Club 1.0i 12v ecoFLEX 5dr People Carrier

A good small car with plenty of interior space

I bought this car as a run-about for the SW London suburbs. It quickly became our first car. The one litre engine is much better than I expected because it will zing along at motorway speeds but I've noticed keeping the speed down to 60 mph will bring 50+mpg (a bit less in cold weather). Th interior is roomy and, as an 'MPV' design, entry and exit is good as you step into it rather than down into it. Similarly, you don't clash elbows with your front seat passenger which is a problem in some other small cars. The rear seats fold down easily and there's room for one of those large builders bags for visits to the local Council dump. Visiibilty all round is good. With VED of £30 and low insurance costs this car has cut my motoring costs. Viewed as as a small car this one takes some beating although Honest John always seems to recommend the identical Suzuki Swift in preference to the Vauxhall version. I got a substantial discount off the list price so don't take too much notice of Vauxhall's daft 'list prices.'

I've had this car nearly three years and in 21K miles nothing has gone wrong, fallen off or rattled. Vauxhall dealers are a mixed blessing. I'm fortunate in having four within easy reach. Only one of these will carry out a service at a reasonable price - one even failed to service the car correctly and the MD eventually agreed to do it again for free.

Nine years on and even the good Vauxhall dealer is going off. Every thing which requires replacing is £400+ for the parts so, with labour it's twice that. Including exhaust, brake pads and discs (how Vauxhall can justify £400 for front discs and pads is beyond me - even my Jaguar XF is is nearly half that!!, and an electric window motor. Not surprising that I'm now with a good local independent garage. Otherwise at 75,000 miles car still performs well. Finally, beware of the 'standard' service schedule. At Vauxhall dealers this does not include a change of brake fluid or engine coolant. Both should be done but nobody mentions it needs doing. So, you can go well over the recommended interval for a brake fluid change and when you discover this they say "you never asked."

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