Shall I let my Corrado die? Sob.

[Dancing Fish 0]

Hi

 

Basically, my 91 1.8 16v Corrado failed it's MOT and the bill is pretty big so I'm wondering whether to bin it.

 

The main issue is there is a big hole in the subframe where the nearside wishbone attaches that I don't think can be welded (sub has been welded on flat sections twice before but this is a big hole, about 2in square on the corner) A new one is about £300, plus about £150 to fit. Also needs rear disks and pads, apparently some hand brake cables and some other bits. To get through MOT is about £750. Also has a big oil leak I think from the intermediate shaft oil seal and needs a decent service probably about another £300. Also needs two front tyres soon, so we are looking at about £1200. If it wasn't for the subframe wouldn't even be thinking about it.

 

Further, has discovered a wet patch under the drivers mat and the heating doesn't work and the engine oil is going up to 120ish so i think either there is an air lock or the heater matrix has seized. The wet patch could be an issue since have no idea where this could be coming from so can't put time or value on it.

 

I bought the car in Mar 2004 for £1495 and have since spent £4.5k (had i known this when buying it might not have been bought) on it including:

 

New stainless steel exhaust

OZ Super Leggera alloys

New suspension and bushes and ball joints everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

Various disk and pads, tyres, belts, lupo wipers, geometry, MOTs etc etc etc.

 

It is green pearl, and when cleaned, looks the bomb, especially with the OZs. However, there are various rust issues on the paint work including the standard rust along the front of the bonnet and at the drivers side of the front arches. i.e., in short, I could tart it up a bit, but a re-spray would be a huge amount that I don't think could be justified.

 

Having said all that, it drives great, goes round corners and roundabouts like nobodies business, has never broken down and generally makes you feel rather cool right?! Though at times I do think the engine is a bit underpowered. And all my electrics work so there. Well, apart from the heater! The spoiler is so cool right?!

 

So financially, it has cost me £6k for nearly 5 years, being £1200 a year since it's currently worth zero. If I spend £1200 getting it fixed and it lasts for a year and can get it serviced and MOT'd for £300 (on the basis the main issues are solved) and could then sell it for £1k, it would have cost me £7.5k, less the £1k i can sell it for, hence, £6.5k and hence less per year.

 

I am looking at changing jobs and don't really want to spend money on a car if it turns out I get a train to work.

 

Options i have been considering:

 

2001 Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 24v £3k 68k miles. Apparently goes like stink but drinks petrol. This one is mint though.

2004 Seat Leon 1.8t Cupra £6k 45k miles. Also mint. Apparently goes well, and has the benefit of everything being new but is it a bit boy racerish?

2003 VW Golf 150pd gti £6.5k 50k miles. Ok condition, 50+ mpg and double rapid, but sounds like a diesel and have heard handling not great.

2004 Audi A3 2.0 TDI £8k 60k miles. Kind of making this up, but I think they look great and the trim is great and more suited to my years (29). But getting pricey is I don't use it.

 

All of the above have class interiors and don't have the rust issues etc that the Corrado has nor do they completely condensation up when it gets cold (i don't understand this), and they probably go better and have better stereos etc and are probably quieter but they are not a Corrado right?!

 

Either way, I need to make a decision this week. Don't even know how to bin my Corrado?! Seems a shame given all the good bits about it.

 

Essentially, the question is do I want to keep my Corrado I guess. I hate the idea of getting red of it. Hate. It's MY car. And only Corrado owners wave at each other like bus drivers!

 

Would be interested in other peoples experiences of Corrado's dieing and thoughts on the above car options or other suggestions.

 

Thanks and happy new year,

 

Dancing Fish

 

Here it is:

Corradosmall.JPG[/attachment:oq71y3gh]

[Sonicriot13 0]

Sorry to hear this mate. A lot of corrado owners dread mot time. Guess it just brings you back down to earth. Although they drive great they are getting older and older. If it was me I'd fix it. It may cost more than the car is worth but will work out cheaper than buying a new car.

[__Andy__ 0]

welli wouldnt just 'bin' it, if your gona get rid of it and you've got the space then break it for all the good parts..

 

alternatively source second hand parts and try and fix it yourself..

[Joe_60 0]

This does seem a sad time as there is no clear solution to the problem. However it does seem you would be putting a lot of money into it just to pass the MOT. Plusho is to say that after spending the money to pass it through MOT, that it isnt going to cost you again in a years time? I know I couldnt afford that money every year. (Especially after Xmas and New Year).

 

My opinions on the cars you are looking at tho:

Alfa Romeo - I think that after owning a Volkswagen you will feel the difference in quality moving away from the VAG group.

Leon Cupra - Friend has one which drives very nice with plenty of power and decent handling.

Golf GTTDI 150 - Very nice car which delivers excellant MPG with a good amount of power and torque. Doesnt seem to handle aswell as the Leon or the A3 tho and sometimes seems a bit "boatish" (dont beleive that is an actual word but hope it makes sesnse)

A3 2.0 TDI - Very nice car in both looks and the way it drives. Newer TDI engines are smoother and also deliver excellant MPG along with performance. However this does seem to be a lot of money if you say you may not even need a car with your new job.

 

However dont forget at the end of the day it is going to be your car and although you are asking for opinions you should do what you are happy with as it is your money and ultimately you are going to be driving it. :)

 

Joe

 

*just to add if you do decide to break the Rado can I have first dibs on the lupo wiper arms and blades? :D

[junkie 0]

Cut your losses mate, it WILL cost more next year MOT and the bits in between this MOT and the next.

[vwdeviant 0]

Ah this old chestnut...

 

Have spent upwards of £500+ on MOT welding in the past (Not on my rado I hasten to add!)...

 

Well if you wanted rid as is it'd be about £300 on the open market, or about £1500 if you break (assuming you can flog almost all of it, but this takes a long time to achieve).

 

As to the cars listed, would any of them make you smile when you look out the house in the morning and think "Yeah that's my car" as I'm sure the Rado has done till now...

 

If it's still with the garage, I'd ask them to give it a really good going over, see what's just passable this year and likely to cost next... then decide, you may sort this and then be all good for a couple years!

[joby 0]

Get it fixed Dancing fish :) £1200 is nothing to spend on a corrado :) These cars are modern classics now and need constant looking after being 20 yrs old! I spent £1200 on mine last year just on suspension, brakes and bushes, Granted its off the road most of the time on sorn but now ive got it right as i want it i think it would be reliable for a couple of years without spending anymore on it! Buy any of the other cars and you will probably dissapointed, They all seem like boxes on wheels compared to the corrado and no driver feedback, every time i get in my corrado it puts a smile on my face aswell as a bad back getting in and out, But im old :)

[n3p 3]

buy another valver corrado, and use your broken one for spares :)

[corozin 0]

This really is a tough question, and one I feel able to contribute an opinion towards.

 

As background I've endured a string of "this should be the last big bill" costs since May 2007 (head rebuild) through Aug-Dec 2007 (full engine rebuild) through Jan 2008 (oil loss causing bottom end failure and further engine rebuild) and most recently a gearbox rebuild in October 2008. Every single one of these involved the kind of costs to sort out which in all honesty raise the question of cost vs benefit on what is (in my case) a 15 year old car.

 

The trap you can (and I have) fallen into is the one where you can convince yourself to keep on fixing stuff not because you just want to keep the car, but because you have already spent so much already that failing to keep on fixing it whatever the cost would be a waste of what you have spent before. I suspect the question going through your head is one of 'surely if I fix this one thing then the car will be fine because I've fixed everything else' but that really isn't the way you should evaluate it.

 

Thinking like that has left me with a Corrado which is now fabulous mechanically (but which still incidentally looks like a total shed because I used my bodyshop budget up fixing all that stuff) but in actual fact cost over 18 months something like 3½ times the actual value of the car (and around 4x what I expected to spend) to resolve. Honestly if I had known at the start of it all what it would eventually have cost then I would have abandoned the car and moved on. I now have a £3k car that I spend £11k putting right, and while I love it to bits it's really one of the stupidest things I've ever done financially. I can understand your dilemma but at the same time I wouldn't want you to go through what I have, albeit on a smaller scale.

 

My recommendation to you (given the other problems you've listed) is to scrap the car on your drive for as much value as you can pull off it, and then look for a cheap Seat Ibiza/Leon (or something else that works). Probably no romance involved in that decision I admit, but at least you'll have something resembling a bank balance at the end of it.

 

[sub:2h9m3xeo]alternatively if you want a working Corrado I'll take £10k for mine, you won't be disappointed, LOL[/sub:2h9m3xeo]

[Leonard 0]

Very good point above!

 

Unless you really REALLY love the car then break it for spares for an easy £1500

 

Some great Golf V6 4 Motions etc for only £3500

 

Matt

[Sonicriot13 0]

First dibs on the wheels if you break it! :lol: No seriously, I've always wanted a set of those.

 

The way I look at it, and don't think for a minute I am as qualified to comment on this as corozin is, i spent something like £1700 buying my car. I've probably spent the best part of a grand on it since May. The work I had done at G-Werks alone came to just shy of £600. Now, the way I justify it to myself is would I pay £2700 for my car as it is now? With an awesome supercharger I know is spot on, a headlight loom, a brand new water pump, a cam belt that has only done about 300 miles and brand new brake lines, discs, pads and wheel bearings. The answer to that question is yes. :D Every f*cking time. But I am very lucky in that I work in a garage.... Otherwise I'd have spent a lot more than a grand on it by now!

 

Obviously I can see corozin's viewpoint as he has spent a hell of a lot more than I have!!! And we'll have to see what happens in April when it's MOT time for me. :pale:

[corozin 0]

First dibs on the wheels if you break it! :lol: No seriously, I've always wanted a set of those.

The way I look at it, and don't think for a minute I am as qualified to comment on this as corozin is

Obviously I can see corozin's viewpoint as he has spent a hell of a lot more than I have!!! And we'll have to see what happens in April when it's MOT time for me. :pale:

 

Trust me I'm no more qualified on this simply because of the different scale of costs I incurred; we're all agreeing on this. The bear-trap we've all hit is to accept a big bill on the car despite it's (now) modest value in the expectation that those types of bills only come along once in a while. The truth is that when you're running a 15 year old performance car these bills can strike at any time (or not at all) and sometimes in quick succession as in my case.

 

I was fortunate to be able to continue funding my calamity. Others may not be so fortunate. The last thing I would want to see happen would for Dancing Fish to fork out perhaps £1200-£1500 for serious work, and then for (example) his gearbox to lunch itself next month, thus effectively wasting his existing spend unless he can find even more to keep the car going.

 

My excuse was that I'm daft and Corrado loopy. :clown: It's good fun, but stressful and leaves you poor!

[bcstudent 0]

2004 Seat Leon 1.8t Cupra £6k 45k miles. Also mint. Apparently goes well, and has the benefit of everything being new but is it a bit boy racerish?

No. It's less "boy racerish" than a Golf, in my opinion. In standard trim the Leon Cupra isn't a great handling car either (much like the Golf). It's ok, just not great. Also, in addition to the cost of buying that Leon, you'd be very close to a few hundred quid for a cambelt and water pump change.

 

I love mine though. It goes very well and was a heck of a step up from my 1990 Corrado 16v. It's not a decision I regret but I would have a Corrado VR6 as a second car if the right one came along.

[davidwort 0]

heart says no, head says probably yes.

A 20yr old VW is going to cost to keep on the road, particularly if you haven't got the opportunity to do a lot of work yourself.

If you can work on it yourself then things change quite a bit, second hand parts like engines and subframes can be got pretty cheaply now and a heater matrix is mostly time. The main worry is rot in the body.

It depends how much a modern car would affect your driving, if you do a lot of commuting then air con, comfy suspension light controls a few xtras and a quiet cabin can make life a lot more pleasant. But don't expect it to be any cheaper, factor in depreciation(really bad at the moment) and the cost of some servicing like cam belts on TDI's and you can end up with a pretty hefty overall cost, and then you pray nothing like a dual mass flywheel needs replacing.

Whenever the weather is dry and I take the back roads home it reminds me why I'll keep putting money into the C though.

[Leonard 0]

Trust me I'm no more qualified on this simply because of the different scale of costs I incurred; we're all agreeing on this. The bear-trap we've all hit is to accept a big bill on the car despite it's (now) modest value in the expectation that those types of bills only come along once in a while. The truth is that when you're running a 15 year old performance car these bills can strike at any time (or not at all) and sometimes in quick succession as in my case.

 

As you say I think we are all in the same boat! :brickwall: :cuckoo: :grin: After all the poor old Corrado is getting on a bit now.

 

I think I have probably spent on average £800 a year over the past 7 years and that includes 3 big £1200 service bills. I probably would have spent a lot more as well if I hadnt had a warranty for the 1st two years of ownership. That does not include any mods such as suspension or wheels either. Taking things like that into account I am probably looking at a grand a year. Which when you think about it is not too bad for a car that has depreciated only £4.5k in that time.

 

Thing with Corrado's (and all cars) is you really have to buy the best you can find. If you cant afford a good one then wait until you can.

 

Basically you have three choices Dancing Fish that I can see. Cut your losses and buy a more modern car. Cut your losses and buy a sorted Corrado for £4k plus, or bite the bullet and go long term with your car and look to improve it to top condition over say the next 5 years.

 

Matt

[tankybaby 0]

i might have it if its cheap! :)

whereabouts are you?

[Dancing Fish 0]

I'm not breaking it. I can't be bothered. I don't have the room or the time or the patience to do this, so it would be a matter of getting the work done, taking it to the scrappy or someone else somehow picking it up.

 

Corozin - yes, I would indeed be disappointed if I fixed it then my gearbox lunched itself! But, I suppose that could happen to any car, albeit older ones are probably more prone to it - but yes, I am working on the basis that I replaced much of it. From day one the subframe hasn't been in great shape so at least this would conquer that. The front cross member is pretty rusty too and the rear axle could do with some help, but should be fine. The issue is this is my only car, and I don't want two, so if something breaks, big decisions need to be made quickly. I could probably get a decent second hand sub frame from somewhere, but i don't have the time to find it.

 

Bcstudent - you may not think the Leon is boyracerish, but your avatar is a picture of you pulling a wheelie on your bike ;-)

 

I didn't get it serviced last year. Had I done so, the bill would be less. So in some ways I can bear that in mind, but yes, financially (note: i'm an accountant) should only bear in mind future cashflows.

 

However, let's say I spent the money, and a further 750 in each of the two next MOT/Service rounds each lasting a year at which point i could sell it for £1k. That is total cost of £2700 less than £1000 so £1700.

 

That Alfa will probably be worth a grand or less by then so that is £2000 right there, and who knows what could go wrong in between with an alfa, but with a 0-60 of 7.3 and apparently good handling and a great sounding engine, is it worth it? It would be nice to sit in a nice cabin again though!

 

Diesels will probably hold their value better, especially if oil prices rocket again, but then if that happens, having the least amount of capital tied up in assets is probably the best way forward, which would point to the corrado again.

 

And to think, all this time i have never spent £40 getting headlight loom so have been driving around in the dark half the time

 

I'm tempted to get it done.

 

Oh, and the OZs have had rather a tough time of it over the past 4 years. The first time I kerbed one I nearly died, since then I've got used to it!

[corozin 0]

It sounds like you've answered your own question :)

Gather a sensible budget, get all the bits fixed. Better the devil you know and all that.

You are frankly unlikely to get into the situation I did but I wish you the best of luck with it anyway.

 

If we were all concerned about reliability and low running costs we'd all be driving Toyotas wouldn't we?

[blackcat 0]

Options i have been considering:

 

2001 Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 24v £3k 68k miles. Apparently goes like stink but drinks petrol. This one is mint though.

2004 Seat Leon 1.8t Cupra £6k 45k miles. Also mint. Apparently goes well, and has the benefit of everything being new but is it a bit boy racerish?

2003 VW Golf 150pd gti £6.5k 50k miles. Ok condition, 50+ mpg and double rapid, but sounds like a diesel and have heard handling not great.

2004 Audi A3 2.0 TDI £8k 60k miles. Kind of making this up, but I think they look great and the trim is great and more suited to my years (29). But getting pricey is I don't use it.

 

The sensible part of me says cut your losses and get rid, but I still miss my VR6 corrado which I got rid of over 18 months ago so the sentimental part says keep it :brickwall:

 

I now have a 52 plate gt tdi golf (130) which, yes, does sound like a diesel but apart from that you wouldn't really guess you were driving a diesel. In my opinion it handles well, drives great and I love it :luvlove: oh, and the mpg ain't bad either.

[TomB 0]

It does indeed sound like you've answered your question, and it's always worth bearing in mind the amount you're spending versus depreciation on a newer car.

I had a similar bill on my old valver when the head, all 16 tappets and both cams required replacing! While the cost hurt at the time, it paid off over the next 6 months, and when comparing it to 3 months rental (finance) on a similar modern car, it seems worth it! Motoring is never cheap, you either pay for a modern car (and the reliability that brings) or you spend relatively little on the initial purchase and keep spending! :D

Good luck with it, and it's worth having a crack at the HB cables yourself to save an hours garage labour as they relatively easy (just have cable ties ready)... Rear disks and pads are more tricky because of the bearings, but not too bad, and if you shop around for tyres, you should be able to get a pair of quality ones fitted for £120. Failing that, if you don't mind waiting, get some part worns from the local scrappy!

Cheers,

Tom

[bcstudent 0]

Bcstudent - you may not think the Leon is boyracerish, but your avatar is a picture of you pulling a wheelie on your bike ;-)

The Leon can't be boyracerish; it's got five doors :)

 

Who says that's me in the avatar pic?

[Leonard 0]

"The Leon can't be boyracerish; it's got five doors "

 

It is a little boy racer :grin: All sporty SEATs are a little boy racer in nature dont you think :ignore: :wink:

[bcstudent 0]

Damn it! It's a conspiracy.

[shaung60 0]

Do you use the same garage each time you need work done on your car? Have you tried anywhere else? I only ask as just along the coast from you in Littlehampton are two Corrado experts at JMR or G-Werks. Their labour costs might be cheaper and they do know their stuff about a Corrado.