2007 Holden Astra CDX Coupe 1.8 XER petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Beautiful, reliable, grunty and fun to drive!

Faults:

Honestly the only thing I can fault about the car is that the clock is in 24 hour time and cannot be set to 12 hour, and that the keyless remote doesn't go as far as my previous car, so you have to be closer (10 metres or so as opposed to 20 with my last car) to the car before it will lock or unlock.

General Comments:

For a 1.8 litre engine, it is a grunty powerful little machine. I love the sound of my car when I rev it, and it is a lot more gutsy than I thought it would be.

The heated seats are awesome in winter, and I use them more than I thought I would, and the climate control is great too.

Steering is very direct and feels very precise, and you can feel the road well.

Cornering in it feels safe and reliable, and it stays flat and low on the road at all times.

I've been absolutely blown away by this car, and I love it to pieces.

It's been flawlessly reliable, and not a thing has gone wrong with it, it's perfect.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th November, 2008

2007 Holden Astra Twin Top 2.2 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Total piece of crap

Faults:

Convertible Roof faulty from day 1

Rubber stoppers falling out of roof

Engine missing & car shakes

Boot lock won't release

Stereo plays up.

General Comments:

It has been off the road 7 days already this year getting the roof & Engine repaired.

Picked it up on Friday & when checking to make sure the roof is actually fixed, played up straight away, then completely died in front of 2 people at the Dealers, so now it is going back off the road tomorrow for god knows how long.

Was told the Engine did not sound right by friend when driving off & said lots of fumes coming out of it.

Do not buy this model car, they have fixed lots of them at my dealer.

And I know 3 other owners who are having the same problem with their Twin Tops as well & are getting rid of them.

I have told my dealer I just want my car working so I can sell it.

Would never buy another Holden even if my life depended on it...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th January, 2008

7th Sep 2011, 09:48

It's 100% rubbish. I've got a lot of problems with the same model car. It has to be withdrawn from the market.

2007 Holden Astra Twin Top 2.2 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Praying it is not another Holden Lemon like my last one

Faults:

The roof would not go down & took 10 minutes to get it to work properly in front of a crowd & friends at a busy shopping centre

VERY EMBARRASSING

But after owning a Astra Soft top Convertible I got used the the roof not working.

General Comments:

Not as nice inside as the soft top convertible, only leather is on the front of the seats & the dash is good as a scratcher when you have an itch.

More grunt than the last one, but the soft top engine was faulty from day 1

Nicer looking than the soft top.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 21st October, 2007

27th Nov 2007, 17:47

My neighbour has the new Astra Twin Top & it has been towed away now on 3 separate occasions.

She regrets buying it now.

Buyers beware.

2007 Holden Astra SRi 5 Door Hatch 2.2L from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Very fast hatch and very rigid

Faults:

A sticky valve at 511km.

Rear reverse parking sensor was stuck on with double sided tape, but came off.

Tinted windows have started to peel off.

General Comments:

Very fast car to drive, but also very expensive on fuel. They say 9 liters per 100km on the Holden website, but it's more like 12.5 - 24 liters per 100km.

The leather steering wheel is very slippery and hard to get used to. I drove to Bowral and Berrima from Sydney, and it felt like I drove to Melbourne; the seats hold you in too tight. Because the brakes are so responsive, you have to focus heaps on how you brake, therefore making your knees very tired.

Don't even talk about cruise control; it is extremely hard to set and takes time to get used to.

The premium sound speakers are crap.

The positives:

Eye catching

Heaps of safety including curtain side airbags

Very fast in sports mode

Very heavy and good quality doors

A very low revving engine even when speeding

Strong high beams

Rubber wiper blades for safety of pedestrians

Climate control.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd March, 2007

25th Jun 2007, 01:23

People forget, the SRi is a SPORTS LUXURY hatch.

In all honesty, I think you may be driving a different SRi to myself, because I completely disagree with almost everything in this review that negatively reflects on the vehicle.

The seats are more comfortable than anything else in the Astra range (bar the VXR). The seats are bolstered and trimmed to keep you firm in the seat under heavy cornering, which this car does without so much as a blink.

It is NOT heavy at all, but low weight, high build quality.

The engine is very perky and low on fuel consumption (I'm getting 9.2L/100kms after 12,000kms).

The manual gearbox is smooth, handling is unbelievably good, and the best thing, it is QUICK.

Having driven a friends CDTi Turbo recently, we both agreed that the SRi was indeed quicker as from the time the clutch goes down there is power. Even with 4 friends in the car.

Space is plentiful, and the ride is so smooth its like driving on clouds.

Put the boot in and the factory sports exhaust lets you know there's certainly a bit of engine under the bonnet. The engine note is quite impressive to the ear too.

The cruise control is simple. Get up to speed, press the button on indicator. Can't be much easier than that.

The wheel is perfect size and slots nicely into the hand, further adding to the "chuck-ability" of the vehicle.

Finally the sound system. My best friend is a professional sound system installer and was impressed. The bass is deep, and if you play with the equalizer, you can really get the tunes cranking with crystal clarity.

All in all there's only one reason not to buy the Astra SRi, and that's if you can't afford the price tag :)

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