Any old Corsa C owners on here?

[Robo_#1]

My little brother is taking his test soon and he's looking for a first car, and try as I might I can't stop him from wanting a Corsa C (his mates have all bought them).

So any tips on what to look for and things to avoid? I figured we must have some ex-owners on here.

Obviously I'll also try Corsa-C.co.uk, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to decipher the chav speak lol

 

[Gez]

I think the corsa C is a pretty good all round car tbh buddy, don't think you can go far wrong. The 1.2 twin port is a good engine for a new driver too. If that's what he's getting.

 

[BEEFTEC]

I had one for a couple of years as a run around. Did 25k miles in it and generally found it was cheap to run, looked decent, reliable, cheap parts. All round decent car I thought, and when I sold it I only lost £200 on it too.

 

[FaithlessEmo]

Ive had two of em. Because they are cheap to own and run. And there are plenty of aftermarket parts for them. I've even still got a Sri rear beam? Anyone? Lol. But on a serious note try and get a facelift one cos they are better equipped 53plate onwards. The face life has the fog light at the very bottom of the rear bumper. 1.2 two port is the one to have. Avoid the 1.0 3 cylinder, it's only good for about 30-40k and suffers from very rattles from the chain which then needs replacing at about 200-250. Also it has no power when you try and take it the nurburgring and lap it there. Lol.
Look for damp in the passenger footwell or that it has been wet vac'd to suck up the water (common selling trick)
even on the 1.2 listen for a rattle as the chain may only last 50k. Also if u can check the oil filter has been regularly replaced or check it yourself as they have a habit of crushing and starving the engine (that happened to me)
but generally parts are very cheap and easy to get. Also the car is very Lego like and can chop and change parts easy from other corsa's and other vauxhalls. I had full heated leathers in mine. Lol.

 

[FISHBOY]

My Mrs used to have a Corsa 1.4 16v Twinport. Had it for 5 years and it never missed a beat. People say its the best engine Vauxhall have ever built and I ragged it round for years and bar servicing yearly never spent a penny on it. Revved well and never let me down.

Personally, anything under 1400 cc is absolutely gutless, but i supose insurance for a new driver must be taken into account.

Things to watch for:

They have a plastic syncromesh in the grearbox which makes 2nd almost impossible when its gone - £150 cheap fix at Vauxhall.
Dont know if it was due to a replacement front windscreen but the car used to mist up over night on the inside requiring a chamois.

Other than that, great little runner.

 

[Robo_#1]

Thanks for the advice guys. [MENTION=26438]FaithlessEmo[/MENTION], what's the reason for the damp in the footwell? Dodgy seals? Is there's an age mileage that the chain is due at?

 

[FaithlessEmo]

Thanks for the advice guys. @FaithlessEmo, what's the reason for the damp in the footwell? Dodgy seals? Is there's an age mileage that the chain is due at?

If memory serves me well the damp in the passenger footwell is from the firewall. So look out for the stale smell and fogging windows. Chain driven engine needs a regular service and will be good for 70k if well looked after. When u turn it over listen for a rattling sound from the engine. Because he oil doesn't start going around straight away, poor quality part apparently. Some will rattle for 5 seconds or so then settle down. But if it continues to rattle the. Budget for a replacement chain straight away. It's all in looking at the history and putting it together what has been done and not.

 

[Gez]

Make sure he gets the 1.2 twin port, you can put an Astra vxr engine straight in and can use the 1.2 ecu due to it being a 'canbus' system, just wipe that one clean and upload an Astra Vxr map lol.

 

[badbuzz2]

We had a 1.8sri now it might just have been we bought a lemmon but was 3 years old form dealer we had issues with tappets, the Chain driven, drive shaft went to name some of the issues...

Personaly I would never touch one and I would never recomend one that being said my sister has a 1.2 sounds horrendus buts its a 2004 and just keeps going shes never had an issue with hers.:thumbsup:

 

[Robo_#1]

If memory serves me well the damp in the passenger footwell is from the firewall. So look out for the stale smell and fogging windows. Chain driven engine needs a regular service and will be good for 70k if well looked after. When u turn it over listen for a rattling sound from the engine. Because he oil doesn't start going around straight away, poor quality part apparently. Some will rattle for 5 seconds or so then settle down. But if it continues to rattle the. Budget for a replacement chain straight away. It's all in looking at the history and putting it together what has been done and not.

Cheers mate!

Make sure he gets the 1.2 twin port, you can put an Astra vxr engine straight in and can use the 1.2 ecu due to it being a 'canbus' system, just wipe that one clean and upload an Astra Vxr map lol.

Haha, his car will end up being quicker than mine!

 

[Harrisp]

My Mrs used to have a Corsa 1.4 16v Twinport. Had it for 5 years and it never missed a beat. People say its the best engine Vauxhall have ever built .

They have a plastic syncromesh in the gearbox.

No the don't and no they haven't :blink:

 

[kash]

Ive had two a 1.0 and a 1.2, They make an ideal first car in my opinion. My 1.2 was on 88,000 miles when i sold it about 5 years ago and i still see it running around in the village.

If i was going to buy one again id go for an Exclusiv because they come with a load of Irmscher styling, leather seats and climate control.

 

[FISHBOY]

No the don't and no they haven't :blink:

Having owned 4 Vauxhalls I believe people do regard this as one of the best they ever made and yes it does have a plastic linkage in there because I had to get it changed by Vauxhall as it is a common fault...

Opinions are like @rseholes - everybody's got one....

 

[FaithlessEmo]

Cheers mate!



Haha, his car will end up being quicker than mine!

i have drive a Vxr corsa and although they are fast in a straight line on a dry road from a rolling start, that is about it. The corsa chassis just isn't up to anymore power than the standard engine. The one I drove would get wheel spin in 4th in the dry and wheel spin in 5th in the damp. Put abit of lock on and in the wet you will get wheel spin in 6th. Any twisties you tend to tip toe around until straight and then boot it and hold on. Lol.

 

[danrst]

I had a 1.2 twin port corsa sxi which i kept for 25k miles with no issues. I part ex'd it for a clio 182 which ended up needing a gearbox change, headlight, new front springs etc.

I think the thing to be careful with is insurance. It can cost alot because of the image the cars. But the engine is fairly pokey compared to other 1.2 petrol cars I've driven.

 

[Robo_#1]

Having owned 4 Vauxhalls I believe people do regard this as one of the best they ever made and yes it does have a plastic linkage in there because I had to get it changed by Vauxhall as it is a common fault...
Opinions are like @rseholes - everybody's got one....

I think what Harris was referring to is that it's the gear linkage that's plastic, not the synchromesh. But not to worry, you raising the issue made me do some digging around and know I get the problem . Thanks.

i have drive a Vxr corsa and although they are fast in a straight line on a dry road from a rolling start, that is about it. The corsa chassis just isn't up to anymore power than the standard engine. The one I drove would get wheel spin in 4th in the dry and wheel spin in 5th in the damp. Put abit of lock on and in the wet you will get wheel spin in 6th. Any twisties you tend to tip toe around until straight and then boot it and hold on. Lol.

Yeah having driven the Corsa C, Astra G and Astra H (and a Zafira haha) I would never own any Vauxhall. The Corsa C and Astra H handling is so bad it's verging on dangerous, SO MUCH UNDERSTEER! That's why I don't really want him to get one, the problem is that the Mk5 Fiesta looks really dated now, and the MkII Clio has a girls image (non RS variants) so he obviously wants the Corsa. They seem fairly reliable and parts seem cheap, so it does have its advantages I suppose.

 

[Harrisp]

Having owned 4 Vauxhalls I believe people do regard this as one of the best they ever made and yes it does have a plastic linkage in there because I had to get it changed by Vauxhall as it is a common fault...

Opinions are like @rseholes - everybody's got one....

Ive owned plenty of vauxhalls including a corsa c, I'm not going to argue with you if you don't know the difference between a linkage and a synchromesh. The best engine vauxhall ever made is a matter of opinion but my vote would go to the (c)20xe a 20 odd year old engine that is/was still being used competively.