written by bob1 on 03/04/2006
Good Points
Performance
Economy
Handling
Large load area
Build Quality
Bad Points
If your a tall driver, very little room in the rear. Seating system limited on standard kit. MP3 player isnt standard!
General Comments
Bought the Vauxhall Astra 1.9 after test driving the following estate cars: Skoda Octavia, Ford Focus, Mazda 6, Renault Megane and VW Golf(hatchback). The Focus is a good drive but feels cheap inside. The VW Golf came close to the Astra but the performance on the diesel was a let down.
I can't stress enough how good this car is. The build quality is excellent. The handling of the car seems more like a hatchback than an estate and you can thrash it and still get better performance and considerably better mpg than most cars!