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Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - Gusto1

After moving to the UK I am stuck between the Insignia/Astra/1 series/3 series. I am looking at the 2009 onwards Insignia, 2010 Astra and for BMW 1 and 3 series it's the 2004-2012 ones. I will buy a car that is 2010-2012 and less than 80k miles.

I have read so much but what makes me dislike the 1 series (despite better drive) is the rubbish old interior, can't even play bluetooth music. The newer 1 series is out of my budget due to throwing expenses elsewhere.

I am thinking of a full loaded SRI Insignia as I love the shape and tech too.

Thoughts? Any one who has owned any or not, help would be appreciated!

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - _

They are all going to be 9 or more years old.

The Vauxhall Astra will probably be the better choice.

Are you going petrol or diesel.?

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - Gusto1

They are all going to be 9 or more years old.

The Vauxhall Astra will probably be the better choice.

Are you going petrol or diesel.?

Diesel because I will get a remap on it!

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - badbusdriver

You can buy a device on Ebay or Amazon to play Bluetooth in an older car from about £10, so that isn't really a factor.

Having said that, I wouldn't go anywhere near a 1 Series of that age. Awful cramped things with interior space (in the rear anyway) closer to a Corsa than an Astra. And not really sure what you mean by this,

(despite better drive)

because my understanding is that without a powerful 6 cyl engine, the 1 Series drives pretty much the same as a front wheel drive car. Beauty is of course, very much in the eye of the beholder, but personally, I also think the 1 Series is hideous.

Not overly fussed about the Insignia either. It is a big car, but it isn't especially spacious for its size.

Out of those three choices, it would be the Astra for me. But without being restricted to those three, I probably wouldn't even choose the Astra as, while not a bad car, there are better options out there.

Edited by badbusdriver on 17/04/2021 at 19:28

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - Gusto1

You can buy a device on Ebay or Amazon to play Bluetooth in an older car from about £10, so that isn't really a factor.

Having said that, I wouldn't go anywhere near a 1 Series of that age. Awful cramped things with interior space (in the rear anyway) closer to a Corsa than an Astra. And not really sure what you mean by this,

(despite better drive)

because my understanding is that without a powerful 6 cyl engine, the 1 Series drives pretty much the same as a front wheel drive car. Beauty is of course, very much in the eye of the beholder, but personally, I also think the 1 Series is hideous.

Not overly fussed about the Insignia either. It is a big car, but it isn't especially spacious for its size.

Out of those three choices, it would be the Astra for me. But without being restricted to those three, I probably wouldn't even choose the Astra as, while not a bad car, there are better options out there.

Thanks for the detail! I heard some 1 series owners say that even with the bluetooth device, it wasn't working, not sure what to make of that. What would you recommend bearing in mind what I am looking at?

Well I really enjoyed the 1 series I drove, it was a 120d I think 160bhp and it felt like a firm ride and my friend has a 2016 (newer shape) and he told me the RWD on his ensures a completely different drive to an Audi A3 of a similar age. What bothered me was the crap old interior and yes the back is so cramped, the shape of the car has grown on me though.

I just need one for 2 years before I get the XE. So far I am putting the Insignia ahead of the Astra as I don't like the shape of the astra and there is just more comfort inside the insignia, also lovely sedan look. If I can stretch my budget then the Insignia facelift would be good as they improved the car a lot whereas the Astra remained unchanged mostly.

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - bazza

I would totally discount the 1 series, overrated, uncomfortable and no space in it, the 3 or series is a much nicer car if you can stretch to a good, dealer maintained, full history one, otherwise it's a risky venture. Insignia is a nice big lump, comfortable but I think prone to niggles, but if you can find a nice one, although I agree with BBD, Astra is better. Don't forget diesel high mailers might have expensive repairs outstanding.

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - Gusto1

I would totally discount the 1 series, overrated, uncomfortable and no space in it, the 3 or series is a much nicer car if you can stretch to a good, dealer maintained, full history one, otherwise it's a risky venture. Insignia is a nice big lump, comfortable but I think prone to niggles, but if you can find a nice one, although I agree with BBD, Astra is better. Don't forget diesel high mailers might have expensive repairs outstanding.

1 series has mostly £30 tax too but paying a couple of hundred extra (maximum) is no big deal. The reason I thought the Insignia was reliable is they are like a salesman's car and even in Europe they do a lot of miles/km. But yes who knows their maintenance issues.

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - badbusdriver

What would you recommend bearing in mind what I am looking at?

What is your budget?.

Also, ORB asked about petrol or diesel. I see mention of the 120d, does this mean that you plan to buy diesel?. If so, the only one of your three I'd contemplate would be an Astra, but only with the 1.7 Isuzu sourced turbo diesel (which is extremely reliable).

BMW's are not generally as reliable as their image might have you believe, but going from least to most reliable, it would be as follows, 4 cyl diesel, 4 cyl petrol, 6 cyl diesel, 6 cyl petrol.

The diesel Insignia (along with the 1.3, 1.6, 1.9 and 2.0 diesel Astra) uses Fiat diesels which aren't that great.

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - Gusto1

What would you recommend bearing in mind what I am looking at?

What is your budget?.

Also, ORB asked about petrol or diesel. I see mention of the 120d, does this mean that you plan to buy diesel?. If so, the only one of your three I'd contemplate would be an Astra, but only with the 1.7 Isuzu sourced turbo diesel (which is extremely reliable).

BMW's are not generally as reliable as their image might have you believe, but going from least to most reliable, it would be as follows, 4 cyl diesel, 4 cyl petrol, 6 cyl diesel, 6 cyl petrol.

The diesel Insignia (along with the 1.3, 1.6, 1.9 and 2.0 diesel Astra) uses Fiat diesels which aren't that great.

About £5000 pounds. Yes I wished for a diesel but it's not essential, I will be travelling within a county but not more than that. Looking at the advice on here I should be getting a 1.6/1.8 SRI Astra or something. I will need to take one of these for a drive, the interior is almost like the Insignia, also has electronic brake which they later dropped in the Astra (heard it's not too good or to save money). I've never liked a Golf/A3 but perhaps that would be better for a similar age, price and reliability. I owned some bullet proof Jap cars previously but fancy a change. I think it's between 3 series and Astra now for me, what a weird mix :)

Edited by Gusto1 on 17/04/2021 at 20:35

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - S40 Man

If you are considering Opal/Vauxhall I would also consider Ford with either the Focus, Astra equivalent or Mondeo Insignia equivalent.

I used to have a diesel Mondeo and it was very good. I believe they have a better reputation than the insignia. Depending on model the head unit is rubbish and doesn't have blue tooth. I got an aftermarket head unit for about £100. This was plug and play so should be ok.

Focus on getting the best most reliable car you can then sort out the stereo afterwards, would be my advise.

If you go Astra/focus the age you are looking at the Focus will be better to drive. Some folks on here don't tend to like diesel in general and 1.6 TDCi in particular so maybe consider 2.0 diesel focus of you can find one. I had my S40 with this engine in a Volvo. It was ok. I had quite a few electrical issues with that car but the Rhine itself was pretty good.

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - badbusdriver

If you want a reliable diesel with a bit of oomph, I'd be looking at a Volvo myself. Had a look on Autotrader and found a 2014 V60 (3 Series sized) D5 with 132k miles (nothing for these) for just under £5.5k (which could almost certainly be haggled down to or near £5k). Owned by a Volvo dealer for 6 months then the government(?), with full history it seems like a decent car for the money. 215bhp from this version of the D5, and a manual gearbox (unusual).

But variants of this engine were fitted in Volvo's as small as the (4 seat mind) Focus based C30 (180bhp). So there is something out there for most folks needs, and personally, I'd have one over a 4 cyl BMW diesel any day of the week.

Edited by badbusdriver on 18/04/2021 at 07:40

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - daveyK_UK
Out of the 4, provided you go for the best example available with full service history and good condition my choice would be -

3 series
Astra
And then a long gap...
... if you really have to
Insignia
Series 1

The original insignia while being a big car from the outside is fairly cramped inside.
The 1 series is horrific interior space, if you plan to have passengers do not buy the 1 series

The Astra may be a better bet than the 3 series due to cheaper parts, common knowledge of issues, cheaper insurance, etc.
However the 3 series is a nicer motor to drive and live with, just don’t expect bills to be cheap when things go wrong and they will.

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - RGCRob

Agree, Ford repairs are reasonably priced and in my experience they are pretty reliable anyway as they age. The Insignia is a spacious car, but given a choice I'd look for a Ford for peace of mind.

Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - daveyK_UK
In what way is the original Insignia spacious?
Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - MTD
Deffo not the 1 series, hideous driving position that gave me a bad back that I’m still suffering from over a year later, worst company car I’ve ever had despite good info system. As a stop gap before the XE from those choices, I’d choose the Astra ever time (I most be the only person to volunteer tonhand back a 1 series and pick an Astra from a lower choices bracket as their company car) - a far more comfortable and usable every day car, and the petrol got to 52mpg versus the diesel 54mpg in the 1 series auto.


Haven’t driven an insignia or a recent 3 series so can’t comment on those.
Opel/BMW choices - Can't decide between 4 cars! - RT
In what way is the original Insignia spacious?

It wasn't! The Insignia-A was less spacious inside than the Vectra-C it replaced, the poor packaging was shared with all the other GM cars using the Epsilon II platform.

The platform was reworked to become the E2XX and used for Insignia-B which regained some of the internal space