Opel occupies the mainstream segment with an offer concentrated on city cars and compacts, and pricing that makes it one of the most affordable makes second-hand.
One structural point: since the PSA takeover, recent generations share their platforms and engines with Peugeot and Citroen. A recent Corsa and a 208 have a great deal in common.
The Corsa dominates the offer, ahead of the Astra in the compact segment. The Mokka and Crossland occupy the urban SUV ground, the Grandland the compact SUV segment.
The Meriva and Zafira answer family needs, and the Combo completes the range as a leisure vehicle and a van.
Generations predating the takeover are built on GM underpinnings, with parts and servicing following a different logic: the date of first registration tells you which side of the line a car falls on.
Petrol is in the majority across the used Opel fleet, matching the urban use of the Corsa and the Mokka.
Diesel is still around on Astras and Insignias bought by high-mileage drivers. The manual gearbox dominates the offer by a wide margin, which keeps prices low.
On recent PSA-based generations, the points of attention are those of the corresponding engines, notably keeping to the cambelt intervals on wet-belt petrols.
On earlier generations, check the availability and cost of model-specific parts before committing to an uncommon model.
On a low-mileage urban car, check the clutch and the battery rather than trusting the odometer.
A used Opel car suits a tight budget looking for a recent car, particularly on the recent generations whose engineering is shared with the equivalent Peugeots and Citroens.
The links below narrow by model, engine or budget.
