How old is too old? At what point do you draw the line?

[Chicane-UK]

Thought it'd be interesting to get the point of view of the PistonHeads collective on this one.. not to help me make any kind of decision, but I was just interested to hear what most people think!

I drive a Corrado VR6. After quite a few years of running them as my only car, I went through a few years of driving newer cars, but am now back to just running one Corrado as my only car.

It's got 194,000 miles on the clock, and is looking a little tired - but looks good after a clean and polish and despite being a bit rattly the engine still pulls strongly. In terms of what it's worth, I doubt there are many other cars I'd rather own for that money. And to be honest in three years of ownership even though I've spent a little bit of money on maintenance, it's never "let me down" or anything like that. It's as reliable as any other car I've owned.

However it needs a new radiator as the one currently fitted seems to have a slow leak. No problem you might think. However as anyone with an older car knows this now means I need to engage with VW who are steadily obsoleting parts for the Corrado - including, in this case, the radiator. So I've had to source a pattern part for that. I also want to order a bunch of spares for doing the job (nuts and bolts, clips, etc) and to be honest the fan cowling is so rotten I should look at replacing that too... not to mention the other jobs in there I should be doing ideally. But I know that lots of those parts will no longer be available or on lengthy back-order with VW. I put up with it because I love the car, but.. it does sort of feel like it's reaching the end of it's serviceable life.

So I guess my question is.. in the face of parts obsolescence, dealers reluctant to help you when you drive a nearly 20 year old car, things rusted and seized - how old is too old for a daily driver? What's the oldest car you'd run (or do run) as a daily driver? What are the main dealers like for those older cars? Would love to know your thoughts.

[Krikkit]

I think once the little plastic bits etc start becoming impossible to get from the dealer it becomes a 2nd car (or at least you need a backup), as repair times could be immensely lengthened by delays.

[danjama]

I think if the car has been reliable for you, you should do everything in your power to keep it in good form.

There will always be ways of getting parts, maybe not from a main dealer, but you will just have to hustle a little bit.

How old is your Corrado?

[300bhp/ton]

I don't think 20 years is old for a car. But I'd avoid main dealers where possible for most parts on such cars.

Is the VW support really this poor???

I have a 1977 TR7 and you can buy almost all the parts for it off the shelf still. Same for my 78 and 79 Land Rovers.

[leafspring]

Dads only car is his 1960 Series 2 Land Rover.
Personally I wouldn't have a problem running a Series One Land Rover.
So for a daily... anything after 1948

If you can't find parts at a dealer most vehicles over 10 years old will have some sort of owners club, Breakers yards or if your desperate there's always e-Bay

[Chicane-UK]

danjama said:

I think if the car has been reliable for you, you should do everything in your power to keep it in good form.

There will always be ways of getting parts, maybe not from a main dealer, but you will just have to hustle a little bit.

How old is your Corrado?

It's 18 years old (1995/M Reg)...

300bhp/ton said:

I don't think 20 years is old for a car. But I'd avoid main dealers where possible for most parts on such cars.

Is the VW support really this poor???

I have a 1977 TR7 and you can buy almost all the parts for it off the shelf still. Same for my 78 and 79 Land Rovers.

Yep - VW support really is this poor. There are countless pieces of bodywork, trim, etc which are now obsolete. They have very little interest in keeping old cars on the road, unlike BMW & Merc, etc.

leafspring said:

Dads only car is his 1960 Series 2 Land Rover.
Personally I wouldn't have a problem running a Series One Land Rover.
So for a daily... anything after 1948

If you can't find parts at a dealer most vehicles over 10 years old will have some sort of owners club, Breakers yards or if your desperate there's always e-Bay

Yep - I'm part of owners clubs (actually part of the committee) - and not actively looking to ditch the car at all. Was just interested to hear what other folks feel & do about such things

[amstrange1]

VW Heritage/VW Classic Parts can be quite useful for stuff, and new old stock always crops up on eBay.

At least the Corrado is relatively desirable, so there's reasonable support - try getting car-specific trim bits for an old Polo!

[kambites]

For me, I think the only age-related essential is a starter motor. I ran an MGB as a daily for a few years and it was great.

[goneape]

For little plasticky bits there are silicone moulding kits available that allow you to create a flexible mould from an existing part of pattern, then make a new one by filling the mould with resin. Peel off the mould, hey presto, new part. Probably won't work for big parts like fan cowlings though.

[scott15]

The Corrado is hardly a rare car, although you dont see many on the road, there are lots being broke on ebay. I usually just send a message off to a few of the breakers, and ask for pictures, then choose the best condition and best price one

Corrado is a very cool car, dont give up!

[16v stretch]

Valver owner here.

March 1990 registered.

You've got a young un'.

In the process of doing the heater matrix at the moment. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it, skin on your knuckles is over rated anyway.

[aka_kerrly]

scott15 said:

The Corrado is hardly a rare car,

Luckily for the OP he has a later spec VR6 which is far more common but even then there aren't many more than 1000 in the UK. It's the early 1989-90 models which are really tough to get some parts for especially exterior trim.

OP: £100-150 you can get a second hand vr6 radiator and fan assembly complete or the radiator alone is circa £100.

VW Heritage are just starting to improve their range of Corrado components so could be worth calling them. GSF/Euro car parts

Obviously it's also worth snooping around the Corrado forum and ebay.......

Edit: in terms of it being too old - NO..

My brother's Corrado VR6 is on 190K and used as a daily drive, I've had other VW dailys with well over 200k and to be fair I'd still sooner drive the 190k VR6 than a 10k TDI.

Edited by aka_kerrly on Monday 9th September 12:47

[Riley Blue]

With the internet to help, a car that young should be a doddle to keep running.

[16v stretch]

Riley Blue said:

With the internet to help, a car that young should be a doddle to keep running.

You'd think so, but quite awkward at times.

Like:
Window roller bushes, you think these would be a few pence from the dealer? Nope, Aftermarket? Nope, Rare Group buy? Maybe, if Royal Fail doesn't muller them in the post.
Windscreen Trim? Nope.
Fan Resistors? Nope.
Wings? Nope (not even a pattern part)

There's more, that are just damn awkward to get a hold of, some bits from the passat fit for the dash, some bits from the golf fits, anything bespoke to the Corrado is rapidly disappearing sadly, and considering in about 7 years they failed to crack 100k of the buggers.

[Ozzie Osmond]

My definition of too old is,

• No ABS
• No airbags
• Poor crash performance

So in round terms any decent car built from about the mid-1990s is worth looking after.

[Perd Hapley]

300bhp/ton said:

I don't think 20 years is old for a car. But I'd avoid main dealers where possible for most parts on such cars.

Is the VW support really this poor???

I have a 1977 TR7 and you can buy almost all the parts for it off the shelf still. Same for my 78 and 79 Land Rovers.

It seems cars have to go through an awkward phase between being 'current' with manufacturer support and being 'classic' with a large catalogue of remanufactured bits. There must be little point investing in remanufacturing certain items while there's still hundreds of the cars being broken for spares.

[dapearson]

Depends how well they've taken care of themselves. Some can be in their 40s and still quite attractive...



...or were we talking about cars?

[Hrimfaxi]

As a classic Mini owner, there's no such thing as too old - but it helps that the Mini scene is huge, with a vast amount of support/help and parts available.

[JB!]

you think Corrado parts are rare, try ringing up for MK2 Rallye bits!!!!


the-corrado.net look for stuff breaking...

I run a '91 MK2 golf as a daily drive, but as soon as engine and driveline parts become harder to get they are 2nd car material or do what i've done and fit a newer engine and box, the mk4 24v will go in yours fairly easily...

also you don't NEED a fan cowl, just get a SPAL slimline and a good repro rad from VALEO or something, coirrado VR rads and MK2 1.3 rads are common for MK2 engine swaps.

[leafspring]

Every owners least favourite reply when looking for older parts... "Part No: 123456 Superseded by Part No: 09876"