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[jay99]

Hello

I have found a Vauxhall corsa 2001 Y reg 1.0 comfort for sale at £395 with three months MOT and no history, been told that mechanically the engine is good and cosmetically its all clean and tidy. The omega is getting too expensive to run and there are too many problems with it.

What are the pitfalls with this kind of car? It has 80,000 miles on it and it looks to be very cheap to run. What do I need to look out for? How big will the shock be changing from a nice big 2 liter omega to this little thing.

Thanks

[Webby the Bear]

You'll have to adjust your driving style to account for the stupidly poor acceleration.

[andrew38]

Owned that very model back in 2000-2002 a wretched thing, my wife would not drive it in the end, it had no acceleration whatsoever, positively dangerous at junctions. Corsa C with the 1.2 or 1.4 is the only way to go, the 1.0 is rare for a very good reason. As for the mileage can't comment as we ditched ours with 25k on the clock our currect 1.2 twinport has 65k and its fine.

[Varche]

I too wouldn't recommend the 1.0 except for short journeys around town maybe.

We have a 1.2 twinport Corsa C. It is economical, nippy and goes well at speed. parts are easy to come by and cheap enough. 1.2 has a timing chain so no cambelt changes. They do rattle if poorly serviced e.g. iregular oil changes. I am fairly sure all 1.4s have a cambelt.

Two things to have a look for. Wet on drivers side floor. That will be a leak from around the brake servo/bulhead seal. The other is the handbrake. make sure it works and feels like a handbrake.

[Webby the Bear]

I too wouldn't recommend the 1.0 except for short journeys of around 5 metres maybe.

Fixed that for ya Varche 

[Varche]

I too wouldn't recommend the 1.0 except for short journeys around town maybe.

We have a 1.2 twinport Corsa C. It is economical, nippy and goes well at speed. parts are easy to come by and cheap enough. 1.2 has a timing chain so no cambelt changes. They do rattle if poorly serviced e.g. iregular oil changes. I am fairly sure all 1.4s have a cambelt.

Two things to have a look for. Wet on drivers side floor. That will be a leak from around the brake servo/bulhead seal. The other is the handbrake. make sure it works and feels like a handbrake.

Except on 1.0 where it will be down to the driver.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Now then, I will actually disagree with some of the above.

The 1.0 is a pretty reasonable engine for around town and I find acceleration ok (0-60 is circa 14-15 seconds so there are far worse cars out there!) although overtaking would be more challenging (but achieveable).

The things to watch for (true of the 1.0 and 1.2 which are the same engine with the 1.0 only having 3 cylinders)

Water ingress on the drivers side - caused by ageing sealing strip around a bulk head plate, takes about an hour or so to fix with Sikoflex
Water ingress on the passenger side - caused by a seal on the fuse box in the engine compartment rotting out with age, about £25 for a new cover and around 20-30 minutes to change.
Rattling timing chain - listen to it on start up from cold to check, sign of poor maintenance
Water pumps leaking - tends to be on higher mileage cars, about an hour to change
CV joint boot clips - have a habit of rotting and becoming an MOT failure, not hard to fit but buy good ones so they last (and do them before water gets in knackering the CV joint).

Other than that its the usual bits that inflict all cars these days such as broken road springs etc.

The plus is the low cost insurance and great fuel economy, one of the ones I maintain gets circa 50 mpg around town driven sensibly and 60's on a run at 70. Plus with 12 months MOT, you will get 600-700 pounds for them every day of the week.

[The Sheriff]

We got a three cylinder skoda as a courtesy car about four years ago. As Mark said, fine around town but you really had to wring it's neck on the motorway.
The only thing I really couldn't stand was the sound of that engine. It is loud and sounds as if it's straining all of the time.

[jay99]

Now then, I will actually disagree with some of the above.

The 1.0 is a pretty reasonable engine for around town and I find acceleration ok (0-60 is circa 14-15 seconds so there are far worse cars out there!) although overtaking would be more challenging (but achieveable).

The things to watch for (true of the 1.0 and 1.2 which are the same engine with the 1.0 only having 3 cylinders)

Water ingress on the drivers side - caused by ageing sealing strip around a bulk head plate, takes about an hour or so to fix with Sikoflex
Water ingress on the passenger side - caused by a seal on the fuse box in the engine compartment rotting out with age, about £25 for a new cover and around 20-30 minutes to change.
Rattling timing chain - listen to it on start up from cold to check, sign of poor maintenance
Water pumps leaking - tends to be on higher mileage cars, about an hour to change
CV joint boot clips - have a habit of rotting and becoming an MOT failure, not hard to fit but buy good ones so they last (and do them before water gets in knackering the CV joint).

Other than that its the usual bits that inflict all cars these days such as broken road springs etc.

The plus is the low cost insurance and great fuel economy, one of the ones I maintain gets circa 50 mpg around town driven sensibly and 60's on a run at 70. Plus with 12 months MOT, you will get 600-700 pounds for them every day of the week.

Thank you for this mark and everyone I will be making inquiries and letting you know.

[Webby the Bear]

Test drive it, Jay and see what you think 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

You'll have to adjust your driving style to account for the stupidly poor acceleration.

One litre Corsa and two litre Omega should be pretty evenly matched.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

We have a 1.2 litre Corsa C on a 53 plate. It's not badged 'twinport' though.

What difference does this 'extra port' make?

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Is the Twinport the 1229 cc version?

Our car only has 1199cc.

[andrew38]

Is the Twinport the 1229 cc version?

Our car only has 1199cc.

Yep and an extra 5 bhp, think that is only difference.

[Marks DTM Calib]

30cc more, 5bhp more and a variable inlet manifold