Automotive cockroaches for the 20s and 30s.

[sierraman]

23 minutes ago, SiC said:

Interesting.  I realised the other day that I haven't seen a Corsa C in quite a while. They all seemed to have disappeared around here. 

 

I reckon certain cars of a certain age are more popular in different parts of the country. Like all Volvo's ends up in Scotland, I've seen loads of Reading registered E60 when they were down here new in the 00s but then seen loads up in Preston/around that area when I went up there last. 

I did an EGR on one a few weeks ago, prior to seeing it I assumed it was going to be the Corsa D. Wasn’t in that bad condition really for it’s 114k either, it’s general apathy that sees things like that off. It’s not a car people really tend to give a shit about, I suppose a TT will always attract a following. 

[AnthonyG]

Was going to nominate the Austin Seven until I read the first post.

Then I reread the title - for the 20s/30s, not from! 😀

[sierraman]

5 hours ago, artdjones said:

Any 1.2 Panda will last well. Even the issues they have (hgf, rotten rear beam ) can be put right relatively cheaply. The shell itself seems rust resistant.

Japanese cars are fine until something breaks. A friend had a Yaris load sensing valve fail. €450 and impossible to get. He did eventually find a s/h one, but it took lots of messing around. Things like door checks, which do break, tend to be over £100 each.

A guy I know has some sort of sporty Yaris, the down pipe to flex has gone, he’s managed to patch it up because a new one was stupid money, can’t off hand recall the figure but it was fucking expensive when he told us. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

9 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

they are also very popular as taxis in developing countries which says something about these cars.

https://listado.mercadolibre.com.co/venta-de-taxis-hyundai-i10

[Missy Charm]

For some reason there are hundreds of old Vauxhall Astras round my way.  These ones:

But not that many of the next generation.  

[artdjones]

3 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

For some reason there are hundreds of old Vauxhall Astras round my way.  These ones:

But not that many of the next generation.  

They were good quality cars, better quality than the contemporary VW Golf. Although the styling was boring and dated quickly. The next model was a quality downturn.

[quicksilver]

This generation of Suzuki Alto must be in with a shout. Never noticed until I met a colleague who has one but now I see them everywhere and mostly still in good shape. Not bad for a little Indian budget car.

[SiC]

13 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

For some reason there are hundreds of old Vauxhall Astras round my way.  These ones:

But not that many of the next generation.  

Again to me that's interesting as they've all but disappeared around here. I see a lot of Astra H (next one) around still. Usually bashed up to fuck. 

I imagine the Bristol CAZ doesn't help here as it was marketed as only petrols newer than 2005 were okay. Of course many are still at Euro 4 levels and would have been fine. So I suspect there was a knee jerk reaction where people changed their pre-2005 petrol car before the fee came in without checking. That said, I bet many were diesels too and definitely not okay at that age. 

[Tommyboy12]

14 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

https://listado.mercadolibre.com.co/venta-de-taxis-hyundai-i10

I need to tell my girlfriend she doesn't need to sell our cockroach i10 then if this is the kind of mileage people are getting out of them!

It is a pain to get random parts for though. Even a CV joint (the only thing I've replaced) wasn't as easy as I would like.

At 160k it's also getting to the point where it's gaining rattles and squeaks which are annoying. Not as annoying as the worn drivers door seal that whistles in any headwind.

That being said. It's hardly a deal-breaker if the mechanicals just keep going. Personally I'm waiting for the cam chain to crap itself...

[horriblemercedes]

17 hours ago, sierraman said:

I did an EGR on one a few weeks ago, prior to seeing it I assumed it was going to be the Corsa D. Wasn’t in that bad condition really for it’s 114k either, it’s general apathy that sees things like that off. It’s not a car people really tend to give a shit about, I suppose a TT will always attract a following. 

I've always thought the Corsa C would be a cockroach. I still see plenty around

 

They're pretty rust-resistant for a small car that came out in 2000 (much better than the Polo or Fiesta) and the most popular engine (1.2) is a chain, so forgotten belt changes didn't write them off

 

Although most of those chains started ticking/rattling by 50k or so, most seemed to merrily tick on indefinitely rather than actually snapping

 

They seem to avoid rust better than the Corsa D too

[Agila]

Another shout for shitty astras and focus. I think it's usually shear numbers that mean some still survive.

Fairly cheap and easy to hobble through the MOT every year until something major happens.

Zafira you could add as well. Run on a shoe string until they need £1500 spending on them.

[MiniMinorMk3]

On 26/03/2024 at 00:53, Spiny Norman said:

Throughout the past there have always been cars, often Japanese that you just don't seem to be able to kill until rust eventually takes them with an engine still running as sweetly as the day it left the showroom. Of course there were always the solidly built posh cars like Mercedes W123s and Volvos but I'm thinking more of things like the K11 Micras many of which are still going strong despite the very youngest being 22 years old.
 

The one I'm starting to notice everywhere these days is the Honda Jazz, almost always in this nondescript shade of pale blue. Two of my neighbours have them and it's not uncommon to see another visitor one parked nearby as well.

What other 20 year old cheapies will we still be seeing on the roads in another 10 years time?

 

21 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

I used to doubt that the Korean stuff would be as tough and long lasting as the Japs but give them their due there are plenty of 20 year old Kias and Hyundais kicking around. the place.

Another local delicacy is the old (Stan) Getz, either in black or this same wishy washy blue colour. Must be a giffer's favourite shade, maybe it reminds them of their missus' hairdo?

 

I think the reason so many of these survive is the owners are usually retired. The cars are used for little local trips with maybe an annual trip to go and see Aunt Mable. They are rarely driven in the rain, and never in the snow. Also they are usually kept in a nice warm carpeted garage and covered in blankets to keep the dust off.

Give either of these to a spotty 18 year old herbert and it will last as long as anything else would.

[sierraman]

30 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

I've always thought the Corsa C would be a cockroach. I still see plenty around

 

They're pretty rust-resistant for a small car that came out in 2000 (much better than the Polo or Fiesta) and the most popular engine (1.2) is a chain, so forgotten belt changes didn't write them off

 

Although most of those chains started ticking/rattling by 50k or so, most seemed to merrily tick on indefinitely rather than actually snapping

 

They seem to avoid rust better than the Corsa D too

If one can survive 10 years of my sister in laws treatment it can’t be bad. It’s looking rough now, it’s been driven into things multiple times, ran low on oil more times than I care to recall, once lost all its coolant when the head gasket leaked which we duly K Sealed up, the chain has been rattling since Methuselah was still in work but it still keeps going. They’ve tried killing it but it just won’t go. 

[beko1987]

32 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

I've always thought the Corsa C would be a cockroach. I still see plenty around

 

They're pretty rust-resistant for a small car that came out in 2000 (much better than the Polo or Fiesta) and the most popular engine (1.2) is a chain, so forgotten belt changes didn't write them off

 

Although most of those chains started ticking/rattling by 50k or so, most seemed to merrily tick on indefinitely rather than actually snapping

 

They seem to avoid rust better than the Corsa D too

I found that overfilling the oil a bit quietened the chain rattle down no end on those 1.2's!

When I met the ex she had a very neglected corsa c Sri which I slowly bought round to being a very well serviced car in fine fettle. But at 96k the chain was rattly as fuck. 

Luckily I didn't need to change it as we part-ex'd it for a Meriva when child 1 came along (which I did the cambelt on). Thanks to the leaking brake booster seal the drivers carpet was spotless too after a good wet vac the day before trading it in 😂👌 (we got a grand knocked off the meriva in 2011ish from it, wasn't too bad for a shiny turd) 

[TataBobu]

21 hours ago, 320touring said:

 

I'm away to see if I can think of anything post 2010 I'd buy for a relatively hassle free ownership situation...

Dacia Sandero?

[Dyslexic Viking]

48 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

I need to tell my girlfriend she doesn't need to sell our cockroach i10 then if this is the kind of mileage people are getting out of them!

It is a pain to get random parts for though. Even a CV joint (the only thing I've replaced) wasn't as easy as I would like.

At 160k it's also getting to the point where it's gaining rattles and squeaks which are annoying. Not as annoying as the worn drivers door seal that whistles in any headwind.

That being said. It's hardly a deal-breaker if the mechanicals just keep going. Personally I'm waiting for the cam chain to crap itself...

I haven't had any problems with parts yet and would think that one should always be able to find parts with how common these cars are. But find it strange that you struggled to find a cv joint. And I'm no expert, but I think getting a timing chain to last has a lot to do with maintenance. Mine gets annual oil changes no matter how low the mileage and I use good 40 weight oil in it. My experience with 1 gen Yaris is that well maintained ones last really high mileage without problems while poorly maintained ones get timing chain and other problems early on and the same probably applies to the i10.  The 200,000 mile Yaris dad had had regular oil changes with 5w-40 oil all its life and was one of the nicest running engine I have known.

[Tommyboy12]

13 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I haven't had any problems with parts yet and would think that one should always be able to find parts with how common these cars are. But find it strange that you struggled to find a cv joint. And I'm no expert, but I think getting a timing chain to last has a lot to do with maintenance. Mine gets annual oil changes no matter how low the mileage and I use good 40 weight oil in it. My experience with 1 gen Yaris is that well maintained ones last really high mileage without problems while poorly maintained ones get timing chain and other problems early on and the same probably applies to the i10.  The 200,000 mile Yaris dad had had regular oil changes with 5w-40 oil all its life and was one of the nicest running engine I have known.

Dont get me wrong. It gets an annual/12k oil change religiously. But in my personal experience cam chains arent as ever lasting as auto manufacturers might want you to think!

I still stand by the fact its one of the most reliable cars I have ever come across

[Dyslexic Viking]

1 minute ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Dont get me wrong. It gets an annual/12k oil change religiously. But in my personal experience cam chains arent as ever lasting as auto manufacturers might want you to think!

I still stand by the fact its one of the most reliable cars I have ever come across

Yes, but there is probably a lot of difference between manufacturers, I have much more confidence in a timing chain in a Toyota engine than a VAG engine for example.

[horriblemercedes]

10 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Dont get me wrong. It gets an annual/12k oil change religiously. But in my personal experience cam chains arent as ever lasting as auto manufacturers might want you to think!

I still stand by the fact its one of the most reliable cars I have ever come across

I think it really depends on quality of engineering and build too. My BMW is approaching 270k and 19 years on its original chain and the chain is silent with no sign of wear that I can hear

It's a diesel and I've been changing oil and filter when it asks for it on the screen in the dashboard. Every 20k miles or so, usually. That has been a little under 6 months for most of the time I've owned it.

 

I imagine with previous owners it only had new oil every 20k or so when it asked for it

 

Some others don't last even with fastidious maintenance

[SunnySouth]

21 hours ago, MrBiscuits said:

It might just be because there were millions in the first place but I see a surprising amount of Corsa Cs approaching their second decade. My parents had one from new in 2005 and we ended up with it as a second car from 2013-17. I regularly see it and it's still going several careless owners later though the 'ultra blue' paint is flat as a witches tit now and the top end is knocking nicely. I'm hoping it makes it to its 20th birthday next year.

I like these. Remeber looking at them as a newly qualified and wet behind the ears licence holder, they were standard issue back then of course. They seem to represent a bygone era when small, disposable hatchbacks were just that and manufacturers still did cheap & cheerful warm hatch variants. These, the Saxo & C2 VTR/VTS, the Fester Zetec S or whatever it was…. Happy days!

[SunnySouth]

On 26/03/2024 at 07:29, sierraman said:

Micras were complete rusters, I’d imagine next few years will see last of them off. Problem with Japanese/Korean cars is that they’re fine until they’re not, expect years of service then everything goes at once. 
 

Also I don’t think many people today have the will/skills to keep cars going. 

The other problem with the K11 of course is that they seem to be a current favourite for the banger crowd, I see loads of them lovingly loaded onto the back of dubious flatbeds by a careful Hiab operator and off to meet their doom. That’ll kill a good few of them off I reckon.

[Scruffy Bodger]

30 minutes ago, SunnySouth said:

The other problem with the K11 of course is that they seem to be a current favourite for the banger crowd, I see loads of them lovingly loaded onto the back of dubious flatbeds by a careful Hiab operator and off to meet their doom. That’ll kill a good few of them off I reckon.

They've also been a popular starter Rally car for years which will thin them out even more.

My nans one that my sisters inherited rotted out terribly, it went off to enjoy a retirement in the sun as a Jamaican Rasta taxi where such things aren't really a problem and apparently they are very popular as they're so tough.

[Conan]

This just popped up on my Youtube recommendation. Mitsubishi is hardly the pinnacle of quality so it really is a testament to how good a random cheap shitty car can be nowadays. 325,000 miles and only a mild piston slap which is apparently more of a manufacturer defect rather than from use, or perhaps worn lifters which is wear and tear but it's at 325,000 miles.

We got one since new and can report that despite being a simple design without many mechanical foibles, the entire thing is made of cheapest shit quality possible and comparatively to stuff like the Honda Jizz or even the Micra some random components will fall apart with comic ease. (Ours had a wheel bearing failed at 40,000 miles, radiator fan failed at 50,000 etc.) Yet at the same time they're proven plenty good enough to still be able to go huge miles and not die.

So I reckon pretty much the majority of N/A pez econobox can be considered cockroaches, only few exceptional cases.

[Low ontime]

17 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

For some reason there are hundreds of old Vauxhall Astras round my way.  These ones:

But not that many of the next generation.  

They just seem to be tough as old boots….

stepson runs a Astra g bertone coupe on little to no maintenance ( not even a wash!) and it just keeps going… 

[Missy Charm]

18 hours ago, artdjones said:

They were good quality cars, better quality than the contemporary VW Golf. Although the styling was boring and dated quickly. The next model was a quality downturn.

That explains something.  Years ago, for reasons I now completely forget, a work colleague drove a group of us to the local Tesco's in his then-brand-new Astra.  The Astra was one of these:

Which is the shape after the one pictured.  I put a bag of shopping in the boot and closed the tailgate - not hard - the latter action having the effect of causing the parcel shelf to pop out of its mountings and jam against the rear windscreen.  We, the colleague and I, ended up rowing about it; he accused me of being heavy handed and I his car of being badly designed.  Between us we managed to fix the parcel shelf, which seemed to solve the problem.  

Interesting, though; perhaps indicative of the drop in quality.  I've driven a few of those Astras as company motors, but they were too new, at that point, to really show any signs of being badly made.  

[horriblemercedes]

I had one for several years and I still think it was quite a well made car, overall. Not perfect but certainly good for its class and era

[320touring]

4 hours ago, TataBobu said:

Dacia Sandero?

Get behind me satan!

[sierraman]

Those Astra H handle quite well but they just seem to be the choice for being run into the ground. It’s never a car you’d fondly remember or mourn over if you hit a gatepost and bent the wing in. Disposable motoring though the 1.6 and 1.8 aren’t bad, would avoid the diesels, mostly very unpleasant or unreliable in the case of the 1.9 150. 

[SiC]

But the 1.9ctdi 150bhp is a really solid and reliable engine? Yes DMF issues early on but most of them will have had them changed. EGR bungs up but a piece of piss to change/clean and cheap. Swirl flaps easily fixed or just ignored. 

Plenty of them about that have done mega miles. 

[mk2_craig]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

the 1.9ctdi 150bhp

Had one. (at six years old) Ran it for a year. No faults encountered. Liked it. Then read afterwards about all the things that could have gone wrong haha