Nice New Vauxhalls

Vauxhall is most renowned in the car market because of its quality and affordability. The used Vauxhall cars are mainly bought as the buyer knows that the car will last. Here is quick summary of the used Vauxhall car models and why the used Vectra tops the list.

The used Vauxhall Vectra cars are popular cars bought in UK owing to the refined ride level which competes with best cars in its class. Vauxhall has done a great job of tailoring the Vectra’s ride and handling to its customers needs. It is easy to drive, making you feel at home, and immediately impressing with its hushed ride.

The practicality considerations for used Vectra make it an ideal buy. The boot is a massive 500-litres and the right shape for suitcases and large bags. The seats are very comfortable and the armrest is in just the right place for relaxed motorway driving. It also has a very high safety rating which is priority for majority buyers.
The standard Vauxhall Vectra is a superb long-distance cruiser, managing to eat motorway miles with ease. But show it a corner and it becomes flustered, hampered by vague steering.

The other Vauxhall models which includes the Astra that combines the compact nature of a hatchback with the power of a saloon. A used Vauxhall Astra makes a great family car. The used Corsa on the other hand is trendy small car and attracts first time drivers. The Vauxhall Zafira is more like a family car with enough space and good practicality accommodating large families.

The used Vauxhall Vectra are cheap to run cost-wise. It comes with good fuel economy from 26mpg to 49.5mpg from the worst petrol to the best diesel. The Vectra parts are easily available due the model being so popular in UK market.

For more specification details about used Vauxhall Vectra, read the Vuaxhall hub and get detailed review on Used Vauxhall cars. The hub gives all latest news related to Vauxhall cars.

It’s an uncertain time in the car market with many sellers reporting sluggish business. However, some areas are performing well with certain models proving highly popular. Such is the case for Vauxhall dealers who have been reporting a significant increase in sales last year.

What brings this on? Well, many of them are putting it down to the launch of the Astra. The old model had been performing relatively modestly running well down its class. However in December 2008 we saw a new model, the British built MK 6 and that has been fairly flying out of show rooms.

The result is a renewal of the brands image within the UK market, something that can’t come a moment too soon for hard pressed Vauxhall Dealers. Some of them have been reporting sales up by nearly 40 to 50%.

So what is this growth down to? Well, customers are increasingly migrating to versatile small hatchbacks. Ideally, anything that can offer good fuel consumption, and low emissions as well as the flexibility to be a good all-use car will perform well, and that’s what the Astra offers. It’s unspectacular but reliable and that seems to be very much in vogue at the moment.

During a recession as severe as this consumer behaviour can be termed with one simple phrase: ‘back to basics’. Reliability and dependability become the most sought after characteristics, replacing performance and luxury.

Economists refer to this as the Mummy syndrome. When times are tough we crave stability. We want the state to offer the security of a mother, rather than the aggression of a father. It’s a cheap analogy, but economists love them and there’s no reason not to follow them.

The same principal applies when analysing trends in the car market. On a subconscious level people are craving the stability in their lives. Remember; we’re in a time in which the banks, pillars of our society have proved to be built on sand. Our politicians have let us down and major retail names are disappearing by the day from the highstreet. At times like that we’ll migrate to anything solid.

Vauxhall dealers are tapping into this desire and presenting their car as the ideal solution to all life’s turbulent problems. It may seem ridiculous to think that a car can provide that, but when you consider the amount of time most people spend driving you can recognise the huge significance they place on the vehicle they drive.

For Vauxhall dealers, and indeed their competitors, the challenge is to find ways of presenting their products as being perfect anti-recession vehicles. For some that will prove difficult. Prestige cars such as Jaguar may have to suffer for the time being, but for the more run of the mill manufacturers, this is their time in the sun.

Dom Donaldson

Underdogs. What is it about them we like so much? By sheer definition an underdog is inferior to its rival and therefore shouldn’t have any fans. Yet charm counts for a lot and so in any walk of life the second favourite is always the people or neutrals’ favourite. A lower division football team playing Manchester United in the FA Cup will always have large support, despite the bookies offering no odds for a United win. Remember Eddie the Eagle? The British ski-jumper who was rubbish, yet he’s a national treasure for going to the Olympics and having a go. The Vauxhall Corsa is in a similar boat. By no means rubbish, it has always found itself in an overcrowded small car market where the Ford Fiesta has reigned supreme.

The Corsa however is still a very successful car and I put this down to two key factors: it’s very good and appears in everyone’s holiday memories. Go to any car hire place on holiday and under the small car category I’d be willing to bet my house that nine times out of ten you’ll take receipt of a Vauxhall Corsa. The reason for this is quite simple – people that hire things treat them like something they’ve stepped in.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve rented a DVD only for it to stop halfway through the movie. The reason is always a massive scratch right across the good bit of the film, where someone appears to have been playing air hockey with the disc. Car hire is no different, with holidaymakers racing from seaside town to seaside town with no regard for their vehicle’s wellbeing. This then is why the Vauxhall Corsa gets the nod for being abused – it can take the punishment.

I’ve fond memories of my time on holiday driving the last generation Corsa in 2007 and whilst I treated it like royalty compared to the bloke before me, who seemed to take a cliff and slam it into the side of the car, I certainly wasn’t a Sunday driver either. Once I’d overcome the whole driving on the wrong side of the road routine, I found the Corsa a joy to drive through the twisting mountain roads of Ibiza. It had great air-conditioning too and was super economical despite racking up hundreds of miles. I however am aware that it was so bland to look at you could park it in the middle of Manchester United’s cup tie and no-one would notice.

Great news with the new model then because it looks fantastic. The car is all triangles and other-angles and manages to balance sophisticated styling for the gents with that cute and fun factor for the ladies. The front headlights rake up to the sides, the mirrors follow the triangle theme and the bulge above the rear wheels gives it an aggressive, sporty stance. Unlike some of its rivals it hasn’t plumped solely for style or solely for driver experience but has aimed for the middle ground between the two. What you get as a result is a car that on paper isn’t the best at anything but overall could very well be number one.

The handling is well-mannered and the Corsa feels composed at all times. Once you’re out on the windy roads however, you can really start to have fun. The engine options for the standard car may not give it too much get up and go, but the great handling means you can carry much of your speed through the corners without getting on and off the brake pedal.

Your best options on the engine front are either the 1.4 litre petrol which develops 90bhp and returns 47.9mpg, or the 74bhp 1.3 litre diesel unit which although initially noisy, is refined once heated up. This returns a whopping 61.4mpg combined although you may find the 0-60mph dash of 13.6 seconds too sluggish.

When it comes to build quality, even holidaymakers will have trouble damaging the new car, with both exterior and interior well put together and using better quality materials. The piano black dashboard is very striking and all the dials and instruments fall easily to hand. Rear leg room isn’t great for adults as the back seats cannot be moved back and forth however the boot space more than makes up for this.

Despite all these improvements and to my mind the new Vauxhall Corsa being that special breed of car that can do everything well, it’ll still be seen as the underdog compared to the Fiesta. However don’t let this sway your judgement because the Corsa really is the champion is disguise.

Mark Creese

Look on used car websites and you begin to notice a trend. There is a shortage in the number of used cars on the market which has led to dramatic price hikes. In fact, the price of a used car has increased by a colossal 30% over the past year. This change in the market has occurred because of the government-funded Scrappage Scheme.

In an effort to kick-start the failing new car market the government decided to inject some much needed funds into this industry The Scrappage Scheme got underway in May and has been since hailed as a success.

The scheme not only increased new car sales, but also helped to get old, dirty cars off the road. So the scheme has also benefited the environment as old gas-guzzlers have been replaced by new fuel-efficient cars.

The Scheme has been so successful that it has even been extended until next year. Ford and Vauxhall have benefited the most during the scheme, in particular they saw great sales figures during the all important 59′ plate launch month.

However, although the scheme has helped local car dealers – and the larger manufacturers in particular, it certainly hasn’t benefited used car hunters.

The Scrappage Scheme made the prices of brand new cars seem so appealing that people rushed to scrap there old cars in return for a shiny new one. Therefore, those that would have otherwise sold on their older cars to fund the purchase of their one vehicle have decided to have them scrapped – meaning that the used car market has been severely depleted.

Inevitably, because of the lack of supply, the demand has increased and therefore prices have seen a significant rise.

In some cases, because of the great deals available on the Scrappage Scheme, some people have been able to buy a brand new car for less money than the same model a year old.

This has meant that people looking for a bargain first car are really struggling to find one. The likes of the used Vauxhall Corsa and the little Ford Ka have been scrapped in their thousands – both of these cars have always been a firm favourite among young first-time drivers as they are cheap to insure and run.

As the Scrappage Scheme has been extended the used car market won’t really change until next Spring at least. Once all funds have been exhausted then we will be able if the market returns to it usual state…but then perhaps new car sales will fall once again…

Lucy Penn

The car market may be slow to get back on its feet, but the job market seems to be seeing ‘green shoots of recovery.’ This should mean that soon the car market should be thriving again and the man with a van will become a more common sight.

Regarding choosing the right van if you’re a decision-maker, here is a comprehensive guide to help you choose the best vehicle for your purposes.

What will you use it for?

- City driving
- Long haul (mostly motorways)
- Large loads
- Off-road
- Transporting colleagues

For each of these uses, you would require a different type of van depending on the nature of your business.

City Driving
The Corsavan is perfect for city driving. It’s as small as a normal corsa therefore easy to park in towns where space is somewhat limited. Interestingly enough, it is rather spacious inside so it will comfortably fit two fully grown men in the seats. Exceptionally taller drivers (6ft 4″ tall +) may disagree with this statement.

Fuel efficiency is often a problem for city vehicles as constant gear changes and stopping and starting is not great for fuel consumption. If this is an issue, it is helpful to know that car-derived vans such as the Corsavan are well suited to such driving. The clutch and gearbox are likely to wear quickly from lots of gear changes that is unfortunately necessary with city driving. It is advisable that drivers be alert to changes in these parts that may signal that they may soon require replacing. Corsavans are not suitable for delivering bulky or heavy items but they’re perfect for moving small loads or for tradesmen working on smaller jobs and typically attracts favourable reviews.

Alternatives include the Daihatsu Hijet or the Piaggo Porter although they are poor alternatives as they are more like small trucks rather than vehicles designed for running around town. Radio stations have chosen Corsavans for their out and about vehicles as they are small, nippy and surprisingly spacious. If you need more space, the Astravan is a larger alternative but not an equivalent due to the vehicle not being small enough to be described as a city car.

Long Haul
In fact, the Astravan is more suitable for long haul journeys than it is going around the city due to the length of the vehicle making it harder to park in crowded city centres but owners of these vans will happily admit that they would choose an Astravan again and again. Not only is it complimented for having a comfortable cab that is on par with the typical domestic vehicle, it handles well and is cost-efficient. The 2009 Astra which the Astravan is based on has fantastic NCAP safety results for an adult which is a big bonus although the pre-2009 models received very respectable ratings. Still, if you are transporting smaller goods across the country, the Astravan is the sensible choice for fuel economy but realistically, a bigger van may be needed for the job. In which case, the next step up is the Vauxhall Vivaro.

Unfortunately, the Vivaro has attracted less glowing reviews compared to the smaller Astravan. Main faults appear to be a weak gearbox and various other complaints relating to bearings on older models. Yet, the Vivaro has won the top award for ‘Best Medium Van’ seven times since 2001 in the Van Fleet World Awards which is an impressive feat which could indicate that only a vocal minority have experienced real problems. Often hailed as roomy and comfortable, the Vivaro does appear to be a great contender for long drives when you require space. Reviewers report that the engine can be rather noisy but quietens down once fifth gear is selected which suggests that the vehicle was intended for motorway use.

However, if you are planning on hiring a vehicle like the Vauxhall Vivaro, please check your driving licence. Drivers who passed their test before January 1997 are entitled to drive this vehicle but drivers who have passed their test since January 1997 need to pass an extra test to add the C1 classification to their licence. The Vivaro and its bigger brother, the Movano both are capable of carrying large loads but very large loads should be left to specialist fleets e.g. HGVs.

Off Road
If you are intending to do a lot of agricultural work or mostly operate in the country, the Vauxhall Frontera is a good choice. For those who do not have deep enough pockets to cover the purchase of a Jeep or Land Rover, the Vauxhall Frontera is a sensible and logical choice. Vauxhall have not made the Frontera since 2004, but second hand models are available for good 4X4 entry level vehicle. The cab is set lower than traditional 4X4s which gives it reasonable side protection. Unfortunately, the 2002 model that was tested by Euro NCAP described pedestrian safety as “dire” and that child occupant safety was questionable. Adults fared better but driver safety was impaired with front passenger results being marginally better. 2003 models are often recommended. Similar vehicles for similar money would be up to five years older for the same money but alternatives include the Mitsubishi Shogun and the Ford Maverick.

Transporting Colleagues
If you work with one other colleague, any of the aforementioned vans are suitable for two people, possibly with the exception of the Corsavan for two exceptionally taller occupants. The Vauxhall Movano seats 3 passengers and similar vehicles include the Ford Transit and the Mercedes Sprinter.

Other questions you need to consider:

- How much can you afford? Businesses have been known to collapse due to unwise vehicle choices which also include road tax, servicing and insurance.
- How long do you expect to keep it? If you only need a van for a short term, it may be best to consider rental as you will not have to cover the cost of depreciation or servicing etc.
- Will the van be used for towing? In which case the Frontera or the Vivaro/Movano are the better choices but may require extra classifications being added to your driving licence.
- How much time will be spent in the vehicle? If you are intending to drive the vehicle for many hours then comfort should be a big consideration.
- If something goes wrong, do you know where you can take your vehicle for genuine Vauxhall van parts?

The Vauxhall Corsa has been loved by UK drivers for over a decade often topping the charts for the most popular car in the UK. It is especially loved by new drivers for its low insurance costs, cheap running costs and nippy performance.

There is no doubt that such a loved car has hundreds of thousands of units floating around the UK car market which provide a great supply of cars for those that want to purchase one, but as with any second hand product, there are many lemons out there as well.

There are a number of things to watch out for when buying a used car as well as specific things to watch out for with certain models. It is no secret that older cars tend to rust but the earlier versions of the Corsa where particularly vulnerable to rusting, especially around the wheel arches.

One should always see the car before buying it so if you can, go see the car and make an extra effort to get down and dirty by getting on the floor and looking under the car at the under tray and at the wheel arches. You will literally need to get on the floor so bring some old clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty!

Perhaps an obvious thing to look out for is the engine condition but let’s face it, who amongst us knows what a healthy engine looks like. Instead look at how clean the engine is. Chances are an owner that takes the time to clean the engine will have taken good care of it. Rust on any part of the engine is also a big no no to watch out for as well as general wear and tear which can be expected to some extent but is a sign that the engine might be approaching the end of its lifespan. If you really have no idea what you are looking for why not bring a friend who knows a little more about cars to look at the car with you.

The Corsa is a robust and well built car and should anything go wrong, parts are in large supply and comparatively cheap in comparison to other cars and models. However, this should not be an excuse for not inspecting your car before you buy it. Perhaps the best piece of advice is to buy a car from a certified Vauxhall dealer or from a website that provides history checks.