Vauxhall Astravan 1.7 CDTi Club

I have owned this Astravan for over a year now and it's been such a reliable motor , the Isuzu engine is totally bulletproof .Couple of months ago ,I filled it up with petrol instead of diesel and drove it about ten miles from home before i realised what i had done and the van still drove back home .I called some garages and they said once u drive the van with petrol ,its needs things changing costs about £3000-£5000 .I got the petrol out of the tank and changed the fuel filter and the van still runs without any problems .I won't buy any other van

I have had my envoy for a year now and have not spent a penny on it. The Isuzu 1.7 cdti engine is bullet proof. The only real problem is road noise but for a cheap reliable motor i can cope with that.

The Vauxhall Astravan 1.7 CDTi Club van i bought is of a Sportive trim and from the outside looks a really good van.

Inside it looks mainly the same as the SXi trim and has the same spec too. The 1.7cdti is a good engine and it is not underpowered either. This engine is rather noisy and is rather gruff at town speeds however it becomes quieter on faster roads and with the help of 6th gear (which the car does not have) the engine is quiet well above 90mph. The van also handles well so i can not complain at that. Once you get used to the one touch indicator there is no problems driving at all. Some of the heating dials are a wee bit too low.However the van does have it's faults. Road noise and wind noise becomes a big problem especially on rough surfaces and on a long journey the noise becomes a pain. Parts of the van is poorly finished such as the cardboard ceiling and half bulkhead. This half bulkhead also stops your seat going as far back as it can so if you are tall expect to be cramped as a driver or even a passenger. I put my own bulkhead in as this is needed in all vans but even with that it does not reduce the road noise. This is a good van but not the best. It does have the best looks and interior and it is a good performer and good to drive. But noise levels and a not so great finish in parts really lets this van down. Not many vans have much road noise that gets into the cabin but this one does which spoils any long distance travelling.

I use my 1.7 Vauxhall Astravan for my locksmith business based in York. It has been a great little van for me, it does around 400 miles on a tank of diesel around town and upto 650 mile to the tank on a long run (Motorways etc). This van has been very reliable and has not yet ever let me down and i use it every day for emergency call outs so it has to be reliable. The big plus with this van is that unlike many other car derived vans this one does drive just like a car and is great for throwing around the bends and you never struggle to park it as you do with bigger vans which is a must for my business. The size in the back is just right for me but could be a squeeze for some tradesmen like joiners or brikkies. The only bad thing about this van is that you can a lot of wind noise and the odd squeek from the dashboard in the cabin but a lot of vans are like this. The other thing I like about this van is that parts are very common when it comes to service time and they are very cheap to service if you avoid the main dealers. This van is just great for what we need in our business and we highly recommend them, ours is the 2003 '53' model and has now covered 73,500 miles.

This is the third Astra van I have had since 1976.

All served me well and did over 250,000.

I am disappointed with roof rack anchor points on this model.

I think it is a mistake on behalf of Vauxhall.

I have noticed however that some new ones have rails

on the roof, can,t understand why mine has not.

We've got 2 Vauxhall Astravans. Utterly reliable. Never missed a beat. Tank of diesel seems to last forever. Service intervals every 20k.

Superb van. Totally reliable & economical.