Can I trust 3 cylinder engine?

Puteq · 07-08-2012 2:31pm #1

Hi there, I am looking to buy a used car and recently viewed and test drove a 2004 Opel Corsa Njoy. The body of the car is in extremely good nick, 84,000 miles on the clock, going for €2,700. Reasonable enough I think but when I was test driving it, there was a lot of noise when i hit speeds about 40 mph. I mentioned it to the salesman, but he dismissed it as 'thats those 3 cylinder engines, they're like that'. Now I'm not talking about jet-engine loud, but it was annoyingly loud, as in turn your radio up quite high to hear it type of loud.

Anyway, not a dealbreaker by any means, but I was talking to my local garage guy (who I personally know so I trust him) and he advised me to stay away from the 3 cylinder cars. His thoughts on it were if its already making noise, it could be a sign of trouble to come - I'm not sure how accurate this is or if he's just being overly cautious or paranoid about that type of engine because of some negative experience he had himself in the past, so I was wondering what others would think of this advice? I'd appreciate any words of wisdom, many thanks!

keithclancy · 07-08-2012 2:54pm

If its annoyingly loud then I think you've answered your own question.

Why not get something thats not annoyingly loud

aujopimur · 07-08-2012 3:09pm

A family member has one of those 3 cyl. Corsas, it's the most thrashed, abused and neglected car I've come across, it has about a million miles on it and it's still a little rocket.

Mr Benevolent · 07-08-2012 3:18pm

aujopimur wrote: »

A family member has one of those 3 cyl. Corsas, it's the most thrashed, abused and neglected car I've come across, it has about a million miles on it and it's still a little rocket.

Indeed. They're good cars, but if they sound like a tractor (loud ticking) the timing chain is worn. I wouldn't call them rockets, but each to their own. I drive a 1.2 Corsa now and they're far superior - smoother, better acceleration and only 5 mpg worse on fuel.

Puteq · 07-08-2012 4:49pm

keithclancy wrote: »

If its annoyingly loud then I think you've answered your own question.

Why not get something thats not annoyingly loud

LOL good point, well made. I guess I'm being lazy, I hate looking for cars, and it was kind of frustrating, in every other respect the car is in good shape. I guess the loud I could live with, but if it was a sign of future problems then I'd be kicking myself later if I got it even after noticing a warning sign...

CiniO · 07-08-2012 9:20pm

First of all you have to answer the question what is making the noise?
Is it the engine, or maybe something else (driveshaft, gearbox, bearing, etc).

Rev it high on first gear (say do 25MPH on first gear) and see if it's the same noisy. If it's not, then it's definitely not the engine making the noise.
Also you can try to put it into neutral at 50MPH and see if it's still noisy. If yes, then most likely it's wheel bearing or possibly gearbox.

My father has this 1.0 corsa 3 cylinder. There isn't generally any problem in general with 3 cylinder engines, but IMHO this particular one is not the greatest. My father used to have problems with oil leaks, stepper engine, etc. Car is 12 years old, with 40k miles on the clock.

Ardennes1944 · 07-08-2012 9:23pm

gf has 3cyl ibiza mk4, vibrates a lot when in traffic, loud and is quite slow but been reliable so far.

CiniO · 07-08-2012 9:25pm

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

gf has 3cyl ibiza mk4, vibrates a lot when in traffic, loud and is quite slow but been reliable so far.

All 3 cylinder engines would vibrate more than 4 cylinder...
But the same way, 2 cylinder engines would vibrate more than 3 cylinder.

Nissan doctor · 07-08-2012 10:47pm

As said, a 3 cylinder engine is not a well balanced as any engine with an even number of cylinders, but, while they are often noisier then 4 cylinder engines they shouldn't be noticeably noise from inside the car.

As for reliability, there shouldn't be any issues on well maintained cars. I put over 100,000 miles on a 3 cylinder corsa(first car) with no engine issues at all.
The main mechanical issues that the 3 most common 3 pot engines on sale here(Opel, VW, Toyota(daihatsu)) have nothing to do with the fact that they are 3 cylinder engines and is to do with the fact that they are generally fitted in small, cheaper cars which people tend not to maintain properly.

ninty9er · 07-08-2012 10:52pm

It's not what you'd call nippy, but in the 2 years I owned one I put up about 15k miles on it, it had over 100k miles on the clock when I traded it in over 4 years ago and I still see it regularly doing the rounds.

The only thing that failed on me was the airflow meter, noticeable by unusually low power (i.e non-existent) and strange idle rev patterns. This is easy to replace DIY and cost me just under €100.

Can I trust 3 cylinder engine?

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