Vauxhall Corsa Hatchback (2003 - 2006) 1.2 16V Design (80ps) 5d Owner Review

1.2 16V Design (80ps) 5d
Vauxhall Corsa Hatchback 2003-

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In their own words

Fine round around with good-ish miles per gallon, and it's nippiness on small engines like 1.2L. Fair space in the boot for your belongings and easy to drive and park as well. Although the downside of those cars is that the mechanical structure of the car isn't the best. There's always an issues that needs to be resolved unfortunately. Mostly suspension components that wear out more often than in most cars, shock absorbers, springs, top mounts, wishbones or ball joints. Brakes are seemingly good on them though. Some electrical faults like broken wires or corrosion if not maintained from time to time. Although parts aren't expensive and you can get spare parts everywhere for those cars, it does add up to a fair price at the end which most of the time is way above the value of the vehicle itself.

How reliable do you find the car?

Realistically the car has not had any major engine or cooling system issues, although the suspension components are quite weakly made on this car. In the past 2 years, the car had to have it's shock absorbers and springs replaced, front drive shafts, front struts along with top strut mounts, ball joints on several occasions, wishbones replaced, exhaust parts had to be replaced too. Where I live the roads aren't really that good, that's why those components wear quite quickly. Although the parts itself are fairly priced, it does add up after a while. Also the common issue on those cars is the airbag light that appears on the dash. Usually caused by fault sender module or broken wiring under the seats.

Does the car do everything you expected it to do?

In a way it did met my expectations. The car has a fair boot space. It is in some way economical as well as can do roughly 40mpg which isn't that bad. I've owned two Corsa's, SXI 1.2L and currently a 1.2 Twin-port and surprisingly both of them are quite nippy for its engine size and horse power. They can get you around town easily and are also easy to park as they're not exactly big cars in general. On long journeys they aren't as so good, because after driving it continuously for couple of hours, you'll feel discomfort.
  • How they rated it

  • Reliability: 3 out of 5 3.0
  • Meets Expectations: 3 out of 5 3.0
  • Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 3.0
  • czarek doesn't recommend this car

About their car

  • Fuel type Petrol
  • When purchased April 2014
  • Condition when bought Used
  • Current Mileage 92,000 miles
  • Average MPG 40 mpg