Vauxhall Astra (98-06) - Review

In a world of swings and roundabouts, where the Astravan gains over its Combo brother in terms of drivability, it loses out in load volume and payload. The Combo has a big square load area that will swallow large items, whereas the Astravan’s is shorter in length and height. Volume is 1.6 cubic metres as opposed to the Combo’s 2.8 cubic metres and payload is 610kg, whereas the Combo takes 743-803kgs. Also worthy of mention are the Astravan’s standard half-height bulkhead and half-height sidewall panelling on later models. Load length is 1,701mm, load width is 1,374mm and load height is 886mm.

If good road handling makes for a safe van, then the Astravan scores highly. Later models also had ABS brakes as standard, along with an immobiliser, alarm and central locking. That’s not a bad tally for a van in this price range.

All the comfort and driveability offered by the Astravan has to be paid for and as such the price is higher than that of the Combo. But servicing intervals are a decent 20,000 miles on diesel models and the diesel units – especially the CDTi common rail ones – should be capable of exceptional fuel consumption figures if driven carefully. Dual-fuel Astravans are few and far between but if they can be found, they’ll be exempt from the London Congestion Charge, a point worth bearing in mind for those who dwell in the capital.

Astra cars and Astravans have been around in one form or another since 1983 and the UK has bought them by the bucketload. Vauxhall may not be the most exciting marque in the world but what is guaranteed are fairly cheap and abundant parts prices, reasonable labour rates and rock solid reliability.