Vauxhall Astra

Ever dreamed of being someone else? Maybe you sit in traffic jams thinking you're Michael Schumacher on his way to yet another grand prix? Perhaps you sit on the sofa in your two-up two-down imagining that you're living in Buckingham Palace?

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Craig Cheetham

December 2002

Ever dreamed of being someone else? Maybe you sit in traffic jams thinking you're Michael Schumacher on his way to yet another grand prix? Perhaps you sit on the sofa in your two-up two-down imagining that you're living in Buckingham Palace?
Or if you're our long-term Astra, you sit immobile believing you're a Vauxhall Vectra. Sadly, our Network Q motor has had a breakdown - and it's more mental than mechanical. A replacement CD autochanger, fitted under warranty, was taken from a Vectra, and this disastrously confused our Astra's electronic brain.
One Friday, with a weekend appointment to keep, the car got 300 yards from my drive, couldn't decide whether it was an Astra or a Vectra and ground to a halt, with its warning lights flashing randomly.
As if that wasn't enough, when I rang my local dealership - Smiths of Peterborough, Cambs - to tell it of the fault, I was informed it wouldn't be able to do anything until the following Thursday. And despite the warranty, I couldn't have a courtesy car until the Astra had been ill for 48 hours - absolutely no use when you have to travel more than 200 miles. However, a call to another main dealer - Sycamores of Stamford, Lincolnshire - proved far more fruitful. It was prepared to look at the car the same day, and while it couldn't repair the vehicle immediately, it loaned me a two-year-old Vectra - allowing me to keep my appointment with only minor disruption.
So 10 out of 10 to Sycamores for its excellent customer service, and a big fat zero to Smiths. I know where I'll be going for the car's next scheduled check-up! The Vauxhall was 'compos mentis' again two weeks later, after getting a counselling session from a diagnostic computer and a new CD changer designed specifically for an Astra 1.8.