Vauxhall Astra VXR (2012 - 2015) 2.0T 16V VXR 3d (2012/12) Owner Review

What does this car say about you?

More money than sense!

What do your friends / family / neighbours think of the car?

Everyone we know loves the look of the car, neighbours probably hate the exhaust noise especially from a cold start (its loud).

Would you buy this car again and why?

No! so many problems its become the laughing stock of our workplace, more unreliable than our other two cars (both approaching 100,000 miles) coupled with a customer service help line that charges the earth and is about as useful as a chocolate teapot!

What are you likely to buy next?

Anything with out a Vauxhall badge. Probably back to Ford or something Japanese (reliable!).

Type of dealer you bought from?

Franchised

Did you buy this car new?

Yes

What price did you pay?

£28,000

When did you buy the car?

July 2012

Did you get a good deal and why?

We knocked £3,500 off the list price with the options we selected with a bit of fairly easy bartering and could have saved much more if we had been prepared to wait for a stock purchase, but ended up buying the showroom car for immediate delivery.

Is there any special reason why you bought this car?

Lifetime warranty and interest free credit, the car on test drive was much nicer to drive than the similar spec and cost Focus RS and easier to live with on a daily basis due to the firm but enjoyable ride, wonderfully comfortable bucket style seats, enjoyable daily drive quality and the mad transformation to 'race car' feel when VXR mode is engaged, the suspension stiffens considerably, the throttle response is increased and the interior cabin lighting increases your awareness to the increased susppension response and throttle feel.

What was the dealer like?

Excellent to deal with on the purchase, turned the car around quickly from PDI to collection, talked us through all the toys present and how they worked.

What's it like to drive?

Slightly laggy from a slow start but once your used to this you can completely eliminate the lag with clutch and throttle control, once on the move its is deceptively fast, in fact its frankly frightening and very, very fun!! It does wheel spin extremely easily with third or fourth gear spins in dry conditions if really pushing the car and it is still a handful when cornering or accelerating hard, the suspension and drive train improvements haven't eliminated torque steer, but it is a huge improvement for a big (roughly 280bhp) power front wheel drive car. Surprisingly comfortable on long journeys and is no where near as harsh as you would imaging a stiff, low car with 20" wheels should be.

What's it like to park?

Life becomes a bit harder here, the pillars (all of them A, B and C pillars) are massive, you feel your only option is to lean yourself around the car at awkward angles whilst saying a little prayer and hoping the over sized pillars don't obscure your view so much you end up smacking another car.

Have you had any problems with the car?

Paintwork apparently applied in the dark, paint quality is incredibly poor, collects stone chips like nothing I've ever witnessed before, Vauxhall aware of the problem and will repaint affected cars (there is an official Vauxhall repair bulletin for respray work & bodywork modifications), power steering pump failure after 4 months, gearbox & diff replaced 4 months, warning buzzers going off even when the car stands locked & empty, electronic handbrake not releasing all the time, start/stop doesnt work! Phone connectivity intermittent at best, sat nav & radio display switches on and off at random, windows open themselves over night, auto main beam assist leaves drivers coming towards us dazed.

What's most practical about your car?

Superb performance, excellent comfy seats, excellent boot storage space, as good on a long drive as it is having fun on twisty B roads.

Favourite gadget, option or accessory?

Sat nav, extremely easy to use, clear & concise and one of the best Sat nav devices we have used. automatically constantly monitors route for traffic conditions and will direct you to a fuel station as soon as it detects a low fuel level.