Of corsa you want one (Vauxhall Corsa Breeze)

Member Name: sandra101

Product:	Vauxhall Corsa Breeze
Date:	02/12/08 (691 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Roomy, not to expensive, feels solid

Disadvantages: seat height keeps falling down, ridiculous glove compartment

Now that I am leaving the two boys off at big school in the mornings my ten year old two door Corsa just wasn't working for us. The boys schoolbags are enormous and weigh about the same as a three year old, throw in a large sports bag some days with either a rugby or hockey kit and boots\shoes and add a hockey stick or tennis racquet depending on the season and pulling over to the side of the road and trying to throw them out of a two door car in three seconds flat is impossible.

After No. 2 son who sits in the back tripped over the front seat belt while trying to manoeuvre all his stuff and himself out I gave in and decided enough was enough. Now that I have my shiny new five door car I actually regret waiting so long as I have spent a large proportion of the the last 10 years lifting the drivers seat up and crouching double, wedged somehow into the back of the car with my butt sticking out in the rain trying to strap under fives into their car seats.

I wasn't sure whether to go with a new or reasonably new car but one of my brothers told me about a great deal Vauxhall were offering which was upto a £1000,00 trade in for your old car. No harm in investigating off I popped to the nearest dealer. I had done a little research and decided to go for either an Agila or a Corsa, as they are both cheap to insure, easyish on petrol and fit five.

When I arrived at the dealership I was really attracted to the little Agila, it was so cute, we had a little sit in it and I was very tempted. When we got round the back though and opened the boot it was a disappointment, so tiny it could only have fitted about four tesco bags of food, no way were you getting luggage etc. in there. Not that we use my car if we are going anywhere but you never know.

I then sat in the new Corsa, it felt much bigger than my old Corsa, and the boot would easily fit 10 bags of shopping or a couple of suitcases. On talking to the salesman by the time we took into account the £1000 trade in against the Corsa, only £500 against the Agila and my brothers points from his GM card which he was letting me use which would give me £1000 of a
Corsa but only £500 off the Agila. The larger Corsa actually worked out cheaper than the Agila.

On the test drive the main difference I could feel between the new Corsa and my old Corsa was how much more solid the new Model felt, it also had one of the highest NCap ratings for a smallish car and had driver and passenger airbags so I felt as a family runabout this would be ideal. The insurance group being a 1 meaning cheaper insurance was also a big plus.

I signed my life away and was able to choose my own numberplate from a list which was quite nice. A deposit paid I was told as long as I wanted red I could pick it up the following week. I was happy with red and it took the colour choosing experience out of my hands which would have driven me insane.

Instead of being an enjoyable experience it was actually quite terrifying as the thought of scratching, bumping, crashing this shiny red beautiful little beast was awful. I will put my hands up and admit that I couldn't even bring myself to drive it home from the garage on pick up day and made my husband do it. As soon as my daughter sat in the back of it she proclaimed "this car smells lovely" I had heard people talking of the new car smell but this was the first time I had been lucky enough to experience it and agreed with her.

Once home it was my turn to try driving it and I was quivering in my boots, but I couldn't just leave it sitting in the driveway so in I got and off I went. For the first week it was all quite scary but now a month down the line I feel comfortable, safe and am enjoying my new shiny toy.

When I first sat in the drivers seat it was very easy to higher the seat (I'm only 5'2") and each time you push the lever to raise the seat a little the seat goes forward a little which makes it very easy to find the correct driving position.

The dials, indicators, wiper controls etc. were all pretty much in the same position as they had been in the old Corsa so these were very easy to find. The main difference is in the indicators as a light push turns the indicator on for three or four blinks ideal for switching lanes and then turns off and you need to push hard to keep the indicator on. Panic sets in the first time you push hard to change lanes and then it doesn't switch off because it hasn't felt the turn, but after switching it all directions I managed to get it off.

As the engine is only 1000cc you can't expect this to be a flying machine but I'm not the boy racer type and the car is mainly used for the school run or work. It gives a smooth drive, moves along comfortably at 50mph and as you are getting cheaper insurance than with most other cars, speed isn't much to give up particulary if you are just doing urban driving. If you are going uphill don't even think about trying to overtake.

I have never had electric windows before so it was great driving upto the car park barrier in work, clicking the button to get the window down and inserting my pass to lift it. Unfortunately I parked and turned the engine off before remembering to put the window back up. I touched the up button and was surprised to find that the electric windows still worked without the engine being switched on.

Another nice touch is that the interior lights come on when you unlock the car letting you place your bag etc. and find the ignition with no problems. The interior lights also come on after you remove your keys until you leave the car which is great for getting your bag and anything else together.

The boot as mentioned previously is a really good size and as a family of five we really appreciate this.

There are three 3 point seatbelts in the back and there seems to be plenty of room for the kids legs, depending of course on how far back you push the front seats. Three reasonably built adults would be comfortable in the back, but it would be a bit of a squeeze if one or more was a little on the large size.

There is a radio\CD player pre-installed which can also be operated from controls on the steering wheel which is a lot safer in my mind than bending down to adjust stations. There is an ipod point which allows you to plug in your ipod and play it through the speakers, you need to purchase an adaptor for this.

I have air conditioning for the first time which is going to be great in the summer, the salesman assures me that it is also great in the winter for clearing the windows.

The key is on the remote control keychain and folds into the casing of the remote when not in use. With the remote you can press open once for just the drivers door or twice to unlock all the doors which is a great idea if you are in an iffy area and don't want someone else jumping in the passenger door when you press the button to open the car.

The petrol tank has the lid on a little attached by a plastic lead and a lilttle hook to hang it on when you are filling the tank. Great idea as I remember my dad years ago set the petrol cap on top of the car while filling up and drove off with it still there.

It has Anti-lock braking system (ABS) for extra safety. There is also a warning light and beep if the drivers seat belt hasn't been fastened. The wing mirrors can be adjusted from inside the car and are electric.

The car comes supplied with alloy wheels although I have to admit I really don't know what these are for??

- - Problems - -

There are a couple of problems - the glove compartment is soooo tiny. It barely fits more than a pair of gloves, in the old model I could have easily fitted in a tin of de-icer, my Taz ice scraping mitt and more. There is a little pull out shelf under the passenger seat which you can store stuff in which is a great idea but its not deep enough for a tin of de-icer so my tin is currently rolling about the floor.

I am a little disappointed that even with the seat at full height I still can't see the end of the bonnet but my brother tells me that all new cars have bonnets which slope a little more, to protect pedestrians so I guess I can't complain, it does make parking a little more difficult though when you can't see where the car ends.

The drivers seat seems to work its way back down to its original height within about two weeks of adjusting it up. This is a known problem and Vauxhall are working on a fix for it.

All in all a great little family runaround for under £7,000.00. Not suitable for boy or girl racers or very large families

Summary: Briliiant little run around

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