Discussion
Timing chains are the biggest weak leak and one of the more expensive jobs. You'll hear a rattle from the timing side of the engine, worse on startup as oil pressure builds.
Oh, and in the Corsa D body, the 1.0 is properly slow. Not dangerous as PH'ers would put it, but it's slow. The 1.2 isn't really any better though.
Oh, and in the Corsa D body, the 1.0 is properly slow. Not dangerous as PH'ers would put it, but it's slow. The 1.2 isn't really any better though.
Higgs boson said:
Guys, a little insight from the knowledgeable, please.
I'm going to view a 2009 1L Corsa (daughter's first car). Is there anything particular, on this model, that I need to pay attention to?
Thanks.
I guess make sure its not overly noisy. From memory they are chain driven so listen for chain noise. I'm going to view a 2009 1L Corsa (daughter's first car). Is there anything particular, on this model, that I need to pay attention to?
Thanks.
itcaptainslow said:
Timing chains are the biggest weak leak and one of the more expensive jobs. You'll hear a rattle from the timing side of the engine, worse on startup as oil pressure builds.
Oh, and in the Corsa D body, the 1.0 is properly slow. Not dangerous as PH'ers would put it, but it's slow. The 1.2 isn't really any better though.
She's in for a shock. Since she passed her driving test, she's been driving her mother's 1 series.Oh, and in the Corsa D body, the 1.0 is properly slow. Not dangerous as PH'ers would put it, but it's slow. The 1.2 isn't really any better though.
Anyway, thanks for the replies. Anyone else have words of wisdom?
Decent enough wee cars and probably about as cheap insurance as you're going to get as a young driver. My daughter had one as a first car and while mechanically sound the top of the Macpherson strut towers under the bonnet started to rust really badly.
She liked the car though and so replaced it with another of the same year, but thus one was rust-free. So I'm guessing rust isn't a problem on all of them, but if it is there it can be terminal.
She still had that car some 6 years on and still basically rust free, and it has been mechanically sound. Although not a 'motorway cruiser' of choice, while she was at Uni she was doing 150 motorway miles or so home every couple of months, so it's do-able, and she's gone camping with friends round Scotland. So sure it's not the World's fastest, but it's OK.
It also sat on my drive for a year when she was in Canada, and the battery just needed a slight re-charge to fire it up, and it's run perfectly since despite having never turned a wheel in 12 months in 2013.
Only other thing to watch is wet carpets in the driver footwell. There's a seal around the brake master cylinder/servo panel in the bulkhead that dries out and water pretty much floods in. Catch is soon enough (we did) and it's easy enough to fix with some mastic, but if left the carpet can rot out and it won't do the floor any favours as the sound insulation below the carpet holds the water like a sponge.
Other have said watch for a ticking top-end, which may be true - but as they've only got single point fuel injection the injector makes a pretty noticeable ticking sound too, so make sure you don't dismiss an otherwise good car because you're hearing the fuel injection.
She's off to live in Dublin now and it's back on my drive, and despite proposing we sell it, she still wants to hang on to it as a run-around when she's home...so for all their faults I guess they're quite likeable wee cars.
She liked the car though and so replaced it with another of the same year, but thus one was rust-free. So I'm guessing rust isn't a problem on all of them, but if it is there it can be terminal.
She still had that car some 6 years on and still basically rust free, and it has been mechanically sound. Although not a 'motorway cruiser' of choice, while she was at Uni she was doing 150 motorway miles or so home every couple of months, so it's do-able, and she's gone camping with friends round Scotland. So sure it's not the World's fastest, but it's OK.
It also sat on my drive for a year when she was in Canada, and the battery just needed a slight re-charge to fire it up, and it's run perfectly since despite having never turned a wheel in 12 months in 2013.
Only other thing to watch is wet carpets in the driver footwell. There's a seal around the brake master cylinder/servo panel in the bulkhead that dries out and water pretty much floods in. Catch is soon enough (we did) and it's easy enough to fix with some mastic, but if left the carpet can rot out and it won't do the floor any favours as the sound insulation below the carpet holds the water like a sponge.
Other have said watch for a ticking top-end, which may be true - but as they've only got single point fuel injection the injector makes a pretty noticeable ticking sound too, so make sure you don't dismiss an otherwise good car because you're hearing the fuel injection.
She's off to live in Dublin now and it's back on my drive, and despite proposing we sell it, she still wants to hang on to it as a run-around when she's home...so for all their faults I guess they're quite likeable wee cars.
Had one as my first car a year or so ago, can't recommend them highly enough really. 
Over the equivalent 106/C1/Aygo, its a much more solid car, with the advantages of thngs like say, a glovebox, five seats and a useable boot, something the former three lack.
Yeah, its no flying machine, but then it was never designed to be one!
The three cylinder is of course, not the pick of the engines in these, but the savings to be had on Insurance due to the low cc's are worth this sacrifice IMO.
That said, despite what some on here would have you believe, it's not 'dangerously slow', you just have to be aware of ther limitations and adjust your driving accordingly. I learnt a bit about momentum in my first few weeks of driving.
To be honest although it takes time to get there, it'll sit at 80 all day long with a bit of encouragement, if desired.
Would suggest going for Energy spec over the more basic 'S' model, the addition of audio controls on the wheel, along with electric windows and alloys make it a more pleasant place to be.
Over the equivalent 106/C1/Aygo, its a much more solid car, with the advantages of thngs like say, a glovebox, five seats and a useable boot, something the former three lack.
Yeah, its no flying machine, but then it was never designed to be one!
The three cylinder is of course, not the pick of the engines in these, but the savings to be had on Insurance due to the low cc's are worth this sacrifice IMO.
That said, despite what some on here would have you believe, it's not 'dangerously slow', you just have to be aware of ther limitations and adjust your driving accordingly. I learnt a bit about momentum in my first few weeks of driving.
To be honest although it takes time to get there, it'll sit at 80 all day long with a bit of encouragement, if desired.
Would suggest going for Energy spec over the more basic 'S' model, the addition of audio controls on the wheel, along with electric windows and alloys make it a more pleasant place to be.
My girlfriend has a 13 plate 1.0 corsa, as a piece of transport to get you from A to B it is sufficient, that is the only thing I can say about the car. It's better than a bus I suppose, only by a small margin.
The 3 cylinder engine sounds noisy and crude, it revs very slowly and has a strange feel to it.
The noisiness really isnt great, at any speed, it's just like grrrrrrrr, but a soft bee bumbling grrrr.
On from this, anything over 50mph the car struggles. E.g. Single carriageway (50mph) onto (70mph) dual carrigeway, the car will struggle hugely to gain speed, put a slight gradient in this <1% and it will slow down unless you change down a gear.
The issue with all this is that your foot is to the floor all the time, fuel economy of only 35-40mpg at best.
Get a slightly bigger engine (only has to be a 1.2-1.4) and you will enjoy it as you won't work it as hard and it won't be dangerous.
Remember all this is my opinion but it is judged upon a very recent (13) plate car.
Bonus to this car, the girlfriend has done 20K+ on the original tyres and breaks with very little wear, so maintenance is low.
The 3 cylinder engine sounds noisy and crude, it revs very slowly and has a strange feel to it.
The noisiness really isnt great, at any speed, it's just like grrrrrrrr, but a soft bee bumbling grrrr.
On from this, anything over 50mph the car struggles. E.g. Single carriageway (50mph) onto (70mph) dual carrigeway, the car will struggle hugely to gain speed, put a slight gradient in this <1% and it will slow down unless you change down a gear.
The issue with all this is that your foot is to the floor all the time, fuel economy of only 35-40mpg at best.
Get a slightly bigger engine (only has to be a 1.2-1.4) and you will enjoy it as you won't work it as hard and it won't be dangerous.
Remember all this is my opinion but it is judged upon a very recent (13) plate car.
Bonus to this car, the girlfriend has done 20K+ on the original tyres and breaks with very little wear, so maintenance is low.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=140...
The episode is a funny watch for anyone in the market for one of these, manufacturer admits its a gutless turd and designed to go shopping in... mean while all the expert dribbler mechanics say it's knackered, Vauxhall say oh a one litre we know there are s
t, that's how they are... but you drove it to the flagpole and back on test drive so it's ok...
The episode is a funny watch for anyone in the market for one of these, manufacturer admits its a gutless turd and designed to go shopping in... mean while all the expert dribbler mechanics say it's knackered, Vauxhall say oh a one litre we know there are s
t, that's how they are... but you drove it to the flagpole and back on test drive so it's ok... Fully agree it's a complete turd but still dont get the "Dangerously slow" ?, Danger of what ?, being flattened by an X5 or Q7 ? 
Remember years ago i had to drive an 800cc Fiat Cinqueccento from Luton to Glasgow, there were four of us, (it was the cheapest hire car my boss could find
), it was slow, a hatefull journey but never felt Dangerous.
Remember years ago i had to drive an 800cc Fiat Cinqueccento from Luton to Glasgow, there were four of us, (it was the cheapest hire car my boss could find
), it was slow, a hatefull journey but never felt Dangerous.
Markgenesis said:
Fully agree it's a complete turd but still dont get the "Dangerously slow" ?, Danger of what ?, being flattened by an X5 or Q7 ?
Remember years ago i had to drive an 800cc Fiat Cinqueccento from Luton to Glasgow, there were four of us, (it was the cheapest hire car my boss could find), it was slow, a hatefull journey but never felt Dangerous.
I bought a 53 Corsa 1.0 new for my oldest to learn in. It wouldn't beat many cars at the traffics lights but it was not dangerous. Later on I used it for my commute and quite enjoyed having to manage with 60bhp as opposed to 260bhp from my BMW 3 litre. Teaches you a different approach to driving.Remember years ago i had to drive an 800cc Fiat Cinqueccento from Luton to Glasgow, there were four of us, (it was the cheapest hire car my boss could find
), it was slow, a hatefull journey but never felt Dangerous.Can't see what all the fuss is about re underpowered cars....
On a typical journey between say the centre of Manchester and London city centre, I doubt whether a V12 Aston Martin would arrive more than ten minutes before a one litre Corsa, driven within the prescribed speed limits.
In other words, in the real world does it matter, for a first car?
I accept they do seem to have a bad reputation though, make sure you drive it first in varied traffic conditions......
On a typical journey between say the centre of Manchester and London city centre, I doubt whether a V12 Aston Martin would arrive more than ten minutes before a one litre Corsa, driven within the prescribed speed limits.
In other words, in the real world does it matter, for a first car?
I accept they do seem to have a bad reputation though, make sure you drive it first in varied traffic conditions......
I think "dangerously slow" is an exaggeration and more of a problem with someone's driving but I really didn't like the one I had to drive for work, once.
Crap seats, noisy, and very frustrating performance. It will sit at 70, but merging or overtaking someone doing 40 in a 60 means ragging the hell out of it which isn't much fun.
I know this is PH and we all like performance cars, but I really think a certain level of performance can be grating after a while. These are heavy cars and since you have to push them the economy can suffer.
The 1.2 Corsa C my Mum had was a much better car, I would honestly go for one of them instead. Or a Fiesta.
Crap seats, noisy, and very frustrating performance. It will sit at 70, but merging or overtaking someone doing 40 in a 60 means ragging the hell out of it which isn't much fun.
I know this is PH and we all like performance cars, but I really think a certain level of performance can be grating after a while. These are heavy cars and since you have to push them the economy can suffer.
The 1.2 Corsa C my Mum had was a much better car, I would honestly go for one of them instead. Or a Fiesta.
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