Vauxhall Astra Review & Prices

The Vauxhall Astra nameplate is venerable in family hatchback circles, and the chances are you’ve got one parked on your road, or in your neighbourhood at the very least. The latest version is the best there’s ever been, as it looks great, it’s good to drive and you get a wide range of engines to choose from. It’s far from exciting, though.

It’s a bit like porridge. It does exactly what you need it to, and it’s quite nice, but it’s not the most exciting breakfast option you can go for. The pain-au-chocolat Peugeot 308 is more luxurious and the cold meat-and-cheese Volkswagen Golf has a more upmarket badge, but you pay a premium for them too.

That being said, this is the best looking Astra that there’s ever been. It gets Vauxhall’s swish ‘visor’ front end - which harks back to its iconic 1970’s grille shape - as well as a ‘spine’ that runs down the length of the bonnet. There are sharp angles all over the car, and it’s really rather handsome.

Hatchback Group Test: Ford Focus vs Honda Civic vs Vauxhall Astra vs Volkswagen Golf

The interior, however, isn’t as exciting to look at. Sure, the dashboard is angled to face the driver and the infotainment and driver displays are set into a sleek, curved, gloss black panel, but aside from the funky steering wheel there’s nothing about the Astra’s interior design that screams luxury.

Fortunately, Vauxhall has kept physical climate control buttons in the Astra, which is a blessing as the touchscreen itself can be a bit fiddly to navigate. The interior surfaces are a bit dour too, even if some versions get a splash of colourful trim to break up the expanse of grey plastic around you.

Colour palette aside, the Astra’s cabin feels premium enough to the touch and there are some useful storage cubbies in the centre console, as well as deep door bins all round. There’s plenty of space up front, with highly adjustable, comfortable seats, but alternatives offer more room in the back.

The boot is an impressive 422 litres - bigger than a Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla - but there isn’t any space at the sides to put smaller odds and ends in. You do get a handy bit of underfloor storage - if you can deal with the annoying boot floor that can’t stay up by itself. There’s even a little bit of storage around the tyre inflation kit, under both boot spaces.

You get a choice of petrol and hybrid engines in the Astra, and there’s even an Astra Electric which is enticing for company car drivers - but we’ve reviewed that separately. The hybrid is the pick of the bunch; peppy and fuel efficient.

It’s a very comfortable car around town, doing a good job of soaking up lumps and bumps. The steering is light, but it weights up nicely at speed which makes the Astra quite confidence-inspiring - though it does crash through sharp potholes at speed. There isn’t much road noise on the motorway, though there is a bit of wind noise, but otherwise the Astra is a good road car, and the engine hardly makes a peep once you’ve settled into a cruise.

It may not be as desirable as its alternatives, but the Vauxhall Astra is a totally competent family hatchback, and you can check our new Vauxhall Astra deals on Carwow, as well as Vauxhall Astra lease deals. There are used Vauxhall Astras for sale through our network of trusted dealers, or other used Vauxhalls too. Carwow can even help you sell your car when the time comes.

The entry-level Astra Griffin starts at just under £26,000 in petrol guise with a manual gearbox. You’ll pay around five thousand pounds more for the GS trim level, and another £3,000 on top again for the Ultimate spec range-topper.

Automatic cars are roughly £1,500 more on each trim level, while hybrid engines are a thousand pounds more on top of that, too.

That’s a huge price difference depending on which engine and trim level you opt for, but considering the Peugeot 308 starts at around £33,000 and the Golf starts at £28,000, a higher-spec Astra suddenly looks like good value for money, especially as GS cars come equipped with sports seats, ambient lighting and blacked-out 17-inch wheels.

Set up with comfort in mind, the Astra isn’t the most exciting car around but is a very capable cruiser

In town

The Astra has decent engine performance when driving at low speeds, such as around town centres. The 130hp petrol engine pulls away nicely; the hybrid even more so, making it suitable for doing a lot of stop-start driving in heavy traffic.

There's a lot of adjustment in the steering wheel and driver’s seat, so finding a comfortable driving position is simple, while there’s decent visibility from all angles. In addition, the Astra has relatively large door mirrors, which helps to minimise blind spots.

The Vauxhall Astra’s ride comfort is good at laid-back speeds, helped by the seats that cushion you from bumps and potholes in the road surface. Sticking with smaller wheels adds to the refinement, but higher-spec models with larger wheels are far from uncomfortable, either.

The steering is light and responsive enough, making for a relaxing journey and effortless parking.

On the motorway

The Vauxhall Astra feels at home at higher speeds, too. The suspension is comfortable enough to keep you feeling chilled but firm enough to prevent the car from wallowing and bouncing around. In other words, it’s all very comfy.

The Astra is well soundproofed too, with minimal road noise entering the cabin - especially on the entry-level 17-inch alloys. There’s a bit of wind noise from the top of the windscreen, but nothing intrusive, and the engine settles down quietly at cruising speed.

Adaptive cruise control is included as standard on all models to keep you at a consistent speed. Lane departure warning and lane-keep assist, which will help ensure you don’t drift into another lane, are also built-in.

On a twisty road

The Astra’s comfortable ride and stiffened suspension are a very agreeable blend, which means it's pretty agile in the bends and handles well. It doesn't lean too much, either, when you take a corner at speed.

The car provides an enjoyable driving experience, although the steering is too light to make the most out of the handling. There’s a sport mode which makes the steering weightier and more suited to thrill-seekers, but it’s a bit too heavy to feel intuitive so you’re better off leaving the Astra to its own devices.

With a large boot and plenty of storage spots, the Astra is only let down by a lack of space for passengers in the back

You get a lot of storage space in the Vauxhall Astra, with a generous cubby in the centre console and two larger cupholders by the gear lever. There is also an area for the wireless charge pad up front in the top-of-the-range models.

It is relatively easy to find what’s what in the cabin, too. This is because most of the unnecessary buttons have been hidden in the infotainment system, leaving it reasonably uncluttered.

There is a considerate amount of room up front, so if you’re tall, you won’t find yourself struggling for space. Headroom is plentiful, too, so you don't feel overly hemmed in or claustrophobic. Even if you're muscular, you shouldn't need to worry about playing elbow tennis with the doors - or the person sitting next to you, for that matter.

Space in the back seats

The rear seat space is arguably the only area where the latest Astra has gone backwards compared with its predecessor.

You will find you won't struggle for headroom if you're tall, but your long legs will make for an uncomfortable journey due to the Astra’s limited legroom. As a result, it's challenging to angle your limbs so that your feet fit underneath the front seats.

Combine the above with a tall driver, and you might find you don’t fit at all. Alternatives such as the Seat Leon offer more space in the rear.

Nevertheless, this shouldn't be much of an issue for families with younger children. And, after opening the rear doors, there's still plenty of room to easily fit baby carriers or child seats to keep your toddlers safe.

In terms of back-seat storage, only high-spec Ultimate models offer a fold-out armrest with cupholders if the middle seat isn't occupied. There are also some smaller door bins and storage nets on the rear of the driver and passenger seats to place smaller objects.

Boot space

While the Astra lacks rear-seat room, it more than makes up for it with the size of the boot. The lack of the former means more of the latter, so 422 litres is enough to laud it over its closest competitors such as the Volkswagen Golf at 371 litres and the Honda Civic at 415 litres.

There is a boot lip, but it’s not all that big, so lifting pushchairs or shopping bags over it to put stuff in, or take things out, shouldn't be an issue.

The rear seats will collapse in a 60/40 split if you need more room. One of the outer rear seats folds down individually, while the other two seats fold down in one unit. This expands the available space to 1,389 litres. What’s more, if you have an Ultimate model with the fold-out armrest, this can be fully opened out as a 'ski hatch'. Therefore, you can thread longer, thin items, such as curtain poles or planks of wood, through the boot into the cabin.

Compared to alternatives, the Vauxhall Astra cabin is well-appointed and equipped. But it can feel a bit dark

The Astra's interior is neat and clean. It isn't on a par with luxury brands, but it more than holds its own against Ford and Volkswagen.

While there are buttons below the infotainment screen and on the steering wheel, the less important ones are now buried into the infotainment system, which helps declutter the interior.

There are lots of premium-feel, soft-touch surfaces. The steering wheel itself looks funky, while the range of colours on the inside is attractive if a little on the dark side. Mind you; this is broken up with some silver materials in places.

Some glossy piano black décor makes the centre console stand out, too, but that’s very easily scratched. Meanwhile, the infotainment screen is housed in a single unit next to the same-sized digital display, giving the cabin a futuristic appearance.

The dashboard curves around to face the driver, which is helpful and adds to the cockpit-like feel. If you’re a wannabe fighter pilot, you’ll love it. And if you’re not, then you’ll nevertheless appreciate the convenience and informative displays.

The Astra's infotainment screen can be used to adjust all manner of things. It is exclusively touchscreen, so there's no rotary dial by the gear lever like you get on some cars, but the screen is responsive, clear, and well laid out, making it easy to use.

You can change radio stations, make phone calls, adjust air conditioning (including the direction of airflow), set up the navigation and view the energy consumption figures (beneficial on the hybrid). Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity comes as standard with smartphone mirroring, too. 

The system also boasts voice recognition for hands-free driving, meaning you can speak normally to it, and it'll know what to do. For example, you can tell it you're cold, and it'll turn the heater on. Of course, systems like these do have their limitations, but it works reasonably well.

Whichever engine you go for, you can expect decent returns on fuel economy. The best of the bunch is the 145hp hybrid, returning up to 58.9mpg (we averaged mpg in the low 50s during our motorway testing) the same as the now-defunct diesel Astra — but the petrol version isn’t too far behind, capable of just peeping over the 50mpg barrier in official tests.

The 145hp hybrid has impressively low CO2 emissions of just 112g/km, which is good news for your first year’s road tax and your company car Benefit in Kind payments, though if you’re a company car driver and want to reduce your monthly spend as much as possible, the Astra Electric is worth considering.

This latest version of the Astra comes with a four-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, which lags behind the majority of its closest competitors. Models like the Volkswagen Golf, Honda Civic, Skoda Octavia and Ford Focus all scored five stars, putting the Astra on the back foot here. It scored no more than 82% (Child Occupant), with Safety Assist scoring just 66%. These scores aren't terrible, just not up to the standard of alternatives.

Fitted on each Astra is automatic emergency braking, driver drowsiness alert, lane departure warning and lane keep assist, front and rear parking sensors, and speed sign recognition. Other versions feature adaptive cruise control, traffic sign assist and a 360-degree camera. Only the top-spec Ultimate comes with rear cross-traffic alert and blind spot monitoring, so may be worth considering if you want all the safety kit available to you.

All versions get a series of airbags throughout the car, including curtain and side impact ones, while those also have an ultrasonic alarm system and locking wheel bolts as standard.

Vauxhall came an impressive fourth place in the 2025 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which bodes well for your life with an Astra on the driveway. In fact, the Astra was voted by you as the third best car on sale, full stop, with owners giving it a hugely impressive rating for reliability and build quality. The Astra also came top in the Driver Power family car category.

With the Astra, you get a three-year/60,000-mile warranty. That’s on par with most European alternatives, but Toyota offers up to ten years/100,000 miles of warranty coverage if you keep up regular servicing at a Toyota main dealer.

You also get 12 months of roadside assistance and a six-year body panel perforation warranty. Vauxhall also offers its own care package that includes offers on parts, servicing, and MOTs.