Finally bought a new car

It is was intended as a stop cap car but I am starting to really like it so may well keep it a bit longer.

It is a 5 door Corsa 1.2 Club 16v on a late 99 V plate. It has done 80k but its mainly motorway milleage the car still feels fairly new to drive it feels a lot newer than my old Fiesta which had less milleage.

Its got electronic power steering, electric windows, central locking, original Philips CD player, rear head rests. It is a chain cam as well so I should get some warning before it snaps unlike a cambelt. I got it with 12 months MOT and 6 months VED.

I am the third owner.

The garage said its very solid underneath and said it will be a few years before I start having trouble passing an MOT with it. I paid over the top for it but its a genuine car so its worth it.



The dash is a bit bland its typical GM inside but everything works.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u141/amazingtrade/dask.jpg

Spent £90 on repairing it so far, had the clutch cable adjusted, full service and he put some greese on the brake pipes to preserve them.

Its probably not the nicest car in the world to drive but its a lot nicer than the 3 pot Corsas and insurance is dirt cheap even for me.

 

Glad you had the break pipes greaseed, but maybe the discs should be greased to avoid rust.

 

He may have done it, he said he greased everything .

It was not my number one choice of car and I am not a fan of Corsa B's but it was in my budget and couldn't find much wrong with it, where as all the other cars I had seen I had major doubts about something.

 

cool - and a bargain at 395!

 

I paid quite a bit more than £395 for it cars are expensive atm and small cars are always bad value for money. I've wasted so much time trying to find cars I am just glad to have finally bought one.

It has heated mirrors too which might come in handy in the winter if I still have the car by then.

 

Pardon?

Anyway AT it looks a nice sound motor.

It should do well for you.

You'll get loads of computers in the back of that!!

 

David cars are expensive atm as there a shortage of used cars on the market because people are not replacing them for the sake of it. On top of that there has been a lot of people coming over from Ireland to our car auctions and then importing them into Ireland as cars are cheaper here atm.

It is a very strange market.

 

I've always liked GMs offerings.

As a matter of interest there is a C plated nova kicking around here.

An elderly lady was using it but I ses a younger women using now.

It shows the staying power of modern body shells though.

A "C" plate is an '85....?

I've seen others around too, the odd escort.

I'm far from convinced about the jap stuff coming in....I know the engines are made well......but I know which I'd rather run.

 

I washed the car this afternoon and polished it looks even tidier than it does in that picture now. I cleaned under the sills and I was amazed just how smooth it all was, no rust at all and I don't think its even a galvanised body shell.

I've seen many newer Nissan Almeras that are very badly rusted and this afternoon I also saw an 2002 Avensis which had a competly rotted door.

My uncle has a bullet proof Skoda Supurb 1.9 TDI and they bought because they thought it was bomb proof, sadly they also thought that means it didn't need much servicing and the cambelt snapped on Sunday morning.

 

.....+ did pistons meet valves?

 

Shit, though have you checked the exhaust?

 

Oh boy, think of the replacement cost when some drunk bashes one of those!

 

Penance but the great thing about cheap old cars is I could just replace them with cheapo £20 manual ones. You are right though, I reckon a replacement like for like would cost me £200. The mirror would possibly cost me £50 but the labour would be expensive. That said my friend just had one on her Clio it was £40 for the mirror and £40 labour.

I've sprayed some of that back to black on the gray bits it looks a lot better now but I know as soon as the rain comes it will be gray again so I will try and do something a bit more long lasting.

The nice thing about this car is its bland, nobody things look at that old shed it just has zero image.

 

I saw this was posted on 1st April.... and assumed it was a joke!

My '91 Jap car is pristine, not just the engine that is well made.

Jap stuff from 70s and to mid 80s did have bodywork issues, but they learn fast in adapting to different market needs.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to put anyone's wheels down.

...a personal pov thats all!

(there are good and bad examples of both!)

 

Ah but David it's so difficult not to feel that one's own car is somewhat inadequate when compared to the mighty Vauxhall Nova

I learned to drive in one y'know.

(preferred my Mum's Renault 6 though tbh )

 

Thats really what I like about them.

As AT suggests, you can get bits quite easily from your local scappy if the needs so arise....

 

That's okay David, just thought I'd point out times have moved on as your suggestion that only the engines were well made is a rather outdated viewpoint.

Just check the JDPower reliability survey for used cars and see where most of the front runners come from.

 

Maybe...

 

Old prejudices die hard David.