Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £15,405 to £22,000
Room, ride, handling and decent engines, making it good to drive and ride in. It's cheap to run, and provides good crash protection.
Dull interiors are a major flaw, it lacks individuality and looks boring besides more modern, striking rivals. A little pricey, considering some stingy standard specs.
Sensible, yet enjoyable to drive. If only it looked less dull, inside and out.
The interior's aura of quality may not be top notch, and it does feel rather dated now, but the Astra's comfortable ride, refinement and space make for pleasant transport. It feels like a much bigger car than it is, and seems classier than the Focus, if not up to Golf standards. Entry-level models have a rather spartan specification, though, and do feel very basic.
Wide-opening doors reveal a cabin that's usefully roomy, and this is backed up with plenty of oddments storage and a generous boot, too. It lacks the high-roof feel of many newer cars, but doesn't seem to suffer because of it. The estate makes a fine small family holdall if you don't fancy going for a compact MPV-style vehicle. All Astra stereos feature an RDS traffic news facility, have good sound quality and easily used controls. A CD player features on many models, along with basic steering wheel-mounted controls.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Vauxhall Astra
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