I refer to the new Vaxhall Astra.
It must have been out nearly a year, but I can only recall seeing one on the road.
I've seen more Insignias.
The Astra is a mainstream hatchback, and I'd expect to see new ones regularly.
Am I right about its rarity?
Or have I been driving around with my eyes closed?
Finally, are there any other 'popular' cars which are rarely seen?
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I've seen quite a few on my travels - Trouble is they look so unlike any other Vauxhall that they blend into the background clutter. They look pretty good to me and the few reports I've read rate them highly - I'd prefer them to the Focus - far too boxy for my tastes.
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36, 099 sold in the last twelve months - 6734 in the last month - the Focus sold 400 units more - so strong sales in fairness.
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I had a quick Google for sales figures but didn't find anything recent. Where did you get those from, please, Pugugly?
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I see plenty of Astras and Insignias around my area.
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Ive seen a few about Darlington - but i seem to see Insignia's more regularly.
I like them from the back, but im not sure looking at them head on, however I didnt like the Astra H when it 1st came out prefering it to the Astra G but then as I saw more of them, the more my opnion changed.
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...6734 in the last month - the Focus sold 400 units more...
There should be plenty about by now if it's selling nearly as many as the Focus.
Think I need to brush up on my car recognition skills.
I liked the look of the one I did manage to spot.
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>> I refer to the new Vaxhall Astra.
>>
>> It must have been out nearly a year,
Late Dec 09 or the start of Jan 2010, IIRC.
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Will be one more around soon, i've ordered an Astra Elite auto cdti to replace my Auris (that I now loath with a passion)
The reason you won't see many around is the cost, i'm getting mine using Motability lease which makes it the same cost as a Golf dsg tdi. The list price for my Astra would be iro £27k, though Vauxhall sell them to Motability for £17k. I mean, £27k list is silly, another couple of grand and you're in XF money. These stupidly high list prices are putting people off (imho)
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...to replace my Auris (that I now loath with a passion)...
I'd have thought an Auris is too innocuous too loath, or love for that matter.
Why do you dislike it so much?
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>>
>> Why do you dislike it so much?
>>
because it rattles, which are standard on all models of Auris, the brakes squeal (ditto) and the MMT gearbox is crunching like mad. It's all of those, and other minor things - just a general loathing.
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...because it rattles, which are standard on all models of Auris, the brakes squeal (ditto) and the MMT gearbox is crunching like mad. It's all of those, and other minor things...
That's a fair few faults - don't think I'd like your Auris much, either.
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I saw one of those Renault crossover things the other day and one of those Peugeot rivals to it, they seem pretty rare.
I saw one of the new Astras the other day - very handsome thing for a mainstream car, looks classy.
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Toyota seem to have taken a step backwards with this model since the days of the Corolla in terms of reliability. The Toyota chief wants to inject more excitement into the Toyota brand in the coming years. Lets hope they succeed.
Let us know what you think of the Astra when you've taken delivery.
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...I saw one of the new Astras the other day - very handsome thing for a mainstream car, looks classy..
I've seen a white one on the way to work a couple of times since I started the thread.
I agree with Stu, smart looking piece of kit.
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I saw a new Astra on the A30 near Bodmin this morn,
I thought it looked a bit of alright although I was doing 100MPH at the time,
SWMBO made a comment about how the rear window seemed small.
= Nice car!
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Possibly we don't recognise every new Astra we see as it looks like a Mazda 3. I saw a picture of what the next Focus may look like that that too was similar.
I suppose that if cars are designed largely by computer models, then one medium hatchback is going to come out looking much like another.
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As an observation I see hardly any recent Vauxhalls around here (Surrey), recent Zafira's seem popular but most are 04 vintage and before. It might be down to a lack of dealerships or perhaps the predominance of VWs, Toyotas etc points to some kind of regional 'taste in cars' ?
Another (entirely empirical) observation is that people keep their cars longer in Surrey than they did when I lived in the north east, 'up there' Vauxhalls seemed very popular but were often changed at 2 or 3 years old. I'm sure there are many factors in this e.g. the amount of disposable income left after the cost of housing etc.
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no new vauxhalls in surrey, because they have no perceived class.
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>> no new vauxhalls in surrey, because they have no perceived class.
>>
Or perhaps there's a perception (fair or otherwise) that they don't 'last' ?
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Funnily enough I had time to kill in Guildford yesterday (Slyfield Road Ind. Est.) outside all the car showrooms (what better place to be with time to kill?). I had a look at the new Insignia estate. Couldn't believe how:
1. low down the rear seat was,
2. small the boot was,
3. claustrophobic the whole thing was.
The old Vectra estate alongside was far more sensible (crumbs, I must be getting old ...)
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Im afraid these new cars are terribly wasteful on space, not a patch on older cars where the boot was almost as wide as the car.
Im sure you could fit a small dog in the space between the trim and the wing in some car boots.
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HMRC are wise to that one. :-)
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>>
>> The old Vectra estate alongside was far more sensible (crumbs, I must be getting old
>> ...)
>>
But the Insignia does look nice (to my eyes), I wouldn't have one because of my complete aversion to Vauxhalls but I'd concede that it's handsome.
A similar change happened with the Accord, again the current tourer looks nice but it's not as capacious as its more practically shaped (but uglier) predecessor.
I guess if you want capacity you need a Mondy ?
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I bet you see more of them now, as they appear to have given priority on ordering to every hire co in creation, new Astras everywhere now. My car still hasn't arrived, it is scheduled for next Friday - we'll see.
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I'm sure I've seen lots but they're almost indistinguishable from the Corsa.
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Tomorrow is new car day. I've got to go from the dealer to London and back, then off to Edinburgh on the weekend (from Bristol) so my running in will be over in a week!
Will report back on how lovely it is (or isn't)
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Well i've had it 10 days now, done 1500 miles including a trip to Edinburgh, and i'm really pleased with it. Very well assembled, good quality materials, very low noise even at motorway speeds. It's geared to 40mph/1000rpm so a motorway trip is only just over tickover really, hence an average of 46mpg so far.
Downsides? The Elite seats are rather bulky and they cut into the rear legroom. The chrome around the auto selector reflects the sun. Oh, and the climate control, even when on manual mode, has a mind of it's own - it's going in on Friday for them to look at this. The PDI was shoddy, delivery wax left on the wheels and along both sides of the car, plus 4 incorrect tyre pressures.
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I see plenty of new Astras around Southport/Liverpool. I think that they are a lovely looking car, particularly the dashboard. I haven't inspected one closely, but I do think that they look like they give the 'quality' German cars a run for their money.
I'd definitely look at a second hand one when it comes to replacing my Megane in a couple of years.
Glad your new Astra pleases you, J500ANT - good to see a British built car doing well!
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You need to look harder! The Astra was the best selling car in June www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7874228/New-car-sales-rise-again-in-June.html
Even the Insignia made the top 10 list unlike the Mondeo.
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...You need to look harder! The Astra was the best selling car in June...
I started the thread in early June - must have been just before sales took off.
Or maybe Astra owners like to keep their new cars in the garage so as not to put too many miles on them.
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Just chased a new Astra and saw it was a 2.0 CDTi in White,
Quite stylish from the rear I thought,
The mirrors looked a bit stickie outie,
Nice car!
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...Quite stylish from the rear I thought...
Solid red one passed me on the A1(M) near Scotch Corner about an hour ago.
I thought it looked quite good from the rear.
This one was spoiled by a plain grey Halfords roof box.
Looked particularly drab and dreary next to the bright red paintwork.
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>> The mirrors looked a bit stickie outie,
I haven't compared dimensions with similar cars, but the rar of the car - it's haunches - looks *very* wide. Wonder how many will be seen with scuffed arches?
Re earlier comments about price - it's being advertised by our local dealer at very large discounts, but the ads list a range of qualifying employers and organisations. The list is so extensive it's hard to imagine they wouldn't offer the same pricing to everyone.
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I regard myself as a competent driver having driven vehicles ranging from a Fiat 500 to a Bedford TK, but I did find the stickie out door mirrors on my mrk 1 Focus a bit ott sometimes,
I even clouted an oncoming cars mirror once :( and having followed a new Astra for a few miles on Friday it appeared to me that the mirrors stuck out as much as my mrk 1 Focus.
The mirrors on my Almera dont stick out too much and the vision is 100% spot on IMO,
Still, the new Astra is great car, may even knock the Focus off the top spot,
and the mirrors wouldn't put me orf buying one.
Last edited by: Dog on Sun 15 Aug 10 at 11:42
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I once overtook another car by rather naughtily turning two lanes into three.
The oncoming car took the driver's door mirror of my Cortina estate clean off.
Not a scratch on the paintwork.
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I haven't noticed that the mirrors are large (or not) to be honest. I have noticed it's got electriccery to fold them in though ;-) oh, and the handbrake cable on all electric handbraked Astra's hangs down quite a bit. Odd.
With regards to discount, my car is through Motability. List price is iro £26k, they've paid about £13k (would be plus VAT, but they're exempt)
Last edited by: J500ANT on Sun 15 Aug 10 at 12:35
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>>The oncoming car took the driver's door mirror of my Cortina estate clean off.<<
I was overtaking a stationary vehicle at the time, on an urban b road, or as about urban as Cornwall can get,
I clouted the oncoming vehicles mirror (and some) so I was 100% to blame,
I did a U turn ASAP where as in 'the old days I would have kept on keeping on' but the other car didn't bother to stop which surprised me somewhat.
Didn't appen with the ole wing mirrors, did it :)
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Did somebody say 26k? That'll be yen then, won't it?
You can't be serious. Who in their right mind would pay that for an Astra?
My friend has a diesel one on order here for September to replace his current 4-year-old 1.9 150hp Astra. I daren't ask him what the French are charging him for it.
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The most expensive Astra is The Elite 2.0 CDTi 16v 5dr which comes in at a smidgeon under £23k,
But ... and its a BIG but = that's the list price.
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Mine is an auto, and has front and rear park sensors, and (having rechecked) its just over £25k at list price. Madness for anyone who pays that price. Even Vauxhall (via their Internet Price thing) are selling my spec car at a discount for £21875.
The Motability scheme is good in that there is no resale risk for the hirer, and so for my advance payment of £850 and fixed weekly payment I chose the 160 bhp Astra with all the toys over a Golf 105bhp tdi DSG with a fair equipment level, but nowhere near what my Astra has.
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>> Madness for anyone who pays that price. Even Vauxhall (via their Internet Price thing) are selling my spec car at a discount for £21875.
Ah but then theres the levva, boot woofers, special paint, 24" wheels wiv chrome spinners.... it all adds up eh?
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>>Mine is an auto, and has front and rear park sensors, and (having rechecked) its just over £25k at list price<<
I take it that its a conventional auto gearbox, which explains the 10mpg difference between the auto and the manual.
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>> >>Mine is an auto, and has front and rear park sensors, and (having rechecked) its
>> just over £25k at list price<<
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>> I take it that its a conventional auto gearbox, which explains the 10mpg difference between
>> the auto and the manual.
>>
Yep, conventional auto with 6 gears, nothing fancy but very high gearing in 6th gear - iro 40mph/1000rpm.
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>>Yep, conventional auto with 6 gears, nothing fancy but very high gearing in 6th gear - iro 40mph/1000rpm.<<
Has it got the fast gear change paddles on the steering wheel in conjunction with the conventional auto P R D 2 1
and has it got an overdrive switch like my Almera?
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>> Has it got the fast gear change paddles on the steering wheel in conjunction with
>> the conventional auto P R D 2 1
>> and has it got an overdrive switch like my Almera?
You can move the lever across and drive it "manually" with the + and -, tiptronic style. But no overdrive switch, and no paddles on the steering wheel.
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Yep! its a Tiptronic gearbox, its interesting that GM/Vauxhall have taken that route rather than a DSG or CVT,
Personally, I'd choose a Tiptronic in preference to a DSG or a CVT any day, whatever the cost/mpg involved.
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>> I daren't ask him what the French are charging him for it.
>>
Be interesting to know, I bet it's a lot more than they cost in the UK. However his old car should be worth more there too.
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I've had a crack at decoding the French price list for the Opel Astra, with only limited success, but it appears the list prices in Euros are actually a bit lower than the UK. And with the pound a bit healthier than it was against the Euro at the moment the prices look a little more attractive too.
One headline in 'Argus', the French bible, said Opel is offering up to 22 per cent off as well.
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Is it not true that the european spec cars have less whistles and bells, and consequently a lower price, than the UK versions with every option known to man?
Or is that an urban myth?
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Took my Renault 18 GTX to a garage in Normandy to get a tyre fixed. The garage bloke liked the engine and commented on how good it was (it was). But the thing that really impressed him was the long coil springs fastened round the rear brake drums to eliminate brake squeal. He said something like: 'They do you Brits all right... we don't get this.'
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Well after owning my Astra Elite for under 3months it's going back.
On my first journey I noticed a problem with the dual zone climate control, it's display would show 22c on starting, regardless of what it was previously set at. BUT, it was only showing 22c, press ANY button on the heater controls and it went to the proper previous setting.
The dealer was baffled, he called in a Vauxhall tech guy who was also baffled. Vauxhall UK, baffled. Opel, baffled. None of them had an idea how to fix it, after 2 months I wrote to Motability who I lease it from. They called Vauxhall who confirmed that they knew it was faulty and had no idea how to fix it.
So the nice man at Motability offered me the choice of wait and see, or return it and get a refund of my advance payment and look for another car. Which i've done, collecting a new SEAT Leon FR 170CR tdi dsg next Friday.
I fear these Astra's are a problem, the number of different complaints listed on the AstraOwnersNetwork forum suggests Vauxhall is the new BL - get the customer to do the final testing.
Tony
Last edited by: J500ANT on Fri 15 Oct 10 at 21:35
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You don't see many of those around - R.P.
