Vauxhall Astra (2009 – 2015) Review

• October 2008: Astra revealed
• July 2009: First technical details revealed
• August 2009: Production version to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Show
• September 2009: Vauxhall Astra prices revealed
• January 2010: Astra Ecoflex announced
• February 2011: ES Tech model added to the range
• April 2011: New emissions tech added
• August 2012: Astra BiTurbo added to the range
• February 2014: New 1.6 CDTi engine introduced

31-05-2011:

Possibility of failure of electric power assistance to steering due to break in the power supply. Code C0545, requires field remedy 2771. This is to "add washer and tooth locked washer to the connection of 80A fuse(s) in pre fuse box(UEC in engine compartment) to strengthen the connection". 0.2 of an hour and all is FOC. But please note that forcing electric power steering against the lock stops will cause a problem and might result in the circuit breakers opening, leaving no power to the steering.

28-09-2011:

Rattles from rear of early production Astra Js are probably caused by the wrong pins being used in the rear brake callipers.

19-07-2012:

16 month old 17k miles Astra J 1.4 turbo started consuming coolant. Possibly water cooled turbo getting too hot? (Turned out to be cylinder head failure.)

01-09-2012:

Problem with electric parking brakes releasing unexpectedly that has led to production from August 2012 being fitted with lever and cable parking brakes instead. The slightest touch of the accelerator releases the electric parking brake. Also releases very suddenly when reversing uphill.

14-11-2012:

Rainwater gets trapped inside the front driver and passenger doors, held in by the door seals when the doors are shut.

10-04-2013:

Seems to be a problem of brake calipers leaking at the main piston seal. One owner of a 38k mile 2010 reg Astra SRI 1.6 turbo has has his replaced three times under warranty after annual inspections.

22-04-2013:

If the car comes on 17" wheels with 215/50 R17 tyres, the wheel well will not take a 17" spare or even a 17" space saver. Will only take a 115/70 R16 space saver.

19-05-2013:

Repeated faults with electric power steering. First cured by new alternator when car 1 year old. Then reoccurred at 2 years old. Now thought to be steering rack.

11-06-2013:

Parking brakes seizing and rear brake callipers rattling continue to be a problem for Astra Js, compounded by a shortatge of spare parts.

24-07-2013:

Weakness in structure of bonnet frame causes outer skin to flex above release catch when bonnet is slammed shut. This leads to the paint splitting and eventually surface corrosion will occur under the split.

29-10-2013:

Clutch and dual mass flywheel failure on 2012 CDTI Eco diesel Sports Tourer at 11,000 miles. Quoted £2,200 by supplying Vauxhall dealer to rerplace and £1,856.52 by an independent. Electromechanical parking brake probably to blame.

26-02-2014:

Another case of rear pads seizing in the callipers and causing damage to the rear brake discs. Replacement £200.

26-02-2014:

Common for lacquer on polished 17" alloys to peel.

03-04-2014:

Peeling and buckled 17" alloy wheels of 2012 Astra 2.0 CDTI replaced under warranty without any fuss.

11-07-2014:

Parking brake of 5,000 mile 2013 Astra GTC failed on a hill, car rolled back and suffered £6,000 of damage. See: 1-9-2012.

17-08-2014:

Two Getrag M32 manual transmission failures in 4 years in 2010 Vauxhall Astra 1.4T SRi. First covered under warranty. Second not covered by 'Lifetime' warranty because reader was the 2nd owner. Vauxhall agreed to pay 70%, leaving reader with a £900 bill.

14-10-2015:

Report of Getrag M32 manual gearbox problems with Astra J 1.4 Turbo. Worn layshaft affecting 3rd and 4th gears making a clattering/whining noise. Same fault on 3 Astra 1.4 Turbos.

26-11-2015:

2012/62 Vauxhall Astra GTC, bought used in 2015, found to be fitted with left-dipping headlights at first MoT. Selling dealer offered to replace lights with right dippers from Euro Car Parts.

06-01-2016:

Report that Vauxhall Astra Js with stop/start are having their battery covers removed and not replaced as a TSB during a service because of a slight fire risk.

18-01-2016:

Report of failure of automatic transmission of 2011 Vauxhall Astra Elite at 38,000 miles. Quoted £3,500 for replacement and 5 weeks wait because 27 UK back orders and 100 European back orders for replacement automatic transmissions. Dealer and Vauxhall refuse any goodwill or free courtesy car.

28-01-2016:

Report of whine from Getrag M32 6-speed manual transmission of 2010/60 reg Astra 1.4T at 40,000 miles. Initially quoted £2,700 for new transmission, later reduced to £1,200 under "Lifetime Warranty".

15-03-2016:

Report of dual mass flywheel of 2012 Astra J 1.6 petrol failing at 42,000 miles and costing the owner £1,000. Only covered by Network Q used car warranty to 36,000 miles.

19-04-2016:

Clutch and flywheel failure reported on 2009/59 Vauxhall Astra 1.4SXI at 10,000 miles bought used 5 months previously.

18-07-2016:

Report of problem with waterpump of 2012/62 Astra purchased in January 2016. Waterpump replaced pror to delivery of car. Over May/June 2016 "coolant low" light came on 4 times and owner refilled the coolant. It had never overheated. Problem reported to dealer on 21st June 2016 and given appointment of 7th July. Dealer reported failed head gasket and quoted £4,832 for a new engine, later reduced to £3,800. Advised to sue the dealer for the full cost of the new engine.

07-09-2016:

Complaint that hatchback of 2012 Astra J takes in water after heavy rain that then tips into the load area when the hatch is opened.

11-09-2016:

Report of intermittent fault with automatic transmission controle module of 2012 Astra 1.6 at 36,000 miles. Offered 20% discount for repair. The to replace the transmission control module (TCM) was £2,119 and by joining Vauxhall Service Club, the cost was reduced by 25% and therefore the final bill was £1,574.

05-12-2016:

Complaint of water sploshing about in door bottoms of 2015 Vauxhall Astra Tech Line Gt 5 Door Hatchback 1600. Dealer told owner to release the water by pulling out plugsin the door bottoms, but normally door bottoms have open drain holes that can get blocked with prootective wax inside the doors.

09-12-2016:

Report of failure of mechanical lever handbrake of 2014/64 reg Vauxhall Astra J Excite while parked on a hill. Essential to leave them in 1st gear and with wheels pointed towards the kerb.

09-01-2017:

Report of camshaft of second-hand Astra 2.0CDTI snapping at 30k miles. Vauxhall refused goodwill due to suspect service history.

10-02-2017:

Report of problems with 2014 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 CDTI 110, now at 45k miles. Car faultless until September 2016 when coolant level dropped. Turned out to the the head gasket and, replaced under lifetime warranty. Then in November 2016, driving on a steep part of the A34, a car pulled out of a lay-by, so driver dropped a gear and applied full throttle to join lane 2. The car did not respond as nornal, but driver continued to rev through 3.5k rpm towards 4k rpm. Got to 4k and heard a bang, EMU warning light and revs started to drop until 20mph (limp home). AA called, vehicle recovered to Vauxhall. No fault found. December 2016, joining A500, same again, dropped a gear to join through 3.5k, bang again limp home mode. This time Vauxhall consulted head office, they told the dealer (after 5 days) to replace the turbo actuator valve. Got car back, all well until 9-2-2017. Revs to 3.5k, bang, limp home This time the exhaust smelt really strongly of diesel fumes. (Usually never smell anything unless on a regen). The car has always been run on Super diesel (I've owned from new), serviced on time and had the oil changed every 10k. Vauxhall puzzled.

10-02-2017:

Report of automatic transmission problems with 2011 Vauxhall Astra Sport Tourer at 50,000 miles. When reverse is selected it makes noises and car jerks as it moved backwards. Various automatic transdmission specialists quoted an average £2,400 to repair, said the transmission is notorious for failing and that GM is now on its 3rd variation of the transmission. Previous reports of failures: 18-1-2016, 11-9-2016.

04-03-2017:

Report of problems with 2010 Astra SE CDTI 123 originally purchased used in 2011. It broke down in April 2016 with the car going into limp mode. The AA was called and they diagnosed an EGR valve issue. They disconnected the valve, so that owner could drive it to the Vauxhall dealership where he purchased it. The car has been back and forth ever since with an EGR valve replacement, DPF clean, many, many forced re gens and finally last week, after having the car for two months four new injectors were fitted. Owner just had a call from the dealership saying that after testing the car went into limp mode and they were keeping it for further investigation. All parts and labour have so far come under the warranty. Vauxhall finally identify the issue as a faulty turbocharger and replaced it. Owner had the car back for 4 weeks now and it has some odd characteristics that it did not have before. The engine is noisier and vibrates the cabin more. Peak torque seems to come in at higher RPM than previous fix. The car actively regenerates every 100 miles or so rather than every 250-300 miles so fuel economy is poorer, dropped around 8mpg on average. When stationary the smell of diesel fumes is much stronger than before. It feels different to drive, it's not a quick car, but it's punchy on the move, but it's lost some of this.

28-07-2017:

Automatic transmission of 2010 Vauxhall Astra failed at 31,709 miles and estimate for repair or replacement was £4,000 - £5,000. Previous reports of failures: 18-1-2016, 11-9-2016 and 10-2-2017.

11-08-2017:

Report of 2011 Astra J 1.4 Turbo cutting out totally. Dashboard goes blank and engine loses power. Comes to life again when starter is used. Happens whrn driving normally, when idling at traffic lights and when going round roundabouts. Dealer cannot find cause.

24-08-2017:

Report of intermittent loss of power from 14k mile 2015 Vauxhall Astra 1.4 petrol turbo. About six months ago car lost power and would no go above about 20 mph. Other driver went out in the car to find it was running as normal and has done so since up until a fortnight ago. Other driver was then driving the car for about 20 minutes and was in stop/start traffic when it lost power and would not go above about 16 mph. There were no warning lights in the instrument panel. He pulled into a side road and switched off the engine. About one minute later he restarted the car and it ran as normal. He booked it into jis local Vauxhall dealer but the diagnostic equipment could not identify any faults - dealer said they had reset the ECU. Yesterday the same fault occurred again - no warning light - switched off engine - ran as normal after engine restarted.

03-11-2017:

Report of 2012/62 Vauxhall Asta J (bought used) needing new pedal box at 55,000 miles at a cost of £1,000. Begs a question as to whether or not the car could have been crashed prior to purchase.

29-11-2017:

Number of problems reported with 57k mile 2012 Vauxhall Astra 2.0CDTI SRI Sport Tourer. E ngine was hunting and owner put it into Vauxhall dealer. Had cover through Warranty Direct and the Vauxhall dealer submitted the claims directly. The car was in for seventeen days while they tried to diagnose the problem. Initially they thought it was a software problem as the ECU said that the Diesel Particulate Filter had tried to regenerate 40 times but had failed to complete a cycle. No warning lights showing on dash. Eventually, after several other attempts to determine the fault, they said the EGR valve had failed and clogged up. However in the end it was found that the EGR cooler was leaking, which was replaced but then owner was informed that the Dual Mass Flywheel had failed and was replaced. The original clutch and servo valve were not replaced as they were OK. Then it was found that due to the leak the fuel injectors had been corroded and had to be replaced. Warranty Direct covered the cost of the work apart from the fuel injectors which owner had to pay for (£1,240.66) as Warranty Direct stated that the corrosion on the injectors was consequential damage due to the cooling water leak on the EGR valve and was not covered.

02-02-2018:

Report of failure of Getrag M32 6-speed manual transmission bearings of 2014 Vauxhall Astra SRI at 26,000 miles. No goodwill offered because car had been independently serviced and the wrong engine oil filter had been fitted.

22-02-2018:

Report of 2009 Vauxhall Astra J 1.4T running roughly and difficult to drive. Vauxhall dealer has replaced the turbo pipe and the manifold at a cost of roughly £1,000 and the engine warning light was still lighting up. It now transpires that it requires a new cam cover at a cost of £255 which they have agreed to do covering the fitting cost only. Problem probably from repeatedly switching off when turbo is too hot and carbonising the oil in the turbo oil feed and oil return pipes.

15-05-2018:

Report of engine failure of 2014 Vauxhall Astra 1.6CDTI Ecotec at 37,000 miles. Car had been serviced at 15 months old, then again at 30 months old. Initial inspection has suggested that the turbo failed, pulled the oil out of the engine and this resulted in catastrophic engine failure.

15-12-2018:

Report of 2012 Astra J 1.7 Ecoflex overheating: "Keep getting temp gauge go to maximum, then reduced engine power then overheating, then after removing ignition key for 10 mins runs normal for day or two then does same again. Dealer found no fault codes. Suspect either thermostat sticking shut of more likely engine temp sensor sender fan switch sticking off.

28-06-2019:

Report of power steering failure on 2010/60 Vauxhall Astra J 1.4SRI at 90k miles. Owner tried to instal a 2nd hand rack and motor but after having it fitted it still did not work. The garage said they not able to "marry" the rack to the car using their code reader. Another code reader was used but still no joy. Owner eventually found a diagnostics specialist that said it was more than likely to be a wiring issue rather than a faulty rack. He said a friend (who owns a garage) has had plenty of experience with astra J steering issues and that owner should call him for more info. After a brief chat the garage owner said that the wiring issue was a common problem and that he could fix it with about 2 hours labour and roughly £140.

27-10-2019:

Report of "Oil level low add oil" warning appearing in 2014 Vauxhall Astra 1.7CDTI at 24,800 miles. Owner stopped, waited 5 minutes, checked oil and found it full. Later after about 20 miles the warning appeared again. Happened again since. Possibly warnng of contaminated oil rather than low oil.

16-11-2019:

Report of clutch and dual mass flywheel failure on Vauxhall Astra J 1.6CDTI at 74,000 miles. £1,700 bill from Vauxhall dealer.

43 dated faults reported since 31-5-2011