Open and shut case

for Vauxhall

Vauxhall Meriva, front
Vauxhall Meriva, side
Vauxhall Meriva, rear
Vauxhall Meriva, doors open
Vauxhall Meriva, interior
Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer, rear
Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer, action

VAUXHALL has just set a new standard in the car industry by being the only car maker to offer a 100,000-mile lifetime guarantee on its cars.

The move demonstrates the company's confidence in its products and covers the engine, gearbox, steering, brakes and electrical equipment.

At the moment the extended warranty is available only to the first owner of any Vauxhall including the latest generation Meriva, which it claims is the most family friendly car of its kind.

Unlike other cars the Meriva features rear-hinged back doors which swing open towards the tail of the car.

Not only is entry and exit much easier, regardless of passenger size, but so too is securing kids in child seats.

Nor does the versatility stop there. There's also FlexRail, a three-tier storage system based on rails running between the front and back seats in space freed up by Vauxhall's decision to use an electronic parking brake rather than the traditional handbrake.

Then there's the FlexSpace seating which allows the cabin to be transformed from a five to two-seat layout depending on how much luggage space is needed, and the outer rear seats can be moved forwards, backwards or even slide inwards.

And to highlight the sort of attention to detail evident in this car is the way the rear side window edges have been cut away to help young children see out more easily.

At present there's a choice of three 1.4-litre petrol engines with 100, 120 and 140ps, a  75ps 1.3-litre CDTi diesel and 1.7-litre CDTi, also available with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Early autumn will see a low emissions ecoFLEX variant powered by a 95ps 1.3-litre CDTi unit and a 1.7 CDTi with six-speed manual gearbox and 130ps joining the party.

Prices are from  £12,995 for the 1.4-litre 100ps Expression model while the 120ps turbo starts with the S grade at £16,215. Diesels start at £16,875 for the 1.3 CDTi S.

The most eagerly awaited Vauxhall arrives later this autumn in the shape of the new Astra Sports Tourer will cost £500 less than the current Astra Estate.

Entry point will be £16,575 for the Ellesmere Port-built range, which kicks off with the 1.4-litre 100ps ES model, which gains extra power over the equivalent 1.4 Astra Estate.

It also adds air conditioning, curtain airbags, ESP, electronic parking brake, an aux-in socket and active safety front head restraints as standard.

The Sports Tourer's premium over the five-door hatch model starts from £995, for which customers benefit from a larger cargo area - 500 as opposed to 470 litres with rear seats up -  despite retaining the same wheelbase as the new hatch.

Diesel pricing sees the entry-level 110ps 1.7 CDTi ES Sports Tourer costing less than the outgoing 90ps 1.3 CDTi Astra Estate Life, yet packing more power and benefiting from sub-120g/km CO2 emissions.

The range comprises four trim levels named ES, Exclusiv, SE and SRi, but adds a variety of standard and optional equipment.

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