Car decision

I have a bit of a decision to make. I currently have a VW Polo (G reg) with a whole 1.05l engine. It runs on petrol. It's in pretty good nick. I bought it in June for £700 and have since done around 7 or 8 thousand miles in it. My mum is probably going to be selling her car pretty soon, and she was offering it to me the other day for maybe a grand. It's a K-reg (as far as I remember; I think it must be from '93) Vauxhall Corsa 1.5 TD. It's also in fairly good nick.

My insurance on the Polo would be around £700 if I got it now, although I think it was about £900 when I got it in June. The insurance for the Corsa would be around £900 also.

So, the question is, do you think it's worth paying the extra for the car and the insurance (and the hassle) for the fuel savings, and how much better would the performance be? My Polo is okay for me for driving around towns and stuff, but on main roads the high-gear acceleration is pretty slow. That's really my only gripe with it performance-wise - if I had a fast car I'd do something stupid and crash it.

Whaddaya think?

the 1.5D will be just as slow if not slower. It's an old common rail diesel I expect, not like the newest funky ones

My mate's got a 1 litre F-reg Polo, does a good job for a 1 litre

Why not take your mum's car out and put it through it's paces?

what's that?? A 20-litre petrol guzzling tank by the looks of it

That is the kind of vehicle single professional women weighing 97lbs soaking wet in America love drive to their job which is 3 blocks from their apartment.

FORD

F@|_|<ing
Old
Rusted
Dodge

:p

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

:p

http://www.vbforums.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=623801

Be happy and buy this car.

It's not a normal diesel, it's a turbodiesel, and it's rated with a higher top speed and a much higher horsepower. So I am pretty sure the Corsa is faster.

Nobody's voted yet :(

Harry, go for the corsa. I have told you this already.

Go on, be a devil. It's only money, you can earn some more.

take the TD mate, you'll love it :)

I had a Polo (called Patsy) and it would have ran forever. I was sad to get rid of it (but it couldn't manage motorways).

They're great cars... vote Polo
PS cheaper tax (or is it just over the mark?)

Yeah, it's cheaper tax since it's just under the 1.1 limit :)

My Polo is in great shape for its age, and it's a pretty good car overall for me. It will fairly happily trundle along the motorway or main roads at 90 or so (80 uphill, 100 downhill), but getting it up to speed takes a while. The only technical problems I've had with it are the automatic choke not staying on long enough. On cold mornings (like this morning - bloody freezing), the choke kicks in when the engine gets started and the revs go up for a while. The engine turns over for a while fine, but then after a minute or so the choke cuts out even though the engine is still too cold to keep going, and it dies at junctions unless I am very careful with the revs for another 5 - 10 minutes. Typical of Polos apparently. Other than that they're very reliable. I don't know what issues there are with the Corsa.

*heh* Nevermind Mr VB, he is brainwashed into thinking that MS and Ford are Good Things (tm).

He'd probably have sex with Bill in the back of his Expedition if he could, and then brag to his friends about it. :rolleyes:

Reading this thread though is interesting. The smallest thing you will find on an American road is 1.6L I-4. My car is 2.2L H-4, and I really want the 3.0L H-6.

'Course, by the same token, American turbos are weaker than their UK counterparts. The American Impreza WRX is under 240bhp. If I remember correctly, the UK version is near 280bhp.

I wonder if most people drive such small engines in the UK, or if this is just typical for the economy cars. But then I think, even the economy cars in America are bigger. *shrug* Weird.

The Corsa is a girls car and carries less prestige. Also, almost all Diesels are TurboDiesels - and they're still embarassingly slow.

The only rapid ones are TDi's (esp VolksVagen ones) but a Vauxhall Corsa diesel is just poor.

Stick with the Polo, especially if it's cheaper to insure/tax. You won't find the Corsa to be noticeably faster. You're also unlikely to get blistering acceleration on the motorway in either car. You need at least a 1.6 petrol or a TDi to pull away fast on the motorway.

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Originally posted by CiberTHuG


'Course, by the same token, American turbos are weaker than their UK counterparts. The American Impreza WRX is under 240bhp. If I remember correctly, the UK version is near 280bhp.

I wonder if most people drive such small engines in the UK, or if this is just typical for the economy cars. But then I think, even the economy cars in America are bigger. *shrug* Weird.

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Petrol is ludicrously expensive over here so massive cars that you park aircraft on the bonnet of with 28ltr V42 engines are right out. You couldn't afford to run them.

Besides, most of the small British cars are a good deal faster bespite the smaller engine, because they don't have to lug around 6 tons of chassis...

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Originally posted by HarryW
It's not a normal diesel, it's a turbodiesel, and it's rated with a higher top speed and a much higher horsepower. So I am pretty sure the Corsa is faster.

Nobody's voted yet :(

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ahh, a TD makes all the difference in the power stakes...

but it's still a diesel and I wouldn't buy one even if diesel was half the price of petrol

Cars in europe smoke american cars. The bodys are much lighter because they do not require the same amount of steel reinforcement in the doors/chassie ect. My brothers VW that he bought in Germany Totally blows the doors off of my VW Wolfsburgh. With the same motor.

Yeah, American cars do have more stringent safety standards. As a result, our cars may weigh more. We also have tougher emission standards, so we can't use all of the turboes from overseas.

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Originally posted by CiberTHuG
Yeah, American cars do have more stringent safety standards. As a result, our cars may weigh more. We also have tougher emission standards, so we can't use all of the turboes from overseas.

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I'm not overly sure about that Ciber...

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Originally posted by BG
My brothers VW that he bought in Germany Totally blows the doors off of my VW Wolfsburgh

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Must get windy in there

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Originally posted by Arbiter


I'm not overly sure about that Ciber...

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It depends where you are in the states. I cant get my car registered in California because their emissions controll is more strict than the State I live in. Generally speaking It is correct, though. The reason the german version is faster than mine is a combination of the weight and the lame turbo system they use in the American version

Speaking to my Dad about it, it seems as if I will save around 500 quid with the Corsa.

A Corsa may be 'a girl's car' but I'm not sure what makes Polos any better. The fact is I have no no claims bonus and less than a year's driving on my record, which means I either get a girls car or I get another five to ten grand or whatever into debt (including cost to buy the car and then to insure it) and spend the whole of this year and next year in a half-decent car, but with no money for beer. Or petrol, for that matter.

So basically, I have to have a small car. I have no choice. If I was rich I could get something decent but I'm not, so I can't.

So, having got that off my chest, this is the way I see it: The Corsa is slow, but not as slow as the Polo. The Corsa is more expensive to buy and insure but the fuel bill makes it much cheaper overall.

To me, that seems pretty pro-Corsa. Maybe I'm missing something that makes the Polo particularly masculine.

I'll see if my Mum will let me have a go in it and see how it drives I think.

Btw, CiberThuG - emmissions standards? You have emmissions standards in the US? What, is there a minimum quota or something :rolleyes: I guess you need stringent emmissions standards really when you are producing twice as much emmissions as everyone else ;)

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Originally posted by HarryW
Spyou are producing twice as much emmissions as everyone else

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..combined

harry, theres only one thing for it....

hor yourself to all the women in the UK, and buy a 2000 dodge viper RT10, red paintwork, silver stripes and jet black headlights

dude its the daddy of cars :D

http://www.vbforums.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=648673

Yes, America has emission standards which have kept high performance turboes out of our country. Just because we are getting lower gas mileage doesn't mean we are produce more pollution per gallon/pound of gas we consume. We very likely produce more volume of pollution simply because we consume more volume, not because we are less efficent at consumption.

As to anyone wondering about American safety standards... let's see...

American football requires helmets and pads. Rugby doesn't.

American auto racing is held in a stadium with high retention walls. We will never have a rally race since people can stand on the side of the road! Mind you, I love rally races. That is a much truer test of driver and car than NASCAR ovals. Turning left is not racing.

In the late 80's, my uncle was in the USAF stationed near London. He bought a new Camry from Germany (West Germany at the time), since it was a left hand drive and the same size as an American Camry. This would make it easier to fit in when he returned home. Besides, it was cheaper in Germany. The car was not supposed to be resold in the US, since, among other things, the windsheild was a peice of glass that would shatter. American windsheilds have to be a breakaway window that is treated to not shatter.

I don' t know what anyone else safety standards are now, but Passenger cars sold in the US now must have...

Front and Rear Crumple Zones, Shoulder and Lap Belts for Front Passengers, Driver's Airbags, must be able to withstand a single roll, must not burst into flames, and, as the sue happy courts are proving, Must be put on a set of tires that will exceed the performance rating clearly stamped on the side of the tire.

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Originally posted by CiberTHuG
but Passenger cars sold in the US now must have...

Front and Rear Crumple Zones, Shoulder and Lap Belts for Front Passengers, Driver's Airbags, must be able to withstand a single roll, must not burst into flames, and, as the sue happy courts are proving, Must be put on a set of tires that will exceed the performance rating clearly stamped on the side of the tire.

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I don't think any car around doesn't have crumple zones or airbags.

Also it is law to wear seatbelts in the back as well as the front here.

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Originally posted by YoungBuck
That is the kind of vehicle single professional women weighing 97lbs soaking wet in America love drive to their job which is 3 blocks from their apartment.

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Isn't there a very popular married professonal woman weighing 110lbs (soaking wet - in America) on this forum who drives something remarkably like that? (I don't see the F22 in the background though)

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Originally posted by HarryW
My Polo is in great shape for its age,

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I have this feeling that the polo will still be trundling along when the corsa is on the scrap heap.

On the other hand I've never met a corsa owner who doesn't love his or her car and modern turbodiesels are pretty cool.

Still i'd stick with the Polo and blow the corsa money on women . . .

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Originally posted by chrisjk
[B]I don't think any car around doesn't have crumple zones or airbags.
B]

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Landrover 110? ;)

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Originally posted by HarryW
Speaking to my Dad about it, it seems as if I will save around 500 quid with the Corsa.
......

and the rest you said

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Harry,

You asked for opinions and you got them....

I personally wouldn't be seen dead driving a Corsa, especially not a Deisel... but then I'm not buying the car.

You buy what you feel is the best deal for you. I didn't think a 1.5TD would have much better economy that a 1.0 Polo, but I could be wrong.

It doesn't matter a hoot what others think of the car - if they don't like it they don't have to get in it!

Myself, I'd go with the Polo - but it's your choice.... :)

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Originally posted by CiberTHuG
We also have tougher emission standards, so we can't use all of the turboes from overseas.

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I understood that you have emission standards that mean that cars have to stay withing limit if they are not serviced (used to be or 50,000 miles) whereas EU regs are based on cars maintianed according to manufactures specs and figures are kept in line with annual checking of every car.

Quote:

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Originally posted by CiberTHuG
Yeah, American cars do have more stringent safety standards. As a result, our cars may weigh more.

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;) can't be! ;)

The Chrysler Voyager just came out as the least safe MPV (Minivan?) selling in Europe

- there must be different types of testing applied

You'll also find that US engines last a damn sight longer than EU engines, this isbecause of the average distance to travel. UK cars can afford to have higher power and lower longievity and better better petrol consumption.

I still say go for the corsa. Harry, you told me yourself, it is only a girls car until you are driving one. Anyway, you can a better stereo system (places to put proper speakers) and the such like. It will be better on petrol consumption according to Parkers....

Polo 35-53 (45 Bhp)
Corsa 46-70 (67 Bhp)

it will be faster and nicer to drive and better consumption and newer

Quote:

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Originally posted by CiberTHuG
As to anyone wondering about American safety standards... let's see...

American football requires helmets and pads. Rugby doesn't.

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Two points

1) They are two totally different games with different rules (eg rugby and high tackles)
2)American football players are pussies compared to most pro rugby players. Or so I've heard :D

Yes, Jamagei, they are, but that is the point.

Kzin, it depends on what county you are in. In my county, there is an annual safety inspection (do all your lights work) that includes and emissions test.

Point still remains... when Subaru built their Impreza, it was immediately released in Australia and the UK. It took them years to tone it done enough to make it so it could pass US emission tests. And as a result, our WRX is weaker than theirs.

And yes, California's standards are more stringent than the other 49 states.

And the Voyager/Caravan/Town & Country is very likely the least safe minivan in America, too. But, keep in mind, passenger cars are really the only American class that has safety restrictions. Minivans are classified as MultiPurpose Vehicles, not passenger vehicles. There is a movement to get that changed (may have already happened). Depending on what type of MPV it is, it doesn't even need to have seat belts.

Does anyone in Europe make pick-up trucks? And not little 1/4 - 1/2 ton pup trucks, but 3/4 - 5/4 ton full size trucks.

And the Corsa Diesel driver walks into the thread :D

Girls car? Maybe...but it's my mum's and it's not (erm...*wasn't* :() too expensive to insure.

Okay, people who say it has no acceleration, just drop it down a couple of gears - it's fine for me when I put my foot down in 3rd at 70 :)

See parksie drives a corsa (or was that drove? Did you crash it or something) Anyway, it's not only women who drive them.

I crunched the front at a roundabout, but it's back on the road now :)

This debate on whether it's a girls car or not:

Every small car is a girls car; unless it's the GTi/XSI/VTR/RS etc variant

Incidently, they only do a Corsa 1.7D now

Quote:

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Originally posted by CiberTHuG

I wonder if most people drive such small engines in the UK, or if this is just typical for the economy cars. But then I think, even the economy cars in America are bigger. *shrug* Weird.

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Lots (but not all) of the roads are *way* smaller over here so a really big car can get in stupid situations (can't park - can't get it turned around - even can't get down some roads). Gas is over a dollar a litre (~$4 a US gallon) and big cars don't impress girls over here the way I guess they do in the US (they are considered cumbersome, middle aged, showy) - its considered much neater to have something fast and agile (GTi, Cosworth, M3 etc)

. . . so much for my ambition to have a 426 hemi Roadrunner . . .

Yes, but a family of four can only squeeze into a Carolla for so long.

So I guess there are no pickups larger than a 1/2 ton over there?

Also, isn't "hemi Roadrunner" redundant? Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the Roadrunner was the hemi 'Cuda.