I'm losing the will to continue.......

[skinnyman9000 0]

My Rado is pushing me! After being off the road for a month sorting the rear brakes, the throttle when awol. I thought i sorted that, but turns out ive not. Now also i've got very little pressure in the brake pedal, which points to a master cylinder. Ive also got £600 worth of bodywork to have done after my crash last year. Now after ive paid to get the bodywork done im then probably looking at £200+ to get the brakes and throttle sorted. so thats ANOTHER £800 i'll be spending on it.

 

Im just getting sick and tired of it. I love it when im driving it, but it just continuously breaks. Its spent more time off the road in the past 18 months than on. I continue to throw good money after bad at it, and it continues to let me down. Sometimes makes me really depressed because i love the car to bits, but it just punishes me.

 

Shortly after getting it i had to spend over £400 on MOT work. Then i had the engine rebuilt. Then it has new disks and pads all round, and wheel bearings. Ive recently spent more money on rear calipers, pads and handbrake cable. Then the throttle went dodgy, and im going to have to pay close to £1000 to get the bodywork done and MOT work, and im beginning to wonder what the point of it all is?!?!?

 

I never thought i'd be saying this, but i think im going to sell up. Im sick and tired of feeling like im second guessing whats going to break next. Im seriously thinking my best bet would be to break the car, extend my loan, and go and buy a 2000/2001 plate ibiza/golf/polo.

[Mave 0]

Just sell it. It's only a car. Money can be put in better places (Not Toad's thong, btw).

 

You can get another one later on in life, you know :-P

[Goldie 2]

It is only a car. On the arguement that we will all only end up buying another id say better the devil you know, youve spent so much time and money on this one which will be irrelevant in a resale price..

[dirtytorque 0]

You do seem to have had alot of probs with this cars.

Ok

 

Why not extend your loan and buy that newer car and then take the corrado off road.

Then do the little bits that need doing to it gradually??

The nicer thing with a later VAG car is that it will have ODB which helps at fault time. :)

 

I can see why you want to sell it.If its broken all the time it won't be bringing you much joy.

If you buy a nice low mileage example corrado with lots of service history or you have deep pockets then these cars are ok as daily drivers.

Mine was far from the above.

[skinnyman9000 0]

After chats with my parents and various people i think its time to be sensible. In the past ive thrown money at it due to my love for it, but it never given me a break. Its cost me on average £300 a month in repairs alone. Add insurance at £50 a month, then tax at around £15 a month, then £100 on petrol, and this car as drained alot of my money. I just want a car then i know will be fine when i wake up, instead of wondering whats going to go wrong next.

 

I know due to the problems i wont get what i want for the car, but if i spend money fixing it i'll only get it back in the sale, so its probably best to get rid and start again.

[Sonicriot13 0]

After chats with my parents and various people i think its time to be sensible. In the past ive thrown money at it due to my love for it, but it never given me a break. Its cost me on average £300 a month in repairs alone. Add insurance at £50 a month, then tax at around £15 a month, then £100 on petrol, and this car as drained alot of my money. I just want a car then i know will be fine when i wake up, instead of wondering whats going to go wrong next.

 

I know due to the problems i wont get what i want for the car, but if i spend money fixing it i'll only get it back in the sale, so its probably best to get rid and start again.

 

I know how you feel mate. And it sucks. It was hard for me to even imagine selling mine. But I did. I've had girlfriends I've found easier to part with... a lot easier. And as much as I miss it now things are looking up and pretty soon I will be in a much better position financially for Rado ownership. Don't worry about the price, just get the best you can for it and think of all the money you'll save on repairs and the like, and look forward to getting another one at some point if that's what you want to do.

[skinnyman9000 0]

After chats with my parents and various people i think its time to be sensible. In the past ive thrown money at it due to my love for it, but it never given me a break. Its cost me on average £300 a month in repairs alone. Add insurance at £50 a month, then tax at around £15 a month, then £100 on petrol, and this car as drained alot of my money. I just want a car then i know will be fine when i wake up, instead of wondering whats going to go wrong next.

 

I know due to the problems i wont get what i want for the car, but if i spend money fixing it i'll only get it back in the sale, so its probably best to get rid and start again.

 

I know how you feel mate. And it sucks. It was hard for me to even imagine selling mine. But I did. I've had girlfriends I've found easier to part with... a lot easier. And as much as I miss it now things are looking up and pretty soon I will be in a much better position financially for Rado ownership. Don't worry about the price, just get the best you can for it and think of all the money you'll save on repairs and the like, and look forward to getting another one at some point if that's what you want to do.

 

I know what you mean! I know its purely a car, but i get emotional when i think about parting with it, daft as it sounds!

 

I guess now i need some help with how much the car is worth, here's a breakdown:

 

1990 Tornado red 1.8 16V

129k

5 months tax

MOT is due end of Jan 08

CAT 1 alarm

 

It has full service history, and the receipts folder is massive! In the last 12 months its had:

Disks and pads all round

Throttle cable

Handbrake cables

Rear caliper

Rear wheel bearings

New sunroof (now works correctly)

FULL engine rebuild be midland VW costing £1000 (this was done 4k ago)

The exhaust was new 18 months ago, and is a genuine VW one

 

Bad bits:

Brakes work fine, there is just lack of pressure in the brake pedal. Not complete lack of pressure, just that the first 1" of pedal doesnt seem to actually do anything, return spring maybe?

Throttle issue. When idling the revs raise and fall between 2k-1.5k, and it jolts when driving. This could be simple to fix, but ive just had my fill of it.

There is a few inches of paint on the passengers side sideskirt that just decided to fall off when day when i was cleaning it

There is a nice 'nipple' in the roof where my mate put in the long screw insted of the short one when the sunroof was being put back in.

There is a dent in the passengers side wing where i had my crash.

My local bodyshop (very good, always have in ferraris, bmws etc) have quoted me £600 to sort the side skirt, roof nipple and front wing, and to also plastic weld the headlamp clamp where the front wing has pushed it across.

 

I've spent just under £2000 in parts since ownership. It has a service when i first got it, but hasnt had one for over a year, basically due to the engine rebuild, safe to say it had a pretty good service that day!!

 

So, given the things that need sorting, what sort of price do people think i should be looking for?

[Walesy 0]

£1200ish? If you're lucky

 

Depressing as it is, the reality is that you can pick up late valvers in really good nick/saught after colours for £1500-£2000

[skinnyman9000 0]

£1200ish? If you're lucky

 

Depressing as it is, the reality is that you can pick up late valvers in really good nick/saught after colours for £1500-£2000

 

True.

 

The throttle issue could be something as simple as an air leak. To be honest, if someone offered me £1200 i'd let them take it, unfortunately i'd rather let it go for less than i should than have the pressure on my mind. Someone could come along, solve the brakes/throttle issue in a day, then get a mate to sort the bodywork, and have the whole thing fixed for a few hundred, but i just dont want the weight on my shoulders anymore.

[Toad 0]

It would be a good little project for someone. There's not a lot left to be done to get a decent reliable little car by the sounds of things. Engine rebuild is a good bonus. I'd work on finding the runing issue as that will hamper the chances of selling it to a non-enthusiast.

[Bojmobile 0]

Sell it and buy a VR6!

[skinnyman9000 0]

Sell it and buy a VR6!

 

I've been put off Corrado's to be honest.

 

Im swaying towards a Seat Ibiza cupra......

[corozin 0]

If you want reliability you need to think "Honda" or "Toyota". A Seat isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I ponder low running costs.

Fact : Honda have never had to replace a 1.8 VTEC engine under warranty.

[bcstudent 0]

If you want reliability you need to think "Honda" or "Toyota". A Seat isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I ponder low running costs.

If you want to think *complex* think Honda or Toyota. My Seat Leon Cupra costs me no more to run than my Corrado did, and it's got close to twice the power.

 

Fact : Honda have never had to replace a 1.8 VTEC engine under warranty.

Do you have a reference for that statement? I've heard people say it before, but I fear it's one of those things that gets told by mates in the pub.

[skinnyman9000 0]

I can vouce for the Honda thing. My dad has a W plate Accord. 80k on the clock when he bought it, its at 122k now. Apart from a few braking issues he's only had to spend £10 on a suspension arm, sod all else. Its literally cost him bugger all to run. But then again he's the slowest driver in the world, the engine has never seen above 3k rpm.

 

I want a car thats maximum 6yrs old, and for that in the Honda range i'd be looking at the 1.6 VTEC civic, but they dont float my boat, and the gear lever is on the dashboard! Either that or within my budget im looking at a very good condition older Type R, but they're not really a very good idea for a daily.

 

Basically im going to have around £5k to spend. So i'll be looking at 2001 plate Cupra R's with around 70k on the clock

[Jim 2]

Its literally cost him bugger all to run. But then again he's the slowest driver in the world, the engine has never seen above 3k rpm.

 

I think most cars would be reliable in the hands of sensible owners. I keep banging on about it but my missus had a 51 plate Ford Ka from new up until about 6 months ago (sold it and bought another!) and the only thing that went wrong was right at the end of the time she owned it.. common problem with the power steering rack. Besides that in 6 years and 50,000 miles nothing went wrong, and all she had to pay for was routine servicing. Nothing compared to the Honda that you're talking about of course but then it didn't cost as much as a Honda ;)

 

I'm right behind you on this situation mate. I wish the Corrado wasn't so alluring. I really want to change cars as i've come to the conclusion that getting my hands dirty on my car is not my thing, and frankly neither is paying for a garage to do it... and there is a list as long as you like waiting to be done to my car :( Fiat 500 is gonna happen.. I swear.

[junkie 0]

I hear what your saying with getting rid of it but at the end of the day its a Corrado and i'm pretty certain, almost 100% sure they were actually designed to break at any random moment once all fixed just to keep you on your toes to remind you, you do not drive a normal car.

 

1 month ago you were sayinghow its cheaper to throw money at the car than suffer depreciation on a newer car chris.

 

As can be read in here "Parents want me to sell" thread

 

Any how hope you suss it all out.

[Frosty Phantom 0]

lol I know EXACTLY how you feel. Although it's currently tax'ed MOT'd and insured mine still has some little niggles, and although it's running ok atm I'm pondering whether it's really worth spending out not far short of a grand respraying it or even touch ups when something else mechanical is just around the corner.

 

But as has been said, if I didn't love the car, I wouldn't have it. Jesus I'd never spend out the money I have on anything else tbh. It would of been scrapped long ago :)

 

& lmao @ that thread

 

Mike

[saysomestuff 0]

Mate, you've clearly thought this all through sensibly, just a couple of nuggets of my experience.

 

My C is just about to come back on the road and I'm seriously in two minds whether to get rid of my '95 escort and start driving the C. It's literally worth about £200 and sounds ridiculous but it's been so reliable over the past couple of years that I'm not ready to give up that confidence to rely on the temperamental C. I get the train to work so drive the escort irregularly but I know it'll start and run fine. Every time I go up to do some work on the Corrado, it's flat or running differently.

 

So in essence, my Corrado still has a long way to go to convince me that it's reliable enough to replace a £200 'scort, which is food for thought...

[CoxyLaad 0]

escort man - are you sure you arent gay?

:lol:

[Andy665 0]

Reading these tales of woe makes me realise how lucky I appear to have been with my G60's - total of 80k covered in them and only one breakdown - the toothed belt flying off on the way to Le Mans last year :lol:

 

If i was reliant on a car that was not inspiring confidence I think I'd have to cut my losses and buy something that I knew would start every day and get me where I needed to go without fear of breakdown.

[Walesy 0]

Same here, i've lost count of the amount of rados i've had and between me and my wife we've covered tens of thousands of miles in them including across the UK and Europe, we had our G60 as our wedding car and went on honeymoon in it (there's confidence! :lol: ) and we've very rarely been let down. I've got full confidence in mine and we consider it to be our reliable car out of our fleet :) Peoples experiences of rados vary massively which is down to the individual car's story rather than Corrados as a whole.

 

I think alot of it is to do with being carefull and fussy with the car you buy to begin with, there are alot of rados out there that are unfortunately going to allways cause problems because they've not been maintained as they should and have been driven hard and modded badly etc etc - once a cars been neglected for a long while it costs alot of money to get back to being a reliable car again, whereas if you start with a nice straight car that's been looked after with decent quality parts all it's life they can be very reliable. I think you need to be prepared to risk travelling to get the right car most of the time as it's unlikely that the best car will be the one for sale closest to you - a good 7 out of 10 rados are going to be money pits (or never drive/feel as they should) nowadays.

 

Also, the trick is to try to stay one step ahead of the game, being in tune with the car and replacing parts before they let you down and servicing regularly is important, which was something I had to be very wary of as a taxi driver, you have to keep the car on the road as much as possible :)

 

Another thing i'd say is that alot of the time, spending £500 more on the car initially to secure a good one can save alot more in the long run - there's a big difference between a cheap car and a bargain. If you can find a genuine bargain great, but usually it'll be a case of the more you spend to begin with the less you'll have to spend out replacing everything further down the road.

 

Shame you've had a bad experience with yours anyway Skinny, hopefully you'll be back anyway!

[Toad 0]

there are alot of rados out there that are unfortunately going to allways cause problems because they've not been maintained as they should and have been driven hard and modded badly etc etc - once a cars been neglected for a long while it costs alot of money to get back to being a reliable car again, whereas if you start with a nice straight car that's been looked after with decent quality parts all it's life they can be very reliable. I think you need to be prepared to risk travelling to get the right car most of the time as it's unlikely that the best car will be the one for sale closest to you - a good 7 out of 10 rados are going to be money pits (or never drive/feel as they should) nowadays.

 

Also, the trick is to try to stay one step ahead of the game, being in tune with the car and replacing parts before they let you down and servicing regularly is important, which was something I had to be very wary of as a taxi driver, you have to keep the car on the road as much as possible :)

 

Another thing i'd say is that alot of the time, spending £500 more on the car initially to secure a good one can save alot more in the long run - there's a big difference between a cheap car and a bargain. If you can find a genuine bargain great, but usually it'll be a case of the more you spend to begin with the less you'll have to spend out replacing everything further down the road.

 

Good points.

 

I think intrinsically the corrado is a pretty good car, they have generally been driven hard, as it's the nature of a sports coupe, and they are old, the problem a lot of people have is that the components are all reaching the end of thier lives around the same point, but compare them to other cars and you'll see how well they've done up till now.

[KipVR 1]

Over the past five years, Corrado ownership has cost me a wopping 7.5K, Integra Type R ownership has cost me 1.5K, although I've done 55K in the Corrado and only 38 in the Integra. Both are now on 130K ish. The Integra is a better car in just about every respect, and I did sell my Corrado because I thought it just wasn't worth the hassle.....then I had to bought it back off the bloke I sold it to because I missed it so much.... :lol: He was very understanding and it had already broken down on him so he wasn't too hesitant...

 

Sell it and buy a low mileage example maybe? I've just sold my Integra though, and I miss the engine noise massively, but it is paying for my 3.2 conversion which should sound just as good :lol:

[Toad 0]

I think my 16V owes me around £5-6 maybe 7k including purchase from 3 years of driving and minimal mods, and the VR will owe me £2500-3000 by the time the engine is rebuilt, the suspension replaced and I've bought a tin of paint. I'll be a bit annoyed if the VR costs me much in repairs in a years time.