Corsa Advice

[[TW]Fox]

I had a bottom of the range (and I mean absolute poverty spec) 1.2 P reg Corsa for about 4 years in that time I took it from less than 40K to well in excess of 100k so I think I'm reasonably qualified to say that it wasn't a bad little car.

So what? I used a Nokia 6110 for a year and I think I'm qualified to say it wasn't a bad phone. But would you buy one or recommend one? of course not as it's easily eclipsed by a number of significantly better options these days! Just because something is average doesn't make it ok if there are numerous BETTER ALTERNATIVES for the SAME MONEY.

This is the point the former Corsa owners seem to miss. Yes you had a Corsa, great it got you from A to B. But you saved zero money over chosing something else, and something else would have been better. Therefore the Corsa was, fit for purpose or not, a bad choice.

It's this sort of attitude that keep sub standard products on our shelves. Would buy Tesco Cola if Coke was the same price? Of course not even though Tesco cola would quench your thirst.

 

[a1ex2001]

Thats all well and good that you owned one and it didnt burst into flames or spontaneously crash for no reason, but nobody defending the Corsas has yet to explain why it is actually better (for the same money) as a Fiesta

I've had extensive experience with both (at the cheap end of the market) and didn't notice this huge difference that everyone is talking about, they both felt like reasonable small cars.

 

[grudas]

my advice is not to get corsa... go for a fiesta... like everyone else said lol

 

[SlyReaper]

Oooh what a surprise. Someone asked about a vauxhall and the thread went to hell. What is it about overclockers that makes vauxhalls so hated here? I've never seen this much ire on other forums. Personal theory: the cool kids don't like them, so nobody likes them.

I drove a Corsa when I was doing my driving lessons, and they weren't noticeably worse than my current car (an astra ), and a good deal better than that travesty of a Ford Focus (or was it Fiesta?) Zetec I had to drive a couple of months ago.

And on top of that, it's his first bleedin' car! He's not going to give two hoots about interior plastic stuff and pedal positions. It's a car. It moves. It keeps the driver dry. It's freedom. He's going to have a ball no matter WHAT he drives. And if he knows what he likes, then good for him.

 

[iaind]

It's a car. It moves. It keeps the driver dry. It's freedom.

You know what else moves? A fiesta.

They dont suck donkey balls either.

 

[Le_Petit_Lapin]

And on top of that, it's his first bleedin' car! He's not going to give two hoots about interior plastic stuff and pedal positions.

Er, yes he is about a month after the novelty factor of being able to get from A to B without taking public transport wears off.

Honestly, I preferred my Citreon AX to my Corsa, at least it was comfortable to drive.

 

[Stormster]

Putting some stickers down the drivers door of the golf should sort that out, and add some eyebrows to give you something truly special.

Not driven in a corsa, but been a passenger a few times. I can't remember the C being all that horrific, it was the B that was a POS tin can

When I say modified that doesn't mean chav.

I just enjoyed owning my second Corsa, so much so I kept it for 2.5 years.

The Golf is smoother, handles better, faster etc... but quality wise not a huge step up I don't feel.

I could have had a Saxo VTS instead of the Corsa but I bet it'd have cost me a massive amount more to keep on the road. The Corsa was immensly reliable, something which the Golf is already niggling me with, and I've only had it 3 weeks lol

The amount of real world budget owners of Fiestas, Saxo's, Clio's etc tend to spend more fixing/maintaining their cars than Corsa owners... so if the guy after a first car isn't hugely bothered about driving dynamics then I still rate them as a good first car if you get one which has been looked after within reason.

I also think they're one of the best built/most solid budget baby bangers too after experiencing most.

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion

 

[Ricochet J]

His brother wants a Corsa. It's his first car, he's excited. He wants what he likes. A Fiesta is a better option but what can you do?

 

[nichorob]

I have had plenty of experience in this department.

The Corsa B and C are dreadful cars even when compared to their time equivalents, there is no excuses there although a good one will get you from a to b etc. They really pulled their finger out with the new Corsa D though, far more pleasant driving experience and would pick one over the new Fiesta and Clio having extensively driven all three.

 

["andy"]

His brother wants a Corsa. It's his first car, he's excited. He wants what he likes. A Fiesta is a better option but what can you do?

this

hes probably basing his whole opinion on the looks of it like the majority of young/new drivers do. if he likes the look of it then let him be.

i agree that a clio/fiesta is a nicer car to drive for the same price but the corsa isnt so bad that it should be completely condemned. especially when the driver is someone who probably couldn't care less about the things that make the clio and fiesta better cars

the main problem on here is that people read opinions as facts and people also state there opinions as facts

 

[grudas]

Oooh what a surprise. Someone asked about a vauxhall and the thread went to hell. What is it about overclockers that makes vauxhalls so hated here? I've never seen this much ire on other forums. Personal theory: the cool kids don't like them, so nobody likes them.

I drove a Corsa when I was doing my driving lessons, and they weren't noticeably worse than my current car (an astra ), and a good deal better than that travesty of a Ford Focus (or was it Fiesta?) Zetec I had to drive a couple of months ago.

And on top of that, it's his first bleedin' car! He's not going to give two hoots about interior plastic stuff and pedal positions. It's a car. It moves. It keeps the driver dry. It's freedom. He's going to have a ball no matter WHAT he drives. And if he knows what he likes, then good for him.

corsa wont overclock!! dont you get it?

 

[shauncr91]

the main problem on here is that people read opinions as facts and people also state there opinions as facts

But it is a fact Corsa's have horrendous build quality and are appalling to drive.

 

["andy"]

But it is a fact Corsa's have horrendous build quality and are appalling to drive.

yup

but does that make it bad if you couldn't care less about the build quality or wouldnt know what feeling nice to drive even was ? (im looking in the average female corsa buyers direction here...) they might say its good because its a fact that it comes in a really pretty shade of whatever colour they love

 

[iaind]

yup

but does that make it bad if you couldn't care less about the build quality or wouldnt know what feeling nice to drive even was ? (im looking in the average female corsa buyers direction here...) they might say its good because its a fact that it comes in a really pretty shade of whatever colour they love

The problem is, the handling of some corsas is borderline dangerous, especially if you put some overconfident 17 year old in a baseball cap behind the wheel

 

[Moeks]

Without reading the rest of the thread (I can imagine what it's like), allow me to give you some advice with regards to the Corsa, don't buy one they are utter rubbish.

They are nasty, vile, cheap, tacky, substandard pieces of misery and woe that infect our streets like a plague, purveyors of nastiness and mediocrity, and Vauxhall ‘should’ be lambasted for daring to market and sell such a piece of utter junk to us. Frankly they should be embarrassed, and perhaps now that BSM have jumped ships they will have a rethink, maybe …I hope.

The car is a piece of **** ...it's not comparable to a Fiesta (it's main rival) in any way beyond price and size, and there is no excuse for it, Vauxhall at it's finest I suppose. They have dropped the Vectra brand and replaced it with the immeasurably better Insignia, now they need to do the same for the Corsa.

If you look at the car in isolation, then it doesn't seem 'so' bad, but compare it to it's peers, cars designed for the same market sector at the same sort of prices, there are many better options than a Corsa.

Take a drive of (or rather your brother) a Corsa and a Fiesta, have a look at the interiors, fit finish and over all quality of the package and then you will see what I mean, and no doubt what a dozen or more other people have said in this thread.

The biggest difference I have found is in the way they actually drive though, the Fiesta feels quite taught and sharp and reasonably well balanced, the steering is communicative, the breaks are half decent and the car turns in nicely and does more or less what you would expect, the Corsa is a totally different kettle of fish, it feels fidgety and unstable and the steering is so light and wooly the only reason you know what's going on is because it has windows. Then there is the way it deals with corners, it wallows and rolls and under-steers quite a lot, the Corsa just feels plain unstable and not at all planted or sure footed in it's execution.

Then we come to the interior, well most cars are **** at this level of the market but the Corsa is worse than average really, the build quality and fit and finish and over all feel of the plastic is just dreadful. Nasty scratchy cheap plastic everywhere, buttons that feel like they came of an '80s 'rasta-blasta' etc. Oh and the gearbox is awful, it's got all the feel and preciasion of a bag of bolts with a stick shoved in it.

I have driven a number of examples of both Fiestas and Corsas, indeed I had a Fiesta 8 years ago, albeit they are much better than that now.

 

[nichorob]

They have dropped the Vectra brand and replaced it with the immeasurably better Insignia, now they need to do the same for the Corsa.

I 100% agree, the tainted Corsa image could do with a rebrand much like Vectra > Insignia. The D should have gone down that route considering the big improvement.

The Corsa B / C were poor cars and thats just in comparison with the Fiesta's / Clio's at the time. Not the 206 though, that was a whole new level of crudness.

The Corsa D carries the same image of the previous though where it is an altogether different car. I have done 10,000 miles this year over the 1.3 CTDI and the 1.7 CTDI and at least 7,000 miles in an 09 Fiesta 1.6 TDCi as well as 58 plate 1.4 Clio via my works fleet and I would comfortably say that the Corsa is the better driving experience out of all of them. Yes, the interiors feel cheap and plastic but I am comparing a Corsa with a Fiesta, not a BMW or the Volvo S40 T5 that I drive home from work. That is what you get with a supermini.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I would never buy a Corsa D and didn't like the one I drove but objectively its a considerably better car than the crap which went before it.

All the people saying so what.. I just don't get posts like that. If you dont care whether you drive something crud why even ask about cars in the first place, just go and buy the prettiest colour you can find or something.

 

[fizzle-187]

3k seems pretty expensive push it to 2k at MAX. They're not worth that value at all. My mate picked one up for a grand. 1.2sxi 53 plate black. Anything is possible.

 

[ScottehBotteh]

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.

So a 3yr old Vauxhall has the same quality paint finish as a new BMW ? Hardly a criticism.
Its more down to lack of care on the owners behalf, rather than the manufacturer.

If your brother wants a Corsa help him find a nice example. They arent bad first cars - small, cheap insurance/repairs/servicing and not much power to get him in trouble easily. Yes, there are better small cars out there, but no matter what you get there will always be something better.

 

[[TW]Fox]

So a 3yr old Vauxhall has the same quality paint finish as a new BMW ? Hardly a criticism.

Eh?

Its more down to lack of care on the owners behalf, rather than the manufacturer.

No it's not - Vauxhall utterly fail at quality control for red paint. Unless you really look after it, a red Vauxhall goes pink very fast. Whereas I walked past a completley battered never washed shed of an 02 plate Honda Jazz the other day. Clearly the owner doesn't give a stuff but... it was still bright red.