1995 Chevrolet Corsica LT 3.1 V6 SFI from North America

Summary:

A whole other story

Faults:

A/C compressor at 140k.

Engine and transmission mounts, front struts at 190k.

Water pump at 220k.

Thermostat, radiator, starter, battery cables at 230k.

Crankshaft sensor at 250k.

Oil and transmission pans at 270k.

General Comments:

This car looks bland and boring on the outside, but when you drive it, you realize you cannot judge a book by its cover. It is even reliable and has a smooth ride, along with an engine that delivers great performance and eats a little amount of gas. I bought this car for $1300 with maintenance records stating that a new engine was put in because of bad gaskets. Luckily for me this car has been fabulous for me.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th May, 2016

8th May 2016, 03:34

This review is awesome! $1300 and you get 170,000 miles out of it?

You are the king of frugal zealots my friend!

8th May 2016, 13:32

Life's too short to be a "frugal zealot", let alone their king!

10th May 2016, 10:47

This sounds like the absolute perfect car to own if you work in a refinery, steel mill, inner city lot, etc where you worry about owning a new car. Having parking dings or paint issues and loss from a heavy industry factory parking lot. I have seen cars in these places with pitted windshields and bad paint loss. Why people drive new expensive models to me doesn't make sense in those specific cases.

12th May 2016, 03:51

Nothing could be further from the truth!

To spend as little money as possible on something that doesn't matter all that much is the smarter way to go.

You don't care about cars? This is the perfect car. Go learn French, or botany, or go skinny dipping in a lake with an attractive member of the sex that appeals to you.

Going from boring point A to boring point B doesn't require a divestment. This guy is doing it right.

30th Mar 2017, 04:50

This person gets it!

Most automotive forum posters can't seem to grasp the idea that people who purchase inexpensive & boring vehicles have interests outside the automotive realm. If they could take their daily commute in the any of the fastest and/or most decadent cars ever built, it would still be wasted time to them.

30th Mar 2017, 14:35

Why would "people that purchase inexpensive and boring vehicles" and "have interests outside the automotive realm" even be on an "automotive forum", let alone posting something on it?

30th Mar 2017, 15:00

Doesn't sound like the car to take out a hot date. They may feel sorry for you and pay for your meal though. When you get old you can hand your life savings over to a nursing home.

31st Mar 2017, 20:47

That's just sad. All that money you saved driving a 20+ year old Corsica to go "skinny dipping", and then when you die, someone else will get it all.

And probably use it to buy a Corvette. {θ¿Ω}

1st Apr 2017, 15:27

Or likely buy another Corsica or put it towards a nursing home. Nobody passed away to buy mine. Going 8 more years to schools at night put me me behind the wheel. I would do the exact same again. There's no free rides out here.

1995 Chevrolet Corsica 2.2 Litre from North America

Summary:

The perfect domestic beater

Faults:

- E-brake handle broke.

- Power lock switch broke.

- Leak from the windshield.

- Paint chips.

The Corsica isn't without its faults. The 2.2 litre, 4-cylinder, automatic transmission model is what I own.

Most Corsicas have been known to have paint chips, and mine is no exception. My uncle, who works as a mechanic at a Chevy/GM dealership, has noted that Chevrolet used a waterpaint coat for some of their automobiles in the 1990s, and the quality of the paint eventually began to show. The Pontiac Tempest also suffers from the same problem.

The car also has a leak, but I think the car had the leak when I bought it.

Another thing that was broken when I bought the car was the driver's side power lock switch. I developed a habit of reaching over to lock the car's power locks on the passenger side, and even though the lock's fixed now, I still do that.

Also, the Corsica tends to be a very noisy car.

When my dad owned the car, he drove it much more than I did, And I think he was a lot rougher on the car than me. During the time he owned it, the e-brake handle broke, and once, the transmission shifter got stuck (one time, we drove to Abbotsford, BC for a Heat-Marlies game and he put the car in neutral and used the E-brake). But these things were easy fixes.

General Comments:

The 1995 Chevrolet Corsica might just be the best beater/starter car for a person today. Most of them go for less than $1,000, and not only that, a majority of them have proven to be reliable. If you do basic maintenance on this car, it will keep on going.

The 2.2 litre, 4-cylinder engine, automatic transmission model is the one I own. I originally purchased it in 2009 from one of my dad's best friends, a mechanic, who in turn, got the car from an old lady who had barely, barely driven it (explains why the kilometres on the car were at 47,000, which is almost like buying pre-owned). It ended up at the mechanic's office because the lady hadn't taken it on the highway for so long, the valves got clogged up full of carbon, and then they blew when she tried taking it on the highway. She was informed the repair cost was $1,900, and she couldn't pay it. Then my dad calls the mechanic and says "My son's looking for a car, do you have anything?" and the rest is history.

I bought the car for $1,900, bought snow tires for $500 (which I still have today, and they still look good), got the car's junk tires replaced the following summer for about $400, installed a CD player for $200, and then replaced the brake pads for $400. In 2012, I sold the car to my dad for $2,000, at about 60,000 km. Bought it back in 2014 for 600$ when the car had 88,000 km. Currently, the car has 94,200 km. In the time I've owned it, I've never had to do any serious maintenance on it, and the mechanic who I bought it from, and still bring it to, says it's a great little car and that it'll keep on going.

I'm debating whether to keep it for a few more years until something goes on it that's not worth repairing, or selling it because it does get boring driving the same car for a while. But, if you're someone who likes cheap, easy transportation without all the high costs of automobiling, the Corsica is just what you would want.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th June, 2015