1.8 16v Corrado without service history, advisable?
Discussion
I've been looking for a mk 2 Golf Gti as a bit of a fun runaround while my Merc is off the road but very few crop up in my budget that arn't complete sheds. I have however spotted a nice looking 1.8 16v Corrado near me for only £900, which seems like a bit of a bargain, but it has no service history as far as I know. How much does that matter with these cars? Could do with knowing when cambelt changes are and so on. It has just over 100k on the clock, it needs the odd bit of tidying as far as cosmetics go which will be easy enough. Before anyone says, I'm aware that the 1.8s arn't all that quick, but that doesn't worry me too much.
Cheers
Cheers
What, like a buyer that wants to know if a car has been cared for? £900 may not be much for some but it's not throw-away money for me. The main think I need to know is when the cambelt change is due, and I'm not going to know if its been through that service interval or not without service history.
BAHN-STORMA said:
Unless you KNOW that that the cambelt has been changed, its probably worth geting it done anyway - won't cost a fortunate, but might save a small one!
Makes sense, though I won't be having it for that long so it doesn't seem to be really worth it. When is the service interval for the cam belt? Was just thinking if it was 60k/80k or something I'd have thought it would have gone by 100,000 miles if it hadn't have been changed. Course I'm probably wrong...right first off 16v engines can last well beyond 200k. I have had 2 on over 200k 1 with every bit of service history one with only a minor top end rebuild an nothing else and both run quite happily an produced over 130hp on dyno. Most of the ones ive seen seam in good health after they have been serviced, common problems are valve stem seals (shown up by blue smoke on acceleration/decaccelertaion), rattly top ends and worn piston rings.
To tell if a 16v is healthy... before test drive or start up whip a spark plug out- should be lightish brown. Covered in oil is likely to be rocker cover gasket failed- cheap fix.
1) start it from cold it should take couple turns max an fire. some fire initially on 3cylinders but get to 4 very soon after an sit happy. slow turning engines are usually due to poor earths on the gearbox/starter
2)idle should be between 900-1100 and engine tone nearly constant. listen to the right hand side of the engine for rattles from the cams- cam chains - simple job on a 16v. touch the ISV (metal tube with 2 vac pipes an a electric connector on it on right side of engine block) it should vibrate/buzz if it works. Also pull off the breather pipe from the front of the block to the air box and check for oil- heavy oil means bottom end is worn!
3) Engine temperature - coolant should be halfway with a few minutes. Oil temperature (on the MFA display) around 80-100 is fine in normal driving.
4) once engine at temperature try holding in 2nd an 4000revs and accelerating to 6900ish. it should pull fast and evenly with no hesitation.
5) Fan should cut in when temperature gauge is 2/3 along and oil temp 106-112ish this is critical an most dead 16v ive seen have been cooked!
In summary i would buy based on the overal condition of the cars bodywork,interior and electrics (check the spoiler). Budget around £150 or so for plugs/leads/rota/dizzy cap/filters (fuel filter is v important) and a set up. 16v need to have timing an CO2 set up properly to get the most out of them. Cam belt is not a big job either, cam tensioners can whine a bit - you can undo top cover an by twisting the cam belt 90* you should be able to see what kind of condition the ribs of the belt are like. there is also a sticker on the bonnet that garages normally write when the cambelt was done on it...
But then again if you only intend to have the car a few months then so long as it runs do a oil an filter change and get the timing checked an leave it at that an enjoy.
To tell if a 16v is healthy... before test drive or start up whip a spark plug out- should be lightish brown. Covered in oil is likely to be rocker cover gasket failed- cheap fix.
1) start it from cold it should take couple turns max an fire. some fire initially on 3cylinders but get to 4 very soon after an sit happy. slow turning engines are usually due to poor earths on the gearbox/starter
2)idle should be between 900-1100 and engine tone nearly constant. listen to the right hand side of the engine for rattles from the cams- cam chains - simple job on a 16v. touch the ISV (metal tube with 2 vac pipes an a electric connector on it on right side of engine block) it should vibrate/buzz if it works. Also pull off the breather pipe from the front of the block to the air box and check for oil- heavy oil means bottom end is worn!
3) Engine temperature - coolant should be halfway with a few minutes. Oil temperature (on the MFA display) around 80-100 is fine in normal driving.
4) once engine at temperature try holding in 2nd an 4000revs and accelerating to 6900ish. it should pull fast and evenly with no hesitation.
5) Fan should cut in when temperature gauge is 2/3 along and oil temp 106-112ish this is critical an most dead 16v ive seen have been cooked!
In summary i would buy based on the overal condition of the cars bodywork,interior and electrics (check the spoiler). Budget around £150 or so for plugs/leads/rota/dizzy cap/filters (fuel filter is v important) and a set up. 16v need to have timing an CO2 set up properly to get the most out of them. Cam belt is not a big job either, cam tensioners can whine a bit - you can undo top cover an by twisting the cam belt 90* you should be able to see what kind of condition the ribs of the belt are like. there is also a sticker on the bonnet that garages normally write when the cambelt was done on it...
But then again if you only intend to have the car a few months then so long as it runs do a oil an filter change and get the timing checked an leave it at that an enjoy.
Edited by aka_kerrly on Friday 3rd October 13:20
aka_kerrly said:
right first off 16v engines can last well beyond 200k....
Cheers matey, very very helpfull post 
will bear all this in mind when I go to give the car a look. Just rang the bloke and he said that someone else inquired about the SH, so he rang VW with the number plate to check and apparently it was serviced with VW main dealer up until 72k so perhaps the cambelt was changed during that time. Not sure wether it's possible to obtain a copy of that or not, that might help me in the resale a bit. Going to give it a look tomorrow morning, will post up some pictures if I end up buying itAt least it's the 16v and not the 8v. Why thy put the latter wheezing, asthmatic lump in the Corrado is beyond me. Only thing it's good for is as a base car for a radical engine swap.
Edit: Oh sorry, can't help with regards to the 16v. I'm a VR6 man myself.
Edit: Oh sorry, can't help with regards to the 16v. I'm a VR6 man myself.
Edited by JonRB on Friday 3rd October 13:30
if its got VWSH up to 72k then id guess it has had a cam belt change as usually its 60k at a dealership. WHat is the current millage ? For peace of mind even if its not due you can get a cambelt and tensioner for £30 and a garage will charge 2hours labour or so to fit it and time the engine up so its probably around £150 max. Its a useful bargaining point if you can get the seller down to 700-800 an say you need to pay for a service you will have got yourself a a little bargain as only a couple of years ago you couldnt get a corrado for under £2k.
Crickey, that's rather cheap. Was expecting a cambelt change to cost a lot more. Milleage is just over 100k, should have mentioned that. JonRB, know what you mean about the 8v, I'd never consider one in a Corrado. The 16v seems a little underpowered on paper, but as a runaround it'll do me just fine. Would love a VR6, but that would only happen if it was a replacement for my merc 
aka_kerrly, cheers for all the advice. Went to look at earlier today and wasn't at all happy unfortunately. Seller was properly shifty, the postcode he gave us was actually half a mile or so from where he was, so had to ring and get directions. When we actually got there he'd already had it running for what must have been quite some time, temperature was up to 80 degrees or so. He just excused that as being 'because the battery was a bit low'. I'd pretty much made my mind up at that point that I was walking, but thought I might as well have a look around while I was there. Was very smokey when the throttle was applied, emmisions didn't look all that healthy and had an odd smell to it. Listened to the right hand side of the engine as you suggested, and I found the cams to be quite rattly. To top it all off when I inquired about the certificate for the car's 'HPI clear' status that was mentioned in the listing, he just told me 'oh I don't have that, but the previous owner told me it was HPI clear' knob. Anyway I've seen a few others nearby which I might give a look. Annoyingly though both are 2.0 16v cars, which despite having no more power (due to the cat or something I've heard...) are 2 insurance groups up.
norman156 said:
Crickey, that's rather cheap. Was expecting a cambelt change to cost a lot more. Milleage is just over 100k, should have mentioned that. JonRB, know what you mean about the 8v, I'd never consider one in a Corrado. The 16v seems a little underpowered on paper, but as a runaround it'll do me just fine. Would love a VR6, but that would only happen if it was a replacement for my merc
To go against what's been said, I'd never consider a 16v Corrado over an 8v. 8v feels much more torquey, is the lightest engine on offer so reduces oversteer. It's also the most reliable compared to the VR6, both 16v's and the G60.MJK 24 said:
norman156 said:
Crickey, that's rather cheap. Was expecting a cambelt change to cost a lot more. Milleage is just over 100k, should have mentioned that. JonRB, know what you mean about the 8v, I'd never consider one in a Corrado. The 16v seems a little underpowered on paper, but as a runaround it'll do me just fine. Would love a VR6, but that would only happen if it was a replacement for my merc
To go against what's been said, I'd never consider a 16v Corrado over an 8v. 8v feels much more torquey, is the lightest engine on offer so reduces oversteer. It's also the most reliable compared to the VR6, both 16v's and the G60.MJK 24 said:
It's also the most reliable compared to the VR6
Define unreliable. I can count the number of times mine has let me down in 11 years and 120,000 miles of ownership on one hand.MJK 24 said:
I'd never consider a 16v Corrado over an 8v. 8v feels much more torquey
You're having a laugh. The 8v Corrado was an insult to the chassis, so gutless and asthmatic it couldn't even outdrag a SciroccoEdited by JonRB on Sunday 5th October 23:22
Saw the other Corrado today and was far better, put down a deposit and collecting it on wednesday 
Forgot to take any pictures but here's the one off autotrader:
Not so sure about the colour coded grill, I'd probably paint or replace it with a black one.
As far as the whole 8v/16v thing goes, I couldn't help but think that the 16v in the one I bought today did feel a bit underpowered in the Corrado, so I don't see how an 8v with only 115 bhp could be better.
Forgot to take any pictures but here's the one off autotrader: Not so sure about the colour coded grill, I'd probably paint or replace it with a black one.
As far as the whole 8v/16v thing goes, I couldn't help but think that the 16v in the one I bought today did feel a bit underpowered in the Corrado, so I don't see how an 8v with only 115 bhp could be better.
Edited by norman156 on Monday 6th October 20:11
norman156 said:
I couldn't help but think that the 16v in the one I bought today did feel a bit underpowered in the Corrado, so I don't see how an 8v with only 115 bhp could be better.
Well, quite. The 8v was a last desperate attempt to ship excess Corrado chassis on the cheap on the runout, in my opinion. It was rather sad really. The upside is that, as a project car, they're not bad. They were only made in the last year of production so they are the youngest examples around (along with the last-of-the-line VR6s like mine) and can be picked up for pennies. Rip out the engine and put something more interesting in like the 1.8TT VAG or 24v VR6 out of the R32, and you are laughing. Why pay the premium for a VR6 when you're not going to use the engine.
Obviously you'd be uprating brakes, suspension and other running gear in that too, but you'd be doing that anyway too.
Anyway, I digress. All the best with the 16v. Hope you really enjoy it.
BAHN-STORMA said:
Looks good - agree with you about the grill though.
Yup, will be the first thing I do. Just trying to decide wether I'm better off painting the existing one or getting a black one to replace it with. As far as paint goes not sure what's best for that sort of thing, after all I ideally want a matte finishEdited by norman156 on Tuesday 7th October 01:04
norman156 said:
Yup, will be the first thing I do. Just trying to decide wether I'm better off painting the existing one or getting a black one to replace it with. As far as paint goes not sure what's best for that sort of thing, after all I ideally want a matte finish
To be honest, I'd just replace it. They're under £20 new and a lot less 2nd hand on eBay. I don't know how much a rattle can of matte black is these days, but it's got to be be a good percentage of that.Edit: And you could sell the painted grille on eBay. If you know the correct name of the colour someone with a car of the same colour may want to buy it.
Edited by JonRB on Monday 6th October 23:55
Good point. Euro car parts do a replacement one for £38, seen a few on ebay for £20 or so, although all of those seem to be the badgeless ones, not sure if it's as simple as slapping a VW badge on the front of those or if it needs some sorta mounting. In any case buying instead of painting seems like my best bet
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