VAUXHALLS HAVE NEVER been at the top of my list of ‘must have’ cars. And that’s strange, because I’ve owned two of them. They were both Astras, and I liked them.
The last one I bought was back in 2000. It was silver and had an Irmscher body kit. It looked great at the time. Or maybe I thought it did because I was still in my twenties then and only had myself to please. These days, well, I am a dad with a whole different set of priorities about what I need from a car. Back then, the Astras were big enough. Roomy enough for me and my girlfriends, if you know what I mean? I didn’t give a toss about the size of the boot or how much legroom my rear seat passengers had.
Now, with two kids, I look at how easy it is to fit child seats in a car. I check out if the boot will swallow a pushchair and a weekly shop. All sorts of boring things like that. And do you know what? Yes, the current Astra is great for strapping a five year old and a two year old in the back seat. It drives well and with a 2.0 CDTI engine, it feels like it could tow a trailer or caravan without any hassle. My wife had enough legroom in the front and we could all find our way to wherever we were going, thanks to a decent built-in sat-nav unit.
But do you know what the Astra’s biggest down-side is? The boot. It is simply not big enough for a family-of-four’s needs. I stuck my two year old son’s buggy in there and it took up the entire load area. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating, but honestly, I could only squeeze other stuff, like bags of shopping in around the edge. There is no way that I could live with this car if we were all going on holiday in it. I’d need one of those horrible coffin-shaped, non-aerodynamic, fuel wasting, roof boxes to fit all the gear in.
It’s a shame, because in every other respect the new Astra is a good car. It feels solid, it has airbags everywhere, it’s comfortable, economical, has decent pulling power, and it even has a great sounding music system.
Am I just being picky? Probably. But I am speaking from a family man’s point of view. And I bet I form a large percentage of the market that Vauxhall is aiming the Astra at. Would I buy one again? Almost certainly – if I was single or just had a partner. But now I’m middle-aged (ish), grumpy and with kids, probably not.
Still, the Astra is a good looking car and you should never dismiss anything before you try it for yourself. For value for money, it’s a great motor – and you get a lot of car for the dosh – just not a very big boot.
PROS ‘N’ CONS
- Pulling power √
- Comfort √
- Kit √
- Small boot X
FAST FACTS
- Max speed: 134 mph
- 0-60 mph: 8.5 secs
- Combined mpg: 57.6
- Engine: 1956 cc 16v turbo diesel
- Max. power (bhp): 158 at 4000 rpm
- Max. torque (Ib/ft): 258 at 1750-2500 rpm
- CO2: 129 g/km
- Price: £22,060
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