Faults:

Suspension springs and mounts.

ABS sensor and brake pads.

Exhaust rear section.

Oil service essential every year or around the 10K mark. Service history is essential. Also be aware the 1.4 has a timing chain that needs changed like the belted 1.6 petrol engine (usually between the 50,000 - 100,000 mile mark), some claim the chains last forever but this is not true, if it rattles or is otherwise noisy it is best changed and it is a little more expensive than a belt (I was quoted over £400, most timing belts I got changed in cars in the past was only £250 - £300!).

Another common fault on this model is apparently the gearbox can fail and the bearings get noisy; thankfully mine seems OK though, walk away from a noisy one.

General Comments:

The Astra has always been a bog standard family hatchback, and this fairly modern looking 2012 car is no different. I do like it better than the previous generation however. It is a smart looking car with a nice set of alloys I put on, as this basic "Exclusiv" model has wheel trims. Bright red, looks pretty good now.

There are a few version of this 1.4 engine, I have the middle range 100 bhp version. There is a slower one with around 80 bhp that is best avoided, and the pick of the bunch is the turbo charged 1.4 model, but that is usually in the "Coupe GTC" model Astra's, but you can get it in the standard hatchback I believe. All do around 45 mpg and are more reliable than the diesels.

Interior is a bit dull, but the seats are very comfortable. Visibility is a bit limited in the rear, but front and side is OK.

The car's handling is pretty boring. Gear change is slick however and the car is nice to cruise in, very refined.

Running costs (tax + insurance) are reasonable so long as you are over 21 and been driving a while. Servicing and repairs are as expensive as any car these days however. I wouldn't bother with Vauxhall main dealers at this age; try and find a local independent garage to help you out to keep costs down.

Overall this Astra is nothing special, but it is a very nice reliable car to daily drive. I bought mine used last year for only £3150, good condition full MOT with no nasty advisory. Already 10 years old and getting on a bit, but if it lasts a few more years I will be happy, it is still a pretty modern smart looking and good enough to drive car.

Faults:

Nothing while it was mine.

General Comments:

I rented one of these for a week while my other half needed to borrow my everyday drive, a Merc CL500. I covered over 350 miles in a mixture of motorway, suburban and urban driving, which is what I am basing these comments on. I also owned a 1992 Vauxhall Cavalier in my youth, so it was interesting to see how Vauxhalls have come along in twenty years.

Well, they've certainly spruced up the interior. Recessed red lights illuminate the control panels, making the whole thing look somewhat like a vodka bar. The rev counter and speedo are especially stylish; more like something you would get from Alfa Romeo, and on the whole the controls felt finely milled, bespoke, and an age away from the rubber and plastic Lucas-parts-bin feel of my old Cavalier.

The Astra looks pretty good from the outside: tight and technical, with a minimum of panel gaps, and a surprising amount of continuity has been retained when transforming the regular hatchback model to an estate - indeed, I think the car looks better in its estate guise. Inside the cabin, the cloth seats and plastic veneers had held up impressively well given that this particular rental had 20,000 miles on the odo. The centre information console looked a little dated, with a bare-bones LCD feel. If you're expecting something full colour like what you'd see from Audi, you'll be disappointed.

Mine was a manual, and I get the feeling that this will be about the last generation of manuals on the road. It has so many electronic nannying systems to monitor your shifting habits that it might as well have just gone that extra step and changed gears itself.

You are prompted exactly when to shift up by the central control console, lest you put even one micron more wear on the engine than you absolutely need to. You need to depress the clutch all the way down before it will let you start the car, a safety feature to prevent you lurching forward if you've left it in gear (does nobody have it drilled into them to check the box is in neutral anymore?) The engine turns itself off when at a standstill, as most new cars do. I would say the £5 or so you will save on fuel per year is offset by putting 20x the wear on the starter motor, which now has to start the car 20 times per journey.

The most irritating feature was the electronic handbrake. Gone is the physical lever; replaced by a button. Sounds good on paper, but the button is tiny and very difficult to find with your fingers. Also, the car will not let you release the handbrake unless your foot is on the brake pedal. Thus, a hill start is now physically impossible without rolling backwards a good few inches while your foot desperately switches from brake to accelerator. My point is - get the automatic; Vauxhall clearly don't want to make manuals any longer, and they are currently poisoning the waters for the problematic diehards who insist on three pedals.

Another fault is that they have tried to put far too many controls on the indicator stalks. In particular, when toggling the main beams on and off, my thumb kept hitting the Setup screen, which would take away the useful digital speedometer and replace it with some useless submenu. Merely indicating left or right ran the risk of turning the rear wiper on.

The engine was a surprising plus point, a 2.0 CDTi that was definitely the smoothest diesel I have driven to date, plus it had a decent amount of surge in the higher revs and was able to hold its own against the various Mini Ds and BMW 118Ds that litter our roads. Never did I feel that it needed more power, or was struggling to shift the car's weight around. The addition of a sixth gear was very welcome, and helped me get the running costs down to £40 for 350 miles, or about 11p per mile.

The front passenger seat was large enough to have a 6'1" passenger aboard and not have them intrude into my personal space. The boot seemed large enough for a family road trip. I didn't test the back seats, but the legroom looked OK.

Visibility out of the back was good when parking; certainly much better than my old Volvo S40.

In summary, this is about the most unremarkable car I have ever driven. It does exactly what you would expect it to, right to the point where I started to wonder if the driver had become an unnecessary, messy part of the equation, and we are finally at the point where driverless cars will find an audience. I admire any man who buys this, because his life is already so exciting and unpredictable that he needs something boring for balance.