Vauxhall Corsa Hatchback (2000 - 2004) 1.2i 16V SXi 3d Owner Review

I bought this car as a replacement for my fourth car - a Peugeot 306 D-Turbo - expecting a cheap, reliable runaround that would see me through the remainder of university. I have always had a bit of a soft spot for this generation of Corsa - and, given how many are still on the roads, I thought it a wise choice to hunt one down. However, I was a bit cautious as my brother's first car (also a Corsa C) spent more time in the garage than it did on the road - not even speaking figuratively there, either! Armed with the knowledge of my brother, I was confident that what I had bought would see me right for a year or so. However, this wasn't the case: Within two weeks, I had to change the oil pressure switch - which, whilst not being expensive or hard, was a bit messy and unnecessary. All seemed fine for a little bit - until the same thing happened six weeks later. This time, I took it to a garage, who changed the switch and sent me on my way. All seemed fine again for a month or so again, until oil started appearing on the engine block again. So, back to the garage it went - where I was told that the rocker cover gasket needed to be changed. This, along with the fact that the rear brake cylinders were spewing out fluid, was the demise of the car. Oh - and the speed sensor was gone, too - which meant that I was getting maximum power assistance on the motorway (pretty scary and dangerous!) That said, the Corsas still scrub-up pretty well: They haven't aged badly; the power steering is electronically-assisted, so it's nice and light when it needs to be, but heavy when you want it to be; the parts are fairly cheap, and there are plenty of guides out there to provide information on fixing things. The fuel isn't too bad, either - with mine averaging 42 mpg. If I were to summarise: I would think twice about having one again, and I would definitely do research (lots of it) before looking: Listen for the timing chain rattling, look for oil around the left side of the block, and make sure that the oil pressure switch has a back-up alibi if it has been changed. These cars still have a charm, and they're still decent enough - it's just they've all got different (and maybe not always truthful!) stories.