Corsa Advice

[Matt-Page]

I hope your brother finds what he wants mate.

Here's a link to a list of faults and fixes. This was a very quick Google so I'm sure if you did the same and had more time than I do at the moment then you'd find loads more information.

That's brilliant, thanks very much.

 

[GinG]

They aren't as bad as a rover 25, however I was so glad to get my car back on the road after driving my sisters whilst the work was getting done.

Felt really unstable on the road, handled bad, pedals were far to close to each other, seats were quite uncomfortable...must I go on?

The fiesta equivalent felt so much better, in fact I went out and bought a fiesta ZS and was more than happy with it, nippy, cheap to run, better build quality, economical etc etc

 

[Matt-Page]

My Wife had a MK3, MK4, and a Mk6 Fiesta. I had a Mk2 and a Mk3. IMO the build quailty was better on the corsa than all those cars. The corsa i had felt more solidly put together and the seats were far more comfortable. We drove from Plymouth to Aberdeen in My corsa and did not suffer cronic fatigue or back pain like in some of the more expensive cars i have owned. Don't get me wrong if it was a new car he was getting the new fiesta is a better propositioin than the new corsa, but as a said above how long realistically is he going to keep the car?

No idea, probably a couple of years until he realises he wants something with better quality and more power like most of us. I'll be honest, I' haven't asked him that.

I see no point trying to help if you're going to be like that.

It was not a "Clarkson Review" - you've had several people who have experienced these cars personally, explaining to you why they are to be avoided. If you choose not to take the advice then it's up to you, but I think you want to reconsider the attitude when people are trying to give you proper advice

Still no advice after 3 posts in one thread? Brilliant. Prove me wrong and give me some positive/negative points about it rather than a round a bout up the pub slating.

They aren't as bad as a rover 25, however I was so glad to get my car back on the road after driving my sisters whilst the work was getting done.

Felt really unstable on the road, handled bad, pedals were far to close to each other, seats were quite uncomfortable...must I go on?

The fiesta equivalent felt so much better, in fact I went out and bought a fiesta ZS and was more than happy with it.

Thanks dude, I'll check all of those things out when I vew is at about 13:00. I personally prefer the Fiesta as well.

 

[iaind]

Still no advice after 3 posts in one thread? Brilliant. Prove me wrong and give me some positive/negative points about it rather than a round a bout up the pub slating.

Get this stupid notion of pub slating, internet thrones and clarkson reviews out your head and read the posts properly.

My first post told you they were terrible, which they are. I've experienced them first hand.

My second post told you why and reccomended an alternative. I've experience both Corsa and Fiesta so I think I can comment on which one I feel is the better car.

My third post was trying to point out to you that this isnt a bunch of people pretending to be clarkson, it is a bunch of people with real world experience of these cars, trying to offer you genuine, helpful advice.

You dont seem to want to take it. No, I cant help you with common faults on them, but this is a discussion forum, where we can "discuss" things.

 

[Matt-Page]

Get this stupid notion of pub slating, internet thrones and clarkson reviews out your head and read the posts properly.

My first post told you they were terrible, which they are. I've experienced them first hand.

My second post told you why and reccomended an alternative. I've experience both Corsa and Fiesta so I think I can comment on which one I feel is the better car.

My third post was trying to point out to you that this isnt a bunch of people pretending to be clarkson, it is a bunch of people with real world experience of these cars, trying to offer you genuine, helpful advice.

You dont seem to want to take it. No, I cant help you with common faults on them, but this is a discussion forum, where we can "discuss" things.

So you are still unable to tell me specifics why you dislike them....

Yes you can 'discuss' things, and you can feel free to do so, but don't get your back up when I ask you to list specifics and back up your argument. Anyone could pop on here and say they are crap and uncomfortable and Fiesta's are better. I'm looking for some detailed information rather than off the wall remarks.

If you've got nothing useful to say, please don't litter MY thread with pub remarks. Prove me wrong, give me a decent reply with some feedback on your experience and why you really dislike them. I'm not looking for an argument, just some info to bear in mind before I go to view this car in half an hour.

Ta v much.

 

[Nomisf]

Just to add my 2p ,

I have driven a 1.4 Corsa B on a few occasions over a 9 month period helping my mate restore his mini, and even helped him service it,

My first impression of the car from opening the door was not too bad, basic as you would expect, plastics and fittings arent the best but its no luxobarge- so you expect it. The seats are fairly comfortable at first, but are a bit like an old sofa, after a while the lack of support makes them uncomfortable.

The pedals are in a slightly soppy position, as stated above you tend to catch the dash with your feet, steering wheel adjustment is limited - but acceptable. I can't call the driving position good , but its not terrible , as with the interior , just budget.

What totally kills this car is the frankly shocking driving experience, the steering is very wooly and doesnt inspire any confidence that the car will actually go where you want. The clutch is so light and unresponsive that you honestly wonder if it is connected, as the biting point is variable and hard to find with no clutch feedback (maybe not best for a new driver ?),
the brakes are the same - they work but dont really feel as if they are going to until the last minute when the car stops ( this is after replaced pads and fluid, and a master cyl test , so no , it wasnt broken, even checked the flexi-lines).
The throttle is ok however, works as expected really, and to my surprise the 1.4 is not toooo slow.

Unfortunatly, the gearshift is honestly scary, you cant even tell if the thing is in gear. Now i thought this was down to bushes, but after talking to a few owners it seems its common for the shifter to feel disconnected and wobbly.

I wont go on about the handling because its not supposed to be a sports car, all i will say is on budget tyres its a total death trap , so be careful.

On the upside its a simple joy to work on, as its so basic.

Overall, in my opinion of course, it would be an acceptable car for a budget if it didn't feel so darn wooly and dangerous to drive.

Ask if you want me to expand.

 

[iaind]

So you are still unable to tell me specifics why you dislike them....

Yes you can 'discuss' things, and you can feel free to do so, but don't get your back up when I ask you to list specifics and back up your argument. Anyone could pop on here and say they are crap and uncomfortable and Fiesta's are better. I'm looking for some detailed information rather than off the wall remarks.

If you've got nothing useful to say, please don't litter MY thread with pub remarks. Prove me wrong, give me a decent reply with some feedback on your experience and why you really dislike them. I'm not looking for an argument, just some info to bear in mind before I go to view this car in half an hour.

Ta v much.

I gave you specifics but I will elaborate if it makes you feel better

They were uncomfortable, the driving position was poor and the seats offered little or no support. The pedals were too close together. The steering was too light and it didnt feel secure on the road. There was also a lot more road/wind noise than the Fiesta. The build quality was poor on the newer ones, shocking on the older one. Both rattled quite horribly - not something fiestas are immune from, but the examples of Corsas I've driven have been really quite bad.

As I said before, I'd be interested in the rational justification for one over a Fiesta.

So please, stop calling my genuine opinions/advice as pub remarks as that just makes you sound like you dont want to listed to advice. Most of my findings had already been described by other posters, so there wasnt a need to repeat them ad verbatim.

 

[Matt-Page]

Just to add my 2p ,

I have driven a 1.4 Corsa B on a few occasions over a 9 month period helping my mate restore his mini, and even helped him service it,

My first impression of the car from opening the door was not too bad, basic as you would expect, plastics and fittings arent the best but its no luxobarge- so you expect it. The seats are fairly comfortable at first, but are a bit like an old sofa, after a while the lack of support makes them uncomfortable.

The pedals are in a slightly soppy position, as stated above you tend to catch the dash with your feet, steering wheel adjustment is limited - but acceptable. I can't call the driving position good , but its not terrible , as with the interior , just budget.

What totally kills this car is the frankly shocking driving experience, the steering is very wooly and doesnt inspire any confidence that the car will actually go where you want. The clutch is so light and unresponsive that you honestly wonder if it is connected, as the biting point is variable and hard to find with no clutch feedback (maybe not best for a new driver ?),
the brakes are the same - they work but dont really feel as if they are going to until the last minute when the car stops ( this is after replaced pads and fluid, and a master cyl test , so no , it wasnt broken, even checked the flexi-lines).
The throttle is ok however, works as expected really, and to my surprise the 1.4 is not toooo slow.

Unfortunatly, the gearshift is honestly scary, you cant even tell if the thing is in gear. Now i thought this was down to bushes, but after talking to a few owners it seems its common for the shifter to feel disconnected and wobbly.

I wont go on about the handling because its not supposed to be a sports car, all i will say is on budget tyres its a total death trap , so be careful.

On the upside its a simple joy to work on, as its so basic.

Overall, in my opinion of course, it would be an acceptable car for a budget if it didn't feel so darn wooly and dangerous to drive.

Ask if you want me to expand.

That's a brilliant post, thank you very much for that. I will take all of this into consideration.

I will be taking a very good look at it as it will be me who has to work on it should it go wrong. I'm not expecting it to be faultless or perfect, but I needed to know it doesn't burn through HG/Clutches/Boots/joints/etc.

I'll report back my findings.

It's up for £2,995, I'll push for 2.5-2.6k do people here think thats reasonable? Parkers seems to think so from a reputable dealer.

 

[Matt-Page]

I gave you specifics but I will elaborate if it makes you feel better

They were uncomfortable, the driving position was poor and the seats offered little or no support. The pedals were too close together. The steering was too light and it didnt feel secure on the road. There was also a lot more road/wind noise than the Fiesta. The build quality was poor on the newer ones, shocking on the older one. Both rattled quite horribly - not something fiestas are immune from, but the examples of Corsas I've driven have been really quite bad.

As I said before, I'd be interested in the rational justification for one over a Fiesta.

So please, stop calling my genuine opinions/advice as pub remarks as that just makes you sound like you dont want to listed to advice. Most of my findings had already been described by other posters, so there wasnt a need to repeat them ad verbatim.

Ahh, that's better. Thanks, it seems to be a common list occuring now, which I can certainly look for. The reason for a Corsa over the Fiesta is he personally likes them more, he likes the look of them more and simply prefers them. Try telling an exceited lad different, he doesn't care, and we've all been there I did make some other reccommendations bu he wasn't interested.

Thanks for the better response, I'm not very tactful and pretty much just get to the point. I'm keen to listen to advice/opinions but wanted them elaborated more and explained to me as others, and now you have done.

Thanks all. Would appreciate a response about the price.

 

[Begbie]

I always love it when a Corsa gets mentioned.

I actually quite like them, and a good first car. Fairly comfy, stylish espically compared to the fiesta. Feel better built than the fiesta too, the engines are generally bomb proof too.

 

[Scania]

A Corsa is hardly the worst small car out there, most people with a drop of petrol in their blood will conceed that better is out there.

If he wants one, fair enough, but do try to get him to test drive the competition before he simply goes and gets one.

If he really wants a small car, I'd look at a BMW compact.
RWD handling, far better build quality than a Corsa (I know which one I'd rather "Max Power" into a ditch!) and the girlz will see the BMW badge little else.

A lad up the road from me has recently swapped his Barry'd up Corsa GSi for a 318 compact and apparently his insurance was actually lower on the BM!

Personally, I don't particularly like Compacts but they are leagues ahead of a Corsa.

 

[Camalot]

Never drove the corsa myself. A lot of people have and warned me away for basically the points listed above.

Last year i passed my test and was in the same position. In the end i went for a cheap 1.25 Fiesta. It's on 108k now and not let me down. Nice cars so put that option out there if he does change his mind

 

[iaind]

Ahh, that's better. Thanks, it seems to be a common list occuring now, which I can certainly look for. The reason for a Corsa over the Fiesta is he personally likes them more, he likes the look of them more and simply prefers them. Try telling an exceited lad different, he doesn't care, and we've all been there I did make some other reccommendations bu he wasn't interested.

Thanks for the better response, I'm not very tactful and pretty much just get to the point. I'm keen to listen to advice/opinions but wanted them elaborated more and explained to me as others, and now you have done.

Thanks all. Would appreciate a response about the price.

I know what its like when people have their heart set on something, but you need to try and convince him to be more open minded. If you can find a car supermarket type place close enough that will have lots of different examples of the different cars (even if they arent in budget), it will give him a chance to see whats out there and have a good poke about

3k would buy a nice Fiesta Zetec-S or a newer shape model

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1204658.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1134534.htm

I'd echo the comments about the Corsa feeling dangerous - I was never unfortunate enough to drive one in the wet, but I certainly wouldnt enjoy doing so

 

[InvaderGIR]

I always love it when a Corsa gets mentioned.

I actually quite like them, and a good first car. Fairly comfy, stylish espically compared to the fiesta. Feel better built than the fiesta too, the engines are generally bomb proof too.

See I'd go the other way on most of those comments. I found the Corsa to be uncomfortable, adequate for short trips (like 10min ones) but not nice for longer periods of time. Stylish...Not in my books at all to be honest. Can't say I found them better build than the Fiesta, quite the opposite. Don't know about the engines, didn't care to either.

 

[whitecrook]

How do people rate the Corsa compared to a Kia Picanto? I drove a Picanto for a few months on all roads and it was pretty bad and I eventually killed it, but as a 'cheap, small town car', it was actually quite good. I've never driven a Corsa.

 

[Gilbretto]

I have had the pleasure of driving my girlfriends 1.0 Corsa B. Not the model you are looking for but i'm sure they have many things in common.

Someone else described the seats as old sofa's. That's a pretty accurate description i think. The driving position, i found is very upright. Although i drive a very low sports coupe with bucket seats so i guess it's worse for me because of the massive change in driving position.

The pedals! Yes, many people have commented on this. I have size 12 feet, and it is a nightmare with the pedals being so close together.

The clutch is so light and unresponsive that you honestly wonder if it is connected, as the biting point is variable and hard to find with no clutch feedback...

Unfortunatly, the gearshift is honestly scary, you cant even tell if the thing is in gear. Now i thought this was down to bushes, but after talking to a few owners it seems its common for the shifter to feel disconnected and wobbly.

The above comment by Nomisf is spot on about the clutch and gear change. I agree 100%. I told my girlfriend i didn't understand how she could drive the thing.

Ok, things that have gone wrong;

• The brake lights blow at an alarming rate. We must have changed 4 or 5 lights in the past 5 years. Full beam lights have blown twice.
  
• Air mass meter problems are very common. I had to change this a few months ago. Very cheap to buy and 10 minutes to swap over.
  
• EGR valve needed replacing.
  
• The metal wheels rust like no tomorrow.
  
• A fairly major oil leak a few years ago, fixed at minimal cost at a garage. I forget the reason.

Not too bad really considering the car is 9 years old and hasn't been serviced for 5 years.

For me, it is a horrible thing to drive. But i'm used to driving a 2.0 sports coupe as i said before. I did drive a 2001 Skoda Fabia for a few months though (which as far as i'm aware is in a similar class?) and it was much better in terms of response, gears, and clutch. However the fabia in question has had many expensive to fix faults over the years, the corsa has not.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I'll be more useful. I've driven several Corsas - I had a 1.something Corsa C from BMW once years ago (Was that some sort of a joke?) and as I said previously my girlfriend now drives a '55 1.3 CTDi which was one of the last Corsa C's.

They are terrible cars. Firstly the build quality is absolutely dire. Not 'dire compaed to my BMW' but 'dire compared to what should be deemed acceptable in this class'. The interior door handles flexed when you pulled them. I was genuinelly concerned I might snap the indicator stalk off when I used, THAT sort of absolutely dire. You don't need amazing soft touch plastics and German build in a small car but you do need it to feel at least slightly durable, the Corsa has the durabity of a £3 keyboard from a computer fair and it makes using any of the controls a horrible experience.

I saw a red 06 plate Corsa C the other day, one of the very last made I should imagine, only what 3 years old and ALREADY it was PINK. Thats the sort of quality that goes into these things.

On the road its no better. The steering is lifeless. Again not 'This doesnt have the feedback of my BMW' lifeless but 'I have no idea where the wheels are pointing' lifeless. Same with the clutch and brakes and the engine had so little power I had to change down all the time to keep up with traffic.

It was just a pile of complete **** and it's a compelte travesty Vauxhall sold so many of the damn things, mostly as a result of giving BSM a great deal on them as new and then flooding the used market mostly attracting people who dont know anything about buying cars and base their purchase on useless factors like how close the dealer is and how dishy the salesman is or whatever.

Just why waste your time? Why tolerate such substandard junk when there are numerous better cars available for the same money?

Seat Ibiza, VW Polo, Fiesta, Skoda Fabia etc etc. All cars I'd rather drink brake fluid than buy myself but you can't deny that for small cars they are much better than a Corsa.

Corsa D isn't that bad, however.

 

[iaind]

A useful and accurate post Fox - funnily though, someone is bound to accuse you of comparing it to your BMW

 

[[TW]Fox]

In order to help the people who will inevitably flame me not look quite so daft, here is my alternative Corsa review.

THEY SUCK LOL AS IT HAS NOT GOT 200BHP NOR DUAL CLIMATE AND STUFF AND MY BMW ROX IT GET A BMW INSTEAD

 

[Camalot]

You should listen to the advice on this forum. Tell your brother to read the thread. They know what they are talking about.

I would tell him to get a nice looked after 1.25 Fiesta for his first car. Get his experience and NCB up then worry about a faster car later. Bank the rest of the money towards his second car or something else.

This is what i did. They are also easy to work on. When i bought mine, i knew nothing about cars except they have 4 wheels I've since changed tyres, brake disks, brake pads, anti roll bars/bushes, spark plugs, HT Leads, Coil pack, oil filer/change, air filters etc etc.