Portent

I haven't made a decision to sell the car yet so unsure on the price. And this wasn't meant to turn into a for sale thread. But seeing as you asked... :) I know the dealer will give me £4,300 so price would obviously need to be higher than that. I've just taken a few pictures. They are poor quality I'm afraid as they were taken on my phone and in the shade under some trees. But if I do decide the sell then I'll take some proper ones and wash the car, etc. Pictures can be found here: http://www.ajb.nildram.co.uk/pictures/IMAG0114.jpg http://www.ajb.nildram.co.uk/pictures/IMAG0116.jpg http://www.ajb.nildram.co.uk/pictures/IMAG0117.jpg http://www.ajb.nildram.co.uk/pictures/IMAG0118.jpg http://www.ajb.nildram.co.uk/pictures/IMAG0119.jpg It has been a fantastic car, generally very reliable. I bought it from VAG (it was a demonstrator) when in was 6 months old with around 12k on the clock. I've been the only owner since then and it has now done about 48,600 miles. It had the 'large' 40k service last time around and it is now due for its regular service (it's actually booked in for next month if I don't sell the car). It also needs 4 new tyres as stated (I always change all 4 to keep an even tread). I'm trying to think of any mechanical work that I've had to do to it and all I can think of is a new battery about 1.5 years ago, a new lower radiator hose last month (something split it rather than corrosion), brake pedal switch last year (a common mk4 Golf issue) and it's about to have the clutch pedal replaced this week (the clutch pedal problem is a common mk4 Golf issue and is caused by the weld on the pedal breaking off). I've always fixed any marks or scratches to the bodywork so it is in very good condition indeed (I always use the same bodyshop which is on the other side of London from me as I trust their work completely). It is garaged a in a nice wide double garage so no door scrapes :) It has only been VAG serviced and the only time I've used an independent is for some brake pads last year and the brake pedal switch at the same time. There is currently a rattle from the exhaust which I am trying to track down but the exhaust itself is in excellent condition. The interior is again very good indeed. The alloys do have a little kerbing and some corrosion but the Santa Monica's are quite well known for this. So overall I couldn't say it is immaculate. But it is generally very, very good condition. I wasn't actually thinking of selling it until I saw this R32. Indeed I was asked a couple of weeks ago if I wanted to sell it and I said no. EDIT: Just remembered it also has the optional armrest and automatic rain sensitive wipers.

I currently have a lovely 53 plate mk4 4Mo which has been a great car, very low 48k mileage and great spec: 5 door, Blue pearl with black leather interior, aircon, 'sports pack' (factory uprated suspension and Santa Monica alloys), 'winter pack' (heated leather and headlight washers), cruise control, auto dimming mirror, factory uprated audio, etc... in other words a fantastic daily driver which would make a perfect companion to a weekend car like the Corrado. But, a little unexpectedly today I saw and test drove a mk5 R32 and although I've previously been looking for a Corrado I'm half tempted by the idea of replacing my 4Mo with the R32 instead (this would mean shelving plans for a Corrado for a few years). The exact spec of the one I saw is: * 5 door (I need a 5 door because of the family) although most people prefer less doors on these * Black with black leather (perfect combination for me) * Optional upgraded recaro seats * Manual (no DSG) although I'm happy with this is might affect resale value later? * No satnav (again a negative for resale) The reason I'm tempted is that I need to pay out at least a £1k next month on the 4Mo for a service, four new tyres, tax and MOT... and anything else they may find of course. I was also offered what I think is a better than expected trade in price for the 4Mo (£4.3k - quite good for a dealer trade in I thought). So ladies and gentlemen, please tell me a little about the mk5 R32 and whether you'd have the 4Mo and a Corrado VR6, or have the R32 instead. There are pro's and cons of each and the depreciation and running costs of the R32 will be the higher of the options. But it's not essential I have two cars and I have to say it was indeed a lovely car. I don't yet know if I can afford it though.

Thanks guys

I want your mk1 :D

Thanks for that. your car does look very nice indeed. But maybe it's just my eyesight, monitor, or because the colour is so dark, but I'm still finding it hard to really see the colour. I guess I may just have to go and view one of the cars. But like I said, I was trying to avoid wasting anyones time if I didn't like it.

I've seen a few adverts for DBP cars (all quite far away) but really can't get my head around whether I like the colour, mainly because I'm finding it really hard to find any decent pictures of DBP. I'd appreciate a view on whether it's brownish, reddish, etc, whether people think it's a nice colour and whether anyone can point me in the direction of some good clear pics. I could go and see a car but I'd prefer not to waste their time if I decide I don't like it. Thanks :)

I've been looking at this picture again and the other three cars are all a bit pretty-pretty. What I love about the Corrado is the no-nonsense "come on then!" look it always has :)

Incentives offered for cashflow reasons, as Andy has said, as dealers are being told that stock will not be available to search/move/sell for the duration of dialog being down and NVS being installed. Dealers can't exactly close for 3 weeks so the manufacturer has to do something to get them through (plus this bargain stock is out of the new stock system - effectively now used stock - which makes the new implementation a bit easier) As for the 3 weeks needed - you are looking at an extremely complicated stock management system. The IT part will already be installed at each dealer by now but the physical process of moving thousands of cars from one system to the other, plus hundreds of thousands of customer details, hundreds of dealer details etc and to get all the accounts to balance is a huge task. I've recently moved from being a dealer accountant at a VW branch (2 weeks ago) and was part of all the meetings/planning/training etc in the build up to this and I'm so glad i'm not there to take part in it as although I think it'll be a fairly smooth process, any potential problems could be disasterous if not corrected quickly. When they did this changeover at Seat/Skoda last year there was one dealer who accidently purchased over £1M worth of vehicles in a single day due to a system error so the numbers we're talking per VW dealer is pretty high. On the plus side if average Joe can get a bargain, then all the better. Indeed. I run support areas for banks processing billions of pounds per day and over the last 23 years have designed, built, and implemented many systems including migrating absolutely huge databases. I'm still gobsmacked it's taking them three weeks. If I had VW shares I'd be selling them now as this all sounds a bit risky. Clearly we only have a small amount of information and there must be some sensible reason for it taking this long. But it just seems very odd to me.

I don't get this... massive discounts because the normal ordering system will be down? Why does that make a difference? And, working in IT, they have a pants implementation manager if it takes three weeks to implement a new system.

Hmm, that's a bit nice!

If you don't get a VR now then by the time you do try to get one, they will be very hard to find.

Did the Corrado only have black, grey and cream leather? I saw an advert for one with navy blue and it surprised me. Did VW offer this?

Good point about the engine displacement. The Corrado did get the better engine. In fact, had it been given the standard 2.8 instead then I wonder if the cost could have been reduced and it might have been more successful?

dont want to labour the point but really, like i said on page 1, they already did. its the TT, its been around for over 10 years and isnt going to be replaced anytime soon by anything with a VW badge on it.... I have to disagree with you VW does have many cars the are directly competing with theyr audi relatives - I would agree though that from the VAG line today the TT is the car that stands out as the one beiing mostly related to the Corrado. From what I've seen in the past VW will always protect the Golf. Back in the Corrado days even the Storm wasn't as highly specced as the Golf VR6 Highline (the Highline had air con as standard). Today the Golf R is AWD while the top end Scirocco is FWD. I'm not sure that will change for a car with a VW (rather than Audi) badge on it.

Well I'm normally a complete gimp when it comes to fixing cars. So if that tape works out then it will be the first time I've ever come close to helping someone with a car issue. It must be my brain mentally preparing itself for impending Corrado ownership. I've also started throwing money out the window to get used to having an empty wallet :lol:

This looks like it may do it: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165691 Harris Pipe and Hose Repair Tape

I had a split coolant hose on my 4Mo last month. The RAC patched it with several layers of tape (the guy said it was specifically designed for the job). So maybe find something similar? It lasted a few weeks fine until I got the hose replaced.

It's your car and if you are going to keep it long term then you should make it how you want it. But personally I'd avoid any hard to reverse mods such as wing vents or de-wipering.

I can't see it happening. It would compete with the scirocco and the TT so there is no point. Also, the scirocco is a far more well known name than the corrado. The point t of re-using an old name is to build on the previous reputation and following. The corrado never sold very well so I couldn't see the point of using the name while we have a scirocco.

I'm really in two minds about this. On the one hand it makes sense that values should rise with fewer cars on the road. But on the other hand, maybe they will drop further as it becomes harder and harder to get replacement parts to keep them running.

I had a similar experience a while back. There was a beautiful moonlight blue VR with recarro leather and in my price range. The pics looked great. When I turned up I found the bodywork was pants, it pulled hard to the left, the brakes juddered badly and the engine was noisy as hell. Chains definitely needed. I walked away but it was a shame really as it could have been a great car if it had been a bit more cared for.

I bet it was a VR6. My Golf V6 decided to headbutt the garage wall. The fact my wife left it in gear with no handbrake on, then later started the car without dipping the clutch, is merely co-incidence.

Good luck, hope it goes well. It has air con too which is a major plus. But I'm assuming the downside of that is that any faults may be impossible to fix in the future due to lack of spare parts (I'd still want it though!).

It is a turbo vr6... makes 500hp at the wheels, all 4 of em lol. Ok, maybe I didn't read it properly. But I've had quite a large amount of whiskey damn it! :D Still not mad on it though.

Gotta say I don't really like that. Granted it is a wonderful effort and has been done to a very high standard. But I really hate that interior and I'd much rather have a charged or turbo's VR6 (or 24v). It's a very good effort though.