Portent

Sad to see you sell but I hope you have an easy sale(s).

Welcome. I don't live near there anymore but my wife has family in Harrow so I'm occasionally up that way. I may be going that route at the end of Feb if you don't find anything before then. Can't promise though as we may end up in the Golf.

The keys are obviously mismatched and I'm guessing the battery has died in the cold, hence no remote (un)locking. I'm wondering whether it would be better to try to get into the engine bay to charge the battery? e.g. if is possible to release the bonnet catch from underneath somehow? Or a replacement grille from a breaking car may be cheaper to replace than a new window or possible scratches on the paintwork.

Someone please buy these before I sell my kids or a kidney.

Welcome :)

I'm on the side of keeping it. I used to have som pretty newish and nice cars until I had kids. After that I simply didn't have the money to enjoy cars. Eventually I saved a littel and decided to scratch the Corrado itch. They are cheap to run and while they may not be a Porsche or Ferrari, etc, they are definitely interesting cars. Yes it may sit unused for a while but eventually your child will get older and you can enjoy it again. My kids adore the car and I have some very fond memories of times with them in it.

I prefer silver on comps.

Welcome back :)

I do find it depressing. VW simply doeesn't want to support its' old cars, particularly the less popular models. From what I understand of other marques such as BMW they embrace their heritage and try to keep their older models supported. If I weree in the market for a newer car then that would count very much against the brand in my eyes.

Hi. Welcome and I'm in Claygate which is about 15 mins from you :)

I wouldn't look back at a mk3 nowadays (I did own one when they were new and loved it). But I do look back at my Corrado as I get out of it. The VR6 engine is the icing on the cake but they are all great.

Well done :)

Same here. I got hold of OEM headlight connectors from a car being broken and modified a second hand KUR2Y loom to connect to them. Then put the relays in a splash-proof box although I keep meaning to fully waterproof it. It's fine after 3.5 years.

I'm not a mechanic and others on this forum know the cars far better than me. But my understanding is that the car would overheat when idling if the fans are not working correctly. When moving the airflow would likely be sufficient to cool the radiator but when sitting parked with the engine on the fans are needed to blow the air over the radiator. It could be a broken raiator thermostat (quite common). But you would see the oil and water temperature rise if this was the case (the oil temp is on the MFA computer). When running normally the water should sit in the middle of the dial at about 90 deg and the oil should also be around 90 deg or up to around 110 deg on a run. If the smoke/steam is happening when the car is overheating then it might be the fan (there could be other reasons). But if it is doing it when the car is at the correct temperature then it's not being caused by the fan or fan thermostat. I believe you can get testers which look for combustion gasses in the coolant water? That may be worth checking. Other causes could be a leaky coolant expansion bottle cap (buy a new one on ebay for a few pounds and see if it still does it), leaky hoses (they are getting old now), or at the "bad" end of the list is the coolant could be pressurised which means it is being forced out - ie head gasket. A garage could tell more of course. Ultimately if you aren't sure then ask someone who knows about cars to go with you or move on to another car. Also consider parts availability. How easy to find are parts in New England?

The fan wouldn't worry me but the steam and possible cause of it would, until fully diagnosed.

Love silver.

Welcome. Whereabouts in the country are you?

BT here. Using Firefox. I'm not seeing any slowdown.

I looked at Sportlines when I was considering a Corrado. The SL will feel older and more agricultural. The Corrado will feel newer (although neither feel modern of course) and is better for long distance driving. The Golf will hold its value more.

Welcome :)

Have fun with the BMW. But you'll boomerang. After all just look at this lovely thing...!

So much want. GLWS.

Yes I believe the general advice is to drive a car gently until up to temp rather than let it idle. It gets the oil warmer more quickly.

:( Good luck. Hope it doesn't go too badly.

Corrado meet at Jamo's next weekend then?