Vauxhall Astra 1.7CDTi EcoFlex

wohoo said:
I havent got a problem with the car, just the price, its 17 freeking grand.

The current Astra is just as fun in normal guise, to drive as the focus, the dash is cheap and nasty, but the rest of the car is perfectly acceptable considering is traget market.

But 17k, come on, no way is it worth that kind of money, no way, even looking at new cars, you can get base-ish spec A3/1 series, or a decent spec Focus/Golf.Hell you could get a Mondeo or Insignia.
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But there is a big market at the moment for cars with "eco" features...

Vauxhall are just cashing in on that. They're hoping for lots of people to walk into their showrooms and spec up one of these EcoFlex cars and hand over 17k or so.

Hilarious to watch if you just so happen to be in the showroom at the time. But I think you'll find it is one way to sell cars!

Niché markets have niché list prices to suit.
 
jamoor said:
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.
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:confused:

You just said it yourself. All those companies do the exact same thing but much better - hence Vauxhall are considered to be "not up to scratch"
 
[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?
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I may be wrong but I was under the impression there was a diesel hot hatch, I only chose that for an example.

So taking into account it is a diesel, what about a petrol model. That leaves
Cheap Plastics
Ungainly Handling.

Don't tell me the ford focus in standard form handles out of the league, compared to the astra? I have driven astra's several times and there is nothing about the handling that is better or worse then an equivelant sized car. Certainly nothing near enough to class it as an "awful" car.

Cheap Plastics? Whats so cheap about them compared to a focus or a New model Seat Leon? Infact The astra dash feels no cheaper then my mothers Seat leon.

It's far from an awful car. There is nothing wrong with it.
 
Princey said:
Most of the dash is soft touch plastics the same as the focus. I don't find that mine rattles at all. Not sure if mine differs from what you drove.
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Its not the same as the focus in the slightest, I spent 7 or 8 months in a Design, nice car apart from the dash, I just looked and felt cheap, the lower plastics were naff, the silver finish looked it had been painted with a rattle can.The piano black finish in the VXR's is much better.
 
[TW]Fox;13267679 said:
New Seat Leon is horribly plastic as well, whats with that weird huge plastic slab in the middle of the dashboard?
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I'd agree with that, the centre console is very cheap looking, rest of the interior plastics are better than the Astra.
 
It's all getting a bit picky in here now. I mean come on, has anyone seen the colour of the oil filler cap under the astra's bonnet? :o
 
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Whilst cars like the Astra arent really awefull, infact there is no such thing as an awefull car in this day and age, not compared to the tripe that plagued us in the 70's and early 8/90's, there is just so much better stuff out there for this kind of money, the Astra/Focus type of car is a great s/h buy for 5-6k, but to spend 10+ surely is not the wisest move???
 
1.7CDTi Astra? £17K?

*Shudders*

My boss has a non-EcoFlex, and in the last month it's gone utterly mental with loads of sensor/management problems. Not good.

It's very much like a hearse to drive, too.
 
Pyscho_Si said:
A 5 door Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi 115 PS Zetec is £17,273.83..... Who would pay over 17K for a Focus?
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You're not allowed to mention that.

A female friend of mine buys new Astra diesels and never complains about them. She loves the looks, feels safe in them and likes the way they drive. Is she wrong?

As for reliability, in my experience any Vauxhall I have owned worked without fault. My last, a Vec C was safe, reliable and comfortable. People moan about the handling but I thought it was surefooted in all weathers, stable on the motorway and was actually quite refined at cruise.
 
[TW]Fox;13267595 said:
I will say I've not driven a 150, I can't remember what the Astra was, it might have been a 130?
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I had the 130 diesel as a hire car, and it's certainly one of the most nose heavy modern cars I've driven, it understeered very early if you pushed it. The 18 inch rims, combined with very firm suspension made the ride surprisingly harsh as well. It went quite well, though fuel economy wasn't particularly special IIRC.

OTOH I've had the misfortune to have a 1.6 petrol Astra and the equivalent Focus as a hire cars, and disliked both of them due to the utter lack of performance. The Astra in particular felt so flat and lethargic it was hard to believe it was a 1.6.

The Focus actually felt quicker with 3 people on board and had the better handling of the two, but I'd need a frontal lobotomy to consider owning either of them with a 1.6 petrol.
 
yet will still probably be one of the strongest sellers in the astra range.

isnt MK5 astra best selling car in europe ATM for past 2 years?
 
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