I spent quite some time away from Vauxhall after a bad experience with an Astra about ten years ago, which was pretty rubbish. Anyway the Antara 2.0 CDTi caught my eye a couple of years ago, second hand with 25k on the clock, and I thought I'd give them a go again. The reviews at the time seemed fine really, nothing special but then I'm not after a mean machine, just a reliable comfortable car that'll handle some country roads and some of the weather during the winter.
You sit nice and high up for one thing, which is obviously good for visibility, but in my advanced years I appreciate it for other reasons, not least that it takes the strain off my knees. In other cars that are quite low down, and the seats are quite reclined, my knees don't take long at all to feel every bump and to get very stiff. The Vauxhall Antara is like sitting in a comfy chair, everything is well supported and all the controls are in a good position.
The computer system in the car took some getting used to. For an old fogey like me the very idea of a computer inside a car was a bit daunting, but I got my head round it, and it's got some very useful features. For one thing I was always bit lazy with checking things like tyre pressure and so on, but the computer keeps track of that so you know when to sort it out. It also helps you to park, tells you whereabouts you are relative to other vehicles, which I found a bit of an embarrassing luxury to start with, until I began hearing quite a lot of other cars beeping away with the same system, so I felt a bit less daft then.
The fuel consumption has been a bit of a disappointment I suppose. Fuel prices continue to soar, and I suppose I get around 40mpg (I'm mostly commuting on A roads and motorways so I don't have that many gear changes). I've heard of more modern cars trumping this quite considerably.
One thing that annoys me a bit is that there are controls located to the rear of the steering wheel, i.e. in between the front seats, where you might want to put things down. That can make for inadvertent use of these controls, generally quite precarious. It's fine really though, the space inside is generous and as I say it's perfectly comfortable.
The boot in the Antara CDTi is plentiful, if a little slim. With the rear seats folded down flat though I've been able to get a large filing cabinet in there, along with a load of other bits and pieces when I was moving office. There is apparently a bike rack that's fitted right into the chassis, which can be pulled out when needed, but I honestly haven't used it before. I may do now the summer is finally arriving and the grandkids might make use of it. We'll see.