quick review – vauxhall corsa, 1.2, ‘00-’06 model

Vauxhall Corsa (not an image of the actual car)

Started off with borrowing my Mum’s Corsa when she wasn’t using it. Not a bad little car, smaller engine than the 206 and my previous 200, and this lack of power was noticable. Not didn’t provide enough punch for confidence to overtake on general single carridge roads, despite this it was a comfy and smooth drive. Fuel consumption was very impressive. Steering also came across as very light and smooth. Although I would get used to it, the dash’s controls/layout seem a little impractical, i.e. the headlights switch wasn’t on a stick behind the wheel, but instead on the dash located between the wheel and driver’s door. I had no problem with this but the switch wasn’t illuminated at all, so when driving at night and come to the end of your journey, to switch off the headlights you have to fumble around searching for the control. The Rover’s and the Peugeot’s were quite similar to each other in design, so just luck I guess.

+ Fuel consumption, ride, steering.

- Speed, power, dashboard control’s layout.

replacing an old friend

Since my Rover 200 pretty much died at the end of last week, I’ve had to find other ways to getting to work. I live about 40-45mins from work, 25.8 miles according to Google Maps, and there is no bus route (unless I could live with changing buses 4 times) no chance of catching the train (as I’d need to drive to the station) and I don’t fancy cycling over 50 miles a day! Plus car sharing with co-workers is out of the question as no one else is as silly as us to live out in the sticks.

So my only strategy is to use other peoples cars! 1) My mum’s Corsa (as she can be quite flexible getting to and from work. 2) My sister’s Fiesta (as she is currently in between jobs so no need for a car, plus she can’t really afford to run it). 3) My girlfriend’s 206 (though means having to detour to Oxford to drop her off at the Park & Ride).  Due to these pool of automobiles at my disposal, I thought it’d be a ideal opportunity start a car review between these three as I search for a predecessor for my 200.

My car was showing signs of another gasket failure, white smoke coming from the engine, loss of power, water disappearing etc etc and as the radiator was very old and knackered we replaced that in a vain attempt to put off what we knew – gasket issues. As this cost me hell of a lot a couple of years ago, and as it needs new wheels in the near future as my alloys are corroding I thought enough money has been spent on this old steed, time to put it out of its misery.

I’m looking to replace my car with something with a little more punch, as my insurance should be a little more friendly compared to when I purchased it a few years back. Because of this and the engines of the cars I’ll be driving, the review may concentrate on a superficial focus rather than on performance or mileage.

Expect all reviews within the next 7 days (hopefully).