My hunt for a Corrado - the story so far!

[Purple Tom 0]

Hey,

 

I've been a lurker on this forum for a while, reading and absorbing while trying to learn as much as possible about Corrado's without actually owning one :lol:

 

Anyway, some of you might remember my thread about an abandoned Storm that I found - http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=66636.

The car is still in the same position and the owner won't budge on the price so it looks as if that's out of the question.

 

In some ways though I'm not too bothered as I didn't really want a VR6, the fuel consumption is what bothers me more than anything else! The same applies to the G60, 1.8 16V and 2.0 16V, which really leaves me with only one choice for my first Corrado - a 2.0 8V.

 

I know its not the fastest, and not the most luxurious, but I feel that for me a 2.0 8V would be perfect. My current daily is a mk3 Polo GT into which I've fitted a Golf ABD engine and a few other bits to make it handle. While one of the more powerful C's would be nice, I've got a quick car in my weekend toy (Vauxhall-engined Mini), so I decided that if I wanted to own a Corrado and use it daily, a 2.0 8V would be a good choice. Plus, if I could get a good one it would make a nice base for a PD conversion later, or possibly an ABF depending on how much diesel prices go up! :grin:

 

Anyway, I've been scouring Autotrader and eBay and my local classifieds daily, and have found a few 2.0 8V's that I'm interested in. I went to see the first one tonight, its a silver one up near Leeds, advertised on eBay - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1995-VOLKSWAGEN-CORRADO-SILVER_W0QQitemZ190233111292QQihZ009QQcategoryZ9873QQcmdZViewItem. It looks really good in the pictures, apart from the scuff on the rear bumper which is apparently going to be sorted out.

 

When we arrived I went through the checklist handily provided in the knowledge base and after much examination (including a fairly long test drive), I ended up with the following list of faults:

 

- Both front foglights cracked and condensated

- 1 rear number plate light not working

- 1 rear fog light not working

- Starter motor not disengaging correctly

- Power steering pump groaning and noisy

- Rear engine mounting worn

- Steering judder above 60mph

- Drivers door handle sitting proud of the door skin with a noticeable gap all around the handle

- Electric window switch in drivers door loose in its mounting

- MFA showing only 27.0mpg

- ABS warning light non functional even with ignition on engine off.

 

On the plus side the spoiler was fully functional, it has brand new discs and pads all round and the tyres all have good tread. The engine and gearbox all feel nice and tight and it pulls very well considering it only has 115bhp/130lbft. The MFA reading might just be because it only ever does town driving, but even so I think a 2.0 8V should manage more than that!

 

Anyway, on the way back I was discussing it with the missus and I've decided that even though the car was in good condition I'm not going to bid any higher for it. Its the ABS that bothers me more than anything else. The judder is probably just wheel balance and the engine mount would be a piece of cake to replace. The door handle probably just needs re-fitting and I'm sure I could sort everything else, but that ABS is a worry.

 

Do you think I've made the right choice? Hopefully I have....

 

The search continues!!

[KipVR 1]

The 8V isn't really much better on fuel consumption than the 16V chap. If you drive a 16V carefully you can get 35mpg out of it, and 30 out of a VR (combined). But if you are looking for a fuel efficient car, your looking in the wrong place :( And with deisel being so much more expensive there is little point in converting it for more mpg. The Corrado just isn't a car you own for practical reasons.

 

If you get the 8V then you'd always be wishing you hadn't!!! But I like Silver, it's worth £1250 I reckon given the amount of work needed.

[coullstar 0]

I started off with an 8v Corrado as I was thinking the same then after owning it for about 3 months I wondered why I was paying through the nose on insurnace for a relatively slow car, went out and bought a G60. VR's are not really that bad on fuel at all plus they are rock bottom price right now due to the fuel prices etc.

 

If your on a real budget get a 2l 16v as they are the best compromise.

[Walesy 0]

I averaged around 7-10 mpg more from the 2 8vs i've owned than the 16v's i've had.

 

I fully agree that you'll end up hankering after more power though :lol:

[Purple Tom 0]

I appreciate the power side of things, hence why I'd do an engine conversion at some point in the future, but at this present moment in time its best if I get the most economical C.

 

That silver one was removed from eBay this morning anyway, I guess someone has offered a higher amount for it - I was told that the owner was looking for £1500 to settle early. I was happy to bid up to £1250 but wasn't prepared to go any higher than that. Oh well, the search continues!

[dr_mat 0]

An ABS pump will cost peanuts used, and all the other ABS sensors add up to a max of about £150 in parts, so even a complete ABS refresh will only cost £200 plus a couple of hours labour, and in most cases there's just one duff sensor and the fuse has been pulled to pass an MOT..

 

Surprised that a 8v can't average better than 27mpg, but it really depends on what type of miles those are. My VR on my "short" commute averages about 14mpg, so 27 would be a breath of fresh petrol ... And from what I've heard the 8v is by far the most economical Corrado. You should see 40+mpg on a run.

[Walesy 0]

Yeah easily, I could see over 40mpg from my house into town which is only a 7 mile run, my mates 8v golf is now cheaper to run than my TDI Audi :roll: - it's a really good engine, cheap and easy to maintain too, unlike the 9a 16v which gives equal (or worse) fuel consumption to the G60 and VR6.

 

If you're think of an engine conversion at a later date, the 8v is probably your best bet, allthough really speaking you'd be best off just getting the best example you can find regardless of what engine is in it as gooduns are few and far between.

 

The silver one looks to be OK for £1500 tbh, and its the first time i've seen one in silver, which is an awesome colour for Corrados IMO 8) I'm not sure that rado prices have dropped that much that you'll easily find an M reg with no faults and MOT and Tax for £1500

[Whitedog 0]

I'm not sure that rado prices have dropped that much that you'll easily find an M reg with no faults and MOT and Tax for £1500

 

Ditto

[bigred 0]

my 16v kr engine does about 22mpg, don't know if thats any good or not?, alot better on a run though

[boost monkey 0]

around town I hope!

 

I did a few long runs between 80-100mph and one tank returned 34mpg (calculated, not from MFA) so I'm sure the 16v can do better. The golf used to edge towards 40mpg when I had it, same engine.

[ProdigalSon 1]

Nice thing about the 8V engines is that they are reported to have more low end grunt, so you can get away with babying the throttle to get around the place in no particular hurry, and so get great economy. I've never had a 16V though so can't comment on the different feel :shrug:

 

Went for a leisurely spin yesterday through country roads to clear my head at lunchtime, and hit 40mpg at one point :cheers: Can easily get 35+mpg on my 10 mile commute, but traffic lights and slow traffic absolutely murder those decent numbers in my G60. Have found it's better to switch my engine off at lights that take ages to change rather than sit idling and see the MFA figures decline depressingly...

[ben_wooduk 0]

Have to say i loved my 8V. I got 38 mpg on average compared to 28 - 30 in my 16v, and as has been said, the 8v is so easy to drive!Just stick it in 5th at 30mph and cruise around easy! 8)

Would agree about the power though, there seems to be a massive difference between mine, so god knows what its like between and 8v and a VR !!

[H8RRA 0]

i don't know how some of you chaps drive but i can get 30 mpg out of a vr on a commute run when driving carefully, 35 easy on a run.

 

hoofing about onviously destroys that but some of the figures quoted here seem really low. even my charged vr with a sh1t map can get 25mpg easy - when driven sensible but at least its got the power for fun when needed or wanted.

 

all in all, i think the vr is a remarkably fuel efficient car for the engine cc and performance it gives.

[Andy665 0]

I never get less than 30 mpg out of my G60, got just over 35mpg (calculated, not taken from trip computer) on the run to the National Day and back on Sunday

[was8v 0]

i don't know how some of you chaps drive but i can get 30 mpg out of a vr on a commute run when driving carefully, 35 easy on a run.

 

hoofing about onviously destroys that but some of the figures quoted here seem really low. even my charged vr with a s**t map can get 25mpg easy - when driven sensible but at least its got the power for fun when needed or wanted.

 

all in all, i think the vr is a remarkably fuel efficient car for the engine cc and performance it gives.

 

 

Same here! and I got 17mpg on a track day ffs! Maybe I wasnt trying hard enough, but the VR6 is really very good on petrol.

[officejunkie 0]

I had the same problem as you. I wanted one that wasnt too bad on fuel but then gave me decent amount of fun when needed.

 

so i bought a g60 that needed some work doing to it, the supercharger was worn out slightly. and a few other minor issues.

 

on the way home I got 35mpg on the mfa and thats usually a couple of mpg (from what i read) less than what your really getting! i wasn't even taking it that easy. I think mpg is all about the way you drive a car.

 

Nas

[Purple Tom 0]

I agree, MPG is about how you drive the car. Where I live isn't the most conducive to good MPG so my reasoning is that an 8V will be the best bet. If I get annoyed with the slowness then I'm sure I can do things at a later date to improve it.

 

Anyway, today I went to look at another 8V, this one listed on eBay:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1994-VOLKSWAGEN-CORRADO-2-0-8V-COUPE_W0QQitemZ250265907771QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250265907771&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C65%3A7&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

The advert doesn't give a good idea as to the condition of the car, so I spoke to guy who said 'the photos make it look better than it actually is, its got a few knocks and scratches'. This didn't put me off, and as it was only about an hour up the M1, the missus and I drove up this morning.

 

When we got there I found his house but the car wasn't to be seen. I called him and he told me that he'd had trouble starting the car at the unit where its kept. He'd got it going and was going to drive it to his house to show me. Fair enough I thought, if its been stood a while then the battery could have lost some charge.

 

He arrived and I had a look around the car while he went inside to get the documents. To say it was in poor condition was an understatement!! The roof literally felt like 1200 grit sandpaper, with the lacquer peeling off all the way round and down both the A and C pillars. Both rear wheel arches had big knocks at their front edges which had been poorly repaired with rattle cans. The N/S sill and door had huge dints all the way down, again repaired with rattle cans. The front bumper wasn't on properly, and on the O/S corner of the front bumper there was a really bad repair to a scuff, with massive paint runs all the way down to the splitter.

 

At first I wasn't toooo put off as the interior was very tidy and the engine bay looked clean. I asked for a test drive, so off we went. Immediately apparent was the steering wheel inclined about 30 degrees to the left, and a pronounced pull in the same direction. The engine misfired quite badly under load (which in fairness could have been stale fuel if its been sat) and the brakes didn't feel too great. The spoiler worked though :clap:

 

We got back and I had another look around. Both front tyres were badly feathered, indicating quite bad toe-in, the rears weren't particularly evenly worn either.

 

The car did have full history, and a fair amount of receipts. The guy who owns it is a dealer who said he bought it for himself but has decided its too small for his family - he then went on to tell me he was getting a Porsche 944 instead - go figure! I think the true story is that he's bought it blindly, discovered its a bit of a lemon and is trying to shift it on.

 

I explained all of the faults to him and said it probably needed at least £2k spending on it to get it into decent condition, if you included at the least some time in a bodyshop, proper alignment, four new tyres, a decent service etc. I asked him if he was prepared to move on the price of £1699 at all. He said he'd been offered £1250 for it and had told them to get lost. I said I probably wouldn't have given more than £1100 for it in its current condition - he said that wasn't enough and he had someone coming to look tonight.... I told him I'd think about it and get back to him.

 

I'm a bit disappointed really, but I'm glad I walked away. Its a shame to see it in such a poor condition, but maybe someone with more money and a willingness to give it a new lease of life will rescue it!

[Walesy 0]

At least you haven't rushed into the first one you've seen mate! there's SO many dogs around nowadays :( it's a real shame. However i'm sure when you do find the right car it'll be apparent!

[Purple Tom 0]

Wow, an update to this 3 month old thread, I've finally bought one!

 

Its a 1996 'N' registered 2.0 8V. Full black leather interior, heated seats with everything working apart from the illumination on the cigarette lighter :D

 

It's Indian Red in colour, has just had a full respray (no accident damage, it had been keyed)

and I managed to get it as a straight swap for my Audi A3 so I'm well chuffed :)

 

I pick it up on either wednesday or thursday and I can't wait to get driving it :luvlove:

 

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know, I'll try to get some pictures up soon of it.

 

Tom

[CazzaVR 0]

Well done, mate. It pays to be patient. Get a thread with pics started in the Members' Gallery ;)