Right, going to give a review of the "new" car I've been driving/passenger in all day .... vauxhall Mokka 1.4 turbo (140bhp) manual, mid trim level....

Lets try and see if we can find any positives....

1) interior dash is nice, good layout, easy to use intuitive controls, good ergonomics.

2) auto dimming (graded!) LCD rear view mirror is nice... in the dark it perfectly dimms enough to clearly see vehicals behind without being blinded.

3) Gearbox is easy to use and positive action.

thats all I can muster....

Bad points.

1) its supposed be a crossover car, but lateral space is about as good as a fiat 500, you are clashing arms with the front passenger, and rear seat is definatley only for x2 adults. There is more space in the new fiesta.

2) stupid auto high beam lights are potentially dangerous. On big A roads they work fine, on our little country back roads, when a car comes round a tight bend in front of you, they simply blind them for 3 seconds right at the point they are going to hit you. Not fit for purpose. too slow to react.

3) engine is NOT the slowest and least powerful, but the 140bhp 1.4 turbo petrol, and it couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Back in the day my Octavia (MK1) vRS was made 150 bhp in a nissan primera would be fast, in this giant stupid thing, its slow.... NO low down response at all, my octy has better response at 1,000 revs with NO boost than this thing does boosting at 1500 revs... and it doesn't seem to pick up as the revs increase, and sounds SO bad you don't want to rev it anyway ... hated it. 37 mpg for the day is not very good either for a claimed efficient engine.

4) ride handling... the car has good body control, no wallowing, but its at the expense of comfort, its very hard.... our 11 year old Alfa Brera is miles more comfy, with just as good body control. (and the shocks have done 77k)

5) brakes. terrible. no progression, on or off, and when on, NO feel at all , really bad. I suppose they do stop the car, but Christ they feel awful.

6) seats, this has been the same with every vauxhall i have ever driven or been a passenger in, the seats are terrible, no lumbar support, and a stupid shape pushing your head forward with no adjustment, and flat so you fall of if you try to corner with any kind of speed. really hurt my back by the end of the day.

I've saved the worst for last...

7) steering.... **** me its possibly the worst I have EVER experienced... I know electric steering is not as good as hydraulic steering, having owned both myself (both my current cars, alfa and skoda have hydraulic steering) but this is the worst I have ever used.... there appears to be absolutely NO connection between the steering wheel and the wheels at ALL. its miles to light, no feel to it at all... doesn't even weight up (Our abarth was electric (variable) power steering, and even though it felt odd and artificial, at least it weighed up properly, was quick to turn, and you could tell what the front wheels were doing) , my vRS has nearly 200,000 miles on the steering rack, and its the slow rack not the TT rack, and it had MORE straight ahead control, than the NEW Mokka does.... in a straight line, the Mokkas wheel doesn't seem to be connected to the front wheels at all... (Maybe it isn't ? does anyone know if its a complete fly by wire system? It feels broken..) and it feels even worse when turning.... hated it to death... worst steering of any car i have ever driven in my life!

 

would I buy one? NO. I cannot see a purpose for it at all... its NOT roomy, its NOT fast, its NOT economical, its NOT nice to drive..... if I was offered it for free to replace either of the 2 cars I have now, would I take it ? definatley not.

Isnt it a rebadged Captur?

 

Which is also ****e?

could be.... have no desire to drive one of those either! lol..

You like these like me 

 

Does yours have the start/stop?!? The one I drove to the Alps (also an X but was the diesel) had it and kicked in unexpectedly a few times Apparently this is quite common on these, with no fix from Vauxhall. 

PSA never owned Vauxhall when they started producing the Mokka and the Captur did not get the 1.4 Turbo engine.

 

Loads of them sold to Motability Finance as they were one of the big sellers, and sold to Vauxhall for leasing out.

They are nice and easy to get in and out of and are not offensive to look at IMO.

With the PSA engine's and their floor pan  there will be more trouble ahead, a  of shxx 

Just had a mokka as a hire car and totally agree with the steering..exactly what I was thinking! 

My dad has an older model also with 1.4 turbo. 

I would say you were being generous with your positive points and are spot on with the negatives. Also his has been pretty reliable (2 warranty claims for corroding alloys but that's it in 6ish years) 

Fairly typical of most things Vauxhall make really. Only positives I can offer were inoffensive looks (aswell) and they are relatively cheap (cheap to buy with typical Vauxhall discounts, cheap to service and cheap to insure) but the reasons for the cheapness or plainly obvious. 

I remember test driving a Vauxhall zafira tourer back in 2015, it was absolutely dire! Only positive, it was cheap for the space/practicality on offer but crap in every other way. 

Way back in 2002 owned a corsa c, again it was cheap (it was the first car I owned myself, so cheap to buy and more importantly cheap to insure) 🤔recurring theme here...

 

 

Edited 10 November, 20196 yr by Gmac983

There was a time I liked Vauxhalls - Back in the day I had two Astra's my favourite being a 1989 1.3 mkII which I had as a company car from new which was really comfy , amazingly nippy, economical and pretty good on a long run. I also loved the Cavalier's of the day. I drove the next mk up of the Astra and hated it - it was a 1.4 and felt strangled(it didn't take well to a cat), likewise the Vectra was truly awful compared to Cavalier - especially re seats!

 

I've not really bothered with Vauxhall since as I've tended to have VW's or Skoda's although I did flirt with a fabulous Saab 9000cs for a while.

I've presently got a V@uxh@11 Meriva hire car, and would also agree the above.

 

I've had a V*ctr@, and it had decent torque, but otherwise the above is true of them too.

 

 

Aye the Vectra was a dog. Although the gsi had a good bit of go about and sounded glorious. 

My neighbour has one, I think it's style and shape is awkward and ugly but the clincher is the colour; imagine soiled nappy brown, clear coated in luminous bile!

A more hideous vehicle I could not imagine, plus as a car to drive, it's a complete heap of s***e.

The only Vauxhall I ever had was a 1991 Cav GSI 2000 4X4, and it was the best car that I had ever owned, my 2011 Audi S4 is probably the equal of it, in between I had a 2000 VW Passat 4Motion saloon, which had a silky smooth engine with excellent power delivery but the suspension was hardly "sporting", trouble with the Passat was mainly that you "on" it where as you sort of became part of the Cav GSI and the Audi S4.

 

I really feel sorry for Vauxhall, but they really do need to try harder, PSA might manage to turn them into something you might want to consider.