2002 Holden Astra CD review from Australia and New Zealand

Good quality and reliability. However two faults are worth noting - the first was a rattle in the driver's door which was fixed by the dealer no problem at the 1500km service. The second was the rear disk brakes that emitted a loud howl when initially applied when the car was in reverse. This was akin to an air-raid siren and people in the street would turn to see where the noise was coming from - most embarrassing. When I initially told the dealer they were reluctant to do anything (surprise surprise) and I initially thought I'd have to accept it as a quirk of the car. I happened to mention the problem again to a different technician at a subsequent service and was put on a waiting list to have what were called "brake dampers" fitted. To the dealer's credit they phoned me about 6 weeks later (no prompting required) and had then fitted for free under warranty and the problem has been fixed.

The car makes for great point to point driving and has a surprising amount of performance on the open road. The cars high kerb mass makes initial acceleration less than the others in the class though - solid construction comes at a price. The seats could be better as you feel like you're sitting on them rather than in them especially on a long trip. However, it has one of the best standard audio systems in a car of this price and the outside air temperature gauge is useful for when driving in winter.