it up if they want the private buyer.

Announcing an extended warranty period for the affected engines in the smaller model would do wonders...similar to how Toyota would.
vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - Avant
All the main magazines (I haven't looked at CAR) have done group tests recently including the Astra, and it hasn't eon any of them.

It 's the same story as previous Astra, and indeed most Vauxhalls: none are bad cars, but the Focus comes out as better to drive, the Golf as more solidly built (and also better to drive in some group tests), the i30 and Ceed better value. The Mazda 3 is also a strong contender. Thus the Astra tends to be a mid-table performer.

Vauxhalls (and Fords) seem to me to a good buy secondhand with someone else suffering the very heavy initial depreciation.

I suppose that buying a Vauxhall built in Ellesmere Port is no more or less patriotic than buying a UK-built Honda, Nissan or Toyota. It's good to support British workers: some of us might also prefer that the profits didn't go to a country holding weapons of mass destruction. I don't think Japan has, but I stand corrected if I'm wrong.

vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - J500ANT
I'm looking forward to driving the new Astra next weekend (thanks HJ & Vauxhall) and then i'll report back. My daily drive is an i30 and my previous car was a Jetta so it'll be an interesting comparison.

Edited by J500ANT on 28/11/2009 at 21:18

vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - Victorbox
Could I point out the Insignia won European Car of The Year and the new Astra is a strong contender this year judging by Andrew English's comments in the Daily Telegraph "It more than matches the current Ford Focus for ride and handling, and beats it out of sight for interior finish and comfort" ..... and getting any praise for a Vauxhall from him is hard to come by!
vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - ifithelps
Ford have got some new high-performance/low capacity petrol engines coming up, haven't they?

Not sure when they're due, but the OP was talking about buying next year, so could be around by then.

vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - diddy1234
I think Ford will make these available next year (according to auto car magazine) with a range of EcoBoost engines.

I wouldn't be surprised if all manufacturers went down this route with small turbo engines within five years.

Even Vauxhall's new Astra has a 1.4l turbo engine with a 2.0l bhp figures.
vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - Bill Payer
Thanks for thoughts / comments so far.

I'm not really concerned about how the car drives - all modern cars will do the job they're required to do adequately. Even if they have the odd quirks, someone else might regard that as a feature.

I'm more concerned about living with the car - will it have lots of niggling faults, are the dealers rubbish, is Vx UK customer services as useless as VW (I am concerned about the Corsa camshaft issue)?


vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - J500ANT
More info on the new Astra here www.honestjohn.co.uk/redirect.php?http://www.torqu...m

Dont think there are many cars out and about yet, few people will have had chance to try it yet.
vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - Avant
Given your priorities, BP (and presumably your daughter's), the make to go for must be the one with a good local dealer, preferably family-owned. This is why Skodas so often score in the various satisfaction surveys over mechanically identical VWs.

You'll know already about Hondas, but I'd suggest a Fabia, Yaris/Auris or Mazda 2/3 might be on the short-list; possibly also a Kia or Hyundai of the size required.

Preaumably we can safely assume it won't be another SEAT?

Edited by Avant on 29/11/2009 at 16:48

vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - Bill Payer
a good local dealer preferably family-owned.

I thought I'd bought younger daughter's Mitsubishi Colt from such a dealership, only to find they were lying thieves.
Preaumably we can safely assume it won't be another SEAT?

I wouldn't cut off my nose to spite my face, but SEAT UK and their dealership seem so determined to lose customers that they must do it on purpose.
vs Golf & focus, and other rivals (i30?) - dumbo
I have a 2002 astra 1.7 diesel. It hasn't been bad except for a lot of rust. The bonnet had to be replaced with a new one about 4 years ago, fitted and sprayed professionally. Even this is showing rusting now.

It passed it's last MOT but with a lot of advisories, including leaking dampers and brakes. The mileage is 113K and the car has been regularly and well serviced. When I change cars it won't be for another Vauxhall, even if new ones do no drip with Waxoil.