Am looking to buy a small run around and after looking around think that a 2000 onwards Corsa 1.2 may be a good balance of reliability and running costs. Seems that it has a Suzuki engine with timing chain rather than belt. I have searched around for any problems to look out for, but there do not seem to be any major faults reported on these models - seems too good to be true for a Vauxhall!!
Any information good or bad would be appreciated before I go ahead and buy one. Alternative I am consdering is Fabia but appears that they are in short supply used, mainly from Main dealers looking for over the top prices.
Ta..
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Others seem to like to knock the Vauxhall Corsa but I can report that our 2002 1.0 litre Corsa has been perfect from Day 1. I have also noted there are very few faults with this model discussed here. Considering it is the best selling small car in the UK with many starting out by being thrashed around as company cars and by hire companies or used by driving schools particularly BSM, this speaks volumes for the build quality.
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I'd agree with victorbox. Decent build quality, strong engines, economical and in my experience reliable. Loads of dealers, cheap to service. Criticised for handling, but it's actually pretty good, like most modern cars, if not quite up with the best. Driving schools love them, which must say something about reliability. Best of all when you want to sell it, it'll dissapear like magic from the classifieds at a decent price.
JS
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Yes, probably. The 1.2 is a nice free reving engine but lacks low down torque, makes pulling away less than smooth or quite. My daughter has a 1.2 Corsa B that is carburetted. If the Corsa C you want is injected it may be better. Think motorbike engine!
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Was that the 8 valve 1.2? If so, I believe even they all have single point injection (which looks very like a carb). Carbs went out with the Nova (Corsa A in Europe) Necessary for the catalyst operation, of course. Not a revvy engine like the latest ones, but decent performance considerng the power output!
JS
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The more recent Corsas are fine, but the mid-1990s models had ride and handling qualities that were not amongst the best around.
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I agree, my early 93 K Corsa 1.2 8v has single point injection. It was also one of the last engines to have a distributor. The Haynes manual doesn't have any engine models with a carb. Accelerates like a stoned tortoise but it will happily sit at 70+ on motorways.
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JS, You are probably right about the carb, I didn't probe the thing, just cast my eyes over it. I don't know how many valves either (hangs head in shame)!.
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My first post here - especially as I thought I would chime in because of our recent Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 (2004) purchase.
Spent ages looking for a car to replace the wifes Rover 200 1.4. I do spend ages researching things like this - and like you tried to have a search around for faults with prospective models.
Didn't find anything worth worrying about with the Corsa C.
We had a 2003 Corsa 1.2 as a hirecar on holiday last month and was very impressed with it. More spacious than the Rover, nicer lighter clutch and power assisted steering that for me weights up nicely at speed.
So we ended up buying a 4 month old 1.2 Comfort model at the beginning of this month. I am very pleased with it so far, the ride on its 185/55/15's can be a little bumpy over poor road surfaces but on the other hand it helps with grip and keeping the car ontrack around corners when pressing on.
Thoroughly impressed after nearly one month of ownership.
Trevor.
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Thanks all for your advice, will now start the search for the right car at the right price
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