New Car Help - Vauxhall?

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Hey guys,

First time posting over here, but I figured you guys will know! Not really into cars at all, but looking to get a new one soon. I'm 21 in December and will have my first year of no claims (Hopefully) in January. I'm currently driving a bog-standard Vauxhall Corsa 1.0L which, to be honest, is pretty poor. However, it's been excellent as a first car and has done me well.

Anyway, now is the time I feel I need an upgrade. I've been seriously considering ~2007 Vauxhall Astra, maybe 1.4-1.6L? I don't know much about them at all, but a friend of mine has one (1.6L Twinport SXi) and it's pretty sweet.

I've done insurance quotes from various comparison sites and I'm going from £1400 3rd party that I'm currently paying to ~£1150 fully comp on a 1.6L Astra.

Anyway, my question would be what do I need to look for... I know the basics like the lower the mileage, the better (Generally) but don't really know much else. I've also seen there's the Club, Life, SXi, etc, and I'm not really sure of the differences. Can anyone help/provide useful (simple) links please? :)
 
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Camelpaw said:
a friend of mine has one (1.6L Twinport SXi) and it's pretty sweet.
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You ever take it off any sweet jumps?

Buy on condition, not mileage and make sure you test drive the competition (Ford Focus, VW Golf, Seat Leon etc) and are happy with the Astra - if you've only driven Vauxhalls, don't be blinkered into thinking that it's not worth looking at the alternatives.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/vauxhall/astra-hatchback-2004.aspx?page=7

Click on equipment to see standard kit on each.
 
Whilst lower mileage doesn't always equal better, I'd tend to agree on little hatchbacks.
What I will disagree on is getting an Astra*.

Have a look at stuff from Ford. Whilst a Fiesta or Focus isn't an amazing car, it's a damn sight better than a Astra :D
 
jellybeard999 said:
You ever take it off any sweet jumps?

Buy on condition, not mileage and make sure you test drive the competition (Ford Focus, VW Golf, Seat Leon etc) and are happy with the Astra - if you've only driven Vauxhalls, don't be blinkered into thinking that it's not worth looking at the alternatives.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/vauxhall/astra-hatchback-2004.aspx?page=7

Click on equipment to see standard kit on each.
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Thanks for the input, I'll check out that link :) And what do you mean by sweet jumps? I am ignorant :D

mjt said:
Whilst lower mileage doesn't always equal better, I'd tend to agree on little hatchbacks.
What I will disagree on is getting an Astra*.

Have a look at stuff from Ford. Whilst a Fiesta or Focus isn't an amazing car, it's a damn sight better than a Astra :D
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Any reason for this or just personal preference? :)
 
Life = You're lucky to get seats
Club = Mid range, a few extras. 15 inch alloys. Nicer trim.
SXi = Basically a baby version of the SRi. They came with most of the same equipment (lower suspension, 16 inch rims, white dials) with the exception of the spoiler and having discs all round (although these were available as an option so some will have them)


*edit* My bad, just noticed you want a mk5. The above refers to the mk4 but the same rules apply really. The mk6 is the newest version and you won't get one of those on your budget.
 
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Camelpaw said:
I'm not looking at the old Astra though, I'm looking at the new(est?) model.

And £5-6k approx :)
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You'll be looking at the previous model, which really isn't anything to write home about.
I'm not too keen on the Focus personally either, but if it gets good reviews then I'm inclined to agree.
 
Minxy said:
Life = You're lucky to get seats
Club = Mid range, a few extras. 16 inch alloys. Nicer trim.
SXi = Basically a baby version of the SRi. They came with most of the same equipment (lower suspension, 16 inch rims, white dials) with the exception of the spoiler and having discs all round (although these were available as an option so some will have them)

*edit* My bad, just noticed you want a mk5. The above refers to the mk4 but the same rules apply really. The mk6 is the newest version and you won't get one of those on your budget.
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Makes it quite simple for me, cheers! :D Avoid Life, get SXi :D

Camelpaw said:
a bog-standard Vauxhall Corsa 1.0L which, to be honest, is pretty poor. However, it's been excellent as a first car and has done me well.
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iaind said:
Guh?
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It's 1 litre and bog-standard; hence poor. However, it has never failed me. Hence, excellent :)
 
Camelpaw said:
Makes it quite simple for me, cheers! :D Avoid Life, get SXi :D

It's 1 litre and bog-standard; hence poor. However, it has never failed me. Hence, excellent :)
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You must have low standards if not exploding means its excellent :p

You can get good cars which are reliable, like a ford focus
 
mjt said:
You'll be looking at the previous model, which really isn't anything to write home about.
I'm not too keen on the Focus personally either, but if it gets good reviews then I'm inclined to agree.
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I've had a look at the Focus today, but just don't really like it... I think it's the back of it I don't like. Probably not the best reason, but I'm quite fussy :p

iaind said:
You must have low standards if not exploding means its excellent :p
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Well yeaaah :p
 
Camelpaw said:
I've had a look at the Focus today, but just don't really like it... I think it's the back of it I don't like. Probably not the best reason, but I'm quite fussy :p



Well yeaaah :p
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Quite fussy about appearance, but nothing else?

Buy a car that fits your requirements best - the focus is obviously the closest competitor to the astra and does almost everything better than the astra.

The one thing the astra does better than the focus is look good, I'm 3 door form anyway. I dont see the sense in compromising on every aspect of the car in order to be better in just one.
 
iaind said:
Quite fussy about appearance, but nothing else?

Buy a car that fits your requirements best - the focus is obviously the closest competitor to the astra and does almost everything better than the astra.

The one thing the astra does better than the focus is look good, I'm 3 door form anyway. I dont see the sense in compromising on every aspect of the car in order to be better in just one.
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Well that's kinda what I'm here for... I've been out to look at cars, and to get a feel of what they're like inside, but don't really know the technical side and why, for example, you would class the Focus as a better car..? What is it that makes it better in every way except looks?
 
Given it's your second car and your coming from a corsa, you won't really notice the difference between the astra and focus. Sport hatch astra looks great from outside, interior is horrid though!
 
Camelpaw said:
Well that's kinda what I'm here for... I've been out to look at cars, and to get a feel of what they're like inside, but don't really know the technical side and why, for example, you would class the Focus as a better car..? What is it that makes it better in every way except looks?
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Better ride and handling, better engines, more comfortable, slightly better built.

I appreciate after your first car anything is going to seem brilliant and it's not easy to judge a lot of these things quickly with little experience but do try to not place much importance on looks.

If I wanted a nice looking hatch for that sort of money I'd probably look at a leon
 
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