Having to put up with a daily commute of 22 miles each way on heavily used roads along with traversing a major town is not much fun, especially when you have to fight your way around the roundabouts and other motorists to get anywhere. I bought my Astra GLS 1.7TDS for a princely £1000. In the first year I traveled 19,000 miles at an average 52MPG which for an 11 year old car was a fantastic achievement. She has moved kitchen worktops, (the look on the two salesmen's faces was priceless) horse feed, Kitchen sinks, DIY gear and a whole load of other items like you wouldn ' t believe. In-Laws to and from the airport on a regular basis (50 Miles each way) and not let me down once. Regular servicing has helped no doubt and I for one would put my winnings on this little car any day. OK so it's no Ferrari but she keep's up with the traffic and is nippy enough to get through that gap when you want to. It ' s anonymous and no one notices you which for me is great. It's not hard on tyres as mine lasted 21,000 miles before I had to change them. This is my fifth Vauxhall and I see no reason to change from the Griffin Badged Cars they may not have the Kudos of more prestigious names but they are damned good value for the money.

I would highly recommend Vauxhall and Astra good reliability and excellent customer service.

Overall, the Vauxhall Astra 1.7DTI is just a wonderful car, looks, performance, reliability and comfort. What more can a owner/driver want!

MK4 POLICE SPEC ENVOY
Vauxhall Astra Engines rock solid mines on 135,000 Miles and I guess its had a very hard time in the police force and I still give it a good blast around the country lanes.

Only needed to replace the glow plugs since I've had it and previous owner did the timing belt.

First gear seems a little sluggish but all diesels are, 3rd gear definitely mates up for it it's only 75bhp anyway so can't ask for much.

Interior is very comfy due to the police having the SRi / Sports interior fitted at factory and electric windows all with group 4 insurance :) Bascially your getting a SRi without the high performance engine which suits me because I'm cheap.

Handling is very good does everything you'd expect and the 3 door model looks great.

Loves the motorway will cruise all day on it and hardly drinks any diesel but town driving is still pretty good.

Car seems happy to take a beating when needed on the country lanes etc probably why the police choose it.

All in all I'm chuffed with it, cheap tax £110 for the year, group 4 insurance and nothing wrong at 135,000 miles with the looks of a SRi too. Mk4 can be picked up very cheap as well now.