New Model- New Problems ? (Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.0i 12v 3-door)

Member Name: sidneygee

Product:	Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.0i 12v 3-door
Date:	19/11/01 (6426 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Better than the old model

Disadvantages: But NOT in all respects

Our elder daughter had the pleasure of the use of a current model, Y registered Vauxhall Corsa as a loan car whilst her 1997 (previous model) Corsa 'Breeze' has been in the body shop. Some miscreant in a Nissan 200 coupe decided to modify her rear bumper a few weeks ago, so it went in for a 'no fault' repair, courtesy of the Nissan Driver's Insurers.

We bough the Corsa now owned by our Daughter in August 1997, and we have been well-pleased with it. This has been the subject of a DooYoo opinion entitled " Not a Great Car, perhaps ...."

I had a 20 mile drive of the loan car, so these are my impressions, relative to the older model, and they have all been discussed with and endorsed by my daughter.


When launched last year, there was the usual amount of gushing praise by the muttering rotters and reptiles in the media, all lolling their tongues out at the thought of all that lovely advertising revenue. Such an 'improvement' over the previous model, so all the puff said.

The pre-2000 model had been in production for over 7 years and generally impressed in the super-hatch market with its style, interior space and cheap servicing. Dynamically it did not excite a keen driver and was thus never considered to be the equal of the equivalent model Polo or Fiesta or even, on occasions, the Micra.

However, with our 2,300 accumulated GM Credit Card points (see op entitled "Why doesn't everyone have one?"), and negotiated discount, we bought that car new for £6,200, with 1 year ‘free’ insurance. That insurance deal was so valuable to us. For an extra £50 we included initially 2 (and later 3) student drivers then under 21 - one of them a learner !). Thus, even if it wasn't the brightest kid on the block, it suited our needs and purpose at a very advantageous price

That was for a 5 door model with a 1.4 litre 8 valve-engine, power steering, sunro
of, and radio-cassette player. We have been well-satisfied; there were no problems at all during the warranty period and since then we have replaced one exhaust and one tyre (accidental damage). It now has just over 36,000 miles on the clock, and will require a couple of new front tyres before too long, and the battery will require replacement by winter 2002/3. The servicing from Vauxhall was not entirely to our satisfaction, but that is another issue (and opinion to be written).

Anyway, enough of the old model - what about the new one and, more important, will I be tempted to buy one ? After all, I now have 2,515 GM card points on my GM card (thanks to extra partner points). We now do most of our spending on Heather's card, which has another 1,000 points or so. Our current intentions are to trade in our Renault Espace between March and July, for a Vauxhall of some sort....

This loan car was a fairly basic Special Edition 'e' model, based on the Club base level car. I had seen them advertised at the local Vauxhall dealers at £6995, on the road, with metallic paint. However, the best deal on a Corsa at present is on the SXi special edition for about £8995 (3 door) with a year's free insurance.

LIKES
1 Body shape
In my opinion, this is improved. It is even more spacious than the old model, and I do like the look of the high-level rear lights. It will be interesting to see if the external dark grey plastic withstands the effects of light which whitened the trim on the older model. No way of stopping this photo-degradation, and replacement of this plastic trim costs about £80 in total.

2 Seats and driving position
Much more comfortable, and I reckon I could drive it long distances without getting a pain in the thigh – as I could NOT in the old model.

And there are THREE headrests in the rear (that was only available on the top of the range). Three lap/diagonal seatbelts are n
ow in the rear (rather than the two plus a lap belt with the previous model).

3 Economy
Over the 280 miles that our daughter drove, it used £20 of fuel, and she handed it back with a little more petrol than when she collected it. That averages out at about 45 mpg. This compares with about 38 mpg average for the 1.4 Corsa old model in the same sort of driving.

4 Standard Fittings
Power steering, Drivers airbag and central locking were quite expensive options with the old model, and were difficult to find in stock (requiring special orders). Indeed, one of the features which attracted us to the old ‘Breeze’ special edition model was the power steering as standard.

5 Instruments
So many of the previous model did not have a rev-counter, but all of the current model Corsa have them. So useful to be able to check the engine speed ... if you are that way inclined ... and a petrol-head ... which I am. A warning light is also there to show when a door is not closed properly.

6 Radio/Cassette
Superior RDS radio/cassette. All models now have a decent radio-cassette. The low rent versions with the previous model had only 2 speakers and our cassette player lasted 18 months before it started 'slipping' badly. All current models have at least 6 speakers fitted.

7 Seats
Better back support and the fabric appears hard-wearing - and they have 'Active headrests', which seem to give even better protection against whiplash injury. All models now have the seat height adjustment.

8 Brakes
One of our slight criticisms of the old model was that the brakes seemed 'spongy'. We asked for this to be attended to at the first service, but there was no improvement, and our soon 'bled' the brakes himself, but again no improvement. Those on the Novas were very poor (an acknowledged weak point with the model).

The brakes on the new model were first class. <
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9 Warranty
Now, you get a total of 3 years' warranty. 12 months, unlimited mileage manufacturers warranty, with a the second and third year up to 60,000 miles, including breakdown cover. All you have to do is have the car serviced by a Vauxhall dealer - with service intervals at 20,000 miles/12 months. Much improved on the older models where the 2nd and 3rd year extension to the warrantee cost, I think, about £350 - and the servicing was every 10,000 miles. Thus as long as the car is serviced annually, by a Vauxhall garage, then it should be good for 3 years at least

10 Price for package
Overall, the prices are cheaper, and you get more for your money than in 1997, so are my conclusions WOWEEEE !!!! - MUST go out and buy one whilst stocks last ?

With my GM card points, I could go out and buy a 3 door E model for about £4,400 what a bargain !!!

Well, ... er .... no, not quite.

As indicated there are so many good improvements made to a car which has been well-liked by the Gee family. But, there is no such thing as the perfect car, in any range.

DISLIKES

So what didn't we like about the new Corsa ?

1 Engine
I cannot say that I enjoyed the 3 cylinder engine. OK, the power output is not much less than the old 1.4 litre engine (58 bhp compared with 60bhp), but it is much more sluggish.

The reason for this is that the torque output from the engine is less (85 Nm compared with 106 Nm at higher engine speed (3,800 rpm, rather than 3,000 rpm). And THAT makes the difference. As the Yanks say with their 'gas-guzzlers' - "There ain't no substitute for coobic inches".

Apart from the relative lack of power, I did not enjoy the engine noise. On starting it seemed to 'chug' - like some old bangers I used to own in the 1960's and 70's. The resultant engine noise has an unpleasant 'beat'.

How about t
he 1.2 litre (4 cylinder) engine ? Well, that is a possibility, but I have been put off all small Vauxhall Ecotec engines because of reports in the motoring press of cambelt problems.

2 Power Steering
The power steering on the old model was the type operated by hydraulic fluid. This gave plenty of 'feel' and was not too light. Such a vast improvement over the older model Corsas without power steering. But the new Corsa has an electric power steering. This is just so light that it feels like the sort of steering wheels that are used on computer games .. no effort at all.

It is supposed to become heavier at speed, but if it did, it was not sufficient. The Astra has a similar system, which seemed to work so much better on a test drive with one of those models.

3 Gearbox
One of our minor dislikes of the old model Corsa was that the gearbox was 'notchy' when new and this has not improved. Indeed, in spite of careful lubrication, it has become slightly 'sloppy' as well.

That one the new model shows no improvement. Indeed it is little better than that on our son's 95,000/110,000 mile Novas.

4 Driving Impressions
The whole car is lighter than the old model by over 70 kilograms, and I suspect that all of that is at the front of the car. Perhaps this is why the new car did not feel as stable in cross winds?

Oh yes, and the indicators make an annoying noise. I did not really notice but daughters and Heather did, and reckoned they could not 'live' with it ( ... women ... huh .....!!!).

5 Trim
Well, apart from the seats, I wasna impressed. The doors were lined with cheap plastic mouldings that marked easily. I would find this difficult to live with. I also reckon that they are relatively expensive to produce, when compared with fabric trim for doors (that would weigh less, I am certain). The more expensive versions have cloth trim on the doors.


One of the problems with all cars now, with the provision or the option of a passenger airbag, is that the very useful shelf on top of the passenger side of the dashboard has now disappeared. A real loss - somewhere to put the letters to post .. or the street map .....

6 Bodywork
Well, I thought that we had problems with the paintwork on Heather's Honda Accord Type R.. The same property of ‘soft paint’ is there with the new Corsa – in spades !!! It had obviously been through car-washes and the silver metallic paint showed up loads and loads of fine scratches, which would not polish out (I tried). This is the downside of the new environmentally friendly water-based spray paints being used by the UK/EC car plants

I also noticed that when the doors were closed, the door tops flexed. I would not be surprised if the doors eventually distort and there are water leaks ...

The external door handles, in black plastic look cheap... and nasty ... and fragile ..

Conclusions
So how did our daughter feel overall ?

Well I went with her back to the dealer to return the car and to collect her own car.

She reckoned that her own car would feel like a bag of cr*p, being over 4 years and 36,000+ miles old, but no.

She soon enthused about 'her' power steering, which although a little heavier, has more 'feel' ... and the feeling of solidity ... and the extra power of the 1.4 litre engine ... and that handy shelf on the passenger side of the dashboard ... and the much more acceptable noise made by the indicators.

So I reckon Vauxhall will be hard-pushed to tempt her with a new Corsa when she comes to change cars in 2003.

But would I buy one ?

Well, as indicated above the price is certainly tempting. At £6995, even assuming little extra discount for a cash (no part-exchange) deal, it would be tempting with a £2,515 GM point discount. Bu
t could I live with it ? Well, no, most definitely not with that model. That engine note, the general lack of substance of the car, those plastic door liners (and Heather moaning about the indicators would annoy more than the noise itself).

But how about the Elegance ... or the SXi ... but how much better is that 1.2 engine ? .... or the SRi ...perhaps with a 1.4 litre or even a 1.8 litre engine .... Well, perhaps, but the price of the 1.8 litre SRi is more than an Astra 1.8 SRi costs (and the Astra indicators sound nicer) ... decisions ... decisions ....

Other Models ?
Well, if it wasna for the GM points and I was searching the market for a new small hatchback, I would look at the Toyota Yaris, the Renault Clio, and wait to look at the new Polo and even the new Fiesta.... or the new Micra when it appears.

My money (at full whack) would certainly be unlikely to go on a new Corsa. But I did prefer it to a Peugeot 206 ... and many of the problems could be corrected if GM put their tiny minds to them ... and also sort out their Vauxhall dealers, perhaps ?

© Sidneygee 2001

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