250,000 miles Corrado.

[aclwalker 3]

My 1994 Corrado VR6 reached the 250,000 mile mark the other day. I now quote my mileage in fractions of a million!

 

Attached is a nice picture of the happy moment.

[easypops 8]

Well done 8)

[delfinis38 1]

That's a serious amount of fuel burnt. Average mileage for year I guess.

[VAG-hag 0]

awesome! has it had much work done?

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

wow that is superb!

 

not sure ive seen a rado mileage that high

 

as per VAG-hag - has it had much work done to allow it to reach that 1/4 of a million miles?

[delfinis38 1]

wow that is superb!

 

not sure ive seen a rado mileage that high

 

as per VAG-hag - has it had much work done to allow it to reach that 1/4 of a million miles?

 

bring on 1/2 million miles. :)

[Chris Langdon 0]

WOW thats awesome like wise that be epic if i hasnt had much work done, your have to share your tips on servicing her ;)

[VR-Sixy 0]

My 1994 Corrado VR6 reached the 250,000 mile mark the other day. I now quote my mileage in fractions of a million!

 

Attached is a nice picture of the happy moment.

Mine is not far behind........ :)

[ChrisL 15]

I think jay renshaws had about 250k miles and still hit 190bhp on the rolling road day a few years ago

[aclwalker 3]

Hi all, thanks for your kind comments.

 

The story behind the car is this. I bought her in 2002, with about 170,000 on the clock. The previous owner had been doing some 40,000 miles a year driving between Liverpool and near Stirling. The bodywork was (and is still, sadly) a bit dented, but the price was good, it ran well and I really loved the full black leather interior. I also felt sorry for her a wee bit, I must say.

 

In the nearly 14 years I have had her, I have used her as a daily driver for work. The longest she has been off the road was one Christmas for a few weeks because my recently replaced alternator shorted out, and I had great difficulty getting another one with a 7 rib pulley. Four more alternators later and me insisting that they get the supplier to open the box and count the ribs before posting it up, and I finally had it back on the road.

 

So in 14 years I have done about 80,000 miles. I do pretty much all my own maintenance, which is difficult as I live in a Glasgow tenement and have to park on the street, so I plan the maintenance and do it at my parents' house. Some things, like alternators shorting out and fuel filters bursting, require an on-street repair but I try to avoid this as much as possible.

 

I have done the following repairs over the years:

 

The usual servicing - oil changes, filters etc.

All routine brake work - pads, discs, etc.

All the brake lines back to the ABS unit with copper replacements (including flaring the unions).

Complete suspension overhaul, front and rear, including springs, shocks, ball joints. (I didn't do the bushes, as I got polyurethane ones fitted by a garage shortly after I bought the car, but vowed to do as much as possible myself afterwards because it was a botch job).

Complete driveshaft overhauls - inner and outer CV joints, hubs etc.

Tie-rod ends.

Wheel bearings - front and rear (too many times at the front due to a distorted housing that was killing the bearing at that side prematurely).

Heater matrix (twice!) - full dash out job.

Cooling system overhaul (twice) - burst pipes at the oil cooler, burst crack pipe, mechanical water pump (twice), auxiliary water pump (twice), lower temperature radiator switch (the final solution to the second speed fan not coming on - third speed would come on before it, ie too late), radiator fan cowling replacement (fell apart due to idiotic previous repair by somebody).

Headlights.

Alternator and new starter (I broke the terminal off, trying to disconnect it).

Battery (twice).

Wiper mechanism (was all assembled wrongly by somebody before me - went Lupo conversion too at the same time).

Rear brake caliper.

Numerous camber settings and wheel alignment, using plumb lines and trigonometry.

Various electrical repairs - broken sensor wires, interior light, radio.

Air intake repairs (leaks).

Engine mounts.

Exhaust brackets, heatshields. (I got a stainless steel exhaust fitted about 10 years ago.)

 

That's just the stuff I can remember. I have never touched the clutch, the gearbox or much of the engine other than mounts and spark plugs, etc. It is still on the same head and head gasket as when I got it. I'm not sure what has been done before me.

 

It does burn a bit of oil; about 1 litre per 500 miles, but I believe that these engines could burn 1 litre per 1000km or 620 miles from new (it's in the manual), so I guess it's not that far off spec. I have to periodically (a few times a year) take out number 6 spark plug and clean off the black carbon, but I guess this is a common problem.

 

It runs well. The most annoying thing is that the idle always hunts from cold for about 30 seconds to a minute, but is pretty smooth afterwards. I get none of the cutting out that's common since I adjusted the throttle angle with some help from VAG-COM. It was set far too low.

 

I probably get a long-term 25 mpg, but I am often stuck in traffic on the way to and from work. Driving on empty motorways at the weekend I can easily get 28 mpg, or even into the 30s if I take it easy.

 

I have learned a huge amount about cars in general, and the Corrado and VW in particular, over the last 14 years, and there's pretty much nothing I wouldn't tackle now. I get hugely frustrated with the poor service from garages, and in fact I believe you simply can't get a car like this fixed properly in a garage these days, as they don't know how to deal with rarity of parts, or the quirks and the intermittent faults you get. So I do it all myself, save a fortune, and get to spend some time with my dad, playing with tools and having endless cups of tea and sandwiches from my mum. I also fix their car too (MkIV Golf).

 

I take it to the same place every year for an MoT (not even in the town where I live) because I know they don't rip me off, and they are always happy to see her and see what I've replaced since the last time.

 

That reminds me... I've had welding done twice at MoT; once on a sill and once further forward at the jacking point. One MoT my car got stuck up the hoist, because the hoist mechanism seized up. I had to wait a day or two for them to get it fixed before I could get it back!

 

The car is really a hobby for me, but there have been some VERY trying times indeed, where I have been close to just jacking it all in (I have been under the car in the pishing rain at 2am, finishing off work before). But when it's all back together, and running again, and I'm able to go home, on an empty motorway, in those lovely heated leather seats that fit my 6'4" frame perfectly, all is forgiven.

 

It really is a fantastic car and, despite the "When are you getting a new car?" questions, I have no plans to change it.

 

Sorry for the long, self-indulgent post. :)

[VR-Sixy 0]

Mine is not far behind........ :)

 

Had to look... mine is on 211,560

[dragon green 4]

217 here,

Only had 42 when I bought it !

[Cressa 43]

That has just been an enjoyable read . I must get some enthusiasm back to get the car roadworthy

[Rustynuts 0]

I love threads like this, vehicles that have had proper usage over the years. I can't talk about a Corrado as I don't have one any more but my T5 has 307k miles on it but that has been semi retired for camping and leisure purposes only. My Mk2 has 203k and I am probably doing less than 2k miles in a year at the moment.

 

Well done with that mileage you are on the return journey from the moon, onwards to 300k!

[GlosterOx 0]

I think jay renshaws had about 250k miles and still hit 190bhp on the rolling road day a few years ago

 

Not quite Chris, she is approaching 227K now.

 

Ian.

[GUS 0]

At that mileage are you still running on the original chains and tensioners.

[GlosterOx 0]

Mine had the chains, guides and tensioners replaced about 18 months ago.

 

Ian.

[VR-Sixy 0]

I've had shed-loads done over the 15 years i've had mine. Only one really major disaster when the timing chain broke and had to have an engine out job to get it all sorted.

So, new tensioners and chain since 2006, heater matrix like-wise. All of the other stuff is just common-or-garden wear and tear stuff - brake discs / pads, new shockers back

and front done in the last year, front bearings, plugs, tyres, ignition switches (2 of those buggers), hand-brake cables. Basically, if it's needed doing, it's gotten done. I'd be

distraught if anything happened to my Corrado that couldn't be fixed.

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Mine had the chains, guides and tensioners replaced about 18 months ago.

 

Ian.

 

what mileage were they done at Ian?

[aclwalker 3]

At that mileage are you still running on the original chains and tensioners.

 

I don't know, is the short answer! I've never replaced them since I have had it, but I guess they could have been done in the 170,000 miles before I came on the scene.

 

I do sometimes get the 'marbles in a tin' noise, but it's not too bad and usually just an indication that it's time for the next gulp of oil.

 

New chains is something that's been on my list to do for while, but then, I might as well do the clutch, and might as well... :)

[aclwalker 3]

I've had shed-loads done over the 15 years i've had mine. Only one really major disaster when the timing chain broke and had to have an engine out job to get it all sorted.

So, new tensioners and chain since 2006, heater matrix like-wise. All of the other stuff is just common-or-garden wear and tear stuff - brake discs / pads, new shockers back

and front done in the last year, front bearings, plugs, tyres, ignition switches (2 of those buggers), hand-brake cables. Basically, if it's needed doing, it's gotten done. I'd be

distraught if anything happened to my Corrado that couldn't be fixed.

 

I've never had to replace the ignition switch, or the headlight switch (both common failures, I believe). My key is very worn though! I keep meaning to get another one cut from the spare, which is still fairly sharp-edged.

[Dox 22]

Well done for the perseverance on keeping the car going as a daily.

[GlosterOx 0]

what mileage were they done at Ian?

 

From memory, about 222,500 miles. Picture is the parts on the workshop floor, as removed - The engine was still quiet and healthy to my ears!!

 

Ian.

[GUS 0]

That's impressive, I'm on 120k at the mo' with no sound of any rattles, so really in two minds about getting them done as a precautionary measure, but I guess its that constant "What if" thought in the back of your mind every time you get heavy footed.