Corrado as a Daily

[Pc80 10]

Hi all. Long-ish time lurker here. What are your thoughts on using a Corrado as a daily, doing around 7,000 miles per year with almost daily use? For me, it would need to live outside and be used with car seats.

 

Is this doable or is it pie in the sky?

 

Specifically:

 

• Will it rust badly outside? Can this be prevented or at least slowed?

• Will car seats go in?

• What sort of maintenance budget would it need?

 

This assumes I get a well sorted one to start with.

 

Many thanks in advance for opinions.

[Keyo 47]

They can be used as daily but it has come to a time where really it is best to preserve the cars im my opinion. The salt on the roads in the winter just eat the cars alive and rot the wings and and rear arches and suddenly you are looking at a 2-3k body shop bill. Im getting mine to mint then preserving her and use on weekends and in good weather conditions. She lives outside which I don't like but I give her a wash and wax every couple of weeks and have no trees over my drive. Its up to you buddy what ever rocks your boat really.

[k993apc 10]

They were made as an everyday car. So no reason why not. Better to be used than stored away

 

Vr6 heavy on fuel tho

[tonedef 9]

Ours was a daily driver for the first eight years and eighty thousand miles we owned it! Timber on the roof rack, rubbish to the tip, kids to riding lessons in muddy fields, holidays away...... it did it all. Been a garage queen the last eleven years though. My mantra was always “you’d do it in a Passat estate, why not a Corrado???”

[dragon green 5]

Mines a daily, been used as one for the last 18 years, the cars were built to enjoy,

So enjoy your commute

[Pc80 10]

Thanks for the quick replies. Does anyone have experience of using Child Seats in a Corrado? I expect they don’t have the isofix points in the back. Cheers.

[Supersonic 10]

I can help with this one as I regularly take my little one in the back of my Corrado, he loves it!

 

I've used a Maxi Cosi Tobi from Mothercare and a Recaro child seat. Both seats fit pretty well but the Recaros seem to fit better / more sturdly into the Corrado rear seat. Easy to get the actual seat in and out - the seat belt clips in near the top on each side of the child seat then round the back & click into the seat buckle.

 

Isofix mounts could possibly be restrospectively fitted, you'll need to look on the floorpan behind or under the rado rear seats for two blank bolt holes. However a DIY Isofix job is not something I would personally recommend.

 

My parents had 2 of us in the rear seats of the Corrado for 14 years but health & safety were less of an concern back then!

 

Hope that helps, cheers.

[fendervg 33]

You don't need isofix mounts - all standard car seats can be secured properly just with seatbelts - I've had Maxi Cosi baby seats, intermediated, wing backed booster and normal booster in the back of mine for years, with kids that are now 11, 8 and 3, since they were babies.

 

As for the daily questions - depends on what you want. I sue mine as daily, but there is going to be wear and tear, so best not to be too precious about it. The best solution is to have a minter for weekends and another car as a daily.

 

Rust can be stopped, but only with a full bare metal tear down, welding and repsray - so not cheap. Servicing costs are not high, but you will run into more expensive items or ones that hard to find, so be prepared to be off the road for a while - best to have a newer second car.

 

Reliability wise - in 10 years my VR6 has only let me down to the point where it had to be towed twice - both coolant related (one a split hose, the other a leaking rad). Other times it was off the road as I was doing the work myself so it took longer or it took time to locate a part. Be aware that things like brake and clutch master cylinders are nearly impossible to find, and you can be stuck without and MOT/NCT for stupid things like door handle or window regulator.

 

Also if you are in a minor accident (even if not your own fault), the C will often get written off for things like replacement wings, bumpers and lights - all minor common accident parts, but increasingly hard to find.

 

So overall, yes - you can definitely daily a Corrado, but make sure you have a decent second car and don't mind a bit of wear and tear.

[Billzeebub 1]

I have always used my Corrados as daily drivers to a lesser or greater extent. Usually have owned another vehicle as well meaning that the risk was mitigated somewhat. But, generally the Corrado keys have been the first choice. In all that time Ive owned 9 VRs and only had one break down that required recovery. Plenty of flat batteries though

[tony_ack 0]

I used to use my Corrado as a daily, and last week got it on the road again. We have a 16 plate Touraeg as our main car which my wife uses.

 

If you want a picture of a Corrado as a daily (this is probably worse than normal due to the ususal 'coming out of hibernation' niggles, but to be honest, you need to expect anything)...

 

Last Sunday my wife was out, and I had the kids. I wanted to take them to soft play, but had to head to Halfords (yes, it was an emergency) as the front number plate had fallen off, and I needed a new one.

 

I finally got the three kids, including the screaming baby, into the car, sat down, went to start it. Enging turned over, but would not start. No smell of fuel. I'd had the fusebox out to try and diagnose a fan problem - maybe I'd disturbed the after-market immobiliser fuel cut-off? I fiddled behind the fusebox, made sure the relays were home, basically just tried to shake the wires, praying I'd push a losse connection back into place. Nothing. Battery was weakening due to it not being used much, and the fan running on for the full 10 minutes every time I turned the engine off. I had no other car to jump it off. The kids were getting fed up. The baby started screaming louder...

 

I had a quick look on Google to see what else it could be. Aha!! the crank sensor! I'd disturbed the wiring when trying to work out the fan issue, and it had a loose connection before I took it off the road. Up went the bonnet. I gave the wire and connection a wiggle. Went to start it... hurrah! It came to life.

 

I had to stop off at the petrol station - two of the tyres were low due to corrosion on the alloys. Pumped them up, visited the drive thru with the kids. The radiator fan is stuck on stage 2 with the ignition on, so I queued in the traffic with the fan whirring away for everyone to hear. They told me to pull up to wait for the food and turn the engine off... I sat there with the fan running on, draining what little power was left in the battery. Would it start again?

 

Luckily it did. Baby was asleep now, and we headed to Halfords. The car park was full, and the spaces were tiny. The Corrado is quite a small car, but it does have big doors which can be problematic when trying to get big things (say... kids) out of the back seats. We managed to get a decent space with just enough room to get the baby seat out of the back. We went into the store, got the number plates, fixing tape and panel wipes, and we all headed back to the car.

 

I got back, and someone had parked a Range Rover quite close to me on the driver's side - not horrendously close, but close enough so I couldn't get the baby seat in. So I had to get the other kids out of the car again, and put the baby seat in through the passenger side, with my legs dangling out of the door. I then went to put the number plate on - the rain was starting and I had just managed to stick it on when the heavens opened.

 

Luckily the adhesive held. We drove off to soft play. I stuck the wipers on and they moved really slowly across the window (it has TT wipers and blades). I put them on the highest speed and they were still slower than the normal standard speed and just about cleared the rain. And then the car steamed up with us all inside. I put the fan on the highest setting, which just about cleared a space in the windscreen for me to see through.

 

We arrived at soft play an hour late. Kids had a great time. The baby slept. I spent all my time on Amazon/eBay/the Corrado forum excitedly ordering the spare parts I'd need to fix all the problems...

[fendervg 33]

Ha Ha - that made me smile. I think we've all been through something similar, I know I have: 3 kids ages 3 to 8, rain, rush hour traffic on a 3 lane orbital motorway, the sweet smell coolant seeping gently out of the heater matrix and some form of dodgy hot start issue where the car might suddenly cut out and then not start again for 30 minutes.

 

Ah, Corrados - don't you just love them. You'd forgive nearly anything when the VR is on song over 4500 RPM!

[Dox 23]

I used to use my Corrado as a daily, and last week got it on the road again. We have a 16 plate Touraeg as our main car which my wife uses.

 

If you want a picture of a Corrado as a daily (this is probably worse than normal due to the ususal 'coming out of hibernation' niggles, but to be honest, you need to expect anything)...

 

Last Sunday my wife was out, and I had the kids. I wanted to take them to soft play, but had to head to Halfords (yes, it was an emergency) as the front number plate had fallen off, and I needed a new one.

 

I finally got the three kids, including the screaming baby, into the car, sat down, went to start it. Enging turned over, but would not start. No smell of fuel. I'd had the fusebox out to try and diagnose a fan problem - maybe I'd disturbed the after-market immobiliser fuel cut-off? I fiddled behind the fusebox, made sure the relays were home, basically just tried to shake the wires, praying I'd push a losse connection back into place. Nothing. Battery was weakening due to it not being used much, and the fan running on for the full 10 minutes every time I turned the engine off. I had no other car to jump it off. The kids were getting fed up. The baby started screaming louder...

 

I had a quick look on Google to see what else it could be. Aha!! the crank sensor! I'd disturbed the wiring when trying to work out the fan issue, and it had a loose connection before I took it off the road. Up went the bonnet. I gave the wire and connection a wiggle. Went to start it... hurrah! It came to life.

 

I had to stop off at the petrol station - two of the tyres were low due to corrosion on the alloys. Pumped them up, visited the drive thru with the kids. The radiator fan is stuck on stage 2 with the ignition on, so I queued in the traffic with the fan whirring away for everyone to hear. They told me to pull up to wait for the food and turn the engine off... I sat there with the fan running on, draining what little power was left in the battery. Would it start again?

 

Luckily it did. Baby was asleep now, and we headed to Halfords. The car park was full, and the spaces were tiny. The Corrado is quite a small car, but it does have big doors which can be problematic when trying to get big things (say... kids) out of the back seats. We managed to get a decent space with just enough room to get the baby seat out of the back. We went into the store, got the number plates, fixing tape and panel wipes, and we all headed back to the car.

 

I got back, and someone had parked a Range Rover quite close to me on the driver's side - not horrendously close, but close enough so I couldn't get the baby seat in. So I had to get the other kids out of the car again, and put the baby seat in through the passenger side, with my legs dangling out of the door. I then went to put the number plate on - the rain was starting and I had just managed to stick it on when the heavens opened.

 

Luckily the adhesive held. We drove off to soft play. I stuck the wipers on and they moved really slowly across the window (it has TT wipers and blades). I put them on the highest speed and they were still slower than the normal standard speed and just about cleared the rain. And then the car steamed up with us all inside. I put the fan on the highest setting, which just about cleared a space in the windscreen for me to see through.

 

We arrived at soft play an hour late. Kids had a great time. The baby slept. I spent all my time on Amazon/eBay/the Corrado forum excitedly ordering the spare parts I'd need to fix all the problems...

 

Says a lot that you weren't searching Autotrader for a soulless people carrier?

[James. 9]

They’re old cars and can/will stop working without notice (like any other). Factor in breakdown cover (for peace of mind if nothing else) and they can be an enjoyable experience.

 

I’ve run an 8v for the past seven years. Without going through the paperwork folder, it costs (on average) £200-£300 to Mot/mechanically keep the car running for the 6k year round annual miles I cover.

 

It’s let me down (where I had to get the breakdown people out) once. Although it has failed to start (on the drive twice).

 

There’s no denying by its appearance that I have used it as (for all intent and purposes)as a works van. But that’s okay to me as it’s great to drive, and every journey feels like an adventure. Maybe I should remove the rose tinted glasses and buy something newer, but while it still runs and keeps me smiling, then I’ll keep driving it everyday.

[fla 9]

James how's your awesome Campaign progressing?

[James. 9]

James how's your awesome Campaign progressing?

 

Being held up waiting on engine parts from Heritage. Shame there’s not much else, but I’ll update the thread when there’s more to report.

 

To keep on topic though, I did actually run it as a daily for a couple of years. Ran perfectly, but the 18mpg it returned was a little less than I’d have liked. It’s earned retirement from the daily slog...

 

For the time being anyway !

Edited October 10, 2019 by James.

[_Matt_ 32]

Nice stories, especially Tony's as that is my life too. Basically you've got to be somewhat both eccentric (in your love for older metal) and committed to run one as a daily.

 

For me I either cycle or train it to work so don't have the panic of it not getting me to work. I am sure it would though. I would confidently drive mine to the South of France, but it has been mechancially refreshed, mostly by Stealth with only the steering rack and bottom end being major original parts.

 

If I was buying one I'd I'd be looking for one that has had some sort of mechanical refurb (if I wasn't planning on doing that myself) and one that had decent bodywork. I wouldn't worry about mileage - mines done 154k but it's like tiggers broom and hands down better than a 60k car in original parts. I wouldn't restrict to the VR6 but you had may as well since they are still cheap cars tp buy. The mechancial refurb will mean you should only have basic servicing costs to consider over the next 5 years.

[Simeon 0]

There's a low mileage 8v on eBay for £5k .. probably the most boring engine, but also probably the most ideal for a daily Corrado

[Wullie 1]

I ran my 1.8 16v as a daily for 17 years doing about 250,000 miles in it. It is my view that a car should be used, laying them up for most of the year doesn't do them any good. I did have my own personal quirks with it, one of which was when I replaced the timing belt I would also drop the sump and replace the big end shells and main bearings at the same time, other consumables would also be replaced on a regular basis. The main reason for passing on the car was the difficulty of finding parts. In the time I had it, it only let me down twice, both of which were repairable by myself at the roadside. I still miss it terribly.

[TomB 0]

I have a G60 that is the most modern and regularly used car in the household. It’s not used daily, but a good few times a week, and is parked on the street outside.

 

A good quality car cover keeps the worst of the sap and guano off, although we rarely keep it on all of the time.

 

I’ve done a waxoyl treatment if the underside, and when using it in winter regularly jet wash the underside of the arches to get the salt out of the crevasse.

 

Mostly, it’s been keeping on top of the preventative stuff (replacing brake pipes with cunifer for example) and changing the oil regularly.

 

While there have been hiccups, it’s all been common car issues thus far (battery, puncture etc). Been the most reliable Corrado I’ve ever owned (although I did spend a lot bringing it up to scratch shortly after buying it).

I think it helps that the 8v engine is pretty tough, and a well looked after charger isn’t that fragile!

 

Cheers,

Thom

[Earwig 10]

Daily drove mine for 9 years but I certainly wouldn't drive one every day now because of how small it is vs how many dumb f'cks there are on the roads. It's too rare to risk being written off by a texting Yoga mum.

[Keyo 47]

Daily drove mine for 9 years but I certainly wouldn't drive one every day now because of how small it is vs how many dumb f'cks there are on the roads. It's too rare to risk being written off by a texting Yoga mum.

 

Agreed the guy that did my MOT yesterday was telling me how his Cavalier Turbo was written off by a lady who didn't see him because of the sun in her eyes, however at the same time was logging in to facebook on her Iphone whilst putting on here lipstick and sipping a coffee at the same time.

[Earwig 10]

Yep. Phone use in cars is rife now. I've lost count of how many times I've nearly lost my MK5 because of other people, but when I daily drove my VR6, I rarely had any near misses. Even in the last 10 years it feels like the driving population has doubled, along with a massive decline in driving standards. I think I would feel safer driving in India or the far east.

 

On a lighter, more practical note: I still maintain the VR6 was the best FWD car I've owned for winter driving. All that weight over the nose helps traction!

[Keyo 47]

Another nightmare are the motorways, HGV numbers have gone up by 60 % since the boom of internet shopping, why oh why they didnt use the infrastructure of the old railways lines in the last 20 years or so to build the supermarkets etc is beyond me, and now they have shut the emergency lane in my city on the motorways with this crappy smart motorway system, so many people are going to be in fatal collisions with HGv when they brake down in the slow lane and there is now layby to rest in. Horrific planning from central government, for christ sake I use do scaffolding in the old rover works and they even had their own railway that loaded the cars, we have gone backwards.

[Keyo 47]

Yep. Phone use in cars is rife now. I've lost count of how many times I've nearly lost my MK5 because of other people, but when I daily drove my VR6, I rarely had any near misses. Even in the last 10 years it feels like the driving population has doubled, along with a massive decline in driving standards. I think I would feel safer driving in India or the far east.

 

On a lighter, more practical note: I still maintain the VR6 was the best FWD car I've owned for winter driving. All that weight over the nose helps traction!

 

Do you still have any unicorn pars Kev , ie VDO gauges , schrick manifolds etc.

[fendervg 33]

Do you still have any unicorn pars Kev , ie VDO gauges , schrick manifolds etc.

 

Ha ha - I'd say he only has some traces of the unicorn droppings on the floor left at this stage.