2003 Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.2 16v petrol from UK and Ireland
Summary:
The best bargain super-mini you could buy
Faults:
While on my way down to Devon on holiday about a week after I picked it up I noticed my steering was pulling dramaticlly to the left while going over 50mph, so I swapped the tyres over and that was sorted.
As I turned corners my seat would sort of slide across, only a little, but it was annoying. After a few whines and moans to the dealership, whose excuse was well we can't do anything with an intermittent fault, decided to take it for a test drive and then it was found to be the height adjuster which they replaced.
While the above fault was going on my fan fell off when I was on the way to work, this was in the second week. The fault was a nut falling off. Due to the fact that the car had air conditioning it had a reverse thread nut so had to be ordered, so a night without my car.
Since I picked the car up there had been a bit of squeaking at low speeds on the brake pads, but shunning it off as brake dust and the fact they were new. But 2500 miles later I thought I'd better get them checked out. The first time they just cleaned them out and on the way home the squeaking started. So after a brief discussion with the service manager he agreed to a test drive and when we did he suggested new pads, which were replaced under warranty.
General Comments:
The 1.2 engine provided in the Corsa SXI was capable of 75bhp which was zippy enough for the town and superb on the motorway. Having already owned a 1.0 Corsa before I already knew how to handle the car, or so I thought. The extra 18bhp you gain with the extra cylinder and 4 valves was interesting. The car handled much better and could easily get you out of trouble with the right technique. Also the economy was not far off from the 1.0 really, I used to get an average 360-380 miles out of the 44 litre capacity tank, and with the 1.2 that was only reduced to about 330-350 so not too bad a difference. I had it in sapphire black so it looked very sporty and I also had air con added (at a £500 price) but then the free insurance helps. To be honest I drove a Peugeot 206 1.4 of the same power and there was no major difference, although admittedly the 206 could reacher a higher speed, but the mid range power was crap, and the Corsa had it were it was needed. Also compared to the 206 the Corsa is far better built and seems more spacious as well as cheaper and more for your money. The interior was mainly chrome effect round the handbrake lever, gearstick, door handles and CD player and it looked really nice especially with the white dials and chrome effect surrounds. Overall it is an excellent super mini and it isn't hard to see why it is the most popular one and the 2nd best selling car in the country. Fun to drive, powerful enough for the town and motorway, wears well, loves the open road.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 5th August, 2003
5th Jul 2005, 06:27
I normally drive a 2 litre car, but I had a Corsa SXi 1.2 hire car for a number of days and found a number of good and bad points.
The car is roomy and up to 40mph will keep up with most cars on the road, the main problem I found was that most of my driving is on motorways and A-road and the Corsa was too underpowered for this type of driving.
Above 70mph there was no acceleration and it was necessary to shift down 1 or 2 gears to keep up with the traffic flow, because of this the fuel economy dropped and I was only getting 34mpg on the motorway. I can normally achieve that with a 2.0 because the engine isn't working as hard.
Overall it was a good town car, but I wouldn't buy a 1.2 if doing a lot of motorway driving, a 1.4 may be better for this.