2 Years Later – My Opel Corsa Review #Ad

When I first bought my car, I’d done a lot of research on used cars because I don’t believe in buying a car out the box. The second you leave the shop you lose R20K on the value of the car, what’s the point? But buying a car second-hand can be risky, so I really did have to price check and compare what was available. Eventually, I settled on a second-hand 2013 Opel Corsa and I’ve been LOVING the car! After sharing my thoughts on how to buy a second-hand car, I thought it was fair to do a review on the good, the bad and the ugly.

In the beginning, there were hardly any cars like mine on the road, but now I see more and more! If you’re thinking of getting a new Corsa, here are a few things you may want to note.

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT THE OPEL CORSA

I’m sure many of these points will have men scoffing at me, but that’s too bad. I’m a girl and there are things that give me ‘driving pleasure’. These are the things my Toyota Tazz never had and which I’m currently enjoying in my new car:

1. Lock with One Button

Common in the newer cars, but my Tazz didn’t have central locking and I constantly had to ensure all the doors were locked before leaving my car. (The one time my uncle left my door unlocked and all my makeup, boots and clothes were stolen. Yes, I shouldn’t have left it in my car – we all have to learn the hard way sometimes!).

2. Audio Options

Aux: The audio features on the Opel Corsa are great. You have the option of CD, radio or ‘aux’. I bought this audio cable from TakeaLot for about R129 as it’s at 1 meter (instead of 1.3m I think), which means it doesn’t get caught on shoes or wrapped around everything, it’s great. It plugs in under the console and into your mobile so you can play whatever you want.

Saved Stations: The Opel has nine radio stations that you can pre-tune. I listen to 5FM, but Mr John has a drum n bass show on Bush Radio so I can just click 2 and it automatically moves it to Bush Radio, so I can catch his show.

Steering Control: It ain’t no Ferrari or anything, but you can skip the tunes you’re listening to or change the volume right from the steering wheel. Pretty handy when you’re on a long road and don’t want to look down from the road.

3. Light in the Front

So many cars have their roof lights in the middle of the car. How the hell are you meant to put makeup on or fix your hair with the light BEHIND you? So simple, but so logical. Well done Opel.

4. Rev Counter

When I learnt to drive I wasn’t very good at using the clutch. I came to depend on the rev counter quite a bit for my hillstarts. It’s useful to see if you’re over 3 revs – at 4 you’ll definitely be ok on an incline! (How to pass a driving test 101 😉 ) But my Tazz never had one! It only had a speed and petrol gauge! I’m SO happy that there’s a rev counter in my Opel. It also helps to monitor the engine when you have loud music on and can’t hear the engine.

5. Light on Petrol

The Corsa definitely isn’t as light on petrol as the Tazz was, but that car was like a magical flying carpet! The Corsa still gets good mileage, always 500 kms on a tank and if you’re going long distance that can reach to 600. When you run out of petrol, you still also have about 50kms in the tank. I know this because I ran out of petrol on the N7 and made it back to the Shell garage just outside Sunset Beach!!

6. Folding Seats

When I got the Corsa I thought it was way smaller than the Tazz, but I recently bought a 1.5 meter chest of drawers and the Mr Price men were able to get it in the back with the seats down! Ok, I had to drive squished home, but the fact that the boot actually closed was a miracle! The seats don’t go as flat, but the amount of space it makes is amazing!

7. Aircon

Let’s just keep it real. There’s no point buying a car without aircon. End of story.

8. Lots of Cup Holders

This is so random, but it makes SUCH a difference! When I don’t have a cup, I use mine for change, hair elastics and lipstick sharpers apparently, oops! But the fact that they’re there, is great. Very handy.

9. Lighter Charger

I don’t smoke, BUT lighter chargers are used for so many things these days! I can charge my iPhone in the car and Mr John can charge his vape. So many of the newer cars don’t even have it any more or have located them in the ashtray on the backseat side of the console! Don’t know how that’s meant to help anyone unless you have a chauffeur! I’m happy this still exists in my car.

10. Carry 5, carry 7

The Opel Corsa is a 5 seater, but I’m pretty sure if you dropped the seats you could make it 7 😉 It’s small, cute and comfortable. Great for parallel parking. As far as cars on the bottom end of the price spectrum go, Kimberlite (as I call her) is pretty darn good looking. Some of the smaller cars really aren’t cute and the whole point of upgrading is so that you can be happy and comfortable in your vehicle.

5 THINGS I DON’T LIKE ABOUT THE OPEL CORSA

1. No Bluebooth

Now that the new iPhones are coming out it would have been REALLY handy to have Bluetooth in my car! The older VW polo’s have Bluetooth, but not the Corsa’s. So that’s a bummer.

2. Big Lights!

So I reversed into my garage and my mountain bike’s pedal (hanging) smashed my light. My garage is quite big so I have NO IDEA why I forced my car so far back, but at the end of the day, I’ve now broken the gosh darn light! The catch 22 is that it’s just a little white part, but I have to replace the WHOLE light again, EISH! So that’s a bummer.

3. Electric Windows…in Half the Car

The front seats of the car have electric windows. Yay for me! I’m the driver! But the passengers have manual window handles. Comeeeaaaaannnn! What on earth is that?! You run out of wire for the back?! That’s just silly.

4. Bumper Lip

I’m still not sure what this thing is actually for! It scrapes on EVERY speed bump or coming off  a curb (I sound like I’m treating this car like a 4X4, but I’m not!). As you can see, it’s now split and it’s absolutely no wonder. It scrapes on everything and I dunno why they bothered putting it on. It’s a warning bumper I suppose! I can assure you, it works!

5. Shallow Cubbyhole

This is so random, but this cubby hole is so narrow! Only flat things and my book can fit inside! I stuff it with as many papers as I can though, just to get my money’s worth 😉 They also have 2 pockets on the driver’s door and passenger’s door as well as a secret draw under the passenger’s seat, so that helps with storage.

You can’t see it in this picture, but another ‘negative’ is the that handle to pop the bonnet is on the passenger’s side of the car. So you have to arbly reach over to open it. I believe it’s because they’re manufactured in a country where the steering wheel is on the other side.

Overall Impression

Overall, this is a fantastic car to get if you’re looking to move on from your first vehicle. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of a R300 000 car, but (assuming you’re buying it yourself) it’s a great ‘mid-age’ car – late twenties, early thirties, no problem. I also like the fact that it’s a 5 door, I’m not about that station wagon life so these smaller, easy to park cars that have a decent engine are great.

Just looking at Autotrader tonight, I can see there are Opel Corsa’s for R80 000 (2007 model) right up the R200 000 mark (Turbos). They’re great little cars, but I suggest you do your research before purchasing. Get a few options, give them a test drive and if you get one, let me know!

**Commissioned Blog Post