Faults:

Normal wear and tear items such as:

Brakes.

Wipers.

Wheel bearings.

Serpentine belt and pulleys.

There is rust.

Head gasket.

Oil leaks.

General Comments:

Overall the bakkie has been reliable. It gets me from point A to B and looks decent while doing it.

I've spent a lot on it, probably more than it was worth simply because of the previous owner's lack of maintenance.

I did a lot of preventative maintenance too, and recently did an engine overhaul. The goal is to see how long I can drive this vehicle before it gives up.

Since it's a coastal vehicle, now in Gauteng, there has been rust popping up, especially the sills under the door and so on, but mechanically it's sound.

Faults:

Car pull to right side when braking heavily at 6000 km.

Left back tyre wears quickly only on inside at 6800 km.

Coolant water bottle broke / leak at 7500 km.

Driver's door window jammed at 8700 km.

Knob to open the passenger door on inside kept sliding out at 9000 km.

Coil cap and plug leads had to be replaced at 27500 km.

Timing belt tensioner broke at 34000 km.

Valves bend, new top at 34000 km.

Car just died completely after a few minutes driving at 36 700 km. You wait for an hour to restart. Drive for a few minutes, then the car goes dead again.

Faults:

Bought a used 2002 Corsa Rogue this year, May 2010, at 134000kms.

Worked fine, no problems for about 4 months, then the headaches started.

At first, it started coughing (jerking like there was no petrol) while doing about 110km/h. This was the first warning sign. Took it in, had the fuel filter replaced (even though this was before service time). It worked well for a week, then started coughing and needed to change down to recover. This issue got more and more frequent, and then it started losing power (while driving at any speed, you would hear the revs high, but the rev counter would gradually go all the way down to zero, till the car switched off).

Had to to wait 10-30 minutes, started the car, and away it went with no problems - sometimes. At other times, it would go 300m and then it would cut out. Took it in for diagnosis and checkup, no problems found. Another mechanic who had one suggested we replace the fuel relay. This was done, car ran with no problems for 3 to 3.5 weeks, and then all of a sudden started coughing again, and losing power again. Took it to an ex Opel mechanic, and he stated the possibilities of the cause of the problem I am experiencing:

Fuel relay - This was changed - R470.00.

Idle control valve - R3200.

Mass airflow sensor - R1900.

Crank position sensor - R2800

Coil pack - R4000.

As I do not have the money to replace all of these items, I drive on the extreme left every day, waiting for the coughing, then change down and hope it kicks in again.

The coughing and losing power is like it's not getting fuel. This happens even with a full tank. It can occur just after starting up in the morning, or after 5 minutes driving, or after a day of driving.

Any Opel - car never again!!!

General Comments:

Very good car when it works properly...