Used Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer 2010-2015 reliability

As with the Astra hatchback, some of the Sports Tourer’s sales will have gone to lease and rental car firms, so it's worth checking your potential purchase for marks to the bumpers, kerbed alloy wheels and any marks on the seats.

Check the service history on cars that have done a high mileage, because the cambelt needs changing every 100,000 miles. Vauxhall has this job listed as part of its fixed-price servicing scheme. If you can't find any record of the work having been carried out, check out Vauxhall’s website and budget accordingly.

Because this car is an estate, you should pay attention to the boot. If the car you are looking at came with the optional boot divider, see if all the netting originally supplied is still there, otherwise that’s another cost you might need to factor in.

There were a few recalls for the Astra Sports Tourer. In 2010, there was one for the front passenger seat moving forward without warning, another in 2011 to resolve an anti-trap malfunction on the windows and, most important, a recall in 2015 to prevent a potential fire issue, the same as the one that affected the Vauxhall Zafira. The cause in the Astra was said to be a shorting circuit in the cooling fan.

Owners are generally happy with their Astra Sports Tourers, according to our most recent survey. However, some complained of rattles in the interior. This could be as simple as the alloy wheel locking nut if it has been placed in the glovebox, or it could be something harder to diagnose such as a broken clip or loose trim.

Others mentioned the aerodynamic skirt under the front bumper. This is there to decrease fuel consumption, but it can be caught on kerbs, especially if you prefer to drive forwards into a bay when parking.

Diesel Astra Sports Tourers have a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and will therefore need to be taken on frequent motorway journeys to ensure that the DPF can regenerate, because this process is only triggered at higher speeds. If this is not done, it will result in a hefty repair bill.

Other DPF problems come if the car has been shut off part-way through a regeneration. The result is contamination of the oil system with fuel, leading to the oil level rising gradually over time. This can cause damage to the engine, if it hasn’t already, so it’s worth getting the car checked over.

The Astra Sports Tourer didn’t score quite as well as its key rivals in our most recent reliability survey, coming just behind the Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Golf, Seat Leon, and Ford Focus.

However, Vauxhall managed to finish ahead of Volkswagen in terms of overall reliability for the various models the brand builds. Plus, there is a large network of Vauxhall dealers out there who can fix your car, should the worst happen.