marc_p Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well, since my Supra went for it's respray and the other one in bits in the Garage, I've had to suffer with my rental for coming up to 3 weeks. For anyone who is maybe thinking about one of these I thought I would share my experience to help you. So it all started on one sunny Saturday morning when I went to the Enterprise offices to pick up my rental, once there I filled out some forms and they showed me to the car I would be renting, we walked around the corner and there was a Silver '11 plate Astra sat there, despite the fact that the Silver made it look incredibly, well, boring for want of a better word, I thought to myself, 'I'm only renting it doesn't exactly need to be a Gallardo'. We walked round the car and I was then handed the keys to be on my jolly way, a quick glance at the rear showed that this was the 1.6 version. So anyway, I jumped inside and at first sight it didn't appear to be to bad, it was an automatic with some trendy trim here and there and some nice half leather seats, so I turned the key and it showed that the current mileage was 10k, so off I went to go, I pressed the button to release the electric hand brake and went to set off. I went to pull out onto the main road, as I did so, the car changed into second with a bit of a jerk, not something I would call smooth, but I have been spoilt with the Supra's autobox so I ignored this and went to accelerate away, with my foot half way down it appeared to me that the car decided I wanted to 'boot it'(I didn't) so it dropped back down to second gear and sat at 4000 revs, so I had to take my foot off the throttle and let it calm down then literally feather the throttle and accelerate at a painfully slow rate. So there I was in traffic on the way home which gave me a chance to play/look around, so most importantly, time to check that sound system, which I have to say was quite impressive, not quite Harman Kardon, but impressive nether the less, the stereo was also easy to use with some nice big buttons and steering wheel controls. I then decided to start looking at the cars interior, this is where things went down hill, the trim around the steering wheel had come loose and was displaying a nasty panel gap, along with another panel gap next to the side window where a plastic cover appears to be flat, yet it needs to cover a curved area which is just a really poor design in my opinion. Up next was the glove box, not a brilliant size but it's big enough for those glovebox essentials, however, inside was the ash tray/coin holder that fits in the cup holder, I took it out and the chrome ring had broken off it, which in my opinion is another sign of poor build quality. Moving on though and the chrome surround for the auto gear lever appears to not have taken those 10k miles well, it was very badly scratched and scuffed and was just looked terrible, but surely someone at Vauxhall must have though that some chrome plastic trim would be a terrible idea for an area bound to get scuffed easily. The more I looked at the interior the worse it became and after 5-6 miles I came to realise that it really was poorly designed and put together, if I could find and pick up these faults, why in gods name did no-one at Vauxhall think some areas might need a rethink? Anyway, enough of the interior, I decided it was time to text the actual drive of this car, which started when I needed to overtake a car, so I put my foot down, the car then kicked down several gears, however, it kicked down one gear to far, so as soon as it went to accelerate, it need to change gear again, of which I can assure you, is not a fast change, so it eventually started to accelerate (about 5-6 seconds after I put my foot down), I pulled out to overtake the car that was currently travelling at 50mph and after about 4 seconds I realised that I had only reached 55mph, I was rapidly running out of road and I needed to back off and pull back in behind the car again, which was slightly embarrasing to say the least, however, I now had a mission, I needed to overtake this car, after a couple more straights we eventually got onto one that I felt was long enough to overtake on, I decided to use the tip tronic option this time, so I knocked the gear lever over to try out the manual option and went to drop it through the gears, this however, showed up another flaw, there is about a 1-2 second delay in the tiptronic, so back into auto mode I went, I put my foot down and after kicking down too many gears (again) I did eventually get past this car, I was then rather pleased with myself and my little achievement, but it did show up how painfully slow this car was. I could go on and on about this cars flaws but I feel it best just to say, buy the Focus. Anyway, I needed to get my frustrations out regarding this car in the hope that no-one actually pays money for one, the car, now fills me with depression just getting behind the wheel that, so much so, that the small things about the car that are actually ok really now do pale into insignificance and I now look at the car every morning with nothing but disgust and hatred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Or the Honda Civic\Accord You do need to remember these rental cars do get a hard time too and Vauxhalls interior don't best respond to them! Thank you for the review but we need pictures You should have got this car as your rental! http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?228325-Toyota-Verso-Review&highlight=verso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lbm Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 ....I now look at the car every morning with nothing but disgust and hatred. Excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny g Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I'm also currently in an Astra rental... And I wholeheartedly concur with your statement. Except, mine's a manual. 5 speed. Approximately 1 billion dB at 75mph. 1.6 Astra Hatchback, 5spd @ 75mph = 35.6mpg 3.0 BMW 5 Series diesel auto @ 75mph = 41.4mpg Probably has 200bhp, and 400lb/ft more as well - let alone the comfort. I do miss the BMW for the short time it's away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TubbyTwo Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 classic example of a car thats been designed with a lack of passion and interest. My GF sold her 2007 astra last year and I have to say it was the single most soul destroying car I have ever driven. Plus they always seem to smell funny inside, cheap plastic combined with cheap seat material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creative Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 My sister has a 2009 ( I think) Astra SRi 2.0ltr turbo. looks the part in black with a nice set of standard 18's on it. Full leather interior etc etc.... its actually a very nice car. as others have mentioned, its all downhill when you start driving it! lol Seats are so un supporting its not funny, ride is harsh, engine runs out of puff when you are giving it some beans and the turbo might as well not be there. Torque steer is laughable and the gearbox (6 speed manual) is like stirring a pot of honey. The gear change reminds me of my old cable driven fiat cinq! Understeer is excessive and the steering is so light any movement in the wheel results in jerky movements! I hate driving the thing but my sister seems to like it. It's ok to drive every now and again as when I get back in the Ute, it puts a smile on my face as its sooo damn fun to drive! that and the fact its a V8... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attero Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 It looks good like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseys Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 So it all started on one sunny Saturday morning when I went to the Enterprise offices to pick up my rental, once there I filled out some forms and they showed me to the car I would be renting, we walked around the corner and there was a Silver '11 plate Astra sat there, despite the fact that the Silver made it look incredibly, well, boring for want of a better word, I thought to myself, 'I'm only renting it doesn't exactly need to be a Gallardo'. http://www.northernferrarihire.com/lamborghini.htm Not bad, I'm sure you could've negotiated a cheaper rate than £9k though. Shame it's a soft top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanc Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Blimey... nice cars but crazy rates might as well get PCP or finance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc_p Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Plus they always seem to smell funny inside, cheap plastic combined with cheap seat material. I noticed that, almost smells like a McDonalds Oh and another point is that the rear visability is really poor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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