Are most rados generally past it / riddled with rust?

[Kenich 10]

Hi peeps,

 

I have been looking into getting a G60 for the past few weeks and wondered if I had came across a few dogs or that most around the 2k price range are just generally in this condition? I have viewed 2 and both have had quite bad rust on them.

 

So far I have been pretty disappointed in the general condition of the rado. I am aware they are getting on but it seems the bodys don't last up that well. The last one I viewed especially... Rust on every panel and a discoloured lower rear quarter which was more like brown :(

 

A wasted 8 hour round journey and the car didn't even start when I got to see it :bonk: Feeling a bit low on the rado buying front right now.

 

Links here incase anyone wanted to buy a rusted non runner :bonk:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1991-Volkswagen-Corrado-G60-brand-new-charger-/230633382600?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item35b2d222c8#ht_499wt_1069

 

There any good ones out there for 2k??

[mimjed 0]

some are good some are bad. depends on the owners really.

 

all old cars are likely to come with a few quirks and will need a bit of maintenace doing, but thats the price you pay over splashing out on a brand new motor.

 

hang in there, youll find one.

[Kenich 10]

thanks bud. I am happy dealing with the fact they will have various issues and faults somewhere down the line. I guess I'm just hoping someone will kinda confirm that for my 2k budget I will be able to find one with a half decent body and good servicing. Shame most seem to be so far away to lol

Edited June 11, 2011 by Kenich

[mimjed 0]

yeah they come up every so often. prices are pretty pants on them so not many people selling unless they have to.

 

keep an eye out on here rather than ebay id say. alot of crap examples of most makes of cars seem to end up on there.

 

2k is a fair budget, should be able to get a fairly tidy one for that.

[davidwort 0]

There's a few weak spots on the corrado, like the rear panels behind the bumper at the seams and the front bottom edge of the rear arches where they join the sills, front radiator support panel can get grotty too, apart from that most rust is the result of damage and poor repairs, I was very impressed with how sound the underneath of a superficially tatty 8v I bought was, it really depends on like the others have said, who has owned it and how they looked after it, any car used in a coastal town for any length of time usually rots quicker too as the air as well as the roads are constantly salty. Corrados had a lot of underseal from the factory and seem to last a lot better than mk3 golfs and similar age polos, Karmann made them pretty well :)

[krishen 2]

There's a few weak spots on the corrado, like the rear panels behind the bumper at the seams and the front bottom edge of the rear arches where they join the sills, front radiator support panel can get grotty too, apart from that most rust is the result of damage and poor repairs, I was very impressed with how sound the underneath of a superficially tatty 8v I bought was, it really depends on like the others have said, who has owned it and how they looked after it, any car used in a coastal town for any length of time usually rots quicker too as the air as well as the roads are constantly salty. Corrados had a lot of underseal from the factory and seem to last a lot better than mk3 golfs and similar age polos, Karmann made them pretty well :)

 

Ive got the opposite on mine. Body wise its in very good condition. No rust on arches, just a spot on the tailgate and the front wing where the side indicator fits.Even had DG commenting body was good. Then they lifted the car. The underneath just looks like a rust bucket. I believe the car spent a number of years in a coastal town which may explain it.

 

Kenich just be patient. The way prices are going £2k should get you a pretty decent one.

[aide 0]

Even had DG commenting body was good. Then they lifted the car. The underneath just looks like a rust bucket.

 

so true, mine had minor rust on the arches, rear seam and filler cap when buying - all of which I was happy to sort, but when i went digging underneath I found a handfull more areas to sort, they wouldn't have been apparent to the casual observer.

 

for the vast majority of us with 20yr old motors dealing with rust is becoming the likelihood not the exception, on this site there is a lot of perfect cars with no rust whatsoever, its really something.

 

keep looking sure, you'll find something your happy to take on :)

[8vMatt 1]

Patience is the key in your search, there are some completely rust free examples out there (mine and 3 local others don't have any rust). You might need to save a bit more money to get as best a condition car as you can. For £2k, you will be in the price bracket that needs work doing to it that could eventually cost more than forking out more in the first place.

 

Best of luck in the search mate.

[Portent 0]

I spent a long time looking and found that cars below £2.5k were generally poor. £3k would start to get a nice example and £4k a very good car.

 

Sometimes you get lucky and find a great example at a low price. But ultimately there are very few cars that need little work at this age. Good luck with the search. They really are worth it. I can't really explain it because they are quite old now and not as refined as modern cars. But the damn things just seem to have a character about them. Best thing I've bought in years :)

[Dranoel4a 0]

i'd agree, mine's a bit tatty round the edges but it's sound where it counts and mine was considerably less than 2k, albeit that was 3 years ago. when i was looking though i reached the conclusion that you can take one of two approaches, you can get one that's in brill condition and lay out the money but take the risk that some of the work may not have been done to a very high standard (or at all in some cases), or you can get a cheap one and spend difference on sorting it out, i realise it's not a cut and dry as that but that's my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Patience is definitely the key though.

[Yandards 0]

The older cars tend to be better in terms of rust protection that the later ones, I think the cars were spending a lot less time in the zinc galvanising dip tub during 94 and 95 as costs were going through the roof and sales continued to be poor.

 

As for rust issues it depends on the type fo rust, most corrados tend to suffer form surface rust which can easily be ground out with a dremmel or similar, treated with some form of paintable rust killer (krust or jenolite) and then painted.

 

Whatever car you get it is likely there will be some rust on it somewhere and it is worth the effort of removing the door cards, rear 1/4 trim, boot trim and sill trim to inject some fresh wax into the cavities to top up the old wax.

[joby 0]

I really don`t think you get much in 2k bracket especially in G60 as they seem to be popular and rarer than most other models and now getting on for 20 years old they are inevetably going to suffer from rust, I have spent a small fortune on mine over the years including full underneath overhaul, engine overhaull and upgrade ,new suspension, leather interior, VR6 brakes and so on mostly age related issues! Thats why you see early 16valvers for £400 because there ready for the scrap yard unless you spend at least another 2k on them and who`s gonna do that!! Keep looking and you will find a good one but at 2k think you will have to spend to get it how you want it, Anyway thats the enjoyable part of owning corrados, buying new goodies and fitting them and then feeling the benefit when you drive it...

[Supercharged 2]

As above, you'll be lucky to get a G60 for £2k that doesn't need thousands spent on it - good ones are rarer than VR's now.

 

As with any Corrado buy the best you can afford - around £3.3-4k should get a decent one.

[Kenich 10]

Maybe the G60 might not be the car for me if 2ks not enough to get a half decent one. I have to admit I do have more funds but kind of limited myself to 2k as its only a weekend toy.

 

Guess there is no harm in still looking as I am in no hurry to get one, even though I have the money burning a hole in my pocket lol

[James. 9]

Buy a VR6 then.

 

There's a lot more to choose from and 2k should land you something decent for the weekend.

[jimpy66 0]

Yeah- buy mine- it's only a little more than 2k!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2776539.htm

[Walesy 0]

If I was in the Market for a g60 I'd be looking at beavisjems black one in the classifieds at the moment.

 

There are certainly de net corrados left, they're just more difficult to find meaning more viewings and travelling further to picka goodie. As for rust, i live literally on the coast in c

 

---------- Post added at 08:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 AM ----------

 

Bloody iPod!

 

.....ornwall and I bough my rado from Bornmouth(sp?) and the next to no rust on it at all, it just depends on how they've been treated through the years.

[coullstar 0]

What lies beneath!!!

They are genrally quite good. I think a lot of things are hidden and if we started stripping back the underseal it would not be as good as we think. Look at Mk2 Golf's, they always seemed to be ok but its pretty much impossible to find one with no rust now.

What scares me even more is newer cars from VW. I looked at 5 Mk5 golfs this weekend and only one didnt have rust on it. It was shocking how bad some of these cars were that were only 5 years old or maybe they are starting to reduce the life shorter so we buy more often. Doesnt bode well for future classics.

[Kenich 10]

If I was in the Market for a g60 I'd be looking at beavisjems black one in the classifieds at the moment.

 

I have taken note of that one. Really don't want black but that wouldn't stop me buying a car. Shame its real far away for me. After the 8hr journey to view that red dog on ebay I am put off by the distance

[bristolbaron 11]

where are you based bud?

 

my G60 is going to be up for sale soon. It's over budget at the moment as it has new charger, brembos, front mount etc, but could be worth a look if you're not miles away. I'm in Bristol.

 

Baz

[dannyboy 0]

You have to spend a bit more to get a decent example. i paid 3200 euro for my G60 but was completey standard with no rust on the body(control arms,brakes area had a little bit,but quite normal)

 

I 2k is too low a price to get decent example considering-

 

a)corrados are getting rarer

b)getting older,parts going obsolete=expensive parts if you can find them

 

People have to spend a bit to keep them on the road,so your not going to get cheap example thats been well kept for 2k.maybe but very unlikely

[Wendy 0]

I looked at about 7 Corrado's before I bought one - all over the Country too - and that was 9 years ago.

Patience is a definite requirement - as I feel is more than 2k.

 

As this is to be a weekend car only, I believe you should consider the running costs - if you are trying to stick to a budget.

Although personally I do not believe they are expensive to run, but due to ages of these cars, wear and tear is an issue and the majority of people on here will complain quite strongly about the running costs. Also some parts are becoming obsolete and therefore difficult and pricey to obtain.

Just things to consider...........

[Alex_G60_Fanatic 0]

I find it amusing that when someone wants to buy a C every one says they're expensive to buy and when someone is trying to sell one they say it's too expensive and that C's are cheep! :lol:

 

I do think £2000 is a little on the cheep side if you wont something better than a std run around but not impossible. I got mine for £1800 2 years ago and that was a G60. It did however, turn out to need alot of TLC.

 

Hope you find what your looking for mate!

[t700bes 1]

I guess it also depends how good you are with repairs yourself. I have always wanted a C and when I sold my Polo I went to see one near me... It looked OK, and tbh didn't really know what I was looking for.. a bit of laquer peel and a black sill, I didn't think anything of it...

 

1 month later the engine went... Bought a Golf for £100 replaced the Raddo engine with the Golf one and made money on the parts from the Golf (so the engine was free). We fitted the engine so there was no cost....

 

My only problem now is the body work needs tidying up, and the sills need doing... However, I bought it for £500.. and once I'm done it will prob of cost me about 3k, however I KNOW that it will all be Ok once I have spent the money. I personally wouldn't buy a car for 3k that you can buy for £500 if your not 100% convinced that the extra 2.5K is worth it.. eg could you spend 2.5k on something cheaper and make it perfect (and you would know its been done, not hidden).

[aide 0]

/\ i agree with a lot of what you've said in that 3rd para. i bought my vr cheapish and have crawled all under it identifying and sorting rust, and learning to weld (not terribly well yet) in the process, and I know its now getting sorted. a lot of the corrosion was well hidden by the rubberised stonechip stuff, behind the wheel liners and bumper irons etc, if i hadn't gone digging I wouldn't have found it.

 

being frank about it, if you mention rust on this particular forum, i feel like you're frowned upon as owning a lesser vehicle, whether you've sorted it or not. in reality I suspect for those who aren't crawling under their motors on a regular basis there will be surprises lurking. i'd like to see more candid disussion of rust issues in addition to the superficial bbs/ bodywork focus, as one thing's for certain rust issues are only going to increase!