Buying a Corrado VR6 - Advice Sought
Discussion
I'm looking into buying a VR6 at the moment and HiAsAKite has given me some very useful info so far. I understand that some of you very helpful people out there are willing to assist prospective buyers by checking out potential purchases 
I have narrowed my search down to L, M, and N regs and prices range from £3,500 to £5,500. (That's the limit of my budget, I'm afraid.) I am wary of cheaper ones as I don't want to have to correct a whole load of problems
upon acquisition.
I've checked out The Corrado Club of GB and looked at their pros and cons when buying. Even so, I would be extremely grateful for any support and second pair of eyes you might be able to offer as I am not a mechanic type and don't really know what I'm looking at.
I haven't been able to track down the thread which relates to helping people check out Corrados, so I may post some details of locations here when I get to the 'looking' stage. Hopefully some of you will not be too far away. There will be plenty of
as an added incentive
Here's looking forward to getting my first VR6
I have narrowed my search down to L, M, and N regs and prices range from £3,500 to £5,500. (That's the limit of my budget, I'm afraid.) I am wary of cheaper ones as I don't want to have to correct a whole load of problems
upon acquisition. I've checked out The Corrado Club of GB and looked at their pros and cons when buying. Even so, I would be extremely grateful for any support and second pair of eyes you might be able to offer as I am not a mechanic type and don't really know what I'm looking at.
I haven't been able to track down the thread which relates to helping people check out Corrados, so I may post some details of locations here when I get to the 'looking' stage. Hopefully some of you will not be too far away. There will be plenty of
as an added incentive Here's looking forward to getting my first VR6
JonRB said:
That's quite right - I've had it since it was 6 months old when it had only 7,600 miles on the clock. It now has 102k 
Relax.... Its an 'old school' VW
, not like some of the cr&p they produce now! 
Alway regret not swapping my mk2 Scirocco Storm for one (would have only have been a 16v though)
Morning chaps!
I just came by to say that I think HiAsAKite was talking about a forum on www.the-corrado.net, so sorry about the mistake in my original post. Any thoughts, views, words of caution, of course, will be gladly accepted.
With regards to mileage, most that I have seen advertised seem around the 100,000 mark, apart from a couple as low as 68,000 (v. tempting, but at £6,800 a little steep for a '93 L I think) and a 81,000'94 M reg at £5,500 (calling him later). I'm not too bothered about mileage. I'm more concerned about finding one that has been well maintained.
I know we are not supposed to advertise in forums, but may I ask Jon when you might be selling yours? I'm not desperate to buy as my Volvo is probably the most reliable car I'll ever own and I don't want to rush into a purchase. Having said that I have seen a couple that I am interested in.
I just came by to say that I think HiAsAKite was talking about a forum on www.the-corrado.net, so sorry about the mistake in my original post. Any thoughts, views, words of caution, of course, will be gladly accepted.
With regards to mileage, most that I have seen advertised seem around the 100,000 mark, apart from a couple as low as 68,000 (v. tempting, but at £6,800 a little steep for a '93 L I think) and a 81,000'94 M reg at £5,500 (calling him later). I'm not too bothered about mileage. I'm more concerned about finding one that has been well maintained.
I know we are not supposed to advertise in forums, but may I ask Jon when you might be selling yours? I'm not desperate to buy as my Volvo is probably the most reliable car I'll ever own and I don't want to rush into a purchase. Having said that I have seen a couple that I am interested in.
Condition & History is all, I'd also avoid cars with lots of owners, as the chances are they will have been skimped on maintenace by owners who havent got a pot to P in. EmmaP said:I'm not sure at the moment. I'd like to spruce it up a little before selling and there are a couple of minor niggles to fix (eg. a duff sender on the ABS that causes the fault light to come on - a well known problem that does not affect the ABS at all, just the warning light, but I wouldn't want to sell the car with a warning light that doesn't go out)
Jon when you might be selling yours?
Realistically I think it will probably be up for sale in the next couple of months.
I should mention that I will be giving Steve_T & Mrs_T first refusal as they almost bought the car earlier in the year but I pulled out of the sale because I couldn't bear to sell it in the end. However, I promise that I won't do that again - I really am going to sell it this time.
Having driven a few VR6's , here's a few simple things you can look for without an expert
VR6 engines are strong but generally fall into 2 camps
- those with electrical problems causing stalling and rough running
- those without problems, that are silky smooth.
If a car has issues they can be hard to track, the car should be smooth, idle well and even, not missing at all. Look at the history of the car and see it bad running or stalling are listed as problems requiring attention.
On the road, performance should be strong upto around 4000rpm, and beyond that it should increase it's rate of power increase and acceleration. the engine note should become more 'agressive' from 4000rpm aswell.
Once you stop the car, open the bonnet and look to see how much the engine moves on it's mounts, they last a max of about 100k miles, and allow the engine to rock under the engines torque, denting the bonnet.
with the ignition off, listen closely to the right hand end of the engine, you should be able to hear a small electric pump continuing to pump water around the cooling system, VW added this feature to aid heat disapation, many of the so called head gasket weaknesses may be cuased by a failure of this pump leaving temperature hot spots in the engine. This pump should run on for well over aminute after turning off the ignition.
Hope these help you.
VR6 engines are strong but generally fall into 2 camps
- those with electrical problems causing stalling and rough running
- those without problems, that are silky smooth.
If a car has issues they can be hard to track, the car should be smooth, idle well and even, not missing at all. Look at the history of the car and see it bad running or stalling are listed as problems requiring attention.
On the road, performance should be strong upto around 4000rpm, and beyond that it should increase it's rate of power increase and acceleration. the engine note should become more 'agressive' from 4000rpm aswell.
Once you stop the car, open the bonnet and look to see how much the engine moves on it's mounts, they last a max of about 100k miles, and allow the engine to rock under the engines torque, denting the bonnet.
with the ignition off, listen closely to the right hand end of the engine, you should be able to hear a small electric pump continuing to pump water around the cooling system, VW added this feature to aid heat disapation, many of the so called head gasket weaknesses may be cuased by a failure of this pump leaving temperature hot spots in the engine. This pump should run on for well over aminute after turning off the ignition.
Hope these help you.
EmmaP said:
Thanks for that advice SMB. All good stuff! I take it that the right side is the driver's side? Sorry for asking a silly question. No doubt it would become obvious on peering under the bonnet!
As you look at the engine from the front with the bonnet up, engine is on your left, gearbox the right, if you listen about 1 foot into the engine bay, in line with the vw badge on the front grill you're about right.
SMB said:
As you look at the engine from the front with the bonnet up, engine is on your left, gearbox the right, if you listen about 1 foot into the engine bay, in line with the vw badge on the front grill you're about right.
Thank you SMB! Much obliged
>> Edited by EmmaP on Monday 27th September 00:14
EmmaP said:
That's fair enough. I shall look forward to seeing pics of it all spruced up and if Steve and Mrs T change their minds, I may well be interested if I haven't found another by then.
Just to let you know that I emailed Steve last night and got a response back. Seems that their car-buying plans (or rather timescales) have changed and they won't be taking up the offer of first refusal.
>> Edited by JonRB on Monday 27th September 09:25
By the way, as a reference I sold my car this weekend. Black VR6, 93 on an L plate with 148,000 miles. A lot of miles but in great mechanical condition. Few small problems with electrical things (mirrors didn't move, sunroof didn't slide, and the ventilation controls didn't work), but otherwise good condition. I still think she drove better than 90,000 mile ones I have driven.
And she went via e-bay for £2700. You could do a lot worse than finding a good condition high miler which has had all the necessary work done on it, and then keeping the spare cash as an emergency fund for unforseen repairs (or track day tires...)
And she went via e-bay for £2700. You could do a lot worse than finding a good condition high miler which has had all the necessary work done on it, and then keeping the spare cash as an emergency fund for unforseen repairs (or track day tires...)
JonRB said:
That's fair enough. I shall look forward to seeing pics of it all spruced up and if Steve and Mrs T change their minds, I may well be interested if I haven't found another by then.
Just to let you know that I emailed Steve last night and got a response back. Seems that their car-buying plans (or rather timescales) have changed and they won't be taking up the offer of first refusal.
>> Edited by JonRB on Monday 27th September 09:25
I shall keep an eye out then Jon, as all the ones I rang in Auto Trader had 'just' been sold. I'm waiting for a few calls to be returned, but I am not too hopeful. They seem to sell pretty quickly.
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