[ChrisB]

Hi there,
Bumped into this forum while going through loads of reviews and opinions on the Corsa E which I ordered for my wife. Have to say this forum is very informative and helped me a lot in our final decision.

So as I mentioned in the title, I'm from Malta, and as such we get Opels rather than Vauxhalls, but RHD models (British legacy in our islands )
We were initially after the Adam, more girly girly according to my wife, but while being more stylish and customizable, the boot space was small so she (read me :lol: ) finally convinced herself the Corsa was just as good.

Our order is for a snow-white Color edition (your LE) 1.4ecoflex S/S manual. Options we went for are mainly due to our hot weather, so climate control and sunroof, also got the Bi-xenon headlamps.
Interior we got the red dash strip, and I'm tempted to get the red gear stick retrofitted.

Long long wait now...ordered it on May, delivery is late July/August

 

[Delboy_Lee]

Hi ChrisB from Malta, welcome to the Forum

Derek

 

[Reddaz]

Welcome to the forum

 

[mud4fun]

Welcome to the forum

Yes the colour edition had me confused when I was looking for pictures of 'limelight green' cars as the only pictures available at the time (january) were all Opels in Europe and while they had the black roof and wheels of the UK LE they didn't have the body kit so more like an SRi in some ways. Odd that Opel offer different build configurations to Vauxhall here in the UK. I would have thought making so many different trim levels is inefficient and costly but I guess people prefer different things in different countries?

I see you can get a OPC-Line and Turbo Edition elsewhere in Europe and they look like the LE. Very confusing!

 

[ChrisB]

Thanks to all!
True trim levels are confusing and some times the logic behind them does not make much sense. The Color edition varies also for Opel from one country to another, so for example the local Maltese dealer (he's also the only agent on the island) will decide the standard features of the car and what additional options to offer (which is a very limited choice)
So although the "LE" comes already well equipped the options you can add are the advanced park assist, sunroof, climate control, roof spoiler, OPC exterior pack body kit, cruise control, metallic paint, front parking sensors...that's all no winter packs etc etc.
On the other hand the dealer was flexible enough to add other extras such as the bi-xenon headlights even though they were not listed.

 

[anthony]

hello and welcome

 

[ChrisB]

Long wait almost over! Car released from customs and received at the local dealer. I went to see it yesterday and it looks great, they said they'll wash and polish, then its a 3day wait for registering and issue of plates... Can't wait!! (even tho it's my wife's car!)

On a side note I also had my Astra G resprayed and face lifted - new lease of life for her

 

[hendry]

Thanks to all!
True trim levels are confusing and some times the logic behind them does not make much sense. The Color edition varies also for Opel from one country to another, so for example the local Maltese dealer (he's also the only agent on the island) will decide the standard features of the car and what additional options to offer (which is a very limited choice)
So although the "LE" comes already well equipped the options you can add are the advanced park assist, sunroof, climate control, roof spoiler, OPC exterior pack body kit, cruise control, metallic paint, front parking sensors...that's all no winter packs etc etc.
On the other hand the dealer was flexible enough to add other extras such as the bi-xenon headlights even though they were not listed.

Cruise Control not standard on a high spec trim in Malta? :shock:

 

[ChrisB]

Nope not standard, and for a justified reason...on an island 16 by 9 miles with no motorways there's little use for cruise control! Most dealers won't offer it, I insisted on having it purely for aesthetics as I couldn't stand the asymmetric steering wheel controls! I could use it if I were to travel overland tho.

 

[ChrisB]

Finally its here! We got the car delivered mid last week so had some time driving around - its a great little car! My wife likes it, I like it (haven't driven mine since we got it!)
Having tried it at local conditions what I can say so far is its pretty much economical - driving around with AC on in a hot urban environment and averaging 39mpg is not bad, and there def is room for improvement.
Ride is comfy on proper surfaced roads, but not so much on our country roads - the suspension is a bit stiff for those roads but is ok if you go slowly.
The AC has sufficient cooling for our conditions, took me some time to figure out how to set the climate control properly - with the car parked in the sun without a sunshade at a shade temp of 33deg, entering the car is like entering an oven! But switching ac on set to Lo and auto, the car cools down in minutes.
Here's some photos of yesterday's drive:

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[anthony]

Very nice and some great photos

 

[hendry]

Looks superb mate, particularly like the headlights and the glass roof.

Hard to tell from the pics but does it have 16" or 17" wheels?

What UK trim is your car closest too? I notice it has the red strip round the top of the gloss black centre console panel which only comes on SRi spec in the UK, your interior looks identical to mine also, but no sight and light pack so inside it looks a bit of a cross between SRi and LE, same with exterior with black mirrors and roof but no bodykit.

 

[ChrisB]

Very nice and some great photos

Thanks, yeah it was a sunny day for a change yesterday

Looks superb mate, particularly like the headlights and the glass roof.

Thanks, we like it too especially the lights.
It's got 17" on same as on the LE I believe. Our trim is the Color Edition and I'd say in Uk terms it closest to the LE mainly due to the black roof, sport chassis, sport seats, black grille and mirrors etc.
The Red dash strip I could choose a color I wanted - standard is white, bodykit was an optional extra which my wife didn't want ( thought it was a bit expensive at 1100€)

This is the basic setup of the local Color edition

 

[hendry]

The rear roof spoiler is a pretty good price at 150 Euros. Pity it can't be specced as a factory extra option on UK cars as opposed to an accessory part, I'd have jumped at having it factory fitted that cheaply, in fact I'd even have paid more to get it factory because its about £350 as a dealer fit accessory and theres no guarantee the fit and finish will be as good as factory, obviously we can source them via other means and get them painted and fitted at independent bodyshops which will make them cheaper but its hard to beat the value of the one you guys in Malta can spec.

 

[ChrisB]

True, if it were up to me I'd have got the whole bodykit, but my wife thought it would be too much of a boyracer car for her and no amount of persuasion would make her change her mind. So now I'm subtly giving her "presents" to get her where I want...slowly slowly, the first onss were the red gear stick and ecoflex badge (you wouldn't believe the amount of convincing I had to do to stick that badge on!)
Next is some more red interior trim around the gear stick and some storage containers.

 

[joeboy]

Do you get a 5 year warranty in Malta?

Car look lovely.

 

[SylvE]

Looks that way! I f Malta can offer that why can't VX in the UK?

 

[LimeyUK]

Do you get a 5 year warranty in Malta?

Car look lovely.

Only get a 3 year warranty here jow, so that would be interesting to see!

 

[ChrisB]

Do you get a 5 year warranty in Malta?

Car look lovely.

Hi thanks, yes we get 5 years in total. Its a 2 year manufacturer's warranty plus a 3 year Opelplus extended warranty. Its standard across the whole range. The local agent also deals with Kia, and those come with a 7 year warranty, that's real good.
Probably the reason you don't get this in the UK is that this is a dealership offer to promote sales.

 

[mud4fun]

Lovely looking car Chris and great photos.

I see you reckon the A/C works OK. Curiously though you don't have the same controls as me. I have a standard heater control blue/red graduated with separate buttons for A/C and recirculation.

Is yours actually climate control rather than the basic A/C and does this suggest that climate control comes with superior cooling performance?