Corsa 1.2 16V 2010 Sub Frame Rust

[Rossua]

I spoke to my mechanic and he said he has seen many Corsa's of this age range with the same sub-frame rust problem. This is apparently a common problem with the Corsa D of this age. My present 54 plate car is a Corsa C - and he says the newer Corsa D is a weaker car than that.

So if Vauxhall dealer have put in a brand new sub-frame then it could be a good buy at £2800. If they haven't put in a new sub-frame then I would definitely pull out.

 

[Burnerman]

Certainly Id want a new subframe - I dont see how you can make a good weld of it in situ.
So, it seems that Vauxhall is prepared to go the extra mile to keep you happy and thats good.
When you get the car, do check it carefully during the warranty period (without being anal about it, of course) and that includes the oil consumption so do give it a good run.
John

 

[flameport]

Question is should I be put off by this MOT history

Definitely.

Fail in 2016 for NSF coil spring broken.
2018 - fails for the exact same thing just 2 years later, and having done less than 6000 miles.

Fail in Feb 2018 for subframe corrosion.
6 months later - fails again for the exact same thing.
Either the repairs were shoddy, no repairs were done, or this car is highly susceptible to massive corrosion. Bad news either way.

Nearside Front Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn" something especially bad ?

Between that fault not existing and being serious enough to require immediate repair only took 6 months and less than 2000 miles. That is not normal.

For the last 4 years, mileage per year is very low, which probably means it's been trashed and smashed around the town.
Or used for jousting in a muddy field on Sundays, where it sits rusting away for the rest of the week.

Everything points to this car being driven very little and yet inexplicably suffering from major mechanical failures and ongoing structural rust problems.
It's a heap of junk and will be a big pile of problems for whoever owns it.

Thousands of other cars are available.

 

[Rossua]

Do you think a low mileage car is not necessarily a big advantage, and a 10,000 miles per year average mileage car, or above, may often be a better option if it had a good MOT record ?

 

[Burnerman]

A low mileage vehicle can have many advantages, bit it all depends how it has been used.....the clutch and gearbox may have had excessive work.
The mechanicals on every engine have the potential to last for ages, so long as oil and filter changes have been attended to but on diesels there is always the chance that a new DPF, EGR and DMF will be needed at some time which will prove costly.
The second hand car market is indeed a nightmare, or can be.....the rental companies offload before the first service is due, often enough - so you can get a very clean car that has been busy for its short life.
However, would you want one?
John

 

[rsgaz]

Do you think a low mileage car is not necessarily a big advantage

Usually it is a good thing, but not when the MOT history looks like the car has been crashed at some point. (Or done the Paris-Dakar)

So, give us a link to the next one you have in your sights, I'm guessing you've found one?!

If it's cheap, it's because the dealer can't shift it, because others have walked away after giving it the once over.

 

[Rossua]

The second hand car market is indeed a nightmare, or can be.....

That's certainly been my experience. It has got worse. I did 7 HPI checks on Gumtree on Corsa's, all quite good cars, and 5 of them came up as insurance write-offs - that's why I went to a dealer. Its taking me much longer to find a car than in the past where I found one good private seller and just bought it there and then, and those cars were quite good. Now its thick foreign accents and very shady sounding characters I wouldn't trust.

To be fair the dealer said a new sub-frame had been fitted - but I still decided to cancel, and I got my refund back without any problem. To be fair this dealer has been very good to deal with all throughout the process.

 

[mointainwalker]

The second hand car market is indeed a nightmare, or can be.....the rental companies offload before the first service is due, often enough - so you can get a very clean car that has been busy for its short life.

However, would you want one?

I thought that this notion that hire cars were so abused in their short lives that they were bad buys had died out ? I wouldn't have any hesitation in buying an ex-hire subject to normal checks and pricing

 

[Burnerman]

Wellll, it is a difficult one....a rental car will have had many drivers, many of which couldnt give a chuff about how the car is treated - and the clutch and gearbox are the first to complain.
Modern cars are so well built they can disguise loads of misuse, of course and theres every chance of a good one.
However, the rental companies unload their stock very frequently and at low mileage, so they must have a good reason!
There were a few rentals doing rally reconnaisance near me -totally against the rules, of course -and I know they were thrashed to within an inch of their lives.
A local trader near to me imported some Minis from the Channel Islands in 2007. Most needed clutches and very few had used the top two gears!
If Im looking for second hand vehicles for people, its Motability and main dealers for me initially....theres loads of ex PCP stuff out there.
John