“I have the 1.6 Twinport engine and Easytronic gearbox. As an auto, the transmission is awful: it's best used in manual mode both fro economy and a better drive.”

“Great car but had an alarm fault for over a year. Alarm would sound for no reason. Took over a year to get fault fixed.”

“Looks good, holds the road well, brakes well, but no low-end torque. Problems with alarm, starting, and door hinge.”

“Very good to drive, reliable, reasonable running costs, good performance, but could do with more cabin storage space, and there is no way of connecting an MP3 player to stereo (not even an option). Mpg not as good as I had hoped.”

“The build quality is not quite there yet, although it is a massive leap up from previous Vauxhalls, but not as good as say VW, which was my last vehicle (VW Golf). There are a few rattles and squeaks. I had a problem with the steering and following two attempts at repairing, seems to be finally fixed. Considering it is a diesel (1.9 CDTI 150) it has very good performance, good handling, although suffers slightly from torque steering and tram lining. Overall I'm surprisingly pleased with the car.”

“1.7 CDTi SXi underpowered and lacks punch. It needs 10-15 bhp more. Great handling and suspension. Well built, with good quality materials. Standard equipment is reasonably good. I had a problem with the remote key not working properly, but replaced quickly by a good main dealer under warranty. The car steams up inside a lots and haven't been able to resolve the fault. Overall, generally a good buy.”

“I am very pleased with my Astra sport hatch SRI. It is a very good looking car. It does everything well and is well built with no squeaks or rattles. I think it is very underrated by the press and far better than a Focus.”