Car woes!

[MrWill]

So sometimes I have to ditch the bike and use my car for the commute. But the Vauxhall Corsa I have now is unbelievably crap.

I've had it for 4 years, has 50k on the clock, 56 plate. has been very very well serviced, but things keep going wrong with it. Just in the last year it's needed a Lambda sensor, Crankshaft position sensor, crankshaft oil seal, wiper motor, wiper linkage, drive belt and tensioner, mass air flow sensor, drop links and track rod ends. Luckily I am able to fix it myself, but it's getting ridiculous. Loads of design faults in the engine bay, that I have noticed over time .

Anyone ever had and can recommend a reliable car?

The Astra I had for 5 years before that was not much better.

 

[Dave 123]

Maserati.
You'll be skint and it'll break, but you'll look !

 

[KneesUp]

I have a 170,000 mile Citroen. You can fit loads of bikes in it, it does 50mpg on a run (35 around town, but it's a hilly town) the seats are comfy and the air-conditioning is quite powerful. It has never let me down and it was also very cheap. On the other hand the stereo is woeful and it looks like a sponge on wheels .

I had a Fiat once that I really wanted to love, but quite soon it became apparent that what I had was 98% of the parts needed to make a Fiat which were mostly put together in something a bit like the right order. I probably wouldn't get another.

 

[AndyWilliams]

2003 VW MK4 Golf TDi (mines the PD150 GT-TDi) - I put money on it you will be hard pushed to find a car with the same reliability and MPG you get with a Golf. 11yrs and all its had is 2 water pipes and an EGR clean, its done 91k.

48mpg town
62mpg motorway

 

[Brandane]

Toyota Corolla E12 version. I have a 2006 1600cc petrol model. Bought it when it was 3 years old and (touching wood) has been the most reliable car I ever owned. Routine maintenance items and nothing else, not even a bulb! Check out honestjohn for reviews. Photo is of the T-sport which is a fast but thirsty beast. The 1600 is nippy and reasonably economical.

 

[Brandane]

2003 VW MK4 Golf TDi (mines the PD150 GT-TDi) - I put money on it you will be hard pushed to find a car with the same reliability and MPG you get with a Golf. 11yrs and all its had is 2 water pipes and an EGR clean, its done 91k.

48mpg town
62mpg motorway

Good cars, but does it let in water through the door panels? I had about 6 Golfs/Boras over the years and every one let in rain water. It was an easy fix on the mk2, but on the mk4 it got complicated!

 

[fossyant]

Nissan or Toyota.

 

[MrWill]

I have a 170,000 mile Citroen. You can fit loads of bikes in it, it does 50mpg on a run (35 around town, but it's a hilly town) the seats are comfy and the air-conditioning is quite powerful. It has never let me down and it was also very cheap. On the other hand the stereo is woeful and it looks like a sponge on wheels .

I had a Fiat once that I really wanted to love, but quite soon it became apparent that what I had was 98% of the parts needed to make a Fiat which were mostly put together in something a bit like the right order. I probably wouldn't get another.

The engine in this Corsa is a Fiat design!

 

[KneesUp]

Good cars, but does it let in water through the door panels? I had about 6 Golfs/Boras over the years and every one let in rain water. It was an easy fix on the mk2, but on the mk4 it got complicated!

The Seat Leon based on the Mk4 (same car, nicer looking, different badge) I had used to let in buckets through the door seals. Was a nice enough car, but DD had to sit in the middle so she could poke her legs between the seats to get enough legroom, and she was only 3.

 

[KneesUp]

The engine in this Corsa is a Fiat design!

I didn't know that - I knew the 1.9 diesel in Vauxhalls and Saabs is basically the Fiat one. To be fair to the Fiat I had the engine was fine, it was the rest of the car that was the problem ... actually as I was typing that I remembered that it used to shut into 'limp home' mode every now and again and it was never clear why, so scrub that. It was disappointing, we'll leave it at that.

If you get a car made in the far East, it will probably be fine.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Get an old VW diesel Golf,or an old Nissan Micra. From experience both have been reliable and fairly maintenance free motors.

 

[AndyWilliams]

Good cars, but does it let in water through the door panels? I had about 6 Golfs/Boras over the years and every one let in rain water. It was an easy fix on the mk2, but on the mk4 it got complicated!

Nope, no issues with water leaks inside. Car is as it should be. Surely it would just a sill?

 

[Globalti]

I think Toyotas are the most reliable cars, followed by VWs. Toyotas are nice and easy to drive as well.

 

[annedonnelly]

VW Polo - German engineering - built to last.

 

[the_mikey]

So sometimes I have to ditch the bike and use my car for the commute. But the Vauxhall Corsa I have now is unbelievably crap.

I've had it for 4 years, has 50k on the clock, 56 plate. has been very very well serviced, but things keep going wrong with it. Just in the last year it's needed a Lambda sensor, Crankshaft position sensor, crankshaft oil seal, wiper motor, wiper linkage, drive belt and tensioner, mass air flow sensor, drop links and track rod ends. Luckily I am able to fix it myself, but it's getting ridiculous. Loads of design faults in the engine bay, that I have noticed over time .

Anyone ever had and can recommend a reliable car?

The Astra I had for 5 years before that was not much better.

Urgh, I hated every Vauxhall company car I had the displeasure to drive. The Astra turbo failed on the motorway and produced the blackest cloud of smoke I've ever seen, how there wasn't a multi car pileup I will never know. The vectra that followed that didn't make it past 60k and was always in the garage with one failed sensor or another.