Bullfinch

I'm not sure this is a crime but I'm uploading what I am now driving in Brisbane. To put it in context my car list through work was restricted to Hyuandai and Toyota as VW's and other European makes are too expensive over here. Hence a RAV4 cruiser is my choice of wheels for the next 2-3 years. These pictures were taken at Mount Tamborine in the only field the car has been in so far :) Oh well picture uploads failed - never mind. To describe the pic it's basically a black car surrounded by green grass and trees!

After a couple of weeks of enjoyable motoring after The Phirm put in a new heater matrix the time came at the weekend to retire the Storm as in 2 weeks I'll be back in Brisbane. Here are the last pics for a couple of years.

Yes - but will it be as good? Each to their own but I've taken the decision to store mine while I head down-under as having done the chains, heater matrix and plenty of other upgrades I don't fancy doing all of that again.

PIAA? http://www.piaa.co.uk/teams/wrcrally.htm At least it should have Xenons:)

My Corrado's been resurrected (new heater matrix fitted) just in time for a few weeks of cruising (and trips to the tip) before it's SORN'd as I move to Brisbane for 2 years. Although I will be 12,000 miles away driving some jap-cr@p given to me by my company as European cars are too expensive I at least can console myself with knowing a future motoring classic is safely tucked away on my return. I'm already budgeting for the £1-2k re-activation work!

My Storm's going into store for 2 years as I head off to Brisbane later this month. IMHO the market's dead and I can't see it picking up whilst super unleaded nears £1.50 per litre, car insurance costs soar and everyone is being squeezed by the tax man. I'll miss it when I drive some hum-drum saloon in Oz paid for by the company.

So true - all Corrados are now 15+ years old so they're all bound to have some niggles.

K49 KGK - a very tidy looking VR6 at A329 roundabout by Mercedes Garage between Ascot and Bracknell. I was in my TT so no chance to do the C-wave (whatever that is!).

Since the upgrade to the forum is there a way to know whether a Corrado in the for sale section has been sold? I've also had a look on Pistonheads and seen there's over 80 cars for sale. I'm sure the average over the last few years has been 50-60 so my guess is it's a tough market out there for sellers. I'm moving out to Oz for 2 years now so was thinking of selling but instead the C's going into storage. I've convinced the missus the storage costs will be offset by the car's appreciation in that time:) Talking of another outlandish statement - look at the this Corrado for sale in Oz priced at $24k (that's about £15-16k). http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?Cr=0&R=10381161&keywords=&trecs=1&__sid=12F67BCFE080&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&__Qpb=true&tsrc=allcarhome&__Nne=15&seot=1&__N=1216 1246 1247 1252 1282 4294962746 4294953945&silo=1011

+1. I have a 240 mile round trip to get there and it's always been worth it. Brum to Kidderminster is just a short trip for you.

Thanks for the offers. However as I have even more travelling coming up (Brazil and Australia with work) I've made a booking with The Phirm for 4 May to get this done. Suffice to say it's a tad (make that a lot!) more than £200 but I need my weekends for R&R! Australia looks almost definite now to turn into 2-3 years so I need to decide to sell or keep. As my wife said will the £1k storage cost per year be offset by a £1k increase in residual value...if only:(

This is a bit of an odd one. I've got the part but I need the know-how. Quite simple really I'm willing to pay £200 for someone (with prior experience) to help me fit a replacement heater matrix. I plan to fit in early May (any weekend). I'm based in Bracknell, close to both M3 and M4.

£35k - are you serious?

OK so it's a slight exaggeration but a lot of forum regulars have cars up for sale at present. I see with the new for sale classified ads section only £50 worth of goods have sold so far - that's not even a tank full of petrol. My fear with the present economic situation is that many Corrados are seen as "luxury" items people can no longer afford:(

Shame to see you selling up. There's certainly an eclectic mix of Storms up for sale at present - the Supercharged one, OEM's one and yours. I assume you'll put it on Pistonheads etc as I must admit I'm like you in not feeling the love for the new sales site. I can see why the mods wanted to control it but not being able to read visible discussions between seller and would-be buyers take away it's unique selling point - it's now just like any other for sale site. ---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:43 AM ---------- Anyway back to the subject in hand, R32 vs Corrado. My main issue now is that all Corrados are over 15 years old so naturally many parts are starting to break. I love the Corrado but find myself now thinking along same lines - ie: price of fixing the C versus just selling and using the money (set aside for repairs) plus a few k more to get an R32 which should be more reliable. I also think R32 residuals will hold up better as there's a bigger market for these cars than Corrados.

Ker-ching! Dare I say most these spare/replacement purchases have been cosmetic. In terms of more substantial items do you know if the timing chains etc have been done?

The car actually passed it's MOT yesterday. I tried and failed to bypass the matrix (both hoses have green plastic clips which I couldn't dislodge at all). Hence just topped up, drove 1 mile to the test centre and crossed my fingers. Someone must have been smiling on me yesterday :) I'm now away on holiday and business for the next 6 weeks so I'll leave the car parked up and come back to it in early May. At that time I'll make a decision on what to do next.

And it looks like Baring Bank employed creative accountants. Do you think the car went through their or his tax return at a true value? It probably went through valued at peanuts to avoid paying more NIC and PAYE. If they had a sense of humour they could have branded it the Nutella Corrado :)

Thanks for that - I just love this forum for getting answers. I'll chance my luck with another! If I want to bypass the heater matrix I assume you just hook up the inlet and outlet pipes going into the car. Are these pipes the same size - how best to join them up? I'm sure I read a thread last night about getting some B&Q tubing to link them but can I find this thread this morning...err no!

OK - just ordered the part from GSF - the part no. is 178VG0041. One other coolant related question - my expansion tank has a black cap on it. I'm sure I've been to Corrado meets where folk have a (newer) blue cap. Mention was made that these are better but I've no idea why - can anyone help? Thanks

So glad I've found this thread - still won't make it any easier me thinks:((((

Thanks for the advice so far. I'll check prices tomorrow at the dealer. I can see the GSF part is £37.80 plus VAT plus delivery. Timing couldn't be much worse as apart from this weekend I don't have a weekend at home until May. At least by then it should be warmer to do this job.

The Corrado's been reliable all year, 48 hours until it's MOT on Saturday and so I decide to drive it to work today to give it a run. Get in it tonight at work, starts fine but coolant level light stays on. Drive v.carefully 12 miles home, car mists up like crazy and when I open the bonnet at home I can see the coolant level is low/non existent. It was too dark to do anything else but there was a nice gooey mess in the passenger footwell. I guess this means the heater matrix has packed up!!!! Qu.1: Is this a standard VW part to order from the dealer? Qu.2: Is there anyone near to Bracknell who can help me fit this - I'm happy to pay a reasonable sum.

More details on this motor can be found here http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_55077/title_Holden-Expects-Its-New-Storm-Ute-To-Go-Like-Lightning/newsarticle.html

I come from a land down-under.