Astra or Insignia…..

[fullyautomatix]

Insignia is actually a far better visually appealing car from Vauxhall. Their other cars are utter crap looking.

For that reason, I would say go for Insignia. It had a good review on Top Gear too so you might even impress that project manager totty you been having problems with.

[Spacecadet]

Insignia is actually a far better visually appealing car from Vauxhall. Their other cars are utter crap looking.

For that reason, I would say go for Insignia. It had a good review on Top Gear too so you might even impress that project manager totty you been having problems with.

If only Zoidburg was here, he'd tell you what to get (apart from a Kia C'eed)

[BoredBloke]

I had a drive in the elite insignia, the sat nav included one. It had all the toys that it's possible to put on them. While it was nice, I still would have a Mondeo if I had to pick between the 2. But I wouldn't buy new. At the dealership on Chester Road (Old Trafford) they had some with delivery miles on the clock and they were thousands less than new ones. As others have said, buy a 3 year old car for 2/3rds of the price and if it breaks down after a year, you can still buy another knowing that you still only have paid 2/3rds of the price of a new one. New cars are a mugs game.

[TheFaQQer]

If only Zoidburg was here, he'd tell you what to get (apart from a Kia C'eed)

I miss him. His absence makes me glum

[PAH]

Had to change down on the M4 in South Wales, I think it was a 1.3.......

Yep. Anything less than the VXR is designed to kill the driver and any offspring for being a moron and looking at the economy figures and how 'green' it is.

I often wonder is some dickhead driving at 40 on the motorway (and getting trucks nearly running over the top of them) is doing it by choice or if they're in a woefully underpowered car that seems all too common these days.

The only 'Vauxhall' worth buying is the VXR8. Seems a lot agree as the prices are still north of £15k a year after I started fantasising about it's 6 litre V8, despite high petrol prices and it averaging 20mpg at best.

Maybe it's just a good example of a depreciation static car so a canny buy if you can afford to keep it fed in petrol.

[SimonMac]

Astra Hatch 1.7cdti 125ps se ecoflex £21,719

Insignia Hatch 2.0cdti 130 exclusive ecoflex £21,729


Insignia costs 2p more per mile to run.

Can you afford that?

£21k for an Astra!!!

[mudskipper]

Insignia's got everything, Shampoo to shower gel, Deodorant and aftershave in one all-over smell, Now it's new Insignia — And it's all over now.

[Zippy]

Yes. In my experience why buy new when you can get a 3 year old one with average miles for under £5k. Buying new is a hell of a price to pay for peace of mind with the warranty.

PAH makes a really good point. The few grand saving pays for a lot of repairs ...

[PAH]

The few grand saving pays for a lot of repairs ...

Most mainstream cars are pretty reliable these days anyway and you can get some absolute bargains for under 10k by the looks of things.

I must have had around 20 cars over the last 10-15 years (get bored with them and swap after a year or two at most, some after only a few months due to poor impulse buys ) and only had major problems with two of them, despite averaging over 20k miles annually until recently.

1. TVR Cerbera (They should come with a free AA tow truck. )

2. MG ZS (Cheap runaround, but ignored the dodgy K series engine that will go bang at some point, and it did. )

All other problems have been down to bad luck rather than poor reliability.

e.g. punctures, and a newish BMW 3 series overheating and splitting the coolant tank (on my birthday a few years ago while sat on the M25 car park on my way home for the weekend and 'on a promise' with a nice lass at the other end of the country that I had to cancel ) due to the fan seizing up after leaving it outside a mate's house while we went on holiday, not realising the workmen still building the estate down the road would cover it in dust/sand/grit.

Moral of the story: Even new cars can let you down just as easily as a two grand 'banger'. So save the money and get top notch AA membership that includes a hire car.