Corsa C 1.0 how bad are they?!

eire-kp

My girlfriend is looking at getting a car for occasional use. It will possibly be unused for extended periods of time so she wants something with low tax (sub 200) and insurance. The insurance for the above is 250 so it fits both requirements.
I had a good few Corsa Bs in my time and I found them ok. But none of them were 1.0 3 cylinder engine versions.
She hates the Yaris and Micras so the Corsa looks the best option. What price should she be paying for a 01 model?

Mycroft H

The one litre is an awful engine. Underpowered, noisy and uneconomical. I wouldn't pay to sit in one.

Mr Benevolent

You'd be better off with the 1.2, much more refined and the MPG is roughly the same.

eire-kp

Hmm, I see. Looking at the Donedeal there appears to be a few 1.2s at the same price. But I'm sure she will make a valid point the tax is 130 more for the year, I'm not sure if the insurance will increase. It will only be tipping around Dublin city centre with an occasional trip to Galway. I must take one for a test drive and see what it is like.
I dont mind about being underpowered noisy.. I grew up driving tractors:pac: Are they reliable..anything in particular to look for?

Dartz

Ever keep squeezing an empty toothpaste tube to get the last few dregs of toothpaste out of it, until it's a crumpled, folded mess?

It's about the same experience trying to get one up to any sort of speed. They're so gutless they're dangerous

MidlandsM

up the budget, a buy a yaris (even if she hates it) lol

Mycroft H

eire-kp wrote: »

Hmm, I see. Looking at the Donedeal there appears to be a few 1.2s at the same price. But I'm sure she will make a valid point the tax is 130 more for the year, I'm not sure if the insurance will increase. It will only be tipping around Dublin city centre with an occasional trip to Galway. I must take one for a test drive and see what it is like.
I dont mind about being underpowered noisy.. I grew up driving tractors:pac: Are they reliable..anything in particular to look for?

There is underpowered and then there is the 1l corsa. It's like they took a motor out of a washing machine and bolted it to a gearbox. It's dire.

You may get her to like the Micra. There aren't anything better in 1l form out there.

Max Power1

BX 19 wrote: »

There is underpowered and then there is the 1l corsa. It's like they took a motor out of a washing machine and bolted it to a gearbox. It's dire.

You may get her to like the Micra. There aren't anything better in 1l form out there.

Out of a SMALL washing machine. The washing machine in my kitchen is quicker 0-60 than a corsa 1.0

Karl Stein

What's your budget?

eire-kp

Cathal Cloch wrote: »

What's your budget?

1500 or less, preferably low mileage if possible.

Bpmull

My aunty had a corsa c 1.0 a few years ago. She brought it down one day and me and my dad took it for a test drive about half a mile down the road we both bursted out laughing it was a pure joke. Just absolutely gutless no power what what so ever. driving it hard up the gears it took an age to get to 30 mph. But at the end of the day it is a cheap car to run insurance tax mpg wise. But I wouldn't drive one if someone gave me one. It is basically dangerous slow. I'd imagine a 1.2 version would be far better.

Karl Stein

eire-kp wrote: »

1500 or less, preferably low mileage if possible.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/ford-fiesta-ghia-model/5298113

Ford Fiesta
2002
1.2 litre
67,000 Miles
timing belt just done
nct till 2/14

starlit

A 1.2 or 1.3 l or near it be best option but to be honest i found the newer versions of the small corsa it was only ok to drive it but found it hard to adapt to the features was total opposite to yaris and have favoured toyotas more so since.

JohnBoy26

BX 19 wrote: »

You may get her to like the Micra. There aren't anything better in 1l form out there.

there is something better though, it‘s called a yaris.

Mycroft H

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

there is something better though, it‘s called a yaris.

You'll struggle to find a decent yaris for 1200ish euro

dr.fuzzenstein

I drove a 1.2 12v years ago and I thought that was underpowered. The 1.0? Buy a pedal car, it'll be faster.

starlit

How about a clio or fiesta?

JohnBoy26

BX 19 wrote: »

You'll struggle to find a decent yaris for 1200ish euro

Agreed but the op has a budget of 1500 which is enough to buy a good enough example of a yaris. Granted it might still take awhile to find the right car but they are out there.

CiniO

eire-kp wrote: »

My girlfriend is looking at getting a car for occasional use. It will possibly be unused for extended periods of time so she wants something with low tax (sub 200) and insurance. The insurance for the above is 250 so it fits both requirements.
I had a good few Corsa Bs in my time and I found them ok. But none of them were 1.0 3 cylinder engine versions.
She hates the Yaris and Micras so the Corsa looks the best option. What price should she be paying for a 01 model?

My dad has Corsa B (year 2000) with that engine.

He got it in 2006 with 26k kilometres on the clock.
At the moment it's probably at about 70k kilometres at 13 years old.
Since he bought he changed oil, oil filter, and air filter every year.
Also he changed spark plugs when he bought it (so it was 7 years ago).
And I think front brake pads were changed at some stage.

Stepper motor gave trouble but mechanic got this cleaned and it's all OK now for the last 2 years.

Also 3 years ago my dad got a new set of all season tyres, as his 2 sets of summers and winters (which car was equipped from new) were 10 years old and rubber was not good anymore.

Also last year there was some electrical fault due to perish wire in rear door, which caused book lamp to stay on at all times and drain battery..


In short that would be list of all problem this corsa b 1.0 had over last 13 years.

Engine as other have said is not too refined, but I wouldn't call it extremally underpowered.
It's just not quick and bit noisy, but if you need a power you can always rev it up to 6000rpm on every gear and car will eventually accelerate.

I drive this car from time to time, and I don't find it that bad.

Would easily suit someone for city driving.
Suits my dad anyway,.

JohnBoy26

CiniO wrote: »

My dad has Corsa B (year 2000) with that engine.

He got it in 2006 with 26k kilometres on the clock.
At the moment it's probably at about 70k kilometres at 13 years old.
Since he bought he changed oil, oil filter, and air filter every year.
Also he changed spark plugs when he bought it (so it was 7 years ago).
And I think front brake pads were changed at some stage.

Stepper motor gave trouble but mechanic got this cleaned and it's all OK now for the last 2 years.

Also 3 years ago my dad got a new set of all season tyres, as his 2 sets of summers and winters (which car was equipped from new) were 10 years old and rubber was not good anymore.

Also last year there was some electrical fault due to perish wire in rear door, which caused book lamp to stay on at all times and drain battery..


In short that would be list of all problem this corsa b 1.0 had over last 13 years.

Engine as other have said is not too refined, but I wouldn't call it extremally underpowered.
It's just not quick and bit noisy, but if you need a power you can always rev it up to 6000rpm on every gear and car will eventually accelerate.

I drive this car from time to time, and I don't find it that bad.

Would easily suit someone for city driving.
Suits my dad anyway,.

:eek:

CiniO

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

:eek:

JohnBoy26

CiniO wrote: »

Going up to 6k revs in every gear is not only ridiculous but it's also reckless. Judging by your response I take it you find nothing wrong with doing so?

Mycroft H

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Going up to 6k revs in every gear is not only ridiculous but it's also reckless. Judging by your response I take it you find nothing wrong with doing so?

I wouldn't call it reckless if you're not redlining it every time. It does go to show that if you need to take it to 6k rpm that it is a bit gutless as an engine.

I occasionally go up to the redline on the clio but only to blow the cobwebs out. It's not necessary in everyday driving as it's not underpowered.

Cee-Jay-Cee

If she never intends leaving the city then it'll do the job fine but if she intends making longer journeys then go for the 1.2

My sister had the 3cyl 1.0 model and they're worse than what everyone is saying, they are not economical as the gutless engine needs to be driven hard just to get it to do 80kmph and on hills you need to drop to 3rd to be able to maintain any sort of safe speed.

They're a city car and should not be taken out of the city.

CiniO

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Going up to 6k revs in every gear is not only ridiculous but it's also reckless. Judging by your response I take it you find nothing wrong with doing so?

Yes, I find nothing wrong with doing so.
And I can't understand why you think it's ridiculous and reckless.

If you need the power, then that's the best way to get it from the car.

JohnBoy26

CiniO wrote: »

Yes, I find nothing wrong with doing so.
And I can't understand why you think it's ridiculous and reckless.

If you need the power, then that's the best way to get it from the car.

If you need the power you get a more powerful car. You don't go revving the nuts out of a supermini trying to find power that isn't there.

CiniO

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

If you need the power you get a more powerful car. You don't go revving the nuts out of a supermini trying to find power that isn't there.

But the power is there.
Petrol combustion engines reach their top power at rather high rpm, so if you want to use power they can deliver, you need to rev the engine to high rpm.

I actually can see, than plenty of drivers in Ireland are very wary of revving their engines to anything above 3k rpm (and possibly 2.5k for diesel) and they think that anything above it destroys their engines, but that's purely not true.

Petrol engines and designed with high revs in mind, and unless you drive permanently in "red field" on your RPM meter, there's nothing wrong with revving engine high when accelerating.

Mycroft H

CiniO wrote: »

But the power is there.
Petrol combustion engines reach their top power at rather high rpm, so if you want to use power they can deliver, you need to rev the engine to high rpm.

It just shows how little power is there if you can't drive around between 2-3k rpm.

CiniO

BX 19 wrote: »

It just shows how little power is there if you can't drive around between 2-3k rpm.

No one says there is plenty of power on 1.0 corsa.

But if you need to accelerate reasonable quick - f.e. when joining motorway or overtaking, then by revving the engine to the maximum you will get this reasonable acceleration.

Also if you are climbing steep hills with full load, you might need to reduce say to 2nd gear and keep it at around 5 - 6k rpm to make up the hill with reasonable speed.

Nothing wrong with using the power that engine can deliver.

I know it's more comfortable to have 3 litre high power engine and cruise around gently, but not everyone can afford that.

I started my driving career on 0.7 litre cinquecento with 30BHP.
I had to rev the hell out of this engine to make the car moving, and I did.
Car did the job for me, no bother.

Dartz

There's nothing wrong with spinning the nuts off an engine every now and then.

If anything, it can help the engine by busting the glaze on the bores and cleaning out any crud and carbon in the cylinder. Getting the combustion chamber temperatures and pressures up high helps get everything properly seated.

It just burns more fuel doing it.

But your engine's been built to take bursts of hard acceleration. It'll only drop its guts if there's something critically wrong already, or you haven't bothered to maintain it.

gctest50

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Going up to 6k revs in every gear is not only ridiculous but it's also reckless. Judging by your response I take it you find nothing wrong with doing so?

Over revving an engine means it wont last long - there is a difference between overreving it and using it.


And sometimes the revcounter only starts at 5000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eaRop_ZMwo0#t=54s

get a few of the lads around and swap it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te48ucoEvFI

eire-kp

So the Corsa appears to be a no go..didn't see a good one yet! What are these like? http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/seat-ibiza-1-0-stella-nct-01-14-taxed-0/5308746

She also looked at a 1.4 Astra yesterday aswell and liked it, If it wasn't the tax she would have bought it.

Mycroft H

Similar to the corsa performance wise. Dead. They're reliable though.

eire-kp

I think it's a given that most cars of the category will be dead! How does that one seem price wise/condition? I'm trying to push the Astra it was a 3dr 00 model 1.4 how are they for reliability?

visual

How many here actually drive or drove 1.0 liter

Micra 1.0 0-60 15.9 sec
Corsa 1.0 0-60 16.0 sec

I doubt anyone would notice the difference

Yaris 1.0 0-60 13.6 sec is quicker, you would notice that.

But who buys a 1.0 for speed.

CiniO

visual wrote: »

How many here actually drive or drove 1.0 liter

Micra 1.0 0-60 15.9 sec
Corsa 1.0 0-60 16.0 sec

I've driven both.
While they are both slow, corsa feels bit bigger and safer - but surely that's just an illusion.

wonski

Drove 1.0 once and when pulling out of junction I thought handbrake was on or something. But then it is under 1l, so tax is tempting for some. It is slow and underpowered, but for occasional use in town with low tax not bad car.

Drove 1.2(16v) too and it felt more like a car tbh.
It was Corsa B I was driving, C is heavier I think. But power went up to wooping 58 from 54hp. 0-100 is 17s, not 15s according to my source. Very slow...

eire-kp

I think ye were right about the Corsa looked at two and both were at the end of their life span.

Now she has decided on a Fiesta 1.25 ghia anyone know of any for sale?

KTRIC

Myself and my ex rented one about 6 years ago. Brought it 2 kilometers back to the house from shop, stopped, turned around and brought it back. It was the most horrendous car either of us had been in.

dgt

eire-kp wrote: »

I think ye were right about the Corsa looked at two and both were at the end of their life span.

Now she has decided on a Fiesta 1.25 ghia anyone know of any for sale?

Yaaaaay Festy!!!!

What year you looking? Rusty sills at b pillar and clutch slave cylinder would be the main things to worry about there. Much better than a c*nt of a corsa

And yes I had both. The corsa was a very dark moment..... I made sure it died a horrendous death I hated it that much :cool:

eire-kp

dgt wrote: »

Yaaaaay Festy!!!!

What year you looking? Rusty sills at b pillar and clutch slave cylinder would be the main things to worry about there. Much better than a c*nt of a corsa

And yes I had both. The corsa was a very dark moment..... I made sure it died a horrendous death I hated it that much :cool:

00 - 02 with nct and proof of a timing belt done recently preferably under 120k miles the lower the better.
There doesn't appear to be any thing on DD in Connaught. I'll be back in Dublin Sunday so can have a look there then.

What's the symptoms of a failing clutch slave cylinder?

dgt

eire-kp wrote: »

00 - 02 with nct and proof of a timing belt done recently preferably under 120k miles the lower the better.
There doesn't appear to be any thing on DD in Connaught. I'll be back in Dublin Sunday so can have a look there then.

What's the symptoms of a failing clutch slave cylinder?

Budget for about €1200 as it's a Ghia you get fogs, alloys, wood effect trim etc.....

Failing cylinder would be a spongey and vague pedal as what happens is the seals go after a clutch change and the brake fluid comes out through it rendering it useless. If it's had a recent clutch change make sure its been replaced with it too because at €130 for the part and the job of putting it in won't be a good start to the new car......

kincaid

the 1l yaris gives plenty of engine trouble too and hard enough on the fuel

JohnBoy26

kincaid wrote: »

the 1l yaris gives plenty of engine trouble too and hard enough on the fuel

are you seriously suggesting that a yaris is as bad as a corsa?

Are you saying that one of the best small cars is as troublesome as one of the worst? What trouble does the yaris give? I know of very few problems that they give and most are lack of maintenance related.

If we are comparing both 1 liter engines it's like comparing chalk and cheese.The corsa is a 3 cylinder unit that is one of the most unrefined 1.0 liter engines out there. The yaris 1.0 liter engine on the other hand is a much much smoother 4 cylinder vvti unit that is much superior to the sh1te that's in the corsa.

kincaid

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

are you seriously suggesting that a yaris is as bad as a corsa?

Are you saying that one of the best small cars is as troublesome as one of the worst? What trouble does the yaris give? I know of very few problems that they give and most are lack of maintenance related.

If we are comparing both 1 liter engines it's like comparing chalk and cheese.The corsa is a 3 cylinder unit that is one of the most unrefined 1.0 liter engines out there. The yaris 1.0 liter engine on the other hand is a much much smoother 4 cylinder vvti unit that is much superior to the sh1te that's in the corsa.

i had a corsa 1litre years ago and had no trouble and loved it.. its still going yet with the other owner with no trouble either but what im trying to say is the yaris 1litre engine is not as reliable as everyone says ( they are a dear little bugger too) but then again there is a french and Japanese versions i believe, a black and grey top...

eire-kp

Well, she finally bought something:rolleyes: A Corsa C to after all that above!
It's a 1.2 Sxi with the nicer seats, alloys, white dials, silver dash and other stuff as standard. It seems grand to me. Cheers for all the help.

2pack

Nothing wrong with a corsa but the 1.2 corsa is a better engined car and the sxi looks great too..

dgt

eire-kp wrote: »

Well, she finally bought something:rolleyes: A Corsa C to after all that above!
It's a 1.2 Sxi with the nicer seats, alloys, white dials, silver dash and other stuff as standard. It seems grand to me. Cheers for all the help.

eire-kp wrote: »

Corsa C

eire-kp wrote: »

It seems grand to me......

Oh man, I'm seriously disappointed

eire-kp

:pac: