USED: Vauxhall Corsa

It’s not difficult to see why the Corsa does so well. While fairly staid and unexciting in previous generations, it’s still a likable car in every way and offers plenty of engine and trim choices, so there’s a permutation available to suit just about every buyer.

The Corsa was first introduced in the early 90s to replace the boxy Nova and at the time its curvy styling was a revelation. The second generation had undertones of the original, although Vauxhall has moved the game on since then and the current model is altogether more interesting, so much so that it almost managed to become International Car of the Year in 2007.

Instead it was pipped by the Ford S-MAX, although this year Vauxhall has its revenge through the Insignia grabbing the title by one point ahead of the Ford Fiesta, although the Fiesta has gone on to become Britain’s best-selling car.

The current Corsa, now in its third year, still looks fresh despite the arrival of newer rivals and has distinctive features such as high rise tail lights.

There are two distinct body styles for the three and five door cars, the idea being that the three door car can be made to look a little more sporty and appeal to younger buyers. The thrashy VXR clearly shows this is so.

Sadly, the Corsa has dropped to levels where younger buyers can get hold of them, tart them up with body kits, alloy wheels, and loud stereos and then go round kidding themselves they have the world’s only million pound supermini.

You can normally hear these cars approaching from a couple of streets (or miles! - Ed) away because the music is always at full volume and the exhaust seems to have the diameter of the average drain pipe.

Thankfully, there are enough Corsas around for sensible buyers to be able to pick up fairly recent and unadulterated cars at reasonable money. The Corsa makes a good value buy in the used market and it’s a small car that is a wise choice.

But don't just take my word for it. I was keen to know what other people make of this car so for a good part of the week in my ownership of a 1.3 diesel Club five door it was driven by other people.

All gave it the thumbs up, from my daughter and her partner who are used to sampling high quality motoring courtesy of their Volkswagen Golf, and my friend Paul the Painter’s missus, Pauline, who currently drives an Astra but can now quite easily see herself in a Corsa.

It’s difficult to put a finger on any of the Corsa’s particularly outstanding features. Like most good cars, it does the majority of things very well which overshadows any shortcomings it might have. And very much in its favour is that everyone seems to want to get into superminis these days. Even cars the next size up, like the Astra, are being seen as too large.

The most sensible option is to go for the five door if you have a family. Getting children into the rear seat of the three door, especially if you have to strap them into child seats, is a bit of a stretch.

Service intervals have been stretched to 20,000 miles for petrol cars, 30,000 for diesels. From August, 1995, they had been 10,000 miles apart from on the 1.5 turbodiesel, which had remained at 5,000 miles so you can see how ownership costs change over the years. Running costs are unlikely to be high and most workshops can cope with this Vauxhall so you don’t have to stay in the dealer network. Insurance starts at Group 1.

If you fancy the latest shape, the 1.2 Life on an 06 plate is £5,000 for the three door, £5,200 for the five door. The 1.3 diesel in five door Life form is £4,125 on an 04. If you want to go nearly new, the 1.3 diesel Life five door on an 08 plate is £8,025 – that’s a slight rise since the start of the year. Just make sure that price can’t be overtaken by a better deal on a brand new car before you commit to it.