[jamescmartin13]

So, I'm finally almost ready to order my new Corsa E. I've been contemplating the LE and the SE. I've added options on making an LE come to £19,000 and an SE come to £17,000.

But really, is it necessary. I think I might just get the Excite. It comes with everything I need and the engine I want.

Rather than have to wait for a factory build to have reversing sensors added, I may as well get an aftermarket company to do them and colour code them right? Might save a bit of money too.

Also who needs electronic climate control? Normal Air Con has never let me down.

 

[mud4fun]

How the F*ck did you get an LE to 19K????? I'd buy a VXR for that money. I only paid £14750 for my 1.4T LE (actually paid a lot less than that if you include P/X) Didn't need any options. Tiny car so why do you need parking sensors, reversing camera or park assist anyway??? If you really need parking sensors or electronic aids to park a Corsa then you need to go back to driving lessons and learn to judge distances.

FFS, I can't believe the number of people that have to rely on these aids. Don't they teach you to drive any more? I was parking 7.5 ton trucks for my Dads company from the age of 15 and didn't have any cameras back in the early 80's and even my 8 year old daughter can park a long wheelbase Land Rover twice the size of a Corsa.

The more I hear from the younger generation the more I'm gobsmacked at the lack of skills OR the blind reliance on gadgets.

As for heated steering wheels and seats, clearly designed for southern softies as up here on North East coast I've driven classic old vehicles in -20c with no heater and never needed a heated wheel. Has the UK population become such big wusses they can't last 5 minutes until the heater is upto temp? The Corsa heater works fine and gets to temp quite rapidly.

Sorry James but I'm nearly 50 and have driven millions of miles in vehicles without even power steering or electric windows. I just find it incredible that people feel they need some of these stupid gadgets.

You vehicle will only be worth 4-6K after 3 years no matter how many gadgets you fit as the engine/colour will be the primary considerations on the 2nd hand market. Waste of money in my opinion to spend that much on gadgets that are mostly irrelevant to most people.

 

[Delboy_Lee]

Hi James, sure that's a big question but hopefully one of our experts will be along shortly to offer some great tips. From me is: get the best discounts you can get & as many Free accecories as possible before agreeing to any purchase.

For example my SE 1.4, 5 door Automatic I got for under £14,500 using VX Partners, On Line & Dealer loyalty Discounts - you may also find you can get some of these. Good luck.

Derek

 

[hijamie32]

Yep defiantly look for / ask loads of dealers for their best discounts, knocked nearly 2000 off the total price of my excite a/c!

 

[hendry]

If it were me and I could afford that sort of money, I'd be going for an SRi VX-Line with winter pack, then youve got the same spec as the LE (minus tintd windows and body colour roof and mirrors and silver alloys) but with the best toys (sight and light pack, heated seats, heated steering wheel)

The other stuff like climate control, traffic sign recognition, advanced park assist, parking sensors and so on are all just gimmicks, its like mud4fun says, if you can't park a Corsa without having the car do it for you or beeping to give you an idea of distance or work out road signs or speed limits for the road you are travelling on then you really shouldn't be on the road.

The other stuff like trip computer, heated seats/steering wheel, auto lights/wipers and so on are useful convenience features that allow you you to be lazy and travel in comfort, they don't pretty much drive for you however and that's the main difference.

 

[SylvE]

Having been driving and parking since 1990, I think I would really struggle to trust the self park feature! Even though you still have to control the accelerator and brake, I've been so used to parking for all these years that it would be totally alien to have half the job done for me! Even if I end up getting an SE, I would still turn the parking sensors off most of the time anyway! Think I've finally settled on an SRi with winter pack, as I'm not keen on the chrome bits on the door handles of the SE! I would consider an Excite if it meant a quicker delivery time, but that would mean doing without the multifunction trip computer and heated mirrors.

 

[hijamie32]

I think it depends, if you aren't reliant on the features then I think they can be helpful. I live on a terraced street with on street parking and when you are having to parallel park 4-5 times a day 5 days a week it can be pretty laborious!

I for one am looking forward to the park assist, although depending on how quick it is I might find myself doing the parking anyway :lol:

 

[hijamie32]

What do you get extra on the multi trip computer vs what the excite comes with. Hadn't noticed the difference?

 

[mud4fun]

The multi trip is a great little tool as it gives you two separate trip readings so you can record whole tank mpg/distance on one and a single journey mpg/distance on another. Very useful for people doing business mileage and claiming back mileage etc. It also gives a digital speedo which is useful in SPECS speed limits as the normal speedo has no clear marking for the common UK speed limits of 30mph or 50mph. It also has an instant mpg reading that is useful for training yourself to drive as economically as possible OR just good fun to see how often you can cruise along using no fuel (instant mpg shows 99+ mpg as fuel is cut)

Cruise control is also very useful on long motorway journeys so you can rest your feet. The pedals are not the most comfortable height if you leave your feet on the pedals on long runs. Be careful though as cruise control is not as economical as manual driving.

 

[hijamie32]

Does the excite not have that as standard as it comes with cruise control. Something the dealer didn't mention when talking about the different specs and can't seem to find anything obvious in the brochures to say what the excite does / doesn't do other the cruise control?

Thanks for the info!

 

[mud4fun]

Some people on here claim they have the multi trip on their excite but the official website only lists it as standard on SRi/VXline/LE and SE or did when I ordered mine back in January.

 

[hijamie32]

Some people on here claim they have the multi trip on their excite but the official website only lists it as standard on SRi/VXline/LE and SE or did when I ordered mine back in January.

I will have to wait till Monday then to find out!

Cheers

 

[anthony]

i'v got the corsa LE capital which came with tech pack 2 thrown in, and to be honest never really use the stuff, i find the parking sensors TOO sensitive i agree with Ian (mud4fun) when it comes to gadgets

 

[SylvE]

I was all set to buy an Excite when I visited the dealer back in February, but something held me back and I didn't commit - since then, looking on here I realised that the Excite didn't have all the features that I am used to /would want. Yes, it has heated seats and steering wheel, but it doesn't have the digital speedo on the MFTC, heated mirrors, and 60/40 split rear seats that the SRi has. So, for me, I think an SRi with winter pack will be the best option that offers all that I have been used to or am looking for. I will still go back again and have a couple more test drives before I decide.

 

[mud4fun]

Yes we used to put value on a 60/40 rear seat but now we have two younger kids there is no point as you can never fold either side down because for 99.99% of the time, if you one kid in the car while shopping you have both in there! The recent law on child seats means that even with 60 part up and 40 part down you can't fit two kids on child seats or even one on and one off. So not bothered by that feature any more. It would be a nice to have but not a deal breaker. More useful would be a centre section that lifted out to allow long packages to fit while still allowing a child either side.

 

[anthony]

one thing I think that they should fit as standard on the LE is the false boot floor, I've just managed to get hold of one really makes a big difference to the boot space

 

[SylvE]

Yes we used to put value on a 60/40 rear seat but now we have two younger kids there is no point as you can never fold either side down because for 99.99% of the time, if you one kid in the car while shopping you have both in there! The recent law on child seats means that even with 60 part up and 40 part down you can't fit two kids on child seats or even one on and one off. So not bothered by that feature any more. It would be a nice to have but not a deal breaker. More useful would be a centre section that lifted out to allow long packages to fit while still allowing a child either side.

I have owned 2 Merivas in the past, and they had th middle rear seat back that would fold won and I bought the 'travel assistant' module that fitted on the back of teh section that folded down. You could store stuff in there or just use it as an arm rest (or bolster to keep the kids separated!) :lol:

 

[mud4fun]

It would just get left in the garage with us though Anthony. We get a week or months worth of groceries at a time on a family shop and need the full depth of the boot. We've managed to get a full months food and grocery shopping plus a new gazebo in the boot (less parcel shelf) plus a family of four. Parcel shelf dropped in gap left by moving back seat forward one notch. The false floor not so good for families which is why I guess they left it as an option which to be fair suits us. I originally was going to buy a 2nd hand one but have needed full depth of boot so may times now that I gave up on that idea. Things like 13kg patio gas bottles just fit in boot as it is. Nice that they put cargo hooks in, useful for ratchet strapping gas bottles in place

 

[mud4fun]

I have owned 2 Merivas in the past, and they had th middle rear seat back that would fold won and I bought the 'travel assistant' module that fitted on the back of teh section that folded down. You could store stuff in there or just use it as an arm rest (or bolster to keep the kids separated!) :lol:

That is a nice feature. Had it on a couple of my previous cars too!

 

[hendry]

How the F*ck did you get an LE to 19K????? I'd buy a VXR for that money. I only paid £14750 for my 1.4T LE (actually paid a lot less than that if you include P/X) Didn't need any options. Tiny car so why do you need parking sensors, reversing camera or park assist anyway??? If you really need parking sensors or electronic aids to park a Corsa then you need to go back to driving lessons and learn to judge distances.

FFS, I can't believe the number of people that have to rely on these aids. Don't they teach you to drive any more? I was parking 7.5 ton trucks for my Dads company from the age of 15 and didn't have any cameras back in the early 80's and even my 8 year old daughter can park a long wheelbase Land Rover twice the size of a Corsa.

The more I hear from the younger generation the more I'm gobsmacked at the lack of skills OR the blind reliance on gadgets.

As for heated steering wheels and seats, clearly designed for southern softies as up here on North East coast I've driven classic old vehicles in -20c with no heater and never needed a heated wheel. Has the UK population become such big wusses they can't last 5 minutes until the heater is upto temp? The Corsa heater works fine and gets to temp quite rapidly.

Sorry James but I'm nearly 50 and have driven millions of miles in vehicles without even power steering or electric windows. I just find it incredible that people feel they need some of these stupid gadgets.

You vehicle will only be worth 4-6K after 3 years no matter how many gadgets you fit as the engine/colour will be the primary considerations on the 2nd hand market. Waste of money in my opinion to spend that much on gadgets that are mostly irrelevant to most people.

Forgot to post this earlier, Arnold Clark were doing 1.4 T LE 3 doors with no options for £12,195 in flat colours and an extra £545 for metallic so £12,740 so about £2k less than the £14,750 you paid, list price in your colour is £15,260 so looks like you only saved about £500. which further reinforces your point about spending £17-£19k on a Corsa with options being madness, if you paid even £17k for a specced up car the dealer could do for £12,750 without options thats£4250 of options which is a £4k waste as a car with options may be easier to sell but won't be worth any more than a standard car.