Love it or loathe it - the Marmite of the car world... (Vauxhall Corsa (pre 2000))

Member Name: rahbar

Product:	Vauxhall Corsa (pre 2000)
Date:	14/01/03 (765 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: reliable, cheap to run

Disadvantages: handling poor, heavy steering, underpowered

Had our 1999 1.0 manual 3door for a couple of years now. What can I say?

As you can probably imagine, this is not the quickest car in the world, but then that's not why we bought it (actually bought for my wife to learn in). The 1.0 litre engine is actually adequate for pootling to and from work in, although as you can image it lacks any real punch and overtaking is usually a no-no...

Interior is, again, 'adequate' without anything special to set it apart from anything else in its class. That said, nothing has fallen off yet and the controls all still feel positive.

Maintenance wise, I'm happy with it - we've had a engine sensor go and a couple of bulbs, but that's about it - it happily starts even on cold mornings without complaint. I guess this is exactly what you want from a car like this.

The biggest failing of this car has to be the handling. It's simply rubbish. Cornering the car wallows a little and is rarely positive with the general ride being OK, though wearing on long journys. The steering is also incredibly heavy for such a small car - it desperately needs power steering, especially given its less than impressive turning circle. The newer Corsa series are much better in this respect, I believe.

Overall, uninspiring but good day-to-day runaround (possibly second) car. If you can pick one up for a reasonable price, probably worth it.

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