C'mon!

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye. Almost three years to the day since I picked up my first BSM Vauxhall Corsa (photo above), I am saying goodbye to my sixth, and last (photo below), one in a couple of hours time.

Apart from the first one - a 1.2 petrol, which was completely gutless - I have enjoyed them all. I think they are attractive, solid, little cars, which all my pupils seem to have enjoyed driving. Sometimes the firm spring on the gearstick provided a few problems for new learners, and the brakes are certainly responsive (which caused some exciting moments), but, apart from that, it has been a good car to teach in. There is one other major issue, which has been responsible for a disproportionate amount of problems: The indicators. In their wisdom, Vauxhall decided, a few years ago, to re-invent the indicator. They somehow thought it would be a good idea if a light click caused the indicators to flash 3 times, then cancel, and a firm click to keep the indicators on, until cancelled automatically or manually. Initially, this is not such a bad idea, but what causes the problems is that the indicators do not stay up/down, they return to the original position. The first problem is that some pupils only give them a ‘light’ click, despite repeated instructions to be positive with them, thus leading to the indicators to cancel after three flashes. Ok, this is a bit trivial and hasn’t caused any serious problems, but it is still annoying. The biggest problem is when the indicators do not cancel automatically and the pupil tries to cancel them by clicking the other direction (which works fine on ‘normal’ indicators). In a Vauxhall, however, it will then signal the opposite direction. This could be very confusing, and potentially dangerous. I can’t imagine I have had any pupils who, at some time, have not had this problem, even experienced drivers. It has even been directly responsible for one or two test failures. To be fair, I should say that it is possible to disable to 3-flash function (which I have certainly done for some pupils). Nevertheless, that still left the bigger, cancelling problem.
As much as I enjoy driving the Corsa, I always like getting into our Nissan, with its PROPER indicators.

The fuel economy has impressed me. The petrol was ok at approximately 44 mpg, but the diesels regularly returned 55 - 60 mpg. After 23,000 miles, my latest Corsa had an average mpg of 60.9, although it has dipped slightly to 60.5 since then. I still do not yet know whether I have been allocated a diesel Fiat, as requested, or petrol. Officially, the diesel Fiat has even better economy than the Corsa, but many BSM instructors are disputing this.

It is testament to the Corsa (and Astra) that, across the country, there have been many instructors who have left BSM, purely so that they could keep teaching in a Vauxhall.

I am looking forward to the Fiat, but, for anyone looking for a good, small car, I can definitely recommend the Corsa…. Just avoid the 1.2 petrol and have a little patience with those ****ing indicators.