Used Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer 2010-2015 reliability review

What should I look for in a used Vauxhall Astra?

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.

Is a used Vauxhall Astra reliable?

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.