I have owned my Vauxhall Corsa Club now for six months and have loved every minute of it.
It's a high quality affordable car, drives like a dream, 45-50 mpg easily, tax is 70pound for 6 months, very cheap to run, spacious enough for five people on long journeys, never let me down only thing ive had to replace is a break light.
Im so gutted to have to get rid of this car but need to buy something cheaper and release some money, excellent car all round!
Kole J
Published: 9 month(s) ago
Vauxhall has managed to come into the eco scene with the Corsa EcoFLEX. It's a good attempt at a world-friendly vehicle and I decided to buy one to save some money. It doesn't look too bad: has alloys and decent trim, so nobody will really know it's an eco-model. Which is nice.
Inside, it's basically a standard Corsa. It's relatively well-made and feels chunky enough to live with. Its engine is underpowered, but you're in a supermini designed for eco, so what do you expect?
I'd recommend this car for mothers who need to cut bills and for students who are looking for a nice cheap motor to keep them going through uni.
I'd been driving this car for the best of 10 years (bought it second hand as my first car) and I'd been very happy with it.
It doesn't have all the modern 'toys' and is just a simple car, but it also means that there are less things that can go wrong.
Like all the vauxhall of this build, it corrodes quickly at the door of the boot, specifically around the back wiper. Corrosion underneath is also an issue but after such a long time in service quite understandable.
The engine has been very reliable so far, with only one bigger issue over all the years. It's simple to service and therefore not too expensive from this point of view. With approx. 7L/100km it is all right to run during the year. Although it is not the most comfy for long travels, it's is very fuel efficient on the motorway, managing 5.1L/100km (some of the modern cars that engine size cannot do that).
In terms of comfort, it could be a bit modern. The biggest drawback is that it does not have power steering. I can only see that as an issue now that I am driving a newer car. The materials start wearing out now, mainly the seats are not comfortable any more. It is a bit noisy when driving, but again something quite normal for a car this age.
The handling was also never an issue, although I have to admit that the engine is not powerful enough to ever get the car to its limits. The breaks are fine for a car that size and the clutch is very user friendly. In a way, the car is ideal for a starter as it is easy to handle and does not permit speeding.
I would have certainly liked to still drive it, but had to change to a 5 door car as handling with a baby is a bit difficult.
All in all, a simple car that has been reliable and with low running costs.
First things first, this is NOT the town/school/Tesco runabout that other Corsas are. It's too snappy and trigger happy for that. If you're looking for a Vauxhall Corsa and you see one with a VXR badge on, you've probably strayed into the wrong area. This car should be on the list of someone looking at done up Golfs, that sort of thing. It's a fun boy's toy and that's what I love about it. I work hard, I play hard, that's it. It gets some odd looks when I turn up for business meetings, but it's just jealousy haha.
Take it round the lanes and tracks and then it's at home. Good in corners, almost no rolling about, nice stiff suspension gives you lots of good feedback about the road.
I dunno what the paperwork is on about for the MPG score, I think it says high 30s or something. I must be spending £300 a month on petrol. It's a performance car and I appreciate that, and maybe I'm not driving it carefully enough, but anyway that's something to watch out for and be prepared for. I might have to trade it in if we eventually have a kid or something.
I do love my Vauxhall Corsa VXR but, god love it, it's given me a lot of trouble. If I didn't love it so much I would have shifted it a long time ago, and I think if I turned my back for a few minutes my girlfriend would get rid of it for me lol..
Anyway off the top of my head, the flywheel died, there were some unexpected problems with the brakes. Some bits of trim inside and out have just fallen off and needed replacing, and the clutch died after about 10k miles. Most of this was done under warranty but I'm gonna need to drive it a lot more carefully after the warranty period (soon), which will make it a much less appealing car I think.
The fuel economy on the Vauxhall Corsa is good but that's about it really. It's an alright car around town, reasonably nippy and moveable. But get it on the motorway and it's out of its depth, not a happy bunny.
The interior trim is a bit flaky and plasticky, not falling off but not really that great quality. Other stuff is worse though. The seats give very little support, and I'm young and healthy so I hate to think what others make of it. My mum doesn't seem to mind but she's quite small anyway.
My boy managed to dent the door quite badly when he rode his bike into the side of it. I don't blame him for this, it wasn't high speed and the door came off far worse than you could reasonably expect. Doesn't give me much confidence about how the Vauxhall Corsa would fare in a crash.
Pretty poor for visibility too. Sitting in the driver seat you're pretty low down and the windscreen is long and shallow, so you actually can't see the bonnet at all. That makes it really hard to judge distances. Meanwhile the back windows are high up and small with fat pillars in the way, doesn't make for easy parking.
I stall it more often than I'd expect. I'm an experienced driver and I think I know what I'm doing but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. It's just a low speeds but still not something you'd expect from a modern car.
On the plus side like I said it's economical, and for that reason the tax is cheap. It's pretty small, so even if you can't judge the distances that well at least you can get it into most parking spaces. I'm glad we got the 5 door, easier to get people in and out and access the kids when they're in the back.
Not sure I could recommend the Vauxhall Corsa though, to be honest.
I've had this Vauxhall Corsa almost four years now and regretted having it all that time. I was getting really really tired of looking for cars, it was raining, Christmas was coming up and I just wanted it sorted. Now I wish I'd just taken my time over it, I would have saved so much hassle.
I think it's probably safe to say that the problems I've had are common to other Vauxhall Corsas, they certainly seem that way. The faults that I've had like the handbrake sticking seem common from other owners complaining of similar things online, and there have been a good few recalls of the car for different 'safety' issues. What this means is that Vauxhall released a car with numerous unsafe bits, which isn't a nice thought. Each time there's a new one I keep thinking there are probably loads of others they haven't worked out yet.
Sometimes it just.... loses power! Hah! I like my cars to, yknow, drive. But the Vauxhall Corsa has other ideas sometimes. Thankfully it hasn't yet happened at speed, but who knows?? The dealer doesn't seem all that interested since they obviously can't replicate the problem, only happens now and again.
Apart from mechanical failures, it's generally not a nice car to be inside. Uncomfortable seats, really uncomfortable. Silly 3 door arrangement, difficult to get in and out of the back despite meaningless spiel from the salesman to the contrary. Very uninteresting to drive, just happy to get out of it and leave it alone.
I'm frankly baffled by the Vauxhall Corsa's broadly good ratings from 'professional' reviewers. Goes to show you need to keep a car for a while to know what it's actually like. Any other review isn't worth much.
My wife and I rented a Vauxhall Corsa on a recent holiday in Germany. So this was a nearly new car and I didn't have any 'reliability' issues to report really. My experience is mostly just of driving the car for a short time, and it was a very negative one.
At home I own a Toyota Yaris Verso, which is fantastic compared to the Vauxhall Corsa. My car has excellent visibility, nice upright seats and good driving position, unobtrusively positioned mirrors, easy seating arrangement etc.
By contrast the Vauxhall Corsa is a horrible car to drive. First of all it's a 3 door with enormous doors that are very hard to get in and out of even if you park it with a good amount of space between you and the next car. If you do wedge people into the back, and then try to put the front seats back into position, they somehow forget the position they were in and you have to wind them back to the reclined position they were in. That's another thing: why have a stupid dial that you have to slowly wheel round and round to get the chair to recline? How is that helpful? My Yaris has a little lever you just lift up and the chair moves freely until you let go of it. Simple! The Vauxhall Corsa is very annoying by comparison.
Next problem: you're basically sitting on the floor it's so low down, so your legs are kind of in the air and all your weight gets uncomfortably forced into your hips, and also your trousers get crumpled up into your stomach which takes a lot of adjusting, and even then can leave you in discomfort. I thankfully didn't have that far to travel in it, but I would dread long journeys in a Vauxhall Corsa if I had to make them.
Next problem: visibility is SHOCKING. The windscreen stops short in a really daft place so if you're a normal man's height like me (6'1") you can't actually see the traffic lights when you pull up. You find yourself bending round in a weird position. Then there are the MANY blind spots all round the Vauxhall Corsa. Ridiculous, and really dangerous. The front pillars are huge and in silly places. The rear view mirror is huge and in a silly place which obscures a lot, including pedestrians. The rear side windows are really really small, and badly obstruct your vision. While turning into a side street I nearly had a bike ride into the side of the car because, despite checking, I literally did not see him.
The boot is a daft size. We got three hand luggage suitcases in there and it was full. So, a four person car which carries three people's luggage. Nice one Vauxhall.
The aircon was stupid too. We ended up with cold arms and hot backs, surely there's a better way to cool the car properly throughout.
Handling and performance I would begrudgingly rate as ok, but who knows, based on how rubbish the car was new, I can well imagine it getting worse as it ages. Likewise fuel economy was ok, but not overwhelming for such a small engine.
I think I've made my point. AVOID THE VAUXHALL CORSA!
The vauxhall corsa i have owned for a year has been great in a number of ways, with few downfalls.
I got 55-60mpg on motorway drives, and around 40-45mpg round town. Surpisingly good on the motorways, good acceleration. Very easy to drive around the town with back seats able to carry 3 people with ease. The boot is a respectable size although not great for golf clubs.
The dissapointing parts of the car are the build quality on the interior. I am not overly bothered by it but compared to competitors the interior is average.
I got one of these when they were first out in 2003. I had it for a couple of years and it was a pretty fun car to have. I mean I'm no petrolhead and I've never really driven anything that powerful (well, vans, but not power/weight wise). The Corsa is sort of jumpy and fun, compared to the Fiesta that I previously had. I got it up to around 100mph now and then without it feeling like it was gonna fall to pieces.
I had the 3 door 1 litre 12 valve Corsa model, and a friend of mind had the 1.2 litre 16V. Actually when we drove in his you could really feel the difference in power and acceleration, but I never said so! Horses for courses I suppose, his car no doubt used more fuel than mine (which was very reasonable).
Space inside is ok. I'm not that tall but I reckon it might be a bit cramped if you were that much over 6ft. Space in the back isn't so big either; the middle passenger really has to be a child (ok for us as our middle passenger was a child!). The boot is alright, not massive, not tiny. Not really enough space for a family of five's luggage, we needed a roof rack for hols.
Parts are easy enough to come by. Having said that, I sold it on to a friend after a couple of years and I know he's had to have quite a bit of work done on it. So, available parts but you might need to buy them a bit too often!
I had a look on ebay and it seems they're going for about 3 grand nowadays, which is really good compared to what I paid new. I'd say go for it, but expect to be doing at least some work on it, possibly quite a bit.
I've had one of these for a couple of years, somebody told me it was a 'supermini' soon after I bought it and I was quite upset. But looking at it, it's not that feminine. And it drives very well, round the city at least. It's only a little 1.0 so it struggles on the motorway sometimes, and I'm not really comfortable taking it too far. I thought I heard the engine really struggling once or twice.
The best thing is the fuel economy, I get at least 50mpg easily, the insurance is really cheap too. It's safe and the handling feels forgiving and predictable. Not sure about the brakes to be honest, they could do with a bit more punch. A bit spongy.
Add the alloy wheels, nice interiors, some good features, and you've got a really great car all round. It's my second car now which is better because as I said I don't like it on long journeys. Can't get that 'supermini' comment out of my head though. It just feels a bit feminine.