Kiddie on the way: keep or sell Corrado?

[Gazman 0]

We are expecting our first child in february next year. Currently our main car is the Corrado (VR6).

Does anyone have experience of newborn/young children and their C? I'm trying to decide whether to keep the C or buy a 'family friendly' car. I would be interested in hearing from other peoples experience.

[Walesy 0]

Firstly, congratulations mate! :dance:

 

I became a dad last week, for the first time. My wife and I also didn't know whether to keep our Corrado as we have gone down to one car between us, but we decided in the end that the most 'sensible' thing to do was to go rado-less for the time being and buy ourselves a nice one in a year or two as a second car.

 

I think ultimately it depends on your lifestyle, as we're very much an 'outdoor' couple and we also have a dog, having a Corrado as our only car was a ridiculous idea. Having had our son now for a week, we've laughed on a couple of occasions at how impractical it would have been if we'd have kept it - even our A4 estate seems small when it's packed full of prams/changing bags/car seat/dog etc etc so I can only imagine how annoying and restrictive using a rado as our main car would have been. Obviously you can get car seats for Corrados, so if keeping your rado is a big priority then it's possible to use one as a 'family' vehicle, but personally i'm really glad I decided not to.

 

I do miss have a Corrado but in the scheme of things it's really not *that* important and they're not in such short supply that there won't be a good few decent ones around in a couple of years to get yourself back into them if you want.

 

Unless you can afford to keep it as a second car that's used as and when is practical, i'd strongly suggest that you swap it for something a bit more roomy :sad:

[Andy665 0]

Congratulations.

 

Don't rule out keeping the Corrado as your main car.

 

OK, mine is not the main family car but when we have gone away for the weekend in it its been fine.

 

Child seat wise its no problem at all, have quite a bulky Recaro seat now that the little 'un is 13 mo nths old.

 

Its amazing how soon the amount of clobber you need to cart around is reduced - wife swapped her Bora for a more practical Saab 9-5 estate and now realises that the Bora would have been just fine.

 

Only compromise we had to make when using the Corrado is that we had to use a buggy as opposed to a full blown pushchair / pram

[vwdeviant 0]

Again Congrats...

 

Mates wife got a Volvo 850 estate realised it was too big for their needs and quickly chopped it in for a mid-80's 911!

 

As long as you're careful about buggy/pushchair choice... shouldn't be a problem. Unless you have a dog as well! :)

[horney 0]

Why do modern children need so much equipement to go out? When me and my bro were kids (In the early 80's) my mum took us and our stuff out in a Morris Minor and then a MKI Fiesta. I really don't see why having an extra person in the car who is at most 2 feet tall can mean you suddenly need to purchase a 7 seater estate car.

 

And what is it wit kids pushchairs these days? They've got more wheels, knobs and toys than mst of my cars have ever had.

 

Keep the Rado, buy good quality 2nd hand folding baby transport and laugh at your friends who spend £1,000's on their credit cards so Jr can have all the best kit when in fact Jr is only interested in sleeping and where the next feed is coming from.

 

Nick

[Gazman 0]

Cheers for the replies. Congratualtions to you too Walsey.

 

My thinking at the moment is that its not really practical as the main car (especially as we'll probably get a fairly large pram/pushchair system). The question is can we afford to keep it as a second car and get a bigger main car - I doubt it :(

Our other car at the moment is an old Polo, but it still runs really well (especially since SuperCharged changed the head gasket a while ago). I wouldnt mind keeping this as my work commuter as its very economical. The other question is would anyone buy the C. It has some front damage (bent wing and different bonnet) after a lorry rolled backwards at a junction, and having just completed 269K miles will put many people off.

[Danny B 0]

congrats mate...... :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

....it does actually surprise me alot how small and useless the boot is on the C, whenever I've tried to use it other than shopping I find myself cursing the fact that it looks usefull but is in actual fact rubbish....S4 avant would be nice !!

[horney 0]

...it does actually surprise me alot how small and useless the boot is on the C, whenever I've tried to use it other than shopping I find myself cursing the fact that it looks usefull but is in actual fact rubbish

 

It's all in the packing. I've done 2 tip runs in mine in recent weekends. The 1st run was a complete Passat B3 estate interior and I got the whole lot in with the back seats down. 2nd run was a 10' x 6' shed and after cutting it up into smaller pieces that all went in in one load although I was suffering some scrapage and the headlights pointed in the sky!

 

The biggest poblem is the height of the opening, other than that it seems to swallow about the same if not more than my old MKII golfs.

 

Nick

[Danny B 0]

...it does actually surprise me alot how small and useless the boot is on the C, whenever I've tried to use it other than shopping I find myself cursing the fact that it looks usefull but is in actual fact rubbish

 

It's all in the packing. I've done 2 tip runs in mine in recent weekends. The 1st run was a complete Passat B3 estate interior and I got the whole lot in with the back seats down. 2nd run was a 10' x 6' shed and after cutting it up into smaller pieces that all went in in one load although I was suffering some scrapage and the headlights pointed in the sky!

 

The biggest poblem is the height of the opening, other than that it seems to swallow about the same if not more than my old MKII golfs.

 

Nick

 

your not suggesting he chops up the new buggy are you....... :lol: .......better than getting rid of the C though !!

[mic_VR 3]

As everyone else has said, congrats mate.

 

I've not got children myself but have often had the pleasure of looking after my little niece and I can get all her stuff in the C no problem, although she is only a few months old at the moment so dare not imagine how much stuff she'll need soon! :lol:

 

Not sure I'd want to use it everyday though, i'd probably end up getting annoyed and getting a 5 door car for ease of use.

 

I hate to say it but people are not getting much for a C at the moment. KEEP IT!

[Walesy 0]

It's not a question of 'is it possible to use a Corrado as a family car' though - I've owned Corrados for years and enjoyed every minute of it but there comes a point where your priorities change.

 

Yes, it is possible to use a Corrado as a family vehicle, but the question is, do you actually want to sacrifice space/comfort/safety etc etc just so that you can keep the car - in my case it was a simple 'no'. I'll get another one for my wife to use when she goes back to work but until then i'm much happier in my A4 Avant :)

 

As for the comments on spending thousands on gadgetry etc I couldn't agree more, i'm certainly not one for filling my house full of plastic tat and making sure I have all the latest fads but whether you like it or not, having a kid means that you'll need to buy a lot of this stuff even if it's only used rarely - we like to go out for full days here and there (especially now we have a nipper) so being able to have what we need with us at all times is important, more important than keeping a Corrado to me anyway.

 

I'm also looking into getting a T4 and whacking a fridge/cooker unit and sofa in it, yes it's not necessary but when we're at the beach or the woods all day and my missus needs to breast feed or the nipper needs changing etc etc it'd be fecking useful! - Again, like I said in my first post, it depends very much on your lifestyle.

[Walesy 0]

Moved to the general section btw - as this is on the topic of cars :awesome:

[vwdeviant 0]

I'm also looking into getting a T4 and whacking a fridge/cooker unit and sofa in it, yes it's not necessary but when we're at the beach or the woods all day and my missus needs to breast feed or the nipper needs changing etc etc it'd be fecking useful! - Again, like I said in my first post, it depends very much on your lifestyle.

 

 

Get a T25 Joker mate.. probably one of the most practical conversions out there (Done by Westfalia)... get the right one and all the comforts of home, Swiveling Captain seats, decent heater (Eberspacher), Even Has double glazing!

 

Much better (and safer) than nailing a sofa and a fridge in the back of an old builder's van! :lol:

 

BTW mate has 3 kids all under 6 and runs a splitty as a "daily" as well! (Ok they have a Sharon too but the split gets used more!)

[Walesy 0]

Yeah my neighbours got a Joker, they're better as they have the head room as well - but I fancy a more modern drive and you can pick up decent 1.9TDI T4 panel vans or caravelles for decent prices these days - although T25's are also dropping in value the campers are still pretty pricey for what they are.

[horney 0]

As for the comments on spending thousands on gadgetry etc I couldn't agree more, i'm certainly not one for filling my house full of plastic tat and making sure I have all the latest fads but whether you like it or not, having a kid means that you'll need to buy a lot of this stuff even if it's only used rarely - we like to go out for full days here and there (especially now we have a nipper) so being able to have what we need with us at all times is important, more important than keeping a Corrado to me anyway.

 

That's all true but a girl I know spent £400 on a pushchair. I mean what the hell? It's bloomin massive and barely fits in the boot of her 05 reg Focus (So she's thinking of changing car). I asked her why she bought it and she said that it's the most comfortable for the little fella. I did ask if 6 months how he was able to give her an informed judgement on which he preffered but apparently she could tell. No wonder this country has problems with high levels of personal debt when people spend that much money on a pushchair and then need to buy a new car to put it in. I did mention that I knew of a good folding puschchair she could have had for free but apparently the other mum's would laugh at it.

 

Don't get me wrong I'm all for kids having the right stuff to help them grow and develope but frankly 6 month old Jr will never know the difference between a 15 year old fold up chair and Mothercare's latest go faster stripe equiped behemouth. It's all just marketing and I swear new parents are complete suckers for it. Just look at the tat they get for offspring number two!

 

I'm also looking into getting a T4 and whacking a fridge/cooker unit and sofa in it, yes it's not necessary but when we're at the beach or the woods all day and my missus needs to breast feed or the nipper needs changing etc etc it'd be fecking useful! - Again, like I said in my first post, it depends very much on your lifestyle.

 

Now you're talking, that's proper Dub styled family transport!

 

Nick

[Walesy 0]

Exactly, it sorta makes the idea of cramming everything into a Corrado less appealing when you consider the options! :lol:

[vwdeviant 0]

Oh And Walesy and the rest of you... if I ever come across you using the push-chair to stop traffic... and then get upset when some car nearly swipes them off the road.

 

DON'T Hang Junior out in the Traffic then! :censored:

 

Christ that really gets my goat the arrogance of the "Behemouth Pushchair owners"... some bird bowled me off the foot path with here "Cayanne" version, damn thing has suspension! For LONDON FFS! :bad-words:

 

Anyway back on topic... get the estate-Rado, job solved... next!

[AlgarveVR6 0]

No one seems to have mentioned a trailer ? Or is that me not wanting to loose another good rado. I have 2 kids 6 and 9, but they have never needed that much space. I am in agreement that most new parents seem to think that baby must ahve everything new and big and shiny. Are we british, or turning into yanks. Sorry stop that line before I get into why I emigrated.

So trailer, or roofrack. I have one, a roof rack, which I put my board on, and then strap the kids to it. Urban surfing they used to call it, and me mum always used to say fresh air was good for the little 'uns.

Ohhhhhhhhh, thought just happened

"Tow the Pram", particularly if it has suspension etc.

Anything to keep the C, sorry

Enjoy the little one, they don't stay that way for long, and it's all downhill from 18 months on..............

[M15 VW 0]

you can fit a baby seat and a kids booster seat into a corrado plus you can get a buggy in the boot. Keep it!

[gixxer 0]

I've got a 3 year old & an 8 month old & have no problems running round with them in. Can fit two pushchairs in the boot plus a bit of shopping (with some careful re-arranging). So I'd def think about keeping the C mate.

[Gazman 0]

Thanks for all your comments - certainly a range of opinions there.

 

I must admit that i've managed to carry most things in the boot and it does not appear small compared to most cars. The other concern is the 3 doors. I have watched several mums/dads getting theirs kids in/out of their cars (no - I'm not a perv), and those with 3 doors do seem to struggle more, especially when there are no parent/child parking bays. A final issue I have is my grandparents. They actually like the C when we take them out in it (where would baby go?). The difficulty comes when they attempt to get out of it, particulary my poor grandad who goes in the back seat!

 

I think practicality may be the end of C ownership for me :( I have really enjoyed it, and so has Claire, but as Walesy said "priorities change". Andy (CazzaVR) - want to buy one of your many old C's back again?

[CazzaVR 0]

How much? ;) I'm in the same situation as you mate. We've just had our second baby.

 

TBH, you could get by with the Corrado, but as Dave (huge congrats mate!) said earlier, life would be much easier with something else. It would be the three doors that would kill it for me. It's bad enough getting a child in and out of the back of a 3-door hatch, let alone a Corrado. Think my back would last a week at most if I used it every day. I remember a few years back, my sister and her husband were determined to keep their Celica after they had their first child... it lasted a couple of months. They managed for space, but it was the 3 doors + coupe shape that were the prob.

 

The C makes a great second car- mine was fine as long as we only had the baby in the back occasionally. Couldn't do it day-to-day.

[Valerian 0]

If you have a lot of back trouble then a two door car is not for you. Unless you want to sit the baby in the front and the Mrs in the back.

It can be very stressfull on your back later on when the little one starts to gain weight.

You will have to stoop and at the same time be very carefull not to catch the baby's head on the roof or the door pillar.

 

On the up side....there are no rear doors or door handles for a small child to fiddle with.

[CrazyDave 0]

No problem using a Corrado as a family car. Plenty of room in the boot for the 'stuff', car seats fit nicely in the back and the front and no airbags to worry about with the rear facing starter seat.

 

My daughter is now five and given the choice it's dads VRT all day long (can we go fast dad!). She must think everybody else's cars are really dull though 8)

 

Never really understood this whole 'need a bigger car' thing, unless you have a dog. My dads Allegro never had a problem taking a family of 4 on a camping holiday. All the camping stuff went in the trailer and the rest was piled in the back with my sister and I.

 

That said, we do have a Golf for everyday stuff, but after a recent camping trip in the VR, it doesn't really have that much extra room. We managed in the Corrado no problem and it's much more fun driving the VR!

[CazzaVR 0]

Yeh, room-wise the C is perfectly OK. Roof rack is an option too. I just found having to bend double and twist my back at the same time as lifting Dan in and out, too much, even when he was little. You have to actually climb in to the back to take the baby seat in and out, or even to adjust it.

 

Now we've got two kids, the C wouldn't be big enough. There's no way a double buggy would go in! :lol: