thinking of a VR6 - help!

[jhanlon 0]

Hi

Thinking of getting a VR6 and no doubt most on here will agree this is a sound choice, but I'm wondering about running costs (esp as it will be c10 yrs old). Had been thinking of a '01 Civic Type-R before. Obviously newer so cheaper to run?? not sure.

 

What about mods then? General advice seems to be to avoid them when buying. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? (obviously they might put the insurance up a bit for a start).

 

Well done with the buyer's guide! Any other tips? :roll:

[dr_mat 0]

Hello,

 

Newer car = lose money on depreciation

Older car = lose money by repairing it

 

Corrado VR6 is thirsty on the fuel, particularly about town, and expensive to insure due to the price of parts and the number of idiots who kill themselves doing it.

 

But only you can decide if you can afford it... You might have only servicing costs for three years and it might cost you £5k in repairs in the same time, who knows!

[Rick 0]

Hi,

 

I took out a Civic type-R before I bought my C and really didn't like it, performance was good but just something wasn't right for me. Also I see about three on the way to work and loads in the car park, whereas I very rarely ever see a Corrado. As for Mods i've left mine standard and am very happy with it, oh and sod running costs you don't know what you're missing

[KADVR6 0]

yeh the vr6 has a drink problem, but show me a petrol 2.9 v6 that will do 50mpg??? and ive had mine for 16 months and only the water pump has let me down. i may be lucky, ( touch wood ) on the major plus side its a bloody lovely car that still turns heads, so go and find one :D

[jhanlon 0]

cheers guys and well done Rick for hammering the final nail in the Type-R coffin. I have to take advice from someone who's had both. 8)

 

I drove a VR6 last night and have to agree it was a top car, which is a big relief and I'm off to try out another tonight and another tomorrow. Yeah, 5K in 3 years would be steep but last night's car (now on 157K) had a whole new engine at 115K at a cost of more than 6 grand! That scared me sh*tless :( into almost buying it, in case same goes on another. I never did ask what had happened to it. It was a nice car, smart alloys with a couple of small dings in the bodywork, dodgy sun roof (was expecting that) and a small patch of rust by the wheel arch. Things looked OK under the bonnet but I'm no mechanic; there were a couple of small modifications (KN filter etc).

 

So should i hold out for a better model? Storms seem to be hard to come by I've noticed

:?:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

LOL, I'm another one that went from Car X, tried a Civic Type R, dumped that idea then bought a C VR6!

 

I drove a MK1 CTR dealer demonstator and it was awful. Constantly tugged to the left and acceleration was nothing like what I had been led to believe these things had. "Boot it in 3rd and hang on" the salesman says. Hmmm, where's the grunt at 6000rpm then? I thought to myself.

Suspension is rock hard too. Lovely gear shift though, all cars should have it.

 

The VR is no comparison.....it's just a lot better looking, more desirable, similar pace (if not faster) and there's (currently) no chav stigma attached to Corrados either.

 

Don't hold out for a Storm.

 

A normal VR with leather in a rare colour is a better buy imo. It adds variance. Everyone knows what they're getting with a Storm....i.e. MK3 Golf wheels, MK3 Golf paint, leather and a red badge.....but with say a Silver, Ice Grey, or Moonlight Blue VR with the options boxes ticked when bought.....how many of those are you going to see? Less than the storm I can tell you.

[jhanlon 0]

now that's something I hadn't thought about. Black model looked coool though 8) . Cheap as chips too but a bit boy racer-ish with big alloys and a bass box where the boot used to be.

 

Who bought a separate warranty with their VR6? They seem to be a bit specific to me, but I guess on an old car they can save you a fortune if you're unlucky with your choice. Adds cost though especially if I get an RAC inspection too.

 

I guess the best-looked-after examples will be from forum members; Bobbywhacker might get a visit from me :)

[m6vwc 0]

the civic's sweet! i was going to buy a new one last year. had a demonstrator for a whole afternoon around sheffield and loved it to bits but when it came down with parting with my cash... i ended up going with my heart and buying something and wanted since way back when they were out of my price range. you guessed it... a vr6. not a storm edition. just a plain old moonlight blue with 44k on the clock and full VAG history from the supplying dealer. i've had it for just over a year and it's now on 63k and the only problem's i've experienced are a noisy heater (VAG diagnosed this as a faulty heater motor and wanted £150 to put it right but i'm told it's the same unit as in a mkII golf and it's supposed to be a really easy DIY job) and a clunking noise from the front end on full lock parking and when cornering over potholes etc.. that's been developing (which i'm thinking is probably top mounts or cv joint after posting a PLEASE HELP! on here). the MPG's not as bad as you'd think. i do runcorn/chorley to sheffield a couple of times a week and even i'm giving it some over snake it normally averages out to around 26/27mpg by the end of the trip. not bad compared to the grin factor of hanging on to the back end of £30,000+ worth of boxster through the twisty stuff. go for it! you won't regret it. EVER!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I don't think a warranty will be much use, but if you do get one make sure you ask them if covers the sunroof and timing chain related failures! It prob won't as they'll say it's wear and tear related.....

[dr_mat 0]

Warranties can be useful. They'll include everything mechanical and suspension, but will specifically exclude exhausts, brakes, consumables sort of thing.

Head gasket is covered, for example, but timing belts/chains is a grey area. A timing belt with a fixed replacement interval would NOT be covered, but a timing chain with no fixed replacement time? You'd have to check the details of the policy, since it's a part of the engine and designed to last the life of the engine (quoting VW there) there's room to argue about that one.

Another thing to bear in mind is the warranty can usually only be bought for a car with