1.4T 140 Design Start+Stop 5dr Hatchback

Great motorway cruiser, just expect the odd bill

Bought as a main car due mainly to space on offer and running costs for the budget. Mine is a base Design spec but still comes with 95% of the kit I'd want to have, the only annoying omission being auto wipers.

Pros:
- 1.4 petrol is a peach and will do over 50mpg on the motorway without much effort. Who needs diesel?
- Gear change has a nice feel and steering is good (much improved on the facelift model, 2013 on)
- Great motorway cruiser
- Loads of boot space
- Bargain price as vast quantities sold to fleet
- Cheap servicing and maintenance costs (mostly)
- Good looking car
- Cheap to insure, tax and fuel
- All grades well equipped

Cons:
- Buy used, or keep for 10+ years, as they depreciate like a stone in first few years due to volume fleet sales
- Lots of little 'niggles'. Build quality is best described as 'satisfactory' rather than 'good'
- Some known faults not acknowledged as such by Vauxhall which are exacerbated by lazy design, such as a pedal assembly which was replaced under warranty for me. They are a known 'fault' amongst owners, they click and squeak as well as have a little lateral movement. They don't break, just click, squeak and move. You can't just replace the pedal, you have to replace the whole box. Perfectly safe when it happens so you can just live with it, but it is annoying and can't be repaired without replacing the whole assembly (circa £400 for the part) which takes around 7 hours to fit (taking it over £1k at a main dealer)
- Lots of lazy design points like TPMS valve that needed replacing and had to replace the whole sensor rather than just the valve (£10 vs. £160)
- Tyre noise is awful on OEM fit tyres. New Avon ZZ5's all round cured that
- Upgrade from OEM halogen bulbs is essential
- Had coolant housing, radiator box and water pump leaks over three consecutive days (three separate motorway breakdowns). Housing and tank are known weak points when pressurising the system
- Pre-emptive changing of transmission fluid a good idea, m32 gearbox is a known weak point (though better in facelifted models with revised bearings)
- Wind noise at motorway speeds is high, like a window is open when it isn't, though not pinpointed why yet as cabin seems well insulated when not moving (vents?)
- Manual rear windows are still a thing, apparently...! Unnecessary cost cutting.

Overall it is a great car depending when you buy it, how you use it and whether you can forgive its quirks and foibles. If you don't mind the odd fix through the year it's a great family car and quite cheap to run. Just hoping my fixes are done for a while!

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