[TW]Fox;13267352 said:Surpised. The Focus I thought was considerably better in every possible way - the Mk5 Astra sums up everything wrong with Vauxhall. Truely nasty.
I beg to differ. It might not be amazing but its certainly no worse than its rivals such as the focus ect.. The average joe certainly doesn't care about handling. I found it just as comfortable as a focus and the build quality is just as good too.
[TW]Fox;13267406 said:Whats worse?
It's only nice to drive if you've recently stepped out of a Corsa or a Yugo.
They are nice to drive, I've driven most of its rivals too. Yes there is better but its no where near the bottom of the list like people make out.
My parents one has been very reliable, no problems with it in nearly 3 years of ownership. I liked driving it too, but I'm more than happy to admit that I haven't driven many cars. Can't really understand what's supposed to be so bad about it though.
I would much rather a nice spec'd Astra over a Focus, Kia Ceed.
Vauxhall don't make terrible cars, they make (for the large part) distinctly underwhelming, average cars.
And for a forum full of people who are (supposedly) enthusiastic about cars and driving as a whole, that just isn't good enough.
Maybe, but then again ford do the exact same thing, but manage to do a much better job at it, as do Honda, Skoda, VW etc.Vauxhall don't make terrible cars, they make (for the large part) distinctly underwhelming, average cars.
And for a forum full of people who are (supposedly) enthusiastic about cars and driving as a whole, that just isn't good enough.
[TW]Fox;13267528 said:Actually the Kia Ceed is supposed to be pretty decent - I'd not commit without a proper drive but I suspect given the choice I'd take it over the Astra.
Out of interest, what would be your reasons not to like a 1.9CDTi 150BHP Astra?
[TW]Fox;13267595 said:Poor interior quality - I hate touching nasty, cheap plastics
Ungainly handling
Annoying noisy rattle from the engine compartment constantly, makes the dash shake when sitting at traffic lights
Irritating power delivery
I will say I've not driven a 150, I can't remember what the Astra was, it might have been a 130?