Faults:

I was desperate for a black Vauxhall Tigra when I was able to buy my first car.

It has been serviced every year since, and ran fine for three years until its first MOT, which proved expensive.

Ever since something major has gone wrong with it every year.

There have been minor niggles like the seat covers wearing, the electric windows on go slow and making a terrible clicking sound unless fully down.

This year though, with 82,000 miles on the clock (is this a lot for a six year old car?) the left back wheel bearing and axle collapsed and had to be replaced. Very expensive.

And now cylinder four is apparently misfiring and they think the gasket head has gone as well as some exhaust valve. Looking at paying £1000 to repair all of this - the car can only be worth about £5000 at most now.

Plus, overall, servicing and MOT at Vauxhall garage is very expensive - I will not be buying Vauxhall again.

It's all a shame because the car looks so good and had proved fine for first few years.

Faults:

Brakes wear out quickly. Replaced with better spec ones after 55,000 miles.

Tyres wear very quickly on the front. Replaced all round after 40,000 miles.

Drivers seats starting to wear out at 60,000 miles.

General Comments:

What a fantastic car. I had wanted one from the first day I saw Michele Newman reviewing it at the Geneva Motor show many years ago, but hated the metallic orange color.

I finally purchased a replacement for my 3 year old Corsa in august 1997, placed the order on 1st arrived on 28th - I even drove it from the dealer with special road tax disc.

Nearly crashed it within 3 hours though!

The reliability has been excellent, backed up by a very good dealer (Knotty Green Garage in Bucks).

The performance is not rocket ship, but is getting there (with a few modifications).

I was disappointed to see that Vauxhall did not put the 2 litre engine or turbo 1.6 in it.

With the right tyres, the grip is superb, but wear is high (my driving style probably).

Fuel economy is better than the 1.2 Corsa, 315 miles between fill ups.

Visually stunning, looks fast when standing still!!

Faults:

The brake pads needed replacing recently.

New cam belt was fitted.

Nothing out of the ordinary for this sporty little number.

General Comments:

Although the suspension makes the drive a little bumpy, it's what you expect for a small sports coupe.

This car is the best I've ever had and gives the speed without the high insurance.

It's curvaceous without being ostentatious, although it's 4 years old it doesn't look outdated and stands out from the crowd in a big way.