tonytiger

Part 1 of the article is in this months mag (december issue). Is the work involved exactly the same as the 2.9 or are there any differences (especially due to fitment in a Ford) ?

That does seem a bit excessive. My normal commute is an 80 mile round trip, mixutre of slow moving / town driving also with motorway and unclassified country road. I'm not exactly light on the throttle myself (it's just not possible in a vr :D ) but I still average 28mpg or more usually (measured properly - not just the MFA reading). Unless you have a fairly short journey compared to mine, I would be a bit worried about that economy. When mine dipped to 22mpg average and below back in August vagcom reported lambda errors on mine (which doesn't necessarily mean it's the lambda though). Could be worth plugging vagcom in on a fairly regular basis for a while (if you've got your own) just to see if any errors are thrown up. Oakley, good to hear yours is okay now.

pablo_vr6, how awful? And what sort of journeys do you typically do?

I own a standard VR6 (without leather) and yes, when I bought it I would have preferred to be buying a storm, but now it doesn't bother me. Great that they have leather as standard, but what else do you get -a coded grill, different alloys, and a couple of storm badges - which you can't replace if anything happens to them. Okay, some of the standard VR6 badges are obsolete, but a Storm without it's badges is just another vr6. Now, if it had been a higher power motor, with a six speed box, or something else unique it would be a different story - but it wasn't - just seems vw were trying to clear their remaining stock as quickly as possible. The biggest probelm with Storms has already been mentioned - there's no easy way of identifying one unless you really know what to look for - so it's fairly easy for people to pass standard cars as Storm for an inflated price. If I was to buy another vr6 for some reason, I really wouldn't be bothered about it being a Storm - I'd be much more interested in condition and spec. At the end of the day the car's for you AdamB, so if you're happy with the price / condition / etc - buy one because you like it, not because you want other people to like it. Just my opinion.

And what happens when they break it? They'll probably say it was already broken, and then charge you labour for removing it, and fitting a new one! I removed mine a couple of months back and found it very difficult - it does come off possibly quite suddenly, so if you do try it yourself make sure you don't end up smasing your heater controls / stereo, etc. BTW - why are you taking your car to the dealer? I wouldn't dream of paying their rates for any work whatsoever - you'd be better off finding a local specialist instead IMHO.

People have different opinions - when I did mine I ordered 2 driver side arms (complete with blades) and 1 passenger side blade. Part numbers for me were 2 of 6X2998406 and one of 1J2955425A . If you haven't already - see this thread. If you search the forum for Lupo wipers you'll get plenty of results where people have said what they've used.

There's a stickied thread about this with pictures - see here

No, I don't work for gsf / ecp / vag - it's just that I've recently had a new lambda fitted on may car (and checked the parts club price list too). I've also spent about £700 just on parts from dealers over the past year - and have found some give better discount than others. Not sure how long you've had the car, but I'd expect that at best you'll need a new vag part every one or two months - in my case I've averaged one visit to the dealers per fortnight over the past year! It's always worth looking at the parts club price list (should be avilable somewhere else on this forum) - the discount varies from part to part but can be as much as 30%. This will give you some idea as to how generous you can expect the dealer to be. Also, policy varies dealer to dealer but one of my local ones told me that they always want to make at least 10% profit on each item so they are sometimes limitied in the discount they can offer.

Oakley, as Banana Man says a dead sensor will cause problems - a new one from VAG has a list price of £72 + vat, but you should be able to get 10% or more discount (parts club price is about £62) - if your local stealer won't give you a reasonable discount try another one. And yes, O2 / Oxygen / Lambda are just different names for the same thing - confusing isn't it? When I had errors from the lambda sensor, it wasn't just a straight forward 'no signal' problem, so replacing the lambda in my case didn't really solve the problem - in fact, I don't there was anything wrong with the sensor in the first place. If you're interested, this thread is about the problems I had. I'd also really recommend fitting an AFR (air fuel ratio) meter as this will allow you to monitor the output from the lambda. See this thread as good starting point.

Tried a bosch spoiler wiper blade myself before upgrading to lupo wipers, but unfortunately the spoiler was just cheap crap plastic, and I managed to break the bloody spoiler off before I'd even fit the wiper. :mad: Also, I do think the lupo wipers look good - I didn't think they would and wasn't too keen, but once fitted I really liked the look (and of course they work)..

Yes, no signal from the lambda sensor would definitely be a problem. Could be worth looking for any obvious wiring problems before replacing the lambda though, as it'll cost around £60 for a replacement.

Ah, but isn't that because there's two different brands of leads - the original expensive red beru and the cheaper quantum?

Do you have access to vagcom to check the diagnostics? I suspect it won't show anything, but it's always a good place to start. If you don't have vagcom yourself, I'd strongly recommend it (along with the bentley manual) - in my experience it will pay for itself far quicker than you might expect. Have you searched the forum for similar problems? I had a very bad spell during the summer in my vr, got as bad as 20 mpg average from a tank - was suggested this was lambda sensor related - still don't think I've realy got to the bottom the problem. Other suggestions would be fuel filter, dying fuel pump, coil pack, leads, but I'm sure somebody better qualified than me will have a more specific idea as to what the problem may be. Sorry I can't be more help.

I should say, I never expected owning a vr6 to be cheap - far from it in fact, particularly as I do above average mileage - but it's the seemingly never ending problems that's really annoyed me. I don't believe I bought a particularly bad/rough car especiially as most, if not every thing, that's gone wrong, seems to be fairly common - and the list of problems above doesn't cover everything. There's also been problems with the central locking (the wiring in the drivers door had corroded so I had to cut a section of wire out and replace it - fortunately another thread on this forum allowed me to pinpoint the problem almost immediately), having to fit lupo wipers so I could see in the rain (having already tried new bosch wiper blades twice but with no effect), the heater/blower direction control only works on 3 settings (has done since I bought the car and I really can't face fixing this at the moment), etc. I accept that ongoing maintenance is required to some degree on a car that's 11 years old with 129k on the clock, but this just seems excessive. Considering the original price of the car when new, especially when compared to other dubs, I'm just amazed that it's needed so much attention. I'm hoping that I've just been unfortunate in that everythings gone wrong in quick succession - and I'm optimistic that it'll be a lot better from now on - I'm just feeling a little depressed that I've had to spend so much so quickly and not had the benefit over the summer, especially now that the wet weather really seems to have set in. As for the performance, on reflection I suspect it's probably just a case that I've gotten used to it. I still like the car, nothing comes close for style for the money (or a lot more money for that matter) so I'll just see what the next few months are like and see how I feel then. I really do hope that I don't want to sell it.

Well, it's a year ago today that I bought my VR6 - and I was very, very happy then. :D Just thought I'd review the past 12 months - may be of use to others looking to buy, or for comparison against other figures, etc. Car had 107k miles on when bought, and now has 129k miles on it. Expenses for the past year: Petrol - £2920 for just over 3,500 litres - at an average of 28.1 mpg Parts, etc - £2990 - (this includes everything else e.g. service costs, vagcom, new stereo, etc except insurance and tax. Deducting non-essential purchases (I didn't have to spend £450 on ice) drops this figure to £1885. I got the car for what I considered to be a good price, and knew that somethings needed fixing, though there were a couple more things than I thought. It also needed a service straight away. Here's what was wrong: - ABS: knew about this, btu didn't fix this for 4 months as I waited until I bought vagcom rather than paying a garage to run the diagnostics. It turned out to be a front sensor, and straightforward to fix (though a bit of a bugger to get the old sensor out). Thinking about this now - I was very lucky that it wasn't something a lot more expensive. Cost £41. - Rear brake discs / pads - knew about these too and these were replaced at the first service. Cost £82 + labour - Rear ABS ring - think this suffered some damage when the rear discs were replaced as they were siezed on - replaced immediately - £12 - Rear engine mount - didn't know this was broken, but spotted and fixed during the first service - £48 + labour - N/S Headlight: knew that some clips were broken on the back of the unit, but turned out all were broken. Ended up buying a whole new unit for £106 (but not for 5 months). - Foglight - Didn't realise this was an old style unit sealed into place. Replaced within 2 weeks for £75 - Indicator - knew this was cracked. Replaced within 2 weeks - £27 - A rear speaker was dead - didn't know about this, then accidentally ripped the plug and wires out of the working one to create a pair of dead speakers :mad: replaced with JBLs for £40 Other things that went wrong during the past 12 months: - Nov '03 - Oil cooler seals needed replacing - £15 - Mar '04 - Front wishbones needed replacing and ball joint - £165 inc labour - Mar '04 - Dashpot (throttle damper) replaced in a pointless effort to stop the stalling problems - £33 - May '04 - Rear suspension rebuilt (new vag shockers, stops, etc) - £140 inc labour - Jul '04 - Purchased 2nd hand ISV in attempt to solve stalling problem (but with no effect) - £22 - Aug '04 - Lambda sensor replaced but possibly wasn't broken (see this thread) - £72 including fitting - Aug '04 - Water leak through driver door (membrane) - £6 for new membrane + whole weekend to dry carpets, etc. - Sep' 04 - New Cam Sensor needed - £33 - Sep' 04 - 2nd hand MAF (another attempt to stop stalling) - £37. In conjuction with removal of the ISV noise damper this HAS stopped the stalling. - Sep' '04 - Driver side door handle broke - £72 There have also been numerous nuts, bolts, screws and assorted trim bits replaced - either due to broken part or occasionally just due to worn appearance. I thought I'd researched reasonably well before buying a vr by reading buying guides in mags, CCGB info and this forum, but on reflection it wasn't thorough enough. It's only now that I feel I'm nearly on top of the problems - the most annoying problem having been the stalling which became almost constant. Almost all the parts I've bought have been genuine VAG, but have been discounted (I reckon it would have cost at least an extra £150 without discount). Knowing what I know now, I'd have to say I'd think twice about buying a vr. When it's good it's good :twisted: but when it's not - it's damned annoying and usually expensive. And the quality doesn't seem to be a patch on the 2 sciroccos I had previously - they were much better built and gave relatively few problems - especially considering that during the 7 years of ownership they covered over 160k miles between them. I think another problem, for me at least, is in the power delivery - the car is undeniably fast, but just doesn't feel as fast as it is. It's certainly been an interesting year - I've learned a lot and couldn't have managed without this forum - but I hope other than the things that I'm already aware need doing, the next 12 months (if I keep it that long) are somewhat quieter (and easier on the wallet).

I think that's the key thing here. No matter how much has been spent on a car, if you don't get attached to it it's all a bit pointless IMO (apart from possibly increasing its resale value). Personally, I actually like buying a car that needs a few things doing to it (though preferably not bodywork). Besides, it doesn't cost anything to look at the car - and it could be a bargain too.

I disagree - when I had a duff wheel sensor on mine, the light wasn't always on - I actually had pretty much the same symptoms described by Johneboy, but sometimes the light would go out again while travelling (for no obvious reason) - and the system could work for days at a time without problem. Once I replaced the offending sensor it the system worked perfectly (though the EDL is pretty useless). In the end I bought vagcom to find out exactly what the problem was - cheaper in the long run. I would strongly recommend anybody with a vr who plans on keeping it for a while to invest in vagcom (I know that ideally means a laptop too) as I've found it invaluable - apart from using it when you know there's a problem, you can use it periodically too make sure you haven't got any problems.

That's not what I found when I was looking last year - I didn't find much under 3 grand (though admittedly I wasn't prepared to travel up and down the country). As for mileage, it's generally difficult to get a low mileage Corrado of any age these days, and the ones that are are usually a very high price. The price really comes down to condition, and perhaps age, and what the market is for them at the time. For a late plate, even in only fair condition the offer does seem a little low to me. The price offered is supposed to cover the cost of an equivalent car - spec, age, condition, etc - and shouldn't just be trade value either. A service history could be helpful to show that the car has been looked after. I'd be looking for a minimum of £2.5k though if it was my car (depending upon how bad the rust was) - and you're probably right to push for close to £3k. Remember, the engineer is employed/contracted by the insurance company to provide a valuation on the car, and as such it's not independent and almost certainly on the low side. Looking at previous posts, it looks like it's been some months since this happened, so I'm sure you're sick of the hassle by now, but be persistent - I'm sure you'll be able to get them to offer. Have you asked them how they've arrived at that figure?

Time for an update. Replaced the spark plugs (which weren't looking too good) but this didn't really make much difference. Was going to replace the fuel pump, but changed my mind as not really convinced that's the problem. Problems continued, car often unpleasant to drive. Nothing was showing on vagcom (other than sometimes getting the same message about the lambda) until 15th September, when I got the following error: 00515 - Camshaft Position (Hall) Sensor (G40) 30-10 - Open or Short to B+ - Intermittent Finally felt hopeful that the car could be fixed (without too much cost). Had a quick check of the wiring but couldn't find any obious problem so ordered the part from local dealer the Friday of that week, told part would be in Saturday morning. Excellent I thought, can change it Saturday morning and test it over the weekend. Went to collect the part only to find that the wrong item had been sent (right part number on bag, but wrong part) I was not happy, to say the least - especially being as it was going to be Tuesday afternoon before I could get the correct part. :mad: So, that Tuesday I left work early, collected the part and went home to fit it. Parked on drive, went to get changed came back to car and !$%! £^&*$%£ !"£$ - couldn't open drivers door, handle had broken - bloody typical :x Did fit the cam sensor that night still though. The journey to work the next day was great - AFR meter still showed a possible problem, but car was great to drive. Journey home was okay too. Progress at last. :D That same week I also managed to get a MAF off Ebay (to try a swap in case mine was duff), and collected it in person. The seller turned out to be CorradoVR6-n.o.s on this forum (or rather was on this forum - he's now swapped his vr for a scooby). Got talking about the problems I'd been having with the car and immediately suggested changing the cam sensor (spooky!), but also suggested removing the isv noise damper to stop the stalling. So, last Sunday I swapped the MAF, removed the noise damper and fitted a new air filter element (and a new drivers door handle). Now, having done all those things at once I can't say for sure what's made the difference (and I really should try putting the original maf back on), but bugger me :!: the car's not stalled since :lol: I've made every effort to get it to stall - dipping the clutch for a while whilst driving, coasting up to junctions etc, but it just wouldn't. It's been a long time (probably around 8 months or more now) since I could drive the car without constantly having to worry about it stalling and it's great. :D :mrgreen: So big thanks to CorradoVR6-n.o.s for that. :thumbleft: Now I've only got one possible problem again - the AFR sometimes still just sits at 0.3v (weak mixture) and will not move. I've found over the past couple of weeks that everythings usually okay on my journey to work until I get stuck in queues with just a couple of miles to go. Sometimes it's okay once I'm moving again, but sometimes it's still stuck when I start my journey home. This must surely be heat related - just still can't work out what it is. That would also explain why I had such a problem back in August when the weather was at its hottest. I've not found anything else on vagcom so I think this will now have to wait until after the head rebuild and I get the injectors serviced (got a spare set for that). I'm not noticing any economy or driveability problems though, and if it wasn't for the AFR I'd not suspect a thing.

I just bought Autocar today and have read through this list too (which is the 'hot 100 used cars' divided into 5 price bands - the Corrado is in the £2.5k - £5k section). I don't think the order of the list is overly significant - for example in the same category, the Pug 106gti is is listed higher than the vr6, sierra cosworth, fiat coupe turbo and porsche 944 s2 (among others). It could just be a fairly random order, or possibly they've rated them based upon purchase cost, running cost, performance, handling, reliability, etc. What is interesting though is what they actually say about the vr6: "With the Corrado VR6, VW created an instant Porsche 944-eating sensation. It was underpriced new, now it's a steal. Bag this rarity and become the envy of your friends." Sounds a pretty positive summary to me :D

That must be the reason, as mine is a registered version. Looking in the Bentley manual, I can't even see that exact error number but there are similar errors - for which it suggests faulty wiring, wiring connection, or valve coil. That would explain why the fault could occur when coasting. When I had an ABS fault, the light could come on at any time - braking or not - fortunately it just turned out to be a front sensor so was easily fixed.

I'm not convinced that's always the case (though I'm sure it's meant to do that). When I had trouble with running problems recently, I wouldn't always get error messages if I stopped the car once I got home before connecting vagcom - even though I was convinced I should have seen some. Now I always keep the car running (if possible) before connecting vagcom.

The second line usually gives more specific information: e.g. 00515 - Camshaft Position (Hall) Sensor (G40) 30-10 - Open or Short to B+ - Intermittent As for the code coming up when you're not braking, I don't see why not - the ecu does seem to log faults (for a short while at least).

Has it been on vagcom yet? Definitely worth getting the diagnostics checked. I don't know how anybody with a VR copes without having vagcom. Checked mine last night, and found an intermittent cam position sensor open/short - hopefully that explains the intermittent lack of power on mine.

Mines a daily driver too - 80 miles a day to work and back plus a few miles at the weekend, so typically over 450 miles a week. Not the most economical way to get to work but one of the most enjoyable :) I do keep meaning to drive it a bit more gently to try and get a few extra mpg, but I just can't manage to do it at the moment - probably drive a bit steadier when the poorer weather & darker nights arrive.