Jimjam

I thought BMW's were straight six? Or am I wrong?

I honestly think it could look a bit naff. I tend to find carbon fibre items suffer the same fate as Burberry check. I don't mean it's chav - I mean that even if it's genuine, people just assume it's fake.

I can see your point, but it's the insurance company's job to quantify the financial loss to you. Any sentimental value is irrelevant from an insurance company's point of view. If, heaven forbid, you were to write your car off, the financial loss to you would be the price you would have got, were you to sell it.

Why not? The price you would sell it for is, effectively, the price you could replace it for.

Could you give me the ebay id of the guy you got it from, please? I really ought to get one.

Ditto that. Got my heater direction controls from them.

I've already got wiring in place - I bought some off ebay, but they were appalling. I left the wiring there in case I ever bought some more. I might drop into the dealer to see if they can source these.

There's only one bulb and, as you've just found out, it's rubbish.

To be honest, any of the cars in your list will be fairly unreliable and tatty for £1000. All jokes aside, that sort of money would be best spent on previous shape Mondeo.

If we're talking silly money (and zero practicality), how about a Radical SR? Holds the record for a road car round the Nürburgring Nordschleife. They're developing a new engine - two Kawasaki (I think?) engines fused together to form a V8 - 370(ish) bhp so far. Have a listen. Click Here and Here

Is that a wind up? :? I only ask because the acceleration seems constant, even through gear changes. Also my old Clio had 172 break, weighing only a fraction of the Corrado, yet that had figures of 6.9 in the sprint to sixty.

Although they do not have the same prestige as the Lotus, the Vauxhall would be a much better car to live with day to day. Also they don't carry quite the premium the Lotus's (Lotii?) do, so you will certainly get more car for your money.

Thanks for the feedback chaps. I will give them a go.

I think you'll find that once the leather has cracked, it'll never restore properly. Most of these oils & creams are preventative, rather than remedial - they feed the leather in order to stop it cracking in the first place. Some products will tart up tired leather, but unfortunately you'll never get rid of the cracks.

They're in Rushington, near Southampton - on the same industrial park as GSF. Has anybady used them and, if so, are they any good? If not, are there any other decent places near Southampton to get the car serviced? Also, browsing ETKA I came across what appears to be a flashing door pin surround (like you get on newer VWs). Can anyone confirm whether these were ever available at all? US market, perhaps? Part no is 535 919 238. Ta.

I bet the turbo lag on that thing's a couple of days.

I'm inclined to agree. I find it really annoying that a company with a reputation for its build quality manages to produce a car with some of the design flaws that the Corrado has. It's depressing to read on here about the same old faults, time and time again. Think about the common things that go - sunroofs, headlight switches, handles, heater controls - you get the impression these failures are not so much a case of if, but when. It makes you wonder what sort of long-term testing procedures VW went through, if any at all. I full accept that old cars are prone to wear and tear, but should I really be expected to have to replace a door handle and heater controls on a barely nine-year-old, 80,000-mile vehicle? Don't get me wrong I enjoy my Corrado, I really do. But when I put down the rose-tinted specs for just a second, I can't help feeling a little disappointed. Oh, and not having a headlight warning buzzer is unforgivable.

A very basic way to check your HT leads is to open your bonnet in the dark, with the engine running. If the leads are broken down, you will see tiny sparks and the leads will have a slight glow in places.

So were you going to share that information? ;) What is it then? Or have I missed something?

Not as simple as just a bodykit - Lotus has different rear arches to standard Carltons. Round, as opposed to straight.

In answer to your original question: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=37 In answer to your second question: http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

Off to film a porno? :wink:

Surely VW would know the answer to all of this?

It'd get you a regular Cupra, but I think you'd struggle to pick up an R for £12k. If she could run to £12.5 - £13k she could get a nice Lotus Elise or even a Vauxhall VX220.... does she wear a skirt often? :wink:

"..........we intend to make the best railway programmes ever." Brilliant :lol: