Why you shouldn't buy a Corrado

[dr_mat 0]

Maybe someone can work out how much a replacement corrado would cost in parts, excluding labour. I would estimate around £50k ..

Ok, so VW aren't as bad as some others, and yes, the parts last a long time (well if you exclude door handles and headlight switches), and occasionally they reduce prices too. Does that mean it's ok? Does that mean you get a warm glow when you know 60% of your hard earned cash goes straight to VW for parts they didn't even make?

Well we can argue about this all night I'm sure, but personally I think they blatantly gouge. Records companies do it, car companies do it, governments do it.. Doesn't mean it's acceptable or right.

 

I've learned to be cost-effective and shrewd in buying stuff for my Corrado, and resources such as this forum are absolutely vital to making sure you don't go completely bankrupt keeping these cars on the road!

 

And you're a jammy git! My exhaust went pop after only 7 years!! Thank god I got a genuine part for only £155+VAT instead of the heinous £298 + VAT that VW wanted, eh?!!! ;)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Pour yourself a drink mate and relax you cynical old goat :lol:

 

At the end of the day, it's a big engined brute that's capable of 150mph. Sure a Ford Ka costs peanuts to run, but look at what it's capable of (or not) and designed to do? We should be thankful only most of the mechanicals aren't Corrado specific. It really would be expensive if they were, but as it stands we can use parts from other models.

 

K

[ben16v 0]

we can all find faults with the corrado but you can with any car.

 

in the last 6 months i`ve been able to drive mine less than six weeks, due to head gasket, steering rack, suspension, slave cylinder, calipers, oil cooler.... etc and my car had full VAG history when i bought it!

 

still it covered over 140K now and theres not many cars that look or drive as well after that sort of milage.

 

i`ve had to spend over £2k in that time but it just makes me more excited getting into when its back on the road.

 

the corrado is a way of life and i`m gonna be proud to let my son (if i ever have one..) take it for a leisurly spin around the block in 20 odd years when its still gonna be as cool as ever!!!

 

:D :D :D

 

long live the `rado!!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Excatly, a Corrado is lifestyle, hobby, interest etc..... if we all wanted to just get in and drive we'd all be in Daewoos!

 

I *like* tinkering and making improvements. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if the Corrado suddenly behaved and was 100% reliable!

[Storm 0]

Excatly, a Corrado is lifestyle, hobby, interest etc..... if we all wanted to just get in and drive we'd all be in Daewoos!

 

I *like* tinkering and making improvements. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if the Corrado suddenly behaved and was 100% reliable!

Agreed. This is such a stoopid thread. Look at the number of members, this forum has. The cars a star and thats the end of it.

[STORM 2 0]

How many of the Corrado's contemporaries are running around in one piece today? Rattles or not, you have to bear in mind the car is at least 9 years old and its competitors at the time have all but disappeared from the roads. Thats evidence of build quality if I ever saw it

[kvwloon 0]

the corrado is a way of life and i`m gonna be proud to let my son (if i ever have one..) take it for a leisurly spin around the block in 20 odd years when its still gonna be as cool as ever!!!

 

:D :D :D

 

long live the `rado!!

 

...that's brilliantly put , nice one!

 

If anyone wants a boring cheap reliable car, buy a Mundano...happy motoring?

[David Winter 0]

I find this thread slightly frustrating. These cars are 9- 15 years old and most are getting towards 100k and most will have been driven aggressively at some stage even if they are well cared for now. Each Corrado needs to be looked at individually. If the dash or windows rattle its not been put back together properly. They were not like that when they were built! My VR6 does not rattle and things like sunroof, spoiler etc all work properly because they have been greased etc. I had a rattleing window when I bought the car but carefully took the door card off fixed the faulty roller and its now as quite as it should be. A mate of mine had a VR some time back and it was a right rattleing shed because he didnt give a dam about it and it wasnt great when he bought it. So not to put off any new Corrado owners my point is go and try out several examples and the well cared for ones will speak for themselves. :wink:

[kvwloon 0]

David Winter, Yep, kind of reminds me of the one poor review the Corrado has on the 'peachorlemon' website, because the guy bought a probably uncared for example, had to replace consumable parts (i.e pads / discs/exhaust), and then dinged a wing when driving it, so then puts a bad review up against the Corrado! Hardly the cars fault, and who hasn't had to replace brake/exhaust parts on any car......frustrating is one word! :roll:

[dinkus 10]

So how many Calibra's do you see around now? And in what condition? :)

 

Personally, I don't mind if people say they're horrid cars, those who have them know they're good and it stops monkeys getting them and abusing previously cared for ones. They can go get an MR2 or somesuch instead.

 

Yes they are expensive to run, but compare it with the amount of money you lose in depreciation by buying a less fun to drive car new. This way you're actually getting something in exchange for your money :)

 

Roll on the raddo :D

[vr6storm 0]

It's around 9-10 hours to change the timing CHAINS on the VR, so the Fiat ain't so unusual...

...

 

 

well tbh VW don't actually specify a Timing chain change so in a way its not really a service related item as such.....also the timing belt change on the Fiat coupe is meant to be an engine out job to do......tho some people(Fiat specialists) have managed to do it with the engine in-situ but at the end of the day if your looking at a Fiat coupe with 60k miles your about a years mileage away from a big bill regardless

[Henny 0]

So how many Calibra's do you see around now? And in what condition? :)

 

Yup... exactly... Let's take a little look at what happened to the rest of the Competition... ;)

 

Ford Probe - Still born, almost nobody liked 'em except for some Americans who designed it... :?

Fiat Coupe - most of 'em rusted away

Alfa Coupe - still look OK, but damn, they're expensive to keep running

Vauxhaull Calibra - Cavalier in disguise and they've all seemed to disappear

BMW 3 series Coupe - Probably the closest rival to the Corrado, but really has an image problem due to the BMW badge! ;) :lol:

 

I seriously reckon that out of the lot of 'em, the Corrado's probably the cheapest to keep going and was easily the best at the time and still is now... 8)

[vr6storm 0]

So how many Calibra's do you see around now? And in what condition? :)

 

Yup... exactly... Let's take a little look at what happened to the rest of the Competition... ;)

 

Ford Probe - Still born, almost nobody liked 'em except for some Americans who designed it... :?

Fiat Coupe - most of 'em rusted away

Alfa Coupe - still look OK, but damn, they're expensive to keep running

Vauxhaull Calibra - Cavalier in disguise and they've all seemed to disappear

BMW 3 series Coupe - Probably the closest rival to the Corrado, but really has an image problem due to the BMW badge! ;) :lol:

 

I seriously reckon that out of the lot of 'em, the Corrado's probably the cheapest to keep going and was easily the best at the time and still is now... 8)

 

tbh the probe was on a hiding to nothing trying to take up the gap left by the crapi

 

 

out of them i must admit i love the Alfa's styling and interior 8) and would imagine the 3.0 V6 to be a wee bit quicker than the VR on the road etc

 

but the thing that has also dated the Probe,E-36 coupe,Calibra and i suppose now the Alfa is the fact they have been replaced with newer designs(cougar,E-46,Astra coupe and new GTV)........which brings me on to WHY i DON'T want there to be a Mk2 C :wink:

[chubbybrown 0]

with regards to sunroofs,

just buy a c without one,

my one doesnt have one nor electric windows its just less to go wrong.

as for parts I just stock up if the price is right

 

chubbz

[rado-steve 0]

A C without a sunroof!!!!!!!

 

Never ever seen one of them before..........

 

Are you sure :)

[dr_mat 0]

It's true, there's not many Cs without sunroofs about. But you don't have to *use* it if you have one...

[kieron 0]

"Why you shouldn't buy a Corrado"....

 

Because you can't afford to run one? Not meant as a derogatory remark but the running costs of a Corrado aren't hidden and whilst they aren't expensive compared to many cars they aren't Ford/Vauxhall cheap either. Remember it was a £20K+ car new 10 years ago and therefore the costs to run will be comparable.

 

Too many people look at just the purchase price of a second hand car when buying IMO. ie. There's a Ferrari 308 GT4 DINO on Auto Trader at the moment for £12K but would you expect the running costs to be the same as brand new Ford Mondeo?

[junbao 0]

Too right mate, it wasn't meant to be a cheap runabout!

 

Oil temps aren't all that high, i know two mates with Mk4 1.8T 's and they regularly go higher than my VR6, and they haven't hit 50k yet!

(plus both mates want my C off me as i keep roasting them on the way to work :D :D !!!)

 

Plus my dads 4 year old audi quattro has had more electric faults than my C(but his sunroof still works though ).

 

If you want a solid vehicle that doesn't rattle with no electric faults, i have a very smooth skateboard you might be interested in. :lol:

 

(Sorry, in sarcasm mode today)

J

[vr6storm 0]

"Why you shouldn't buy a Corrado"....

 

Because you can't afford to run one? Not meant as a derogatory remark but the running costs of a Corrado aren't hidden and whilst they aren't expensive compared to many cars they aren't Ford/Vauxhall cheap either. Remember it was a £20K+ car new 10 years ago and therefore the costs to run will be comparable.

 

Too many people look at just the purchase price of a second hand car when buying IMO. ie. There's a Ferrari 308 GT4 DINO on Auto Trader at the moment for £12K but would you expect the running costs to be the same as brand new Ford Mondeo?

 

 

my thoughts too kieron it was a £20k car so therefore will still have pretty close to £20k car bills/running costs etc........except that you can now get into them for £2k and upwards.........ok main-dealer servicing then isn't too important,but they will still need to have a decent maintanence regime adhered to whether it be DIY or specialist servicing.....and lets be honest here........unless you know the person selling it, the main-dealer/VW-specialist serviced ones will be a lot easier to sell than ones that have maybe been serviced to the same level but DIY'd........i think one of the main reasons why people have also been burned by rogue C's(especially VR's) is that these C's really need to be sorted as soon as a problem arises and to not cut corners etc........

[Kevin Bacon 5]

What's all this £20K car 10 years ago nonsense? It's completely irrelevant. It was just a poorly made £20K car and it's no excuse for it's high maintenance costs today. Dealers keeping Corrado parts artificially high and previous owner abuse/neglect are the reasons they cost a fortune to run and the Corrado can't handle it like other VWs.

 

MK2 Golf GTi 16Vs cost about £15K new in 1992 and cost £1500 now but they don't have £15K running costs! They were made a damn site tougher than the Corrado, and it shows in the numbers of them still around.

[dr_mat 0]

'Ere! Who are you and what did you do with Kev Hayward?!!?! ;)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

My doctor has told me to go on the ThreadFast plan...... :wink:

[StormVR6 0]

I'd just like to say that I've driven my C very, very hard over the last 2 and a half years and apart from the hall sender unit, a coolant hose and the thermo housing going (amongst small maintenance bits and upgrades) the car has been a rock.

 

I think people forget that a lot of C owners do tend to drive their C hard, or at least a lot harder than you would if you owned a Mondeo/Vectra etc, and the reason is that the C is great fun (unlike previously named cars!) and I'm afraid fun costs money, believe me if I drove a Mondeo/Vectra the same way I drove my C I would expect to be paying out far more for repairs etc.

So if the costs are doing your head in then go out and buy a sales rep. car by all means but expect to be completely bored, yes you may have spare cash left over, but to buy what? A new set of mudflaps?!

 

Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones or maybe niggling problems were addressed before I bought the car, but please people don't go all melancholy just because your 10+ year old car is giving you grief!!

 

Do you see many 10+ year old Impreza's/RS's/ M3's/205's about? ......I don't,

and Golf's, yeah there are loads still about but VW did make millions compared to half a million Corrado's!

 

MB

[_leon_ 0]

a Corrado is lifestyle, hobby, interest etc

absolutely - i've loved these cars since i were a young lad.... now the thought of finally owning one is something else. i will always have a soft spot for these whether they misbehave or not...

[dr_mat 0]

I'd just like to say that I've driven my C very, very hard over the last 2 and a half years and apart from the hall sender unit, a coolant hose and the thermo housing going (amongst small maintenance bits and upgrades) the car has been a rock.

 

Do you operate your door handles and heater air controls very hard too? What about your headlight switch? I doubt it.

 

I would agree with you - on the whole, Corrados are strong mechanically, but the unforgiveable aspect of ownership is all these little things that cost an arm and a leg to fix and happen so regularly that it's worth stockpiling the parts! A company the size of VW with it's development budget should NOT have released the car with this little testing of such things as door handles (basic safety equipment in other words).