Used Vauxhall Astra 2022-present review

Barcelona vs Real Madrid, Rocky vs Apollo, Coca-Cola vs Pepsi: all famous rivalries. The car world has a few as well, with the Vauxhall Astra being half of one. In the UK, the model has long-been butting heads with another popular family car, the Ford Focus.

The battle extends to the used car forecourts, too, with the competition heating up yet again now that the latest Astra is a few years old. On paper, the Astra has always looked like a good buy, too, because the older versions have always been slightly cheaper age-for-age than several of its family car rivals, including the Focus.

Engines & Performance: There are four engine options: two petrols, one diesel and two petrol plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). Oh, and there's an electric version – the Vauxhall Astra Electric.

The entry-level 110 petrol has 108bhp and progress is not as swift and effortless as its more powerful 130 counterpart. There's very little difference in fuel economy between them, too, so the 130 makes more sense.

The 130 is available with a six-speed manual gearbox or an eight-speed automatic but – be warned – the auto is frustratingly slow to downshift. It blunts performance, bringing a 0-60mph time of 9.5sec – that's more than a second slower than the Seat Leon 1.5 TSI Evo 150 in our tests.

The 1.5-litre diesel gets 129bhp, and is plenty for most buyers. It’s not quite as lively as the petrols, but is muscular at low revs and makes for effortless progress. It's a good option for towing or driving with a car full of passengers.

The Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) 180 combines a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor to deliver 178bhp and a 0-62mph time of 7.6sec. Its performance is more than brisk enough for most, but if you want more power, you'll want the GSe, which has 222bhp and cuts the 0-62mph to 7.5sec.

The PHEVs have an official electric-only range of around 42 miles, which is competitive with the Leon e-Hybrid's, and can do motorways speeds on electricity alone.

Ride & Handling: If you value comfort more than driving fun, the Astra is a good fit. It rides well over most road surfaces and the suspension soaks up bumps well. It’s forgiving enough at low speeds to cushion you over speed bumps, yet there’s enough body control to prevent it wallowing about on undulating roads.

The Skoda Octavia is more comfortable, isolating you against sharper ripples on the road, but the Astra strikes a good balance between comfort and composure, and feels calmer than the Leon and the Honda Civic.

The Astra isn’t the best family car in terms of agility, but it handles tidily enough when cornering. The suspension does a fair job of keeping body lean in check while grip levels remain strong, so the car feels composed and safe.

The GSe version comes with lowered suspension, stiffer springs and Koni dampers, which help to improve handling. As a result, it has better body control and is actually quite fun and engaging to drive on a twisty road. It's the version to go for if you want the sportiest Astra, but the Leon is better still.

Sadly, the Astra is held back by its numb steering, which feels too light and is too slow to respond, so it lacks the immediacy and involvement of the Focus and the Leon. As a result, you lose a lot of your connection with the front wheels.

Interior & Practicality: While the interior feels solid enough, some of the controls, such as the indicator stalks and the slide adjustments for the driver’s side air vent, don’t have quite the build precision found in the Leon or the VW Golf.

Every Astra gets a 10in infotainment touchscreen. Its responses could be quicker, and while the home screen uses a simple grid layout to help you find the function you want quickly, the fonts used by the sub menus are tiny. All versions get wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring.

Room in the rear of the Astra isn’t as generous as in some rivals, with less leg room and space for feet under the front seats than in the Ford Focus and the Seat Leon.

The Astra hatchback has a 422-litre boot that's a useful square shape and has a low lip to lift heavy items over. That volume beats most of the rivals, including the Toyota Corolla and the VW Golf. The PHEV versions lose some boot space, leaving you with 352 litres.

We managed to fit five carry-on suitcases in the boot of the non-PHEV Astra – matching the number swallowed by the Golf – so it's more than big enough for a week's worth of shopping, a couple of buggies or luggage for a family holiday. Of course, if you plan to fill the boot often, the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer is even more practical.

Trims & Equipment: The entry-level Astra trim – Design – comes with plenty of equipment, including 16in alloy wheels, climate control, cruise control, LED headlights, automatic windscreen wipers, electrically adjustable and heated wing mirrors, and keyless start, plus infotainment and parking assist tech.

Mid-range GS has sportier styling, along with adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, heated front seats and steering wheel, ambient interior lighting and larger (17in) alloy wheels.

Ultimate will be worth a look if you favour tech over sportiness. It adds a panoramic roof, eight stereo speakers rather than six, wireless phone-charging, a heated windscreen, a head-up display and matrix LED headlights. The GSe gets you the same equipment as Ultimate.

Interested in buying a used Vauxhall Astra? Visit our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.

A used Vauxhall Astra costs around £17,000 to begin with. Expect a 2022 Design with the 110 petrol engine. This is a good saving on the new price, which would be upwards of £23,000. The GS – earlier cars are labeled GS Line – will set you back around £19,000.

Fancy a PHEV Astra? Have upwards of £21,000 to spend, with the GSe rising to around £27,000 – mind you, it was only launched in 2023.

Prices for 2023 Designs begin at around £18,000, with nearly new examples going for upwards of £19,000.

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MPG: All the Astra petrol engines have an official fuel economy figure of more than 50mpg. The diesel will achieve even more, with lower CO2 output, but you'll need to do a lot of motorway miles for it to make financial sense.

As long as you keep the battery topped up, the PHEVs will return the best fuel economy. Officially, you should see more than 200mpg, but you'll have to drive very carefully to see anything close to that.

Road tax: The petrol and diesel Astra will cost you £180 per year in road tax, with the hybrids reducing that fee to £170 per year.

Insurance and servicing: Insurance groups waver around 25, with the petrols dipping into the teens and the hybrids nudging 30. Insurance costs should be reasonable for this kind of car.

For three services of a 2023 1.2 Turbo GS model, Vauxhall quoted us £795.

We'd upgrade from the lacklustre entry-level petrol, but we'd refrain from splashing out on a PHEV model, unless you have the cash to spend and it suits your lifestyle. The diesel also won't suit most people – only if you do lots and lots of motorway miles – and the used car market isn't home to many of them (in relation to petrol examples). The 1.2 Turbo 130 is a great choice and our pick of the range.

As for trims, it's a similar story, with mid-spec GS being our recommended option. It gets you most of the luxuries you could want, including adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, but it won't set you back as much as top-spec Ultimate will.

Our favourite Vauxhall Astra: 1.2 Turbo 130 GS

If you enjoy driving and a firm (yet generally comfortable) ride doesn't faze you, then take a good look at the Astra's nemesis, the Ford Focus, because it offers class-leading handling. Used prices are even more reasonable, too – you can pick up a 2022 model for around £15,000. The same can be said for running costs (bar it doesn't offer any full hybrid or plug-in hybrid variants). In general, we prefer the Focus to the Astra.

The current Peugeot 308 is mechanically akin to this Astra, so, even though their exteriors look very different, you'll find some shared parts underneath their skins, from engines (including the PHEV ones) to gearboxes. Used prices are similar, too.

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Interested in buying a used Vauxhall Astra? Visit our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.