Opel Corsa D, the official car of car instructors who refuse to pay extra money for a VW Polo. Opel Corsa D, the official car of city people who don’t care. Opel Corsa D, the noodle soup of the automotive world.
The Opel Corsa D was and is one of Opel’s most successful cars in recent history. School cars, rental cars, learner cars, taxi cars, faketaxi, there was no job the Opel Corsa D didn’t do. And frankly, when I did my homework on the Opel Corsa D (I usually speak from the side where the sun doesn’t rise, but now I thought I’d make a 15-minute effort) I was surprised to find out why. The Opel Corsa D is sold and sells because it is cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, reliable, spacious and fully equipped. I would expect it to be a car with serious issues, considering it’s an Opel built with GM and Fiat parts. But, as with The Office, appearances can be deceiving.
Opel Corsa – the noodle soup of the automotive world
Why?
Everyone can afford it.
- It gets the job done and feeds you, without being spectacular. It’s strictly functional, it’s there.
- It’s not memorable and you won’t crave it, but it will always taste good.
- It’s very economical and will always keep you in shape.
- You’ll never cheer when you see noodle soup but you won’t miss it either, because you’ll always have it on hand.
It’s practical, it’s cheap, it’s good and it keeps the house. Opel Corsa D – the noodle soup of the automotive world.
Opel Corsa D Engines
Petrol
- 1.0 of insufficient horsepower – There’s nothing wrong with this engine in terms of reliability, but the 60 or 65 horsepower is strictly city-pretty. Very economical, reliable, but you wouldn’t want to leave the town with one of those. Occasional airflow meter issues.
- 1.2 of 80 and 85 horsepower – Fiat’s famous 1.25 MultiJet is here to do the job, too. An absolutely decent engine and by far the most popular engine on the Corsa D. Probably because people who buy a Corsa D aren’t interested in sportiness, they just want a cheap car to haul their buttocks around.
- 1.4 of 90 or 100 horsepower – This honourable “tarmac-tearing 1.4” is by far the most balanced engine for the Vauxhall Corsa D. Except it’s also more expensive than the 1.2 and it’s not just a cheap car to haul you around. Because when you buy a Vauxhall Corsa D, every hundred euros off the price counts.
- 1.4 Turbo of 120 horsepower – The 1.4 Turbo engine from the Astra J comes to the Vauxhall Corsa D with the 2012 facelift. An absolutely decent engine, but if the 1.4 naturally aspirated one has just been bought, what about the 1.4 Turbo?
- 1.6 Turbo with 150, 192 and 210 horsepower – Reserved for the Opel Corsa OPC, this engine represents the Opel spirit – An extremely fast car in a straight line, very weak in corners. Opel Corsa D OPC – the spiritual successor to the Vectra C.
Diesel
- 1.3 CDTi of 75, 90 and 95 horsepower – The same 1.3 CDTi used by Alfa Romeo, this engine is slightly more responsive than a turtle. Spiritually related to the 1.2 TDI in the Polo, in that it breaks down every 100 metres of city driving. Serious DPF and EGR issues if you just haul it around town.
- 1.7 CDTi of 125 and 130 horsepower – An Isuzu-sourced engine that belongs in commercial vehicles, vans and Vauxhall Astra. Like the 1.3 CDTi, it is unsuitable for city driving, the natural environment of the Opel Corsa D. An old and legendary engine in terms of reliability, but one that is gassed and choked by modern particulate filters. It also needs its timing belt timing replaced in time.
Opel Corsa D Reliability Issues
- Some Corsa D models have issues with the central locking so it’s important to check if it works. Push the buttons on the key, pull the doors, the boot, throw a brick through the window to check if the alarm sounds. Slash the tyres, to make sure the criminal who tries to steal your car doesn’t go anywhere. Put metabolic cat residue in the glove compartment so they don’t steal your ID.
- For those 2 of you who own an Opel Corsa D with an automatic transmission, I have to tell you that your car’s life is limited and your days are numbered. The automatic gearbox has a habit of suffering from oil incontinence and the repair often costs half as much as the car. For buying a Vauxhall Corsa D, you clearly didn’t spend much money on it. Because you want something cheap and good. Except that a Corsa D with an automatic gearbox is neither cheap nor good. The 1.4’s “tear up the tarmac” engines in particular.
- The water drainage channel under the windscreen has a habit of getting blocked and water seeps underneath. The first to fail in this situation is the ECU unit, which will cost you at least 2$. Seriously now, an ECU for any Corsa D engine starts at 200$ second-hand, so make sure you don’t get the channels blocked by trivial stuff like dust or leaves.
- The suspension is worthy of the joints of a 60+ dorm resident. Issues especially with the articulation on the front, but the springs on the back are as fragile as the self-esteem of a recent college graduate just now handing out their first resumes and looking for a job.
- For petrol engines, the situation of camshaft bolts is deferred. These screws are not tightened properly, they break and the camshaft can break in two. Even if the issue is known with the Vauxhall Corsa C, there is a possibility it will also happen with the Corsa D.
Opel Corsa D Verdict
As I said at the beginning, the Opel Corsa D is a good and cheap car. It’s not a car for the picky, it’s a car for those who want something cheap and reliable to get them around. Yes, it’s also cheaper than a Sandero, but that’s because the Sandero is a bigger car in terms of size. If you don’t know anything about cars and mechanics and don’t want to know anything, then the Opel Corsa D is for you. A car dedicated to those who want something that gets them from A to B and that’s it. People who don’t care if the rims are aluminium or sheet metal, people who don’t know what cruise control is and don’t want to know. People who won’t cry if one morning their car gets stolen. People who will just sigh, go to the market and come back with another Opel Corsa D.
12 May 2023 at 8:49
I’ve just found out to my cost that a Common problem with these cars is the abs pump breaks causing the car to pull to one side when braking, not cheap at £750 a pop from vauxhall, and a further £150 for your local mechanic to fit it. So I wasn’t paying £750. £150 from a scrap yard or £134 for a reconditioned one. I’ve got a reconditioned one on the way. So I can’t see that corsas are cheap to maintain, if I’d paid the £750 new price for the pump plus £150 fitting at a local mechanics your talking a £900 bill, probably double what I’ve spent on any car repairs I’ve had. Imagine also what vauxhall would have charged for fitting.
14 May 2023 at 16:59
Hi Alan,
They are cheap to maintain but unfortunately some things make it single use. Much like how the Corsa C was essentially written off when the steering column failed. ABS pumps can fail on any car and are very expensive to replace on pretty much car. The ABS pump failures was a fairly common issue for the entire industry in the 2005-2010 era (VAG had it the worst, with ABS pumps failing on just about everything they had, from the Golf to the Touran) and those also cost about a grand. Great thing you found one from the scrap yard.