2002 Vauxhall Astra Envoy DTi review from UK and Ireland

Only had car for 5 months & 9k miles and only problem was faulty oil pressure sensor when I bought it - easy fix if Ian Glass Vauxhall in Haddington had a clue what they were doing. Had about 4-5 visits to the garage and they kept coming up with excuses about why they couldn't sort it out. Having a relative who is a senior tech at a large South London Vauxhall dealership, I had access to good advice, so knew from what he told me, that Ian Glass Vauxhall were basically dicking me about.

Dealer I bought this car from very poor. My previous car was a Fiat Punto which I sold after 15 months due to poor build quality & incompetent dealers. Having owned an Astra prior to the Punto, it was a great car and the dealers were very good. Shame that the dealer I bought this car from is poor. I will stick to garages that I know and trust from now on!

The car runs like a clock - not particularly exciting, but I bought it as a workhorse to stick 36k miles pa on it, so a reliable car that gets 60mpg does me fine. Performance not wonderful, but for a 1.7 diesel it goes fine. Engine not very refined, but it is as old Izuzu design so expected that. I really like this car, but the one big thing that puts me off it is that I find the seats very uncomfortable over long distances - complete contrast to my old Astra. Other than that, I intend to keep it another few years until it hits 150k miles then get rid of it.