[Sudipto-S-Team]

There is a four-year old spotless Opel Corsa that's up for sale for Rs 1 lakh here in Kolkata. Is it a good buy? The good points about the Corsa are - I know the seller and user (I value this immensely). It was the personal family car of a very big corporate boss here and the car was maintained by the company with no compromise on anything. It has never had any accident.
The negatives are - it has always been chauffer driven; odo shows 83,000 km. And of course Corsa has been discontinued.
Would love to get a few second and third opinions.
Could Corsa owners please tell me if there are any known issues with authorised service stations? Particularly in Hyderabad ?
I am thinking of buying it on behalf of my sister in Hyderabad.

[aka_iitd]

I think deal is good but I am concerned more about 83K. If you have service records etc then you can see how the engine etc were maintained as 83K in 4 years means it is been used on highway mostly.
Also you need to spend on reregistering the vehicle in Hyderabad.
If your sister wants to keep the vehicle for 3 to 4 years then fine as after this car will have very low resale value

[arpandiv]

NO
Its a lovely car. It does what it is supposed to do with great elegance,has a nice suspension,easy to drive and all BUT spares will kill you. Parts are really expensive!

[hillram]

Sudipto..1 Lakh for 83K spotless Corsa is a good deal.I have known 5 year old Astras sell for 40k.
In HYderabad KUN Automobiles who are GM dealers are very good and efficient.I have been getting my Corsa serviced for last 3 years and they do a very good job.
Though Corsa is discontinued,all the spares are available against order (may be you need to wait few days for the parts to arrive from Gujarat..but they will arrive).
Corsa is an amazing car and very sturdy..Mileage can be an issue because of its kerb weight.But 10kmpl in City with 100% Aircon is assured.
I suggest go for it.In case you need anything to discuss..PM me.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Thanks so much to all of you. I didn't expect such quick response.

Originally Posted by aka_iitd

If you have service records etc then you can see how the engine etc were maintained as 83K in 4 years means it is been used on highway mostly.

83K on odo is my concern too. But at least I know the truth. If a dealer picks this vehicle up that's the first thing he will change and bring it down to 13k!! The car indeed has been used on GQ quite a lot and I don't think it has seen too many bad roads. The company concerned wouldn"t have done any kifayati and would leave nothing to chance and give it the best service required. I am more than certain about that.

Originally Posted by arpandiv

NO
Its a lovely car. It does what it is supposed to do with great elegance,has a nice suspension,easy to drive and all BUT spares will kill you. Parts are really expensive!

Could someone please give me some idea about the spares and their costs? Some of the typical parts for example to get an idea?

Originally Posted by hillram

Sudipto..1 Lakh for 83K spotless Corsa is a good deal. I have known 5 year old Astras sell for 40k.
In HYderabad KUN Automobiles who are GM dealers are very good and efficient.I have been getting my Corsa serviced for last 3 years and they do a very good job.
Though Corsa is discontinued,all the spares are available against order (may be you need to wait few days for the parts to arrive from Gujarat..but they will arrive).
Corsa is an amazing car and very sturdy..Mileage can be an issue because of its kerb weight.But 10kmpl in City with 100% Aircon is assured.
I suggest go for it.In case you need anything to discuss..PM me.

Yes Hillram I agree. I had once driven a virtually new Corsa (not this one though) and thought it was a brilliant car for self drive purposes. It's a pity that this car could not find a market in India.

Having owned a Peugeot 309 I am a bit concerned about the fact that the model has been discontinued. But in Peugeot's case the company itself had run away. Here at least GM is still around.

Let's see. Thanks once again for all the replies.

[headers]

I will walk away from any discontinued GM car as the service support sucks, IFF one needs their input whenever.

[autoenthusiast]

I agree with "headers", not worth going in for a discontinued product.

[Zappo]

Mostly people have brought out the notable facts. However here are some stray thoughts...

* A GM car with 83k on the odo. I will be wary about any car with 83k but with GM cars its more so. For example a Maruti with 83k will still mean a much lower maintenance cost but with a GM its not so.

* Service costs are high. Particularly for the erstwhile Opel branded cars. You do not have the ready advantage of taking it to some "knowledgeable roadside garage" again as in the case of a Tata or Maruti. That can be costly.

* Corsa, if I am not mistaken, was discontinued about 2 years back (or was it earlier still?). Any manufacturer supports a discontinued model actively for around 4 years after discontinuation (for popular models it may stretch to 5). Going by that timeline you can expect active support from GM for another 2 years or so maybe. Will your sister sell off this car by then?

* Opel's do not have a good resale value. Add to the 1 lakh cost the outlay that you will have to make to get this car carted to Hyderabad and then get it transferred here. I am not even talking about the hassles involved and the otehr hidden costs here. Just the simple cost of these factors. On top of that you may need to check the state of the tyres, batteries etc along with the insurance validity. Even with the cheapest of cost calculations I think you will have to spend another 40k to 50k on these things. So ultimately you will get it for 1.5lacs.

Think about these factors before you decide to take the plunge. Its all individual outlook and hence may look like a decent deal at this price to many a people. And if you ask me... well... let me put it this way. If I were you I would rather look at some other option first rather than taking an immediate decision in its favor.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Having owned a Peugeot 309 I am a bit concerned about the fact that the model has been discontinued. But in Peugeot's case the company itself had run away. Here at least GM is still around.

I was told by a service adviser at GM that some parts of Astra are no more produced. Not sure if that is the case with Corsa as well but quite likely.

[onesomeone]

I too suggest staying away from a discontinued car, especially with a female driver maintainance of the car might become a pain

[neoranjit]

My 2 cents : stay away from it.

You said spotless. But how good are the tyres ? I would rather buy an Alto / 800 if I could get at that price ( agreed not a fair comparison .. but still )

[onesomeone]

Originally Posted by neoranjit

My 2 cents : stay away from it.

You said spotless. But how good are the tyres ? I would rather buy an Alto / 800 if I could get at that price ( agreed not a fair comparison .. but still )

Yes I agree that's a sensible thing to do :-)

[dwaraka]

sudipto,


Rs. 1 lakh for Opel corsa is best buy. Since you know the seller is even more good. Corsa is a good car in that segment.

Check for the bodyline. Being in Kolkota, Humidity would naturally eat away the bodyline.

Dwarak

[team suzuki]

Its a good deal but think again,because in future you will face a lot of problems like maintainence,spareparts etc.I suggest you should look for some other car.

[hkanitkar]

Sudipto, considering the mileage ( 83k ) of the car, i would suggest you to walk away from it. I own a corsa ( from the last lot : Sep'05 ) myself and its the only car i use everyday.

There haven't been any maintenance issues even after running it around for 60k KMs, but it gets really irritating to get almost all the parts on order. For something as un-important as a Door beading - its ok, but for something really important ( like full suspension kit ), for an emergency failure, waiting is never an option.

@re-sale after 1 or 2 years - forget it ! My corsa - single owner, no accident car is offered 1.25L - After 1-2 years, it will be still lower and almost touching the 60k figure.

Summarizing it : Dont go for it. There are much better options available in the market.