Portent

I agree with what has been said. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the valvers at all. But if you want a VR6 then I agree you would be better off saving the money and putting it towards one. Use the next year to look into them and learn about what to expect in a good or bad car. Even most good ones will need some work on them. Also, take a look at the events forums and maybe come along to one to see some owners cars and get a feel for what a loved one can be like (most events are obvously over but I think there are a few last ones coming up depending on where you live). Also I'm sure anyone local to you would be more than happy to show you over theirs. The point I'm trying to get to is use the time to fully understand the pitfalls of the car and also the great things about them. I took around a year to buy mine and did pass up some good ones which, had I known more about the cars at the time, I probably would have bought (still over the moon with mine though and love it to bits).

I thought there were around 3500 left according to the DLVA checker site a few months ago? Also I bet everyone has been expecting them to go up in price for the last few years and they haven't. I'd love them to increase but I'm not holding my breath. Part of the issue is that keeping them on the road is difficult with VW obsoleting a part everytime they realise it's still on the system. With scirocco's and older golfs they sold in vast numbers so there wasn't the business need to obsolete parts so quickly. Eventually they probably will go up but in the current economic climate I can't see it being in 5 years. I hope I'm wrong though and it will be interesting to read this thread again in 5 years :) EDIT: It seems there are 4764 left in Q2 2011 (3144 licensed and 1620 SORN): http://howmanyleft.co.uk/combined/corrado

I'm not convinced it will ever happen. But I'll say 8 to 10 years.

Yes, Corrado's are perfect for that :D But welcome dude. It looks a good base. There is something very special and addictive about them. Glad to have you on the forums. It's a friendly place so I'm sure you can get any advice needed.

I bought some relays from TimDoc. Smooth deal, well packaged. Thanks.

At least I'm consistent :D

Love that wheel.

That's a quality chuftie :D

Like that.

Ahhh, sorry to see you 'go'. Hope you have a smooth sale and you'll be back one day. Good luck with the house.

Lovely car :)

Any use? It's not exactly near the Midlands though. http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?58694-CHEAP-Corrado-I-ve-seen-for-sale-Fulham

Actually I think it's a useful review exactly because it was in 2003. It shows how they thought about the car even after more modern and better cars had come out, yet was near enough to the car being new so that it was still 'modern' enough to not get absolutely destroyed by current cars like the Scirocco R. I'd love them to do a retro-review of 90's cars now and see which have stood the test of time.

I believe that review is from 2003 so it's 8 years old :)

I need the Audi Quattro, E30 M3 or the Lister in my life: http://www.4starclassics.com/cars/

Not sure where to put this so I'll put it here; it's a review apparently by a US site in 2008, looking back at the Corrado: http://www.germancarblog.com/2008/11/vw-corrado-retro-review.html http://www.motivemag.com/pub/feature/retro/Motive_Retro_Review_Volkswagen_Corrado.shtml

A few nights ago I went looking on the net for peoples reviews of the Corrado. Yes there were of course a few people who didn't like it. But I'd say 80% to 90% of people commenting on it liked or loved it. There was also one overriding theme that emerged; while some other cars of the era may technically be better, the Corrado has "something". They couldn't explain what it was but it has a certain character that is greater than the sum of its parts. I agree :)

"And then there's the Corrado. It's like the espresso. One shot and it blows your head off" Lots of articles (favourable) in here: http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?51861-Corrado-magazine-article-review-thread&highlight=magazine You can almost guarantee that if a Star in a Reasonably Nice Car turned out to own a Corrado they wouldn't look down on it at all.

The difference in insurance is £410 per year. That's £34 a month. Yes you'll save on fuel costs with a diesel but there will be unexpected costs with the new car. You'd then be faced with the hassle of keeping two cars roadworthy, taxed and insured. Even if you alternate the tax and insurance through summer/winter across the two cars there is always an admin fee to do it. If it is for purely financial reasons then personally I think you should either keep the Corrado on the road or sell it. I vote to keep it.

I don't expect to get my money back on the car. I'll probably get the same price I paid for it, or similar (probably lower in the current market). But I won't get back the money I've spent on improving it (various trim, tidying it up, the seats, new alarm, etc). But I didn't buy it to make a profit. I bought it because I wanted one and while I don't have a lot of money to throw away it was a little indulgeance. I'll carry on doing little bits and pieces but given the economy and the cars value I'll probably not plan any large expense on it just yet. I'm not sure what I'd do if it suddenly threw me a very large bill. Case in point - I currently can't drive and am off work due to a minor operation. But it gives me pleasure knowing that I'll be able to get into it in a week or two, open the roof and windows, put some music on, and just go for a drive for the fun of it. I wouldn't get that with other cars in this price range. Having had a bit of a health scare it reminds you that life's too short to always think about finances; sometimes it's just fun to enjoy something and not worry whether it's the best financial decision. For me it's about keeping the car in at least as good condition as it is now. Don't let it deteriorate but equally there's no real need right now to spend a lot more on it. But I can't imagine what more you need to do to yours? It's fantastic condition, you've done a lot on it already, and recently aquired your ideal interior. Unless you're thinking about engine mods of course.

One thing I'd want brought up to date is the side windows. You daren't drive off when it has been raining unless you're wearing a head to toe gimp suit to prevent getting drenched, and why, oh why, couldn't they work out how to allow both windows to move up/down at the same time? But no, I don't think it is worth spending the money on a full restoration. You would never get even a fraction of the money back on selling it.

Welcome to the forum. There's plenty of advice on offer here :)

sThey are great aren't they. They just look so different to modern cars. I love coming back to mine when it's parked between a couple of 4x4's or modern euro boxes. It's so low and unusual in comparison. Have fun with it and welcome to the forum. The forum is just a big a part of ownership as the actual cars. There's plenty of advice here and it's a very friendly place to be.

Corrado windows aren't the fastest in the world compared to a modern car. I've just timed mine so you can guage whether yours really do have a problem; mine are approx 3 seconds to open fully and approx 4 seconds to close fully. Are yours much slower than that?