23rd Nov 2009, 11:00
To be honest I have no clue what all the whohar is about.. I'm on my first car as I learn to drive. 1 litre Corsa Envoy... year 1999 V reg.
It had had 4 owners previous to me, but the mileage on the clock made it a bargain.. First thing I did was get it serviced even AFTER it had just past its MOT with the previous owner.
Front brake pads needed redoing (but only cos it's wise to do as a learner); they were still another 4-6 months away from failing an MOT.
Replacement clutch cable and accelerator cable were dicey, but only cos I'm new and needed a bit less play in them..
All this was just down to wear and tear.
Cost of repairs and parts and manpower... £90.
Mileage I've done since I got it 3 months ago.. about 6-700.
Never had a single problem with it.
Cheap to run... I can run it half way round the world on 1 tank of gas and the tax is cheap.
Even better.. as a first time driver EVEN the insurance on it was cheap; £500, can't say fairer than that.
Only thing about the car that's wrong is due to its age, it obviously has minor scratches on the bodywork, but still looks good.
11th Jul 2007, 16:46
Our '99 Corsa 1.6 has been full of problems for the past 7 months.
A whole new exhaust fitted in January for approx £300.
MOT in May failed on emissions; allegedly EGR valve at fault (after loads of tests), in garage for 3 days, total £470.
6 weeks later electronics light came on. Took back to garage, they said it was the EGR valve - told them a new one had been fitted during MOT. Further investigations show our car is choked up with carbon, and needs near enough a new engine to remedy the problem, which was connected to the emissions failure during MOT - quoted £1200. We are now being told that a second hand engine may be a better option. Our car still in garage (same one with good reputation used throughout). Will probably be without it for 5-7 working days. Are we being ripped off?