[androdev]

@iraghava: your explanation is correct.

Originally Posted by iraghava

What this could also mean is the primary fan of the Corsa is not sufficient enough to keep the engine cool in hot climates & so maybe the cooling system needs some working upon.

Corsa primary fan doesn't start! For some reason it doesn't know that temp is going up. The fan surely works, but some signal/connection,etc. loss due to which it doesn't run when needed.

Sorry for OT.

[stable rock]

Since most of the owners are having problems with the engine overheating,low mileage and poor service in Bangalore i think it is better to avoid Corsa.

[adman77]

I had the same overheating problem in my Corsa a year back. GM guys told me it's normal and would not harm the engine in any way. Surprisingly, the problem dissapeared on its own one day. Now since the past one year, my Corsa hardly goes above the halfway mark.

[iraghava]

I guess that's why I remember seeing a few cars having their Thermostats removed & running the fan directly. This would help with the delayed start problem but then the fan would be on all the time.

[smack_himanshu]

Originally Posted by abhijit 2284

One of my friends is thinking about buying a second hand corsa which has run around 45,000 Kms . He intends to run it another 50,000 kms .

He needs help in the following area:(1)identifying potential maintenance problems (2)cost of replacements of body parts (3) cost of replacement of consumables(4)average cost of ownership (5) life of tyres etc..

Your advise and comments are solicited.

regards

Corsa, no doubt a good car.
I have Corsa 1.4 May 2002, bought it with 32500 KMs done.
Till now done 99000 KMs , got CNG fitted at 58000 KMs.

Answer to your queries.

1.Maintainence is not much of an issue - I havent faced any major issue in maintainence.

2.Cost of body parts - Parts are on the expensive side when you buy them from the show room. Once a had bought a side mirror which costed me around Rs 2500 and same thing costed my Rs 800 when i bought it second time (bought it from local shop, cuould'nt make out any quality difference).

3 & 4. Cost of Consumables and Average cost of ownership - Not much.

5. Life of tyres - Tyres to be changed around 60,000 Kms.

Have got the suspension work done from local mechanic, took Rs 6000 for everything including labour cost.

On CNG, this car is superb. Runs around 75 - 80 KMs in CNG worth Rs 100.

[vasudeva]

I own an Opel Corsa 1.4 Oct 2003 with 38K now. My experience:

1. Ride is good and so is steering. New Tyres installed on Sunday because ride was getting bumpy.
2. Maintenance: low cost of service but parts availability could be a big problem now. Parts availability was iffy even when car was in production.
3. Parts do not have a great life. Problems start appearing with greater frequency after 30K. However, so far no big expense. Problems seen in last 1 yr: AC switch defective, brake pads, wipers, fan not working.
4. FE in heavy city (average of 20 kmph) is around 9-10 in summers and 10-11 in winters. Can give 11-14 under better conditions.
5. High speed stability good and noise levels are low.
6. Gear shift is not good and slightly heavy (since you have driven it, you should know).
7. Price of 1.8L for a 2003 1.4 seems high.
8. Tyre life should be around 45K, but I changed it earlier because my wife's driving it now.
9. Not difficult to service even at non-GM dealers/mechanics.
10. Indicator lights are unreliable and go on or off on their own.
11. Someone said overheating problem. Not so much, but still there ocassionally (not a concern though). However, quality of various pieces is inconsistent (some may be good lemons but others may be bad lemons).

Overall: not too expensive to run, but GM's service is not so great, and parts could be a problem. At a lower price, it would be a decent purchase.

[sajivr]

Originally Posted by Captain Pings

I've driven it in the hills, on highways and in the city and the ride quality never fails to impress. Its more expensive than a Maruti alright. But then again, the build quality is excellent and the car 'feels' very very safe - and thats important.

My Brother-in-law has a Corsa. He met with an accident 2 days back on bangalore-mysore highway with 5 people in the car (including his grand parents). Car toppled and fell into a 10 feet deep pit. No one got injured badly except minor bruises. Car is completely gone. Sundaram guys says it will cost 2.5L to get it repaired, so better claim total loss from the insurance company.

hi.. i have a opel corsa 1.4 2003 gsi and i have done 37000km.. no major expenses as if now but i had a overheating problem last year as there was a leakage of coolant.. i got it fixed its been 1year and the car is running without any problem.. now i have to change the clutch and brake pads in a week.. it is a very good car and if you service it regularly you wont face any problem and if you getting a corsa in a good condition then you should go for it but buy 1.4 as it has better mileage than 1.6.. it has superb build quality and ride quality, steering has a very good feel, excellent high speed stability, very safe car.. the only problem can be the availability of parts and the resale.. but since you buying it second hand you shouldnt care about the resale.. i really love the car and i find it better than my dads honda city zx and my bros accent viva crdi.. it is a very good car to drive and you feel connected with the car which is missing from the honda city zx and accent viva crdi..

[vasudeva]

Cannot comment too much on its competition, but compared with City, Corsa has lower noise, lower FE, perhaps better composure at high speeds, and definitely poorer parts availability. But, so far not a big issue on parts or their cost. However, the fact that they are many times not available or that GM service is inconsistent makes for a poor customer experience.

[smack_himanshu]

Inconsistent and Poor customer satisfaction can be inferred from this survey.

[kaholster]

hi guys,in all the above posts most of the members have mentioned about poor availability of corsa parts
i m also having corsa 1.6 2001 model though average is pretty low 9kmpl
but till date i have changed number of part of the car which were readily available in kashmere gate market [delhi]and mayapuri mkt
parts available with m.m. motor ,pragati auto mobile kgm

parts changed
1 tail light rs500
2 fuel pump rs 8000
3 door trim
4 side mirrorrs rs 700
5 head light rs 1700 pair
6 clutch plate
7 coil rs 1450 imported
8 wiring of spark plug rs 500
9 wipers motor rs2200
only the battery was damn expensive 5500rs
but you have an alternative just break the welding of plate on which battery rests and lower it down 1-2 inch then you can place normal exide battery rs 2200

[Scorp72]

Originally Posted by kaholster

only the battery was damn expensive 5500rs
but you have an alternative just break the welding of plate on which battery rests and lower it down 1-2 inch then you can place normal exide battery rs 2200

Is this the price for a 55AH rating Exide battery. I am getting a quote of around Rs 6000/- in Pune for this.

[vdiatech]

Hello, I am in love with these cars. Regular maintenance , driving techniques play an important part in Fuel Efficiency. When I bought my corsa (which is up for sale) , it was a non-starter. I got the self motor changed, coil and the spark plug leads changed. The car did start and run, but was very sluggish. I then took it to Sundaram Motors in Chennai. They examined the car and said engine needs to be De-Carbed and the alternator was noisy and needs to be replaced.
I seldom trust any dealerships, and stayed along the work shop to see what was happening.
The previous owner it seems like had never changed oil for atleast couple of years. ( I saw the thing that came out from the sump, certainly not oil !) . A lot of sub-standard key components had been used by the previous owner while fixing a previous unknown engine issue !
I had the engine head removed etc, in my presence and saw the bent valves. Lots of m-seal all over the place.
Sundaram Motors, did a very good job and fixed my engine perfect. I had almost every component in the engine replaced! Drives like a smooth dream now, excellent pick up etc. I even got the rocker arms replaced etc. It cost me 38K, but was well worth it and I have driven 5000kms ever since.

I do not know about others, but in chennai city, peak traffic, with the AC on, I always get ATLEAST 10kmpl. Which is not bad for a corsa and on highways, touches upto 150kmph with AC on, probably would go up a bit more.

I have noticed a lot of people dont get their car serviced regulalry after the free services of a new car are used up. The car does not go to a work shop unless there is a fault !

Treat the car well, oil, oil filter, air filter changes every 4-5K kms etc, check the tyre pressure twice a week, Make sure you dont get conned by the petrol pump guys, go to a good petrol bunk and finally dont put your foot down on the accelerator and dont trash the car around, If you are going to be at a set of traffic lights for more than a minute, turn your engine off !

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

A guy at work has a Corsa and after reading what you posted about engine temp, reminded me of something he told me. It sounded stupid to me, but anyway...

He says that he read in some auto-mag, that cars like the Corsa / Ikon / Accent need to be driven always with the a/c on. If not, the engine temp will rise close to the red mark. As per him, in his Corsa, if he drives without a/c, this happens. But if he drives with a/c on, temp is normal.

I would expect the reverse to be the case (if at all), because the a/c will add load to the engine.

I owned a Corsa 1.6.

I tried running it without the A/c. and the temerature would go up (never over the red-line though). It has something to do with the air for the cabin being heated by the engine. I understand that there is some kind of an inter-cooler that heats cabin air using engine heat. If the A/c. is on - the circulating air cools the engine (taking the strain off the radiator fans). The trick is to set the temperature control to an appropriate setting or to switch on the A/c. blower but not the compressor (via the economy mode). The radiator fans are pre-set in such a way that the 2nd one comes on only when the temp is bordering the red-line. Once the switch of the 1st fan in my car blew and my engine depended on only the second fan to cool down, that single fan did the job quite competently. The switch costed a few hundred to replace.

I was getting a FE of about 11 to 12 (in city - with A/c.). The car is solidly built and might not need body parts at all. The metal being of thick gauge, one can repair them. The plastic parts are fiddly and require appropriate clips to fix. Overall the car is not expensive to maintain. Parts were getting scarse. A year ago, the local GM dealer assured me that parts will be made available for another 4 years.

The Corsa scores full marks in the road grip and handling department. I was using Pirelli touring tyres on it and they did not show much wear over the 20K Km that they ran with me. The car comes into it's own on the highway with great push/grunt at the higher end of it's rev range. The 1.6 is a great engine and does not lack power. Some people report that the 1.6 returns better FE than the 1.4 mainly because one can shift up early in the 1.6.

I sold mine for about 1.4L last summer. I do miss that car now!

Cheers,

[vdiatech]

i have never had temp issues with the corsa. It is terrible the way the previous owner maintained my car. Still no issues with temp while driving without AC. i see a lot of guys take their car's to cowboy road side mechanics, fearing huge bills from experienced and established workshops. Some of them may be fine, but if you are personally unwell, would you go to a quack doc ?

Ps. Sorry, I am still moaning because of the way previous owner kept the car...it is beyond me how people neglect car care. Car care is not just washing it every week and also whats with people, who think they have had a service, by taking it to a petrol bunk and getting a 'service' there ?