Vauxhall Frontera Review & Prices

The Frontera is Vauxhall’s boxiest little SUV, offering loads of interior space, a fuel efficient hybrid engine under the bonnet and a large boot. It’s fairly pricey though, undercut by its Frontera Electric counterpart, and it’s far from exciting to drive.

But like a wiley pokey player, the Frontera has an ace up its sleeve. You might cross-shop it against the Renault Captur, Dacia Duster, Hyundai Kona or the MG ZS - but unlike the rest, you can opt for the Vauxhall with an extra pair of seats in the boot. The mechanically-similar Citroen C3 Aircross also comes as a seven-seater, as does the Dacia Jogger - but that isn’t really an SUV.

It’s not quite as stylish as the Captur or C3 Aircross, but the Frontera is rather handsome for a small SUV. Its crisp ‘vizor’ headlights, split taillights, funky optional paint colours and chunky body cladding work well with its body silhouette. It’s a shame you can’t buy a Design trim model with the white roof and steel wheels anymore, as it looks great.

The cabin is a bit of a let down by comparison. Where its Citroen and Fiat siblings - the Grande Panda also shares a lot under the skin - feature vibrant interiors with fun upholstery choices, the Frontera is far more plain. Dark, scratchy plastics dominate the cabin, while the silver dashboard trim does little to lift the ambience.

Only GS and Ultimate models feature any padding on the doors, and the lower-rung Design model is uncomfortable on long-distance drives as a result. The armrests on the door cards are a genuine pain after a while.

Even in base-level Design trim, the Frontera comes with 10.0-inch infotainment and driver’s display screens, both of which are easy to read but basic in operation. They don’t provide any real customisability, and you’re better off connecting via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Interior space is very impressive for such a small car thanks to the Frontera’s tall roofline, both front and rear, but storage is mixed. There are usefully large cubbies in the centre console, but the cupholders aren’t very secure, the glovebox is small and the rear door bins are tiny. The boot is well-sized and usefully square, with an adjustable-height floor for deeper loads.

There are two hybrid engines to choose from, both 1.2-litre but with either 110hp or 145hp. Neither makes for a sporty drive, but they’ll get you up to the national speed limit with little fuss - only an amusing thrum.

The Frontera is comfortable in the city, with its soft suspension and tall tyres taking the worst out of potholes and speedbumps. The finger-light steering helps when manoeuvring, and once you reach a motorway cruise things are generally composed - save for some wind noise. Don’t try to hustle it down a country lane, but if you feel like pitching the Vauxhall into some bends it won’t feel too out of place.

Check out the latest Vauxhall Frontera deals on Carwow, as well as Frontera lease deals and used Fronteras for sale. There are plenty of other used Vauxhalls to choose from, too, and Carwow can even help you sell your car when the time comes.

Starting at just under £25,000, you can’t accuse the Frontera of being an expensive car. Unfortunately, there are some highly capable alternatives - which are better in certain ways - for less cash, and even the Frontera Electric is cheaper to buy.

The Renault Captur, for example, is sportier to drive, more stylish and features a far posher cabin than the Frontera. For simplicity and a rugged nature, the Dacia Duster has it licked, while the MG ZS offers more standard kit for around £4,000 less.

Design trim features 16-inch steel wheels with hub caps, a body colour roof, reversing camera and LED lights, while the GS version adds blind spot warning, wireless phone charging and 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels and starts at over £27,000.

Ultimate trim starts at just over £28,000, and with that you get a gloss black roof (but cheekily, you have to pay extra for non-black paint), a driver assistance pack, heated front seats, steering wheel and windscreen and roof rails.

The Vauxhall Frontera is comfortable and easy to drive in town, but it’s a bit noisy at higher speeds

In town

The Frontera is at its best around town thanks to its narrow body and boxy dimensions; it’s really easy to slot through gaps in traffic. Parking is also a breeze because you can place all four corners of the car without fuss, and the standard-fit reversing camera helps as well.

The tall driving position and large windows give you a great view out - there are very few blind spots to contend with. You also have light steering to take the strain out of tight manoeuvres.

As for the suspension, it deals with potholes pretty well. It can jiggle about a bit over particularly broken surfaces, but on the whole it irons out the bumps nicely. It’s more comfortable than an MG ZS.

If you do most of your driving in town, the 100hp hybrid engine will be more than sufficient. You can glide along in slow-moving traffic on electric power, and the transition to petrol power is smooth and unobtrusive. It can be a bit laggy off the line if you’re looking to zip out at a busy roundabout, but it’s still nippy enough.

That said, those of you sticking to the confines of a town may want to consider the Frontera Electric. It’s actually cheaper than the hybrid, and that car’s silent, zero-emission power is even better suited to urban life if you have access to a charger.

On the motorway

The Frontera may excel in town, but that doesn’t mean it can’t handle a long motorway drive. You do get a bit of tyre noise, and the engine groans a bit when you put your foot down, but it’s a pretty comfortable car to munch up the miles in.

This is thanks in part to the seats, which are super comfortable and supportive. You can spend a good few hours in them without getting a backache. It's comfortable enough over bumps at speed, though the slab-sided shape does make you susceptible to a bit of buffeting in strong crosswinds.

It’s a shame that you can’t get the Frontera with adaptive cruise control; it just gets a standard setup which will maintain your speed but not the distance to the car in front. It feels mean to hold that against a car at this price, but an MG ZS does get this feature as standard.

On a twisty road

Being a small SUV the Frontera doesn’t need to feel like a hot hatch through the corners… and it doesn’t. This isn’t the sort of car you’ll be buying for spirited B-road blasts, however it’s pretty balanced on a twisty road.

The steering is precise enough and the car goes where you point it, and body roll is pretty minimal which is impressive in a car as tall and narrow as this. If you push a bit too hard into a corner you get some safe and predictable understeer, but keep it at sensible speeds and it's perfectly competent.

It’s comfortable as well. The Frontera doesn’t jiggle about too much over small imperfections and only really big bumps upset things.

The Frontera is one of the most spacious cars in its class, however there’s not much rear seat storage

Getting comfortable behind the wheel of the Frontera is easy thanks to the range of adjustment in the seats and the steering wheel. There’s masses of headroom and legroom up front, so even the tallest of drivers will find an ideal driving position.

You get a good amount of storage up front as well. The door bins are large enough to swallow up a big bottle and there’s a wireless charging pad in front of the gear selector, though the glovebox is tiny. A couple of USB-C ports give you plenty of charging options.

The cupholders have a pretty strange quirk. They’re open at the sides with a big elastic strap to stop things falling out, and you can use this to put an iPad or other large items in here. Realistically though you’re not going to do this, and the cupholders themselves are enormous. This is great for a big cup of coffee, but smaller bottles and cans will rattle around and fall over under acceleration or cornering.

Space in the back seats

Space in the back of the Frontera is impressive for a car of this size. It’s the same length as a Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer, but it offers a lot more leg and headroom than that car.

There’s enough room for a six-foot adult to sit behind another six-foot adult with ease. It’s much more spacious in the back than an MG ZS or a Hyundai Kona, and it’s about on par with the Dacia Duster.

Fitting a baby seat is easy thanks to the massive rear doors, which open to almost 90 degrees. The fiddly zip-up ISOFIX covers are annoying, but once the seat is in place there’s plenty of room for it without sliding the front seat forward.

You don’t get many clever features in the back though, apart from a couple of USB-C chargers and a 12-volt socket. There are no cup holders, the door bins are tiny and the only other storage you get is some pockets on the back of the front seats.

Something no other SUV at this price point offers is the option of seven seats, which you can get in the Frontera for an additional £550 on top-spec models. We haven’t actually tested a car with these extra chairs fitted yet, but given the size of this car it’s safe to assume that they will only be suitable for kids.

Boot space

Space in the boot is good enough for most small families, but alternatives offer more capacity. You get 460 litres back there, although that does include the massive underfloor storage compartment. It’s a nice square shape which makes it easy to load, and there’s no lip to lift stuff over either.

It’s around 12 litres down on the Dacia Duster’s boot and 24 litres down on the Renault Captur, however an MG ZS gets almost 20 litres less space than the Frontera. If you want maximum boot space and can spare a bit more cash, the Citroen C5 Aircross has a 600-litre capacity.

Once you’ve folded the rear seats down you get 1,600 litres to play with, and there’s a completely flat load floor to make sliding heavy items to the front easier. There’s also a couple of tie-down points, but that’s your lot really in terms of features.

The Vauxhall Frontera’s cabin is logically laid out and well-equipped for the price, but it does feel pretty cheap

When poking around the Frontera’s cabin you need to keep in mind that this is an inexpensive car, because it’s not as well-polished as something like a Peugeot 2008 or a Volkswagen T-Cross.

All the plastics are hard and scratchy - especially on the basic car which does without the fabric on the doors that you get on the GS. Some bits feel a little flimsy as well, such as the trim around the infotainment system and the clips holding that weird strap around the cupholders.

Minor gripes aside though, the majority of the cabin is solid. The switchgear all feels good, and the cabin controls are easy to operate. The physical climate control buttons are a welcome addition, as are the buttons to quickly switch off the lane departure and speed limit warning bongs.

The 10.0-inch infotainment system is best described as basic, but functional. The display itself is pretty bright and responsive, and the menus are easy to navigate. There’s just not that much in the way of functionality - you get a radio, sat-nav and smartphone mirroring - and that’s about it.

But what more do you really need? The wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto pair quickly when you get in the car, so you can stick your music on, pull up Google Maps and be on your way.

The digital driver’s display is also pretty basic, with no options to customise the layout. Still, it displays your speed, battery range and battery percentage clearly, and the screen itself is nice and bright.

There are two engines on offer in the Vauxhall Frontera - both of them 1.2-litre petrol hybrids with a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. You choose between different power outputs: 110hp or 145hp.

For pootling around town, the 110hp model will be more than adequate, although if you’re looking to venture further afield then the 145hp version is a better bet. For around £1,500 more you get a welcome bit of extra shove which makes overtaking manoeuvres a bit less perilous. Both engines come with official fuel economy of up to about 54mpg.

The Frontera emits 111g/km of CO2, meaning first-year road tax isn’t particularly expensive. It’ll also sit in the 26% Benefit n Kind tax bracket, so company car drivers might want to consider the all-electric version, which will be much cheaper.

The new Vauxhall Frontera hasn’t been through its Euro NCAP safety tests just yet, but the rest of the Vauxhall range scores well on average, so you can expect this model to perform pretty well.

You get a decent amount of safety kit as standard as well. Lane keeping assist, a reversing camera, autonomous emergency braking and front collision warning are all included, and the top-spec GS gets blind spot monitoring.

The new Frontera Electric has only just gone on sale, so there are no reliability records just yet. Vauxhalls prove to be pretty dependable on the whole though, and the brand finished an excellent fourth out of 31 manufacturers in the latest Driver Power ownership survey.

All new Vauxhalls are covered by a fairly mediocre three-year warranty. This will be fine if you’re just keeping the car for the length of an average lease deal, however the Kia Niro gets seven years of coverage.