My Corrado is dying/preaching to the converted

[Madjackal 0]

I've owned a 95 Blackberry VR since 2004 and to be honest it isn't the best example, I was in a rush to buy a new one after a very nice gentleman in a 4x4 wrote off my Tornado red G60. (which didnt go down to well with may mate whose brother and mum previously owned the car, and who missed out on owning it.)

 

Anyway, I overpaid, there was rust and scratches etc but I bought it anyway. The rust I got sorted, I have changed knock sensors, cv and ball joints, the battery and terminals, the radiator (that i blew at 6000 rpm overtaking a line of cars in order to narrowly miss an oncoming HGV), new timing chains at 148k, cam position sensor, abs sensors, wheel bearings, new slam panel and front bumper, both wings and the grille. Its had a new windscreen and rear quater glass due to criminal abuse, 2 new oil sumps, a new alternator and 2 replacement coil packs. In addition to this I put on new koni RHA coilovers, bought a BMC carbon air filter and flowed and ported throttle body, she's had cosmetic surgery by way of angel eyes and smoked rear clusters and repeaters, all the brake pipes have been replaced and braided hoses fitted.....

 

Suffice it to say that a lot has gone wrong and I never begrudged it cos I knew owning a Corrado would be a labour of love but in the last year 2 people have driven in to it so now I have a horrible split and mal-fitting bumper, a dented slam panel and a nice big dent in my driver door, both times the car was left unattended and no notes left. My ABS has been a problem since Ive had the car, sensors have been changed and I even bought a new ECU and still the intermittent problem persited. Now recently the rust has returned and it has decided to start behaving very oddly at the back and I think my shocks are on the way out.

 

Now while to some extent this is an opportunity just to have a little rant I am actually after some advice.

 

Should I;

 

a)Patch it up as best I can to sell, probably for a fraction of what I bought it for?

 

b)Try to break it and sell for parts which could be promlematic. Ask me about brakes, internal combustion or basic enigine/car anatomy and im ok but there is a great deal of stuff I couldnt ID or remove on my own. Also I would need the money from the sale to buy a new car so would be stuck till id sold most of thet parts.

 

c) other.....

 

Owning a Corrado has been a double edged blade of an experience as at their worst they are a real pain in the ass but at their best they are phenominal! They are old cars and prone to problems but they drive better than any other car ive ever been in. I use mine as an everyday car and as such it is easy to get used to, and therefore lose appretiation for, the way it handles and feels but then every now and again I drop it in to 2nd and turn in hard to the adverse camber of a tight bend and I remember the moment I realised why they are so loved. Its easy to get sentimental about posessions, especially cars but If you own a Corrado and dont even a little emotion at the prospect of it going to the scrap yard I say you have no soul. A Corrado is such a driver's car I wonder if I should, instead of selling it to somone who wont know what they have and drive it in to a ditch or sully its memory by ripping it to pieces, give it the blaze of glory it deserves and burn the engine out, out classing some young punk in a saxo at 160 mph...............

[skinnyman9000 0]

Welcome to my world

[dukest 0]

you dont actually say why you're looking to get rid of it? or what you're after in its place? while it will cost a bit to sort out the front and the door, a tidy blackberry is the envy of many a corrado owner and would surely look great once its done?

 

if you're just looking for something thats not so much of a money pit then thats understandable, but theres always the "better the devil you know" angle. i've spent a lot of money on mine in 4 years and tbh i'm almost completely happy with it but it STILL, after a lot of investigation, pulls strongly to the left. if i was working, i'd buy another corrado that i knew went straight and swap things around till i'd found or got round the problem. but its not enough to make me get rid of mine outright by any means, partly just because of whats gone into it already.

 

let us know if there are any other angles you're needing to consider, but personally i'd say they're not worth enough to sell these days if you have space to keep and work on them..

[Guest]

it is a hard choice

you not bothered by fixin it and keeping it?

i guess if you are guna get rid you need to think which way will be the best way of getting your money bak, brakin a car might get you more money but you have to deal people messing you around, posting things out and then your just left with the things people just dont want, where as if you sell as a whole you get your money right there and then and then you can get your new car

 

what you thinking of getting instead, and is that guna be any less hastle than what you hav got? or as fun to drive

 

personally id just fix it and keep it, and buy a cheap run around

[Jim Bowen 1]

hate to say this, but i would probably break it if i could and i was in your position.

 

Sounds like parts of it still have a lot of value individually, otherwise you would have to offload it cheap to someone as a whole car.

 

On the other hand what would you get instead? another rado?

[Madjackal 0]

Thanks for your comments guys, I think the reason that Im thinking of getting rid is mainly just that it is a bit of a money pit but the 'better the devil you know' point is a good one, I have a lot to work out with reagrd to this issue. I was made redunadant a year ago from my full time job, im now earning about a third of what I used to and so even things like tax and insurance are a big deal, let alone repairs, it may well be more costly to sell, maybe not so to break but then id need a car in the interim.

 

Im looking at a bumper and slam panel from a guy on here which i may well take, but then they require spraying and fitting, I have also been made aware of a possible dent solution involving an air duster and a hair dryer which im told should work, (see youtube for details!)

 

I dont actually want to get rid of it but just starting to think it might be best, the problem is i dont think i could live with a small pokey shopping car. I love 350z's but the tax and MPG would be very high, and I honestly think they look great but are the most uninspiring things to drive, what a waste of a 3.5 litre v6! Other than that I find myself looking at honda civic typeRs, rx8s, and other things out of my price range.

 

Thanks for the input folks, I will keep working the angles untill the best solution presents its self.

[muppetlab 0]

Know the feeling i am having the same dilema. Break it and potentially get more for it or sell it whole or just bite the bullet and sink another grand into it and enjoy it. It is hard when bits keep going wrong but thats to be expected from a car approaching 19yrs old. A classic some might say. That being sadi i have owned old cars before mk1's, bmw e30's and to be honest they were no where as much of a drain on my wallet.

But i just keep thinking that i keep replacing all these bits that went wrong, surely at some point it m ust work properly! Good luck what ever you decide. :wave:

[Madjackal 0]

Well it seems a brief moment of complacency on a patch of ice has made the decision for me. I actually saved the car but the woman who didn't brake in time scuppered my attempts at avoiding an accident. 450 degree spin, vehicle perpendicular to the road, n/s front wing dented and dislodged, wheel bent, bumper split, cracked and dislodged, unknown mechanical damage. Diagnosis....write off!

 

RIP :(

[dukest 0]

shame dude :(