Vauxhall Astra

The result was this: a 2001 Vauxhall Astra 1.8 Elegance, found on the forecourt at Thurlow Nunn of King's Lynn, Norfolk. Priced ΂£10,950, the 10-month-old car was just what I needed: comfortable, economical, lively and - more im- portantly - equipped with air-con, a CD and cruise control. Perfect for long distance commuting at least three times a week, when I wasn't testing other cars.
I was reminded of my commuting days when the Astra recently went for its 30,000-mile service. Walking into town while waiting for the car to be finished, I came across the latest leaflet designed to encourage drivers to take the train. Commuting between Peter-borough and London was much cheap-er by rail, said the pamphlet from West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN). It cited the cost of a day return to London as ΂£17.50 by train, or ΂£49.18 in a car.
Now, I don't remember travelling on the train being this cheap, or the Astra being anywhere near that expensive - so out came the calculator. Put simply, 23,000 miles - our car had already done 7,000 miles when we bought it - is equivalent to 135 return trips between home and work (85 miles each way). At an average of 33.6mpg, the Astra had guzzled 684 gallons of fuel over this period. So, with a mean figure of 75p a litre (΂£3.40 a gallon), the total fuel cost was ΂£2,325.60.
According to trade bible Glass's Guide, the Astra is now worth ΂£8,750, so that's a depreciation figure of ΂£2,200 to add to the equation. Throw in a ΂£160 tax disc, a ΂£105 service and insurance costs of ΂£649.12 (quote received from www.directline.co.uk for a 25-year-old male with a full no-claims bonus, with the car being kept on a driveway in the PE1 postal area), and that's a total of ΂£5,439.72 for a year's motoring.
If WAGN is to be believed, 135 return trips to Peterborough in the Astra would have cost me ΂£6,639.30. The train operator, on the other hand, can't sell you a ticket for ΂£17.50 if you need to do a day's work in London. If you want to arrive before 10am, it charges you ΂£49.50 for a return "to discourage people from using over-subscribed peak services". This clearly non-profit-related price plan means those selfish people who do need to get to their place of work on time will pay ΂£6,682.50 for the same 135 return journeys.

So it's advantage Astra - and despite some early teething problems with the electrics (as detailed in Issue 735), I'm first to leap to the Vauxhall's defence if someone suggests it's boring. I honestly find it a great all-rounder: big enough to fit my needs and ride properly on the motorway, agile enough around town or on extra-urban roads.
My only complaints are a springy clutch pedal, some flaking fake wood on the gearknob (although I was never a fan of this anyway) and the fabric on the front seats, which reacts like Velcro to bits of fluff and is a nightmare to keep clean. The only other faults aren't those of the car - one of the front wheels got badly kerbed while the Astra was on loan to a colleague, while there is now a mystery scrape on the back bumper. And the second service? It was a darn sight cheaper than a week on a WAGN train at ΂£183.88, while the treatment from Peterborough's new Vauxhall main dealer, Marshalls, was infinitely better than that I received from the Smith Group, which no longer holds a franchise for the brand.