It doesn't seem almost four years since I bought my Fiesta Ecoboost Trend and joined this Forum, but now I've decided to sell the car. I  had planned for the Trend to be my last car but discovered belatedly the potential problems with the wet belt. I MAY have five years more driving in me, which  takes me close to the time to renew the belt but makes me nervous about premature failure.

I spent some time searching websites for low-mileage Fiestas that might have chains, but recall uncertainty here about whether or not some late models had them - and salesmen were none the wiser. I did look briefly at a  Ford Fiesta MK8 1.1L Ti-VCT,  even putting a deposit down, then discovering (via this website) that the purchase wouldn't be a good idea. Two weeks later I'm still waiting for the deposit back from a Ford dealer. He'd offered me £8,500 in part exchange, with just 10,100 miles on the clock and with my admitting to a couple of bodywork blemishes. (The car had cost £17,400 new.)  Another dealer advised that recent Fiesta MVEH models had chains, but I couldn't locate one with an acceptable price and mileage.

I briefly considered a Hyundai i20, but settled on a Vauxhall Corsa, partly because the dealer is very near to me. He's offered £8,000 for the Fiesta. Webuyany car is quoting around £9,200, subject to inspection.

Pity, in a way, as I like the Fiesta. I don't usually enjoy driving, but recently found it almost pleasurable on the A343 between Andover and Newbury, a hilly, twisty road that has "risk" warning signs on it.

One issue I did have was with some embarrasingly-bad gear changes after the car had been in the sun for several hours; I gather this was due to the heat affecting plastic bushes in the gear linkage.

Doesn't the Corsa have the wet belt engine???

I'm getting the word..................................Yaris👍

1 hour ago, DaveT70 said:

Doesn't the Corsa have the wet belt engine???

I'm getting the word..................................Yaris👍

Yes, some Vauxhalls use the 1.2 Puretech engine, which has a wet belt. It seems to be even worse than the Ford Ecoboost, and I wouldn't touch anything with that engine!

And I tend to agree, Yaris! Or a Kia/Hyundai.

2 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

Doesn't the Corsa have the wet belt engine???

Probably.

The very latest 1.2 Puretech has been fitted with a chain instead.  So if it's a nearly new MHEV they might have gotten away with it...

Dave's warning set me off in a flurry of Googling and telephone calls. A Vauxhall chat lady put me on hold for two minutes and came back to say that the models now being built had a chain. Three salesmen from different dealerships said it would have a belt, two having checked with their mechanics - who, if the innovation was that recent, might not have serviced a car with a chain - but what about their pre-delivery inspections?

I've also contacted Vauxhall HQ via a written message and await their reply, as I do from my salesman - who's taking his time to consult his mechanic.

My Googlings suggest to me - a complete layman - that there are fewer problems with a Corsa wet belt than with an Ecoboost and these can sometimes be suspected or detected before failure, whereas with an Ecoboost it can happen without warning.

I did look at a Yaris or Kia, but didn't take to them.

I can't see my driving for much more than four years more, and all I do at present is about 500 miles a year for the Big Shop and other local  trips. The rest comprises drives out into the countryside for walks, and I'm very well served by six railway lines  and good bus services.

Sigh! Just had a phone call from the lady at Vauxhall UK HQ who'd told me that new Corsas had chains; she'd double-checked and found that some do, some don't. I proudly said that I'd emailed the factory in Spain, but she said that Corsas were made in France, though every website I've looked says that it's the former.

(Yesterday my GP gave me a very quick cognitive test, getting me to repeat "John Smith 42 High Street Bedford" after he'd said it and again ten minutes later and asking me to recite the months of the year backwards. I nearly started off with "REBMECED", but reeled them all off happily enough.  Today's experiences are more challenging.)

17 hours ago, Marlburian said:

but she said that Corsas were made in France

The Opel (Vauxhall in the UK) Corsa is primarily manufactured at the Zaragoza plant in Spain. This plant has been producing Corsas since 1982 and has built over ten million units. Additionally, some Corsa models have been assembled in the Opel plant in Eisenach, Germany. None are built in France.

It is possible that some engines are manufactured in France, but not the car.

The 1.2 PureTech engine is primarily manufactured in France, with production also taking place in China and Poland. Specifically, the French plants involved are in Douvrin and Trémery. Additionally, the Xiang Yang plant in China also produces the engine

 

 

4 hours ago, Marlburian said:

My Googlings suggest to me - a complete layman - that there are fewer problems with a Corsa wet belt than with an Ecoboost and these can sometimes be suspected or detected before failure, whereas with an Ecoboost it can happen without warning.

I did look at a Yaris or Kia, but didn't take to them.

 

You aren't looking in the right place! The Corsa has only used the Puretech for a few years, since Vauxhall was taken over by Stellantis, so failures are likely to be low in numbers as yet. Try looking on the Peugeot owners forum, using the search facility, there are many threads on there!

Also, the belts on these Puretech engines often fail at low mileages (as low as 25,000 miles), whereas the Fords seem to get to at least double that. Puretech's also develop oil consumption problems as well, if you are unlucky.

Personally, if I was in your position, I wouldn't be changing the car over the timing belt worries. For the mileage you are covering, you ought to get at least another five years out of it without problems, provided you keep up the oil & filter changes, with the correct oil. Just make sure your breakdown cover is kept up to date!

I'm in a similar position to you, and can only hope I get a few more years driving before I'm forced to give up. My car (2015 C Max 1.6 diesel) passed it's MOT test today, but I have an eye test tomorrow (fingers crossed I pass as well)!

 

Conversely I would give up a wetbelt engine doing such low mileage.  (In fact, I did!)

Being sat unused for long periods allows moisture to be absorbed from the air which degrades oil more quickly and means the bottom part of the belt sits in degraded oil for ages while the top part dries out and goes crispy.

I swapped mine for a car with a dry belt instead.

4 hours ago, Marlburian said:

Sigh! Just had a phone call from the lady at Vauxhall UK HQ who'd told me that new Corsas had chains; she'd double-checked and found that some do, some don't. I proudly said that I'd emailed the factory in Spain, but she said that Corsas were made in France, though every website I've looked says that it's the former.

(Yesterday my GP gave me a very quick cognitive test, getting me to repeat "John Smith 42 High Street Bedford" after he'd said it and again ten minutes later and asking me to recite the months of the year backwards. I nearly started off with "REBMECED", but reeled them all off happily enough.  Today's experiences are more challenging.)

Hi Terence,

Just a thought - i note you said you didn't take to the Yaris or i20, but I wondered if you'd considered the Mazda 2? Non-turbo chain cam engine, with a good reputation for reliability... 

🤓

18 hours ago, Marlburian said:

My Googlings suggest to me - a complete layman - that there are fewer problems with a Corsa wet belt than with an Ecoboost and these can sometimes be suspected or detected before failure, whereas with an Ecoboost it can happen without warning.

Search some more👍