[libranof1987]

I drive a silver Opel Corsa 1.4 SAIL that my dad bought in Oct 2005 in Gurgaon. Since he travels abroad quite often, he has driven it quite less; taking it only to office and back. We have taken the car to just Agra once and Neemrana Fort-Palace a few times to account for long drives.

About 9 months back, I got the car to Bangalore.

During one of dad's stays abroad for 9 months (2 years after purchase of the car), he had entrusted his neighbour and colleague to start the engine at least twice a week and take it on a short ride a week. However, much to his disappointment, the neighbour had not done so and the car was quite a mess when he returned.

For starters, the battery was completely dead, the car could not be jump-started, connecting external batteries to help the car's did not help and even a complete charging cycle did not revive it. So first casualty, the battery. Gurgaon as such has terrible amount of dust. The engine had a thick envelope of dust, leaves and other dirt. He'd given the car for servicing (official, authorized Chevrolet dealer) on return to get it to work and then the problems started coming out. Initially, the mechanics said there was a problem with the fuel pump so we got that changed; however, it did not help much and the engine kept dying every now and then. He then said there could be dirt in the Fuel tank so he emptied the tank, cleaned it and filled fresh fuel which did not help much either. As a final resort, we got the entire Fuel Assembly viz. Oil, Petrol, Air Filter, Carburettor, Fuel pump, fuel line and fuel tank replaced. It has since then been working fine. The fuel guage of Corsa is divided into 4. Even to date, the moment fuel is within the 1st bracket, the engine does not function smoothly and if it is idling for some time, it starts running as if the fuel supply was intermittent.

So, some advice for people who might have to leave the cars standing for long (and don't have a cover) :

- disconnect the battery (will not be of much help if it is going to be that way for 6 months)
- fill the tank atleast 3/4th so the tank is not rusted.
- park it in a place shielded from dust
- get Oil, Petrol and Air filters immediately
- get Carburettor and Fuel pump cleaned.

Once I got the car to Bangalore, within a span of 4 months I had completed close to 5k km; most of it during trips to the Bangalore Airport, Mysore road drives and Nandi hills.

I recently completed the 30k servicing and it has cost me quite a bit. Although I was told at 24k I would not be requiring to change the Filters for another 10k, here in Bangalore he said I would have to change them. He also said I would need to replace the tension belt and a few other things which would cost about 7k. Since my bill was already upto 10k, I would be changing the tension belt at 40k

Other things I have observed ;

- the a/c is still quite strong
- acceleration, braking do not show significant signs of ageing
- not much engine noise
- the fan is slightly loud especially once the car has been running for long
- the top speed is 135km/hr on a near-flat (slightly sloping road) with 3 people in the car.
- suspension (not changed yet except for the front bush) is pretty good
- no chasis noises during bumps (although we have driven it on some really bad roads)
- the power steering has become slightly hard..
- no replacement requried on other body parts yet
- I don't know if it is because of the dust in Gurgaon (though the car was washed everyday), the colour has lost its shine slightly
- the ground clearance is slightly less than normal cars so 4 people and a bump on Bangalore roads and there is a chance, it will scrape at the bottom. Luckily the engine cover shields the engine.

This being said, I'd like to add that my dad and I love and take care of the car exceptionally well; it has gone to the showroom even to get the bulb replaced and we are habitually peacefull and engine-friendly drivers; so driving-related conditions could vary.

Although the servicing is going to get sligtly costly now on; overall, I still love being and driving the car!

I'd like to quote, "The difference is German Engineering"!

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

we got the entire Fuel Assembly viz. Oil, Petrol, Air Filter, Carburettor, Fuel pump, fuel line and fuel tank replaced.
So, some advice for people who might have to leave the cars standing for long (and don't have a cover) :

- disconnect the battery (will not be of much help if it is going to be that way for 6 months)
- fill the tank atleast 3/4th so the tank is not rusted.
- park it in a place shielded from dust
- get Oil, Petrol and Air filters immediately
- get Carburettor and Fuel pump cleaned.

If the car is off for a long period(say 6 months),the fuel lines would need to be flushed with fresh fuel,the oil filter and oil need a change.

The Corsa does not have a carbureter; the throttle body would need cleaning.

All said and done , running a car is the best way to keep it fit.As they say an idle mind(read idle engine) is a devil's workshop