I've been driving in my car, its not quite a Jaguar.... (Vauxhall Astra 1.6 SXi 5Dr)

Member Name: Fiver29

Product:	Vauxhall Astra 1.6 SXi 5Dr
Date:	02/02/09 (549 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Roomy, comfortable.

Disadvantages: Known problems with the alarm

I have had my Vauxhall Astra for about 3 years now, and there are lots of things I like about the car and a few things which I don't

~The Astra~

This review is about the SXi version of the Astra. It has a 1598cc engine capacity and it's a 16 value engine.

For the car buffs this means a top speed of 117mph, and 0-60 in 10.5 seconds, but I can say that I have tried neither of these, so cannot attest to the accuracy of these figure.

It is a 5 door hatchback, with 5 seats and plenty of boot space.
The SXi is an insurance group 5, making the insurance very reasonable indeed. And the road tax band is E, making the road tax £170 per annum. However when the new road tax rules come into force in April (2009) then it will jump to group I, and the road tax will be £175 for 2009, and £200 from 2010.

My particular model doesn't have a full electric pack, just electric front windows, the back windows are manual and the wing mirrors have manual adjustments.

~My Experience of the Astra~

As I said before, there is a lot about the Astra I like. It's a nice car to drive. For me the set up with regards to steering wheel height, seat adjustments etc, is spot on, making it really comfortable. And whilst I normally drive around my local town, I have in the past couple of years made several journeys to Kent and back, taking about 5-6 hours each way. I've never had a problem with the comfort even on these long journeys.

I was a bit disappointed that the car we bought only had a radio cassette; even 3 years ago cassettes were like gold dust. But it was very easily to swap the head unit I already had and put the cd interchanger in the boot. Nowadays I believe the new version comes with a radio/cd player as standard.

The electric windows are also pretty standard on most cars now, but handy nonetheless, and the passenger window can be controlled from the driver's side. Even more handy when you have children who love to mess!

There is plenty of legroom in the back, not that I have spent a great deal of time riding in the back, but my family are all between 5ft 8 and 6ft1 tall, and they have all said they are comfortable in the back of the car.

As I mentioned earlier, the boot is a very decent size. And contrary to government advice on emptying the boot to save petrol, I use the boot as storage for things like picnic chairs and the games we normally take out when we go on picnics. Even with all these things in the boot there is still plenty of space for a week's worth of shopping.

Now for the things I'm not happy with. First is the alarm, last year I heard a car alarm go off in the street and looked out to find it was mine. After this the alarm kept going off for no reason, at all times of the day. I rang the Vauxhall garage who told me it was a common fault, and a certain part needed replacing at a cost of £150. Not wanting to pay that amount I rang around, and an ex Vauxhall engineer told me what was happening as soon as I mentioned I was ringing about the alarm. He said he could fix it for £75 or disconnect it for £10. Unsurprisingly I went for the latter, the alarm is still connected to the internal sensors, just not the external, which is good enough for the insurers so I don't have to worry about cover. In my opinion, if the manufacturers know there is a problem with the alarm they should repair it free of charge, but that's not likely to happen!

The second thing that irritates me is that it's very jerky when it's cold. Now I know all the men reading this are saying 'pfft women drivers!!', but it's not my driving. My friend who is a mechanic also drove it regularly and he said the same thing, the kangaroo jumping sometime is very embarrassing.

Finally the last thing that annoys me is partly the cars fault, and I'll admit partly mine. But there is no way to see the back edge of the boot, meaning parallel parking can be hit and miss (well luckily no hits so far), I find myself thinking I have far less room than I actually have. This was never a problem in my old Primera, where the back of the boot was visible and parking was a doddle.

The petrol costs are reasonable, I get about 45 miles to the gallon driving my children to school and back every day and taking the car to the supermarket. Occasionally we do longer journeys, but that doesn't seem to impact on the mpg very much.

Since I've had the car I've had to have the brake pads replaced and the exhaust replaced. But I think both of these items are regularly replaced on many vehicles. Both were reasonably priced, unlike the Primera which was very expensive to repair. Apart from these two things the car has passed its MOT no problems.

So overall I think it's a great family car, not too big, but plenty of leg room and boot space, and reasonably cheap to run.

Summary: A great little car.

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