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What other cars did you consider?

15K views 40 replies 32 participants last post by  1900sr 
#1 ·
As we have quite a few new members on here now, I wondered what cars you looked at, test drove or didn't even consider before choosing the Astra 'K'? More seasoned members can answer as well, of course!!

Just interested, cheers!
 
#27 ·
ipettkov said:
So you chose color over engine! I believe that's a man's name over there lol :D :D :D
Oh yes definitely. I could only find the 1.6T Sports Tourer in black or white. The ST looks like a hearse in black, and I refuse to own a car in white (or silver for that matter).

But it's not liked I caved too far: No way I was going for the 1.0T even if plenty of folks here say that it's a punchy drive around town :lol:
 
#28 ·
I wasn't even considering the Astra when I was looking for a new car. I was driving a Mk 2 facelift Focus at the time and I had been very happy with it so naturally I was going to get another. I was quite shocked about how backwards Ford had gone with the newer model. Tiny boot, shoddy interior, poor equipment and inferior driving experience compared to the old model.

After looking at some other cars the Astra caught my eye. I found it to be better that the Focus in almost all respects. After doing some research on them and a couple of test drives I handed over my money. I've had it for almost a year now and I don't regret it one bit.
 
#30 ·
Crunchynut said:
I quite fancey a Volvo V40. Anybody an experience of these?
I test drove a D2 and also drove my managers automatic D3. I was disappointed by them. Although they had done a slight face lift the interior was very dull and very dated. The new V40 doesn't even look like a V40. The auto gearbox was shit and I didn't like the clutch in the manual although that could have been car specific. The sales exec was also a prick which really put me off the car. Did like the borderless rear view mirror though.
 
#31 ·
Test drove an Octavia diesel. Loved the engine but the car felt very narrow inside.
Would have bought a Ceed Sportswagon (the missus already have a 66 plate one) but let's just say there is some history I have with Kia.
Quite like the Seat Leon estate we have as a pool car but found it rather bland inside.

So I went to the dealers to look at an Insignia A. I had one before making the epic error of buying a Mokka 1.6 petrol which was barely a year old when I arrived on the forecourt. The Insignia in the metal looked tired and a bit dated compared to how I remember my old one but the Lava red Astra Elite Estate really stood out. It was priced to sell, with 5000 miles on the clock at six months old.

I really like the car although I guess the high spec. means it's not really a fair comparison with the other cars I looked at. MPG from the 1.6 136 diesel is what I am used to after the petrol hungry Mokka and performance is comparable with my old 2 litre 150 Insignia SRi.

Only downside is that it's not as comfortable as the Ceed (3) on long journeys. The half leather seats are quite hard in comparison to the cloth in the Ceed. The KIa is a lease car and with plenty of miles in the contract it was always going to be the mile cruncher anyway bearing in mind I had intended to keep the Mokka for another two years at least. So far so good.
 
#33 ·
loonybin said:
the aston was to pricey, the bentley wouldnt fit in the garage so i stuck with the astra.
Love it! :lol:

It's a similar story with my Ferrari and Lamborghini conundrum. Besides, I didn't want to make my neighbours too jealous....... ;) ;)
 
#34 ·
I've always liked Astra, the new one really caught my eye. Wasn't until the clutch started going on my old one until I considered something new. Mate of mine knew the dealer, so I was was able to haggle them down a fair bit! That said, I did look at an A3, golf, focus. None matched the level of equipment or power for the price. Most importantly, and probably the dealbreaker, the intellilux. At the time no other similar car had something equivalent. The A3 can now be bought with matrix LEDs, but not when I was looking at it. I am thinking of either an S3 or an S4 next...

Edit. Sorry for my poor English, it's late and I'm tired.
 
#37 ·
Focus and Seat Leon. Had all Focuses before except the 'Aston Grille' one. Great reliable cars that drive great. Bought the Astra because of looks, the finance deal and liked the way it drove on the test drive.

BIG MISTAKE! Terrible car. Full of niggly faults. Bought it in Jan '16 and in Nov '16 it decided to blow a piston. Been repaired but doesn't feel the same. Feels more hesitant than before. Dealer changed the grade of oil which helped a bit but still doesn't feel the same. Sick of taking car to the dealer. On a few occasions engine hasn't started straight away and I get the 'Service ESC' message. Spluttered a few times under hard acceleration when overtaking.

Also needed a new clutch master cylinder because the clutch pedal stuck down on a few occasions. Electric handbrake hasn't released on a few occasions but thankfully been OK lately. Needed a new HMI module for the infotainment unit. Satnav froze yesterday but started working again after leaving the car for a while.

Also a lot of penny-pinching that I didn't notice at first. No height adjustment on the seat belts and not even a glovebox light!

Dog of a car. Think I'll be going back to Ford next. Problem is I'm on a finance deal so I'm stuck with the car for at least another three years :(
 
#38 ·
I done my back in at work so needed to change my horrible little Mitsubishi Colt I was in before and decided to buy new.

I needed something comfortable to drive for long journeys that wouldn't hurt my back. I test drove the Astra first as I always liked the look of the K, and that was it, didn't even consider any others!

So comfortable with no back problems, luxury interior, amazing technology and infotainment system - far more intuitive and smoother than some others I've seen...I'm a bit of a tech geek and this has it all!
 
#39 ·
yorkshiremonkey said:
Focus and Seat Leon. Had all Focuses before except the 'Aston Grille' one. Great reliable cars that drive great. Bought the Astra because of looks, the finance deal and liked the way it drove on the test drive.

BIG MISTAKE! Terrible car. Full of niggly faults. Bought it in Jan '16 and in Nov '16 it decided to blow a piston. Been repaired but doesn't feel the same. Feels more hesitant than before. Dealer changed the grade of oil which helped a bit but still doesn't feel the same. Sick of taking car to the dealer. On a few occasions engine hasn't started straight away and I get the 'Service ESC' message. Spluttered a few times under hard acceleration when overtaking.

Also needed a new clutch master cylinder because the clutch pedal stuck down on a few occasions. Electric handbrake hasn't released on a few occasions but thankfully been OK lately. Needed a new HMI module for the infotainment unit. Satnav froze yesterday but started working again after leaving the car for a while.

Also a lot of penny-pinching that I didn't notice at first. No height adjustment on the seat belts and not even a glovebox light!

Dog of a car. Think I'll be going back to Ford next. Problem is I'm on a finance deal so I'm stuck with the car for at least another three years :(
I also had the HMI module changed, aswell as the screen and dab module. I wonder if you had the same issue I had? That experience alone spoiled my ownership of the car. I can imagine your other problems haven't helped, especially the piston blowing!!

I also noticed the penny pinching. In addition to the above one tiny thing sums it up for me, the removal of the plastic hinges on the rear shelf. It's like they spent all the money on the infotainment system and making the dash look nice. Thinking back on it I actually preferred my astra J sri 165. To me at least that was better built, quicker and wasn't that much worse on fuel.
 
#41 ·
Kuro said:
I also noticed the penny pinching. In addition to the above one tiny thing sums it up for me, the removal of the plastic hinges on the rear shelf. It's like they spent all the money on the infotainment system and making the dash look nice. Thinking back on it I actually preferred my astra J sri 165. To me at least that was better built, quicker and wasn't that much worse on fuel.
I suspect the removal of the hinges may be more a weight saving thing rather than penny pinching, the whole parcel shelf is very light compared to other cars.
 
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