The car is 1,5 years old; nothing to report; everything has been OK so far.
I have been using this car for 20,000 km. I have bought it new, a base model, no ABS / EBD, just prior to the Opel release of their TwinPort engine version. The more electronics you've got on, the most likely something will go wrong.
I assumed that their current model would be a ripe debugged mechanical design; since their 16V 1.4 engine motor had been in the market for almost 6 years. To this point I have had no mechanical problems. The engine efficiency is quite good. I am ordinarily getting 6,5 lit / 100km.
Performance for the 1.4 90hp engine? The car weighs 1.100 kg; It is rather heavy for this engine. The previous model scored much better in acceleration, because it was lighter.
Road grip is very much improved compared to the previous model. High speed cruising is quite stable too.
Comfort? Look to french rivals for that. The seats are stiff and uncomfortable. Noise? Rough and felt over 4.000 rpm; with 5th gear that is 135 km/hr, bellow that it is OK; I can live with that.
Service cost? Service intervals are every 30,000 km, double to the previous model. Generally speaking, opels are rather expensive to maintain in Greece.
It is quite roomy for its size. I had a very consciencious decision among cars like Honda Jazz, VW Polo, Ford Fiesta, Daihatsu YRV and Fiat Punto and this model. It was a compromise between value for money, performance, room, and previous owner experience with the Opel brand.
On the whole, if the car maintains its reliability, I would consider it a decent purchase, worth the 12,400 Euro I shelled for it.
I would also like to point that the electrical steering
system on the current corsa is inferior in 'feeling' than the hydraulic steering system of the previous model.
But then almost all current car designs have abandoned the hydraulic steering...
I have a Holden Barina (rebadged Corsa). Fuel economy in the city and town driving is very good - for high speed country driving, it's not so good. Seats are only comfortable for a few hours. After 24 hours, they're not at all comfortable. Inside space for seating is good - space once the back seat is down is very good - I've carried a clothes dryer and a small fridge with no problems. Brakes good even without ABS, aircon good, but struggles in very hot times.
In general, a very good vehicle for around a town and city commuting, but not a long-legged interstate cruiser.
Original reviewer: 1.5 year later, at 37500km the odometer LCD display died. Other than that just normal maintenance; spark plugs, air filter, regular oil changes.
Original reviewer. Sept. 2007, 50.000 Km, ordinary maintenance, no real problems. I expect to do a timing-belt change at 60.000 km. I still have the original Bridgestone tyres on the car.
Original reviewer. My Corsa is on 54,000 Km. I am satisfied with the overall performace. Fuel-wise, I am ordinarily registering 6.5 - 7 lit/100 Kms consumption. The only glitch I have to note is located in the rear drum system. When wet, they tend to stick (with handbrake on) and will not release when the handbrake is off. I will get this checked in the 60,000 km service job.
Original reviewer:\
Reaching 60.000 Km, my 1st and 2nd gear (manual gearbox on this Corsa) have become quite stiff and hinder gear change - not a pleasant thing in traffic jams. The problem has been a plastic lever contraption that transfers the gear stick motion to the engine gear-set. Being made out of plastic (??? to prevent vibrations coming in from the engine bay???) it lost its precision grip and miss-aligned the gears. I am getting it changed. Newer Corsas (following 2003) have a metal lever set I believe. This is a known issue for this engine.
That is called a link to the gearbox. I have changed mine too.
Original reviewer again.
Timing belt changed at 60.000 Km as specified by the manufacturer.
Currently going at 78.000 km - synthetic oil gets changed every 15.000 km.
Tires changed at 68.000 with Continentals.
Rather disappointed. Something seems to be going wrong with my wheel balancing when going around 130km/hr. I'll get this settled soon.
Generally speaking no additional problems to report. Rather pleased with my ownership.
A great number of these car get a major and expensive failure on the steering rack. I was fortunate so far.
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