Vauxhall Corsa - Reliability and safety

The latest Vauxhall Corsa achieved a four-star rating (out of a possible five) from Euro NCAP in its crash tests, with scores of 84 and 86 per cent, respectively, for adult and child occupant protection. Poor whiplash protection for rear-seat passengers brought the overall score down, meaning the Corsa trails five-star rivals like the Audi A1 and Renault Clio, all of which were tested under the same criteria.

Every Corsa comes with a lane departure warning and lane-keep assist system to help keep you within your lane on a motorway and speed sign recognition to warn you of changing speed limits. There’s also automatic emergency braking as standard to try and mitigate or even prevent low-speed collisions with other vehicles. Top-spec Ultimate cars add adaptive cruise control to keep you at a safe distance from the car in front.

The Corsa didn’t rank in our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey from 2023, while Vauxhall’s position in the manufacturers poll dropped from 19th position in 2022 to 24th in 2023.  

Warranty

A three-year, 60,000-mile warranty covers all Vauxhall cars. This is par for the course, matching that offered on the Volkswagen Polo, but lagging behind the five-year coverage offered on the Hyundai i20, or the up to ten years you could get with the Toyota Yaris. There’s a separate eight-year or 100,000-mile warranty for the battery pack on Vauxhall Corsa Electric models.

Servicing

Vauxhall offers a range of servicing packages; Vauxhall Care is the most comprehensive, offering three years of servicing, two years of roadside assistance and a free MoT when your car needs it. Standalone fixed-price services are also available, including all parts and labour with no hidden costs, plus a 12-month warranty on any work.

All the cars using the 1.2-litre petrol, whether in non-turbo, turbocharged, or mild-hybrid forms, need servicing every 12 months or 12,500 miles. These engines also need a timing belt change every six years or 62,500 miles.