[balajird]

Hello group

could you please advice me in finalizing a deal for this car:

Sep 2003 model Opel Corsa 1.6 Royale
Factory fitted Alloy wheels
Stanley Leather interiors
30000 ODO
not that regular usage
owner has 2 other cars and use i10 AT for office commute
mileage - he claims around 12 in city and 14 in highway
all 4 power windows
electric ORVMs
wood finish center console
Looks very neatly maintained
basement car park with car cover
price - 2.75L

I stay in Bangalore near e-city (its been just 2 months and am new to Bangalore) and worried about the service and spares availability along with maintenance cost.

[vdiatech]

Hi, I hope you have not bought the car yet.

I own a corsa myself and I am simply in love with it, But...

1. Mileage is not as quoted to you, 10kmpl in city and about 12 on highway
2. Genuine spares are very very hard to find and are very expensive. You cannot get genuine spares across the counter, you have to get them serviced at A.S.S
3. Its a 6 year old car and crucial components like IGNITION COIL, alternator, self motor, radiator, battery, suspensions etc will begin to fail .
4. It will soon develop a petrol smell in the cabin and it will be difficult/expensive to diagnose and fix.
5. If the oil change has not been frequent then the engine will not be in a good shape and engine components like valves , rockers will begin to fail.
6. Entire AC Unit will fail some time soon and it will be big expense.

These said, Corsa is a very nice car. Very comfortable and has a strong body. I have removed the CAT-CON and have added a K&N replacement and the car just cruises with ease.

Decision is yours. I spent a bomb on my corsa but happy with it now.

[vasudeva]

I have a 1.4 GSI Corsa (Oct 2003) and positives are low noise, good high speed stability, and good quality, and long lasting interiors. So far has run 40K with nearly 35K done till Mar 07, and 5K after that.

Negatives incl. recurring minor niggles (mainly electricals), inconsistent dealer servicing, and generally not too great GM service. That can be taken care off by visiting a reputed service shop who can also do a competent service job. However, I found GM's painting and denting to vary widely in quality with largely mediocre paint workmanship.

Overall Corsa is not a high-maintenance car, but quality varies. My experience with Corsa has been better than my previous Marutis (1995-2004), which frankly were over-rated with regard to being problem free.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by balajird

Hello group

could you please advice me in finalizing a deal for this car:

Sep 2003 model Opel Corsa 1.6 Royale
Factory fitted Alloy wheels
Stanley Leather interiors
30000 ODO
not that regular usage
owner has 2 other cars and use i10 AT for office commute
mileage - he claims around 12 in city and 14 in highway
all 4 power windows
electric ORVMs
wood finish center console
Looks very neatly maintained
basement car park with car cover
price - 2.75L

The features part are already there, and I have already posted some comments. Car is well maintained so that should count for something but he is more likely to get 2.75 only if puts in 1 lakh + in cash in the car. Check for yourself. As it is, the latest model was for Dec 2005, and a 2003 1.4 GSI (mine) may not get more than 60-90K.

FE: 12 is achievable if average speed is +30 kmph and AC is used not 100%. That is better than usual conditions. More likely to be 9-11 in summers and +1 of that in Delhi winters (at least that is what I achieved in 1.4).

Corsa has minor and frequent irritants, but at least in mine, these irritants were not of the nature to leave me stranded on the road (happened only once and then I was lucky to be driving in a place that was 3 km from my Opel service centre).

[CorsaLove]

I have a Corsa 1.6 Royale which is also a December 2003 model. I'm the second owner but knew the first one as he is a close family friend.

There are not many issues that have cropped up in the last 4 years that I have had it and as indicated minor problems where always fixed during servicing.

I truly enjoy the car but I'm giving it away now as I have a brand new i20 and cant afford to keep two as there is no parking space.

The price quoted is really high as I'm quoting between 1.5 to 1.7 and that is the range of the car to be bought or sold. If your interested in checking it out, please PM me.

But all said, the corsa 1.6 is a lovely car to own and I have never faced spare part availablity issues as I have always stuck to Authorized service centers from day one. If there is a part which is not available, service centers usually get it within 48 hours and fix it.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by CorsaLove

But all said, the corsa 1.6 is a lovely car to own and I have never faced spare part availablity issues as I have always stuck to Authorized service centers from day one. If there is a part which is not available, service centers usually get it within 48 hours and fix it.

Forgot to add that spare part availability at least for me was a matter of chance at least for non-typical parts (power window lifter, radiator fan, some fuses). Overall, I would say that it is a decent car provided you pay the right price (which should be quite low given its demand then, and its demand now). My view is that, for a given product, there is a price that is right, and in this case, the price has no connect with reality.

[musicmanaman]

Originally Posted by balajird

Hello group

could you please advice me in finalizing a deal for this car:

Sep 2003 model Opel Corsa 1.6 Royale
Factory fitted Alloy wheels
Stanley Leather interiors
30000 ODO
not that regular usage
owner has 2 other cars and use i10 AT for office commute
mileage - he claims around 12 in city and 14 in highway
all 4 power windows
electric ORVMs
wood finish center console
Looks very neatly maintained
basement car park with car cover
price - 2.75L

I stay in Bangalore near e-city (its been just 2 months and am new to Bangalore) and worried about the service and spares availability along with maintenance cost.

The price quoted is too high, a 2003 Corsa should be selling for about 80-130k max. I think you should avoid this car and settle is some some other car. If you can strech a little more, it is always better to buy a new car.

[vdiatech]

@corsaLove, I suppose it depends on the part ,the duration of wait for A.S.S
In my experience
The A.S.S took a week to get me an alternator, over 10 days to get rocker arms for my engine. This is just a few examples of wait time.
Also, about the cost of the spares, an ignition coil at the A.S.S costs about 12-15K, where as for a Ford or Maruti etc, its about 4-5K ( I think so ). The vaccum/Charcoal cannister ( a black box down the fuel line ) which was causing petrol smell in my cabin, costed 5K at the A.S.S . It was just plastic and by the looks of it, it should have been only 500-600rs !


true, i forgot to add the approx you could pay for the car.

If the car is in good condition ( not just the exteriors ) and you can verify from the A.S.S its service history then max 1.4 lakhs

If the condition is the same as above and you cant verify the service history then 90K to 1.2L

If the car does not drive good or sound good, do not buy it !
Make sure, you fill some petrol and test drive for atleast half an hour or more at various speeds and with AC and Without AC and with all eletricals on

[balajird]

Thanks all for your comments and detailed experience of your corsa, as suggested by you, i didnt even bother to negotiate the deal and just dropped the idea of buying this car. The owner was saying that this car is attached to him "sentimentally" and doesnt want to sell the car, just that it is occupying his garage he wants to sell the car. He also owns a i10 and innova and this is just a redundant vehicle to him. To honour his sentiments I didnt want to quote the "actual value" that this car could fetch and break his heart. Moreover i have shifted my focus from a petrol car to a diesel one, thanks to all diesel fans and their reviews along with my TDs on some diesel cars especially Fusion (with Fiesta engine).

Apologies for not updating this thread with the information.

Mods, Unless and until if the members feel there are no other thread to discuss about corsa / corsa 1.6 Royale, i suggest this thread could be closed.

Once again, thanks all for your valuable feedback.

[ACM]

The price was itself too high,

Pls with about 75 k more or less you could get yourself an

1) Optra
2) Fiesta
3) Hyundai Accent
4) Ford Icon

All of which are current cars, and will be easier to maintain in the long run.

[balajird]

Thanks ACM, kindly refer my previous post, i didnt go ahead with the deal and have dropped the plan. Thanks for the suggestion of cars and i would be happy to go with a Ford Fiesta or Fusion diesel.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by balajird

Thanks ACM, kindly refer my previous post, i didnt go ahead with the deal and have dropped the plan. Thanks for the suggestion of cars and i would be happy to go with a Ford Fiesta or Fusion diesel.

Yep Balagi did note that you dropped the corsa car idea, was just commenting on the other better options in the same budget, hope you get a car that works for you.

The fiesta would be best fit from drive point of view. Optra from opulant interiors point of view, you could get a newer year fusion than the fiesta for lesser as it is not very popular and has low resale value - if you do go for a fusion make sure that you plan to live with it for atleast 3 years and that resale value would be lower even when you sell it.