Faults:

Coil pack at 50,000 miles.

General Comments:

From the first moment you walk up to the car, you notice the beautiful lines of the car, the sporty stance, especially with the full exterior pack, which I have. The front and rear splitters, and the side skirts and spoilers, make all the difference. This carries on to the inside; from the second you sit on the sports seats that hold you firmly in place, you sit nice and low in the sport hatch, which just adds to the sporty feel. The steering wheel feels chunky in your hands, and the aluminium pedals are weighted brilliantly, and are perfectly placed for heel and toe changes.

The 1.6 Twinport engine moves the car well. Now being a 105 BHP engine, it isn't the fastest car in the world, but it is still quicker than the 1.6 Focus and Golf. It has DOHC, and to rev it up the rev range is to really drive it. It does respond well to being pushed, while also being brilliant and responsive at low town speeds.

Being the SXi edition, the set up is hard, which I love; it corners nice and level over all different kinds of road surfaces. It loves to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and pushed into the bends; you can feel the front end diving into the corners through the brilliantly weighted steering.

The fit and finish of the interior is brilliant; no squeaks or rattles. The standard kit is very good; 8 airbags, air con, a fantastic 7 speaker sound system, one touch electronic stalks, and much much more.

General Comments:

This car is great. It is very comfortable, nice to drive and in "Active" trim, with nice alloys, looks smart.

Handling is very good - it sticks to the road well, and has a good driving position.

No problems in terms of reliability - can't fault it.

Acceleration on the 1.4 is adequate for city driving, but maybe a bigger engine would be better for motorway etc. Stuck in traffic however, the 1.4 is fine.

Only criticism is the shape of the boot, which can make getting large items in difficult.

Faults:

Rear centre set-belt was fitted incorrectly (the buckle was fitted below the plastic stopper so the belt couldn't be used).

General Comments:

The MK5 Astra is leagues ahead of the mk4 Astra I used to own. It has a nice smooth ride, and the diesel engine is very quick.

The styling of the Sport hatch with the X-pack is spot on! It looks the business.

My car had the optional heated leather seats and sat-nav fitted from the factory. The heated seats are very nice on a cold morning, although I find the seats a little bit uncomfortable on long journeys (over 30 minutes); maybe this is just because they are relatively new and need to bed in???

The sat-nav is brilliant! Very clear and is very well designed; it works perfectly and does everything you would expect it to! Better than any Tom-Tom or Garmin unit! The only slightly annoying thing is that it doesn't accept the full 7 digit post codes :(

On a whole, the car is fun to drive, cheap to run, comfortable, fast, and looks the business!

The extra options such as leather seats are a must for that extra bit of luxury :) And thanks to Vauxhall's lead balloon depreciation, these cars are much cheaper than they were new! I paid £14800 for mine at 8 months old; purchased new it would have been over £21,000.