Parked for 15 years...what am I in for?

[Dwestfa 10]

I have a 1993 Corrado that has been sitting in my parents driveway and/or garage for the past 15 years. My dad parked it around 2004 due to an electrical issue. Obviously it would have been better for him to diagnose the issue 15 years ago, but that ship has sailed. He did nothing to prep the car for storage. The car has about 30k miles and a ton of sentimental value. What should I expect trying to get it running again? Where should I start? Anything that would be a deal-killer? Will my kids be able to go to college after this? I have a 2 year old and a baby on tne way, so this will all be done by a professional mechanic.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

-Dan

 

 

Much Longer Backstory:

In 1994, I was a junior in high school. It was the end of the school year and I had just broken up with my girlfriend. Prom was on the horizon and I wasn’t going (but my girlfriend was) and I was bummed. Dad and I went out to look at a Corrado (for him) at a repo auction. I immediately fell in love. I didn’t hear anything more about it until the afternoon of prom. My mom and dad took me out to run an errand and we went to pick up the Corrado. He let me drive it home. On my way up our street, I passed my ex on her way to prom and didn’t care anymore. To this day, I don’t know if they planned it that way, and I don’t want to know. I just love holding onto that memory.

 

Even though it was my Dad’s car he was very liberal in letting me drive it. I drove it every chance I could, to school, on dates, everywhere. It was a wholly inappropriate care for a 17 year old to drive, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I used to race my friend whose dad had a 3000GT VR4 spyder and smoke him regularly - he was rubbish with the manual transmission. After I left for college and graduated, Dad continued to drive it but didn’t really care for it that well. To him it was just a car. The car had only a few thousand miles when he bought it (for $10k!). Eventually it developed an unknown “electrical issue” and dad just stopped driving it. That was probably around 2003-2004. It sat in the driveway for a number of years, and eventually they pushed it into the garage.

 

I was content to let it sit in the garage until I was 60, Corrados were selling for $100k, and I was ready for a retirement project. (I already own an Austin-Healey 3000 that I hardly have time to drive). Unfortunately my parents house was destroyed by a fire this spring (they are fine, as is the Corrado), and they just sold the remaking shell of a house. So the timetable moved up quickly. If I don’t take it, then they’ll probably just sell/scrap it.

[vw rule 19]

Hello there and welcome to the Corrado Forum,

sorry to hear about your parents house, the main thing is like you say they're both ok.

 

In my opinion the Corrado is a great Grand Tourer, they handle so well and look pretty good even by today's standards.

 

Ok so you say your Dad's Corrado has been sat around for the last 15 years,

it'll probably want a engine and gearbox oil change, more then likely need a new battery.

Plus even before anyone attempts to start it up, I'd be inclined to turn the engine over by hand just to make sure it still feels free.

Also a lot of the plastic and rubber parts could be perished including the tyres.

It'll need a good look over underneath to make sure it's still structurally sound.

Once new battery is fitted if it needs one that is, and the engine is ok to turn over (start up) then you can get someone to inspect the electrics as you've said it developed an issue in 2003 or 2004.

 

If you get a garage i.e a mechanic to do all the required work, it will more then likely cost a couple of thousand if the repair list is long.

 

If I were you I'd get someone to fully inspect your Dad's Corrado from top to bottom, and then you'll be able to see the full picture, then you can decide if it's worth doing.

 

Si

Edited October 5, 2018 by vw rule

[vw rule 19]

Corrado's can rust anywhere to be honest, but the most common places I've seen are:

 

1) around battery try = M2 Golf battery repair panel fits our Corrado's with a little fabrication.

2) front edge of bonnet from stone chips

3) drives front wing around A-pilar low down

4) drivers lower section of A-pilar

4A) also they rust higher up the A-pilar especially if the windscreen has been replaced in the last 12 plus years.

5) doors can rust mostly at the bottom

6) outer sills can rust at the front, but mostly at the back what I've seen.

7) O/S/R and N/S/R quarter panels can rust.

8 ) rear panel can rust low down or at the top joining seam where the boot rubber seal fits to.

9) boot floor can be pitted in areas.

10) fuel neck support panel can rust, basically the same as MK2 Golf / MK3 Golf.

11) rear wing where fuel flap is they get rust around that area sometimes.

12) rear chassis legs can rust through sometimes.

 

Si

Edited October 5, 2018 by vw rule

[tonedef 9]

Mine wasn’t parked up for anything like that length of time but it resulted in fuel issues. The petrol had gone off allowing the pump to rust up in the tank, fuel filter was shot and one out of six injectors was working. I drained everything out of the tank and replaced the pump and filter, had the injectors cleaned and serviced along with oils etc as mentioned above. Aside from that it started reasonably easily.

 

Expect it to clatter a lot on starting while the followers pressure up with oil, mine took a few minutes until they were all quiet.......that was awful, kept expecting something to break!

 

Hope the tin worm hasn’t got to it too much.

[Beanington 10]

Depending on your luck you may have some fun with stuck brakes if it hasn't moved in that long, that's usually my biggest annoyance :D If he / you have shimmied it about a bit over the years then hopefully you'll be cool. Had a couple of old cars, including a Mk2 Rallye that'd sat for 6 years, where I had to drop the pads out to be able to push it :D

 

As for the actual issue, besides the handy stuff posted already as sensible precautions or things that it'll literally need, the electrical issue shouldn't be too much trouble. All the info is available readily and easily online, A2resource have full fusebox diagrams and engine wiring diagrams are easy to find, so you'll be able to crack it with a multi-meter, a cheap eBay OBD code reader and a little free time :thumbleft:

 

Glad nobody was hurt in the fire though, sounds pretty major!