Vauxhall Astra - Reliability and safety
The Vauxhall Astra misses out on a five-star Euro NCAP rating; Vauxhall’s Driver Power score shows there’s room for improvement
Vauxhall has equipped all Astra models with its PureSense suite of active safety kit, with every model getting lane departure warning with lane-keep assist, speed sign recognition, a driver drowsiness alert and automatic emergency braking (AEB). Adaptive cruise control comes with mid-range GS trim along with a more advanced collision alert system that works at higher speeds, while top-of-the-range Ultimate and GSe add blind spot monitoring and a lane position assist feature.
Unfortunately, the Astra stopped short of getting a five-star Euro NCAP score like its rivals, the Honda Civic, Renault Megane E-Tech, and VW Golf. The safety experts awarded the Astra (and the Peugeot 308 upon which the Astra is based) four stars out of five, criticising the lack of a central airbag to protect front seat occupants in a side-on collision, and the emergency braking system for its poor response in recognising pedestrians.
While the latest Astra didn’t feature in the most recent 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, the Vauxhall brand came in 24th out of 32 manufacturers in rankings. That puts it above fellow family car manufacturers VW, Ford, and Renault, but behind SEAT, Skoda, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, Peugeot, Mazda, and Kia.
Warranty
All Vauxhall cars are covered by a three-year/60,000-mile warranty, which matches the coverage you get with a Volkswagen Golf or Ford Focus, but lags behind the seven-year warranty offered by Kia, or the ten-year warranty package provided by Toyota.
Plug-in hybrid and Astra Electric owners have a separate eight-year or 100,000-mile policy for the battery pack. If the battery’s usable capacity drops below 70% during that time, Vauxhall will replace it for free.
Servicing
If you own a petrol-powered Astra then Vauxhall recommends that you should book it in for a service every 12,500 miles or annually, while plug-in hybrid models are every 20,000 miles or annually, whichever comes first.
The Astra Electric needs an initial service after one year or 8,000 miles, whichever comes soonest, then it’ll need to be serviced every two years or 16,000 miles from that point onwards.
Vauxhall offers a range of servicing packages; Vauxhall Care is the most comprehensive, offering three years of servicing, two years of roadside assistance and a free MoT when your car needs it. Standalone fixed-price services are also available, plus a 12-month warranty on any work carried out.
