Used Vauxhall Astra 2022-present review

What's the used Vauxhall Astra like?

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.

Overview

The Vauxhall Astra is comfortable, practical and reasonably priced when used, even though it falls short of being a class leader in any particular area. Reliability, for so long a bugbear of the Astra, looks to have improved in the last year or two. Used prices are particularly attractive, too.

Pros

• Well equipped
• Big boot
• Reasonable buying and running costs

Cons

• Rivals offer more rear seat space
• Ford Focus and Seat Leon are better to drive
• Not as refined as its rivals

Used cars available now

In partnership with

£350

£490

£500

£590

£649

£695

£695

£695

£695

See all available cars

In the hope of continuing its popularity, Vauxhall updated the Astra in 2026, giving it sharper looks, up-to-date tech and a revised engine range: you have a pure petrol, the all-electric Vauxhall Astra Electric and a couple of options in between.

Engines and 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 and 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 and 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 and 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.

Updates

March 2026: Updated Astra gets a restyled nose with new headlamps as well as changes to interior trim, plus realigned pricing

- September 2025: Astra plug-in hybrid launched with a bigger 17.2kWh battery and more powerful 1.6-litre turbocharged engine

- June 2025: Griffin trim level revealed as the new entry-point, offered with two engines or as an EV with up to 260 miles of range

- February 2024: New 1.2-litre three-cylinder hybrid engine added, which is claimed to reduce fuel consumption by up to 19%

- April 2023: GSe trim level introduced, bringing improvements to the suspension, steering calibration and damper technology for better ride comfort and control

I was genuinely impressed by the Astra’s tight body control on bumpy B roads, which is why its uninspiring steering was so frustrating; if it steered with more finesse, it would feel so much more fun to drive.” – John Howell, Deputy reviews editor

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

Ownership cost

What used Vauxhall Astra will I get for my budget?

An early example of this Vauxhall Astra costs around £10,000, but it might have a high mileage. Expect a 2022 Design with the 110 petrol engine, or shop around and you should pick up a PHEV version for this price too. The GS (earlier cars are labelled GS Line) will set you back around £12,000, while a sporty GSe PHEV costs upwards of £13,000. Prices for 2024 Designs begin at around £15,000, with 2025 examples going for upwards of £17,000.

Check the value of a used Astra with What Car? Valuations

Find used Vauxhall cars for sale

How much does cost to run a Vauxhall Astra?

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.

When it comes to running costs, the Hybrid 1.2 officially averages almost 60mpg, but that’s still not quite enough to match the Toyota Corolla hybrid. However, with it costing no more to buy outright, the Astra PHEV makes a lot of sense; if you’re able to plug in and charge the battery regularly, its 52-mile official range could be enough to make local trips without using any petrol at all.

Road tax

The Astra will cost you £200 per year in road tax.

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.

Warranty

From new, every Astra comes with a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty. That's in keeping with cover from most other manufacturers, but it's no match for Hyundai's five-year offering, Kia's seven-year cover or Toyota’s 10-year, service-activated warranty.

Safety

When Euro NCAP tested the Astra for safety in 2022, it awarded it a slightly disappointing four out of five stars. The VW Golf, with its five-star rating, provided better chest protection for the front passenger in a frontal impact.

At least there’s plenty of safety equipment fitted as standard from new, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assist and speed-limit sign recognition. You’ll need to opt for an Ultimate trim car if you want lane-change assistance and rear cross-traffic alert.

Reliability

Based on our car brand data, we have mixed feelings about the reliability of the Astra, although it did well in our most recent 2025/6 What Car? Reliability Survey.

This model did well, finishing in the top 20 of the 30 cars in its class. The older 2015–2022 version featured in the survey, finishing eighth out of 30 family cars with a score of 93.1%.

In our most recent survey, Vauxhall ranked fifth out of 30 manufacturers, an excellent result and a vast improvement on recent years.

Our recommendations

Which used Vauxhall Astra should I buy?

Engine

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.

Specification

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

Alternatives

What alternatives should I consider to a used Vauxhall Astra?

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.

Be sure to check out the Honda Civic, too. It's an expensive used buy, but it has a plush interior and a good reliability record. Performance and efficiency are great thanks to its hybrid engine. Likewise, a Toyota Corolla is a good option, coming in slightly cheaper than the Civic. It's not quite as plush or fast, but reliability and running costs are competitive.

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.

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? Newsletter

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