Used Vehicle Review: Saturn Astra, 2008-2009

2008 Saturn Astra XE four-door. Click image to enlarge

More Saturn Astra reviews on Autos.ca Manufacturer’s web site General Motors of Canada

Review and photos by Chris Chase

Photo Gallery:
2008 Saturn Astra

The Saturn Astra was one of General Motors’ recent attempts to “Europeanize” its vehicle line-up, a process that has continued since the Astra’s 2008 arrival (and the Saturn brand’s subsequent demise) with cars like Chevrolet Cruze and Buick Regal.

As an automotive journalist, I like to try to predict how a new car or truck model will be received by the public. It’s easy to suggest that if reviewers favour a car, it will automatically do well in the marketplace.

With the Saturn Astra, I think it was the idea of the car that made me think it would be a saviour of sorts for General Motors. The Astra was engineered by GM’s European Opel division and imported to North America as a Saturn with the only changes being those necessary to line it up with Canadian and U.S. safety and emissions standards.

2008 Saturn Astra XE four-door. Click image to enlarge

Ultimately, the Astra was never that successful; a strange thing, considering that Ford has enjoyed considerable success importing its European designs here, and GM itself has met with some success with its Cruze compact. My guess is that the Astra’s appeal was limited by the lack of a sedan, a more popular body style in the massive American market; Canada’s relatively strong appetite for hatchbacks wouldn’t have been enough to offset that.

In any event, whether the Astra was a success is moot now that the Saturn brand is gone. Slow sales when the car was new mean that there will never be that many Astras to be found on used car lots.

The Astra was introduced here as a 2008 model available in XE (base) and XR trims; the XE was a four-door only, while the XR could be had in two- and four-door body styles.

One aspect of the Astra that didn’t make the journey across the Atlantic was the wide range of engines available in versions of this car sold in other markets; the Saturn version got just one engine, a 1.8-litre four-cylinder that made 140 horsepower. Transmission choices were a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic.

The Astra’s Natural Resources Canada fuel consumption figures were 8.5/6.1 L/100 km (city/highway) with the manual, and 8.4/6.6 with the automatic transmission. Those numbers are respectable enough for a compact hatchback, but were far from class-leading. An automatic Astra XE four-door I tested in late winter 2008 averaged no better than 8 L/100 km on the highway, and James Bergeron managed 10 L/100 km in the same car in a week of driving, almost two-thirds of that being on the highway.

The Astra’s short time on the market and relatively low sales numbers mean that reliability information is scarce and its accuracy hard to gauge: Consumer Reports gives the Astra a “worse than average” overall reliability rating.

Consumer Reports’ data shows trouble in the Astra’s “Engine Major” category, but I wasn’t able to find evidence of anything so dramatic. Instead, I found many references at SaturnFans.com of bad cam position sensors (an important part of the electronic engine management system), something that will cause the motor to run poorly. When this sensor goes bad, it will trigger the “check engine” light, which CR indicates as being very common in the Astra.

Many owners posting back in 2009 talk of the part being on backorder, more because of the Astra’s rarity here. One thing to consider, though, is that the Astra’s engine is the same one used in the now-common (since its 2011 debut) Chevrolet Cruze, which may improve parts availability for Astra owners.

TrueDelta’s vehicle reliability data calls the Astra’s dependability about average, with 108 owners reporting 70 repair trips per 100 cars for the 2008 model year.

This thread at the UK-based Astra Owners Club forums is a list of complaints owners have regarding their cars’ reliability. Much of what’s mentioned in here won’t apply to North American cars, though, as the Astra (sold as a Vauxhall and Opel in the UK and Europe) was offered with a wide variety of powertrain options in those markets.

2008 Saturn Astra XE four-door. Click image to enlarge

It’s normal for air conditioning to have a noticeable effect on engine power in small cars, but Astra owners posting at SaturnFans.com seem to think their cars are worse for this than most.

CR cites the Astra’s “fuel system” as a problem, and I found a couple of mentions at ImSaturn.com about a faulty fuel filler neck that doesn’t seal properly at the gas cap, causing the check engine light to turn on. There are also complaints of excessive brake dust on the rear wheels only, which could explain CR’s average rating in its brakes category. Brake complaints cited by CR could be linked to mentions I found online of squeaky brakes and excessive brake dust from the rear brakes. Apparently, the rear brake pads are a different material than the fronts, and the semi-metallic compound tends toward generating more dust and noise than the front pads.

With the Saturn Astra’s similarity to versions of the car sold overseas in mind, I had a look at a very busy European Astra forum (AstraOwnersClub.com) to get an idea of what problems owners elsewhere are having with their cars. The most common issues I noticed mentioned there were a vehicle immobilizer fault that prevents the car from starting on the first try, though removing the key, then reinserting and trying again generally seems to work. Also, there are numerous mentions of bad clutches in manual transmission cars (most Astras sold outside of North America were probably manuals, while the majority sold here are automatic).

In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash tests, the Astra rated “good” in frontal offset testings, and “marginal” in side impact testing. The side impact rating was affected by poor protection for rear-seat passengers; the IIHS cited a high possibility of rib fractures, internal organ injuries, fractured femur (thigh bone) and excessive “loading” to the occupant’s shoulder.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) didn’t crash test the Astra.

According to the Canadian Black Book (CBB), used Astra values range from $8,550 for a 2008 XE four-door with manual transmission and option air conditioning, to $13,700 for a 2009 XR two-door with automatic and leather seats.

The Astra is a satisfying car to drive, but its unconventional interior – at least by typical North American standards, even in many of the German cars sold here – might be a turn-off for some. For that reason, I’d advise you to spend as much time as you can in the car before buying.

It appears there aren’t too many serious issues to look out for in the Astra, but the car sold in so few numbers that any data, anecdotal or otherwise, are difficult to rely on, and so it’s hard to tell how the car will hold out over the longer term. In the meantime, if you like the Astra, follow my usual advice and look for one that comes with proof of proper maintenance and get the car checked out with a trusted mechanic before you buy.