Hi There! My 6TT introduction thread
Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 3:43 pm
I've been a German car guy for a long time, since I bought an '82 VW Scirocco II way back in '87. Since then I've had a '91 VW Mk2 Jetta Coupe (bought new), traded that on a '90 VW Corrado G60, then when that was stolen I bought a 93+ VW Corrado SLC VR6 new - which I still have 24 years and 2 months later. I tried a '99 E36 M3 for five years and it was a fabulous car, sold that one back in 2006 or so. Since then I've bought & sold several other Corrados over the years and have three right now. (Yes, I'm an idiot, no one needs one Corrado much less three of the things.)
After a particularly grueling first and second quarter at work last year I decided I wanted something nice, like (for example) a 911 Turbo. Finding that 996 Turbos were (gasp) in my price range it was a matter of finding one that I liked. I don't care for gray, white, or silver cars and I don't particularly like black either. Too monochrome. My Scirocco and M3 were gray, my G60 Corrado was black.
After a lot of research on those other sites, back when they were actually fun, I decided a wanted a blue 996TT, 2003 or later, manual coupe, less than $50k. I was focused on Lapis Blue. I looked all over and if I wanted silver with black leather I could have my choice of several dozen decent cars; blue not so much. I missed one Lapis car by a few hours, then I went to check out another that was advertised as "Lapis Blue" but was actually Midnight Blue.
Know what? I liked Midnight Blue even better. And I ended up with this one:
Yes, I know it's gray inside and has draped leather seats. I really like the gray and the carbon fiber adds enough contrast to make it look very good.
I bought it from a dealer in Chicago and drove it back to Massachusetts. The dealer probably marked it up and I might have done better on a private sale if I could have found a color I liked. I went to the dealer with a return plane ticket in my pocket prepared to walk if it wasn't right. It was as advertised, we took a test drive on Lake Shore Drive and I made sure to test that it pulled the full 0.8 bar boost! Needless to say I ended up with the car and I'm very happy with it. 33k miles, complete service history, no mods at all, and even the full four disk PCM2 navi set. I'm the second owner. I figure it cost the original owner right around $3.33/mile for depreciation.....
It took until late October to get the paperwork straightened out so my 996TT didn't do much driving over the winter.
Now that the weather has been good I am driving it more. Some maintenance is required which I'll take care of once I have a few problems on my other cars fixed.
Other cars I've got? My red Corrado has been known to inhabit various racetracks from time to time. It's got a Vortech blower on the VR6 engine and is a hoot to drive.
I swapped my purple Corrado to have an R32 (3.2 liter 24V VR6) engine and matching 6-speed trans. I did all the wiring, made all the adapters, the whole thing myself. This was quite an experience... and this car is a hoot to drive as well.
My one-owner green Corrado is in need of body repairs, after 280,000 miles and 24 New England winters. I'm afraid to show it.
I've also got a first generation Datsun 280Z hidden away, an actual rust free Arizona survivor car with original paint & interior. I used to draw Z cars during class when I was in middle school back in the late 70's, my first car was a different first-gen Z car and I must always have one.
Anyway I'm here now! This looks like a great group of people who aren't all, uhm, persnickety? I can't think of the word to describe some of the individuals on the other forums.
After a particularly grueling first and second quarter at work last year I decided I wanted something nice, like (for example) a 911 Turbo. Finding that 996 Turbos were (gasp) in my price range it was a matter of finding one that I liked. I don't care for gray, white, or silver cars and I don't particularly like black either. Too monochrome. My Scirocco and M3 were gray, my G60 Corrado was black.
After a lot of research on those other sites, back when they were actually fun, I decided a wanted a blue 996TT, 2003 or later, manual coupe, less than $50k. I was focused on Lapis Blue. I looked all over and if I wanted silver with black leather I could have my choice of several dozen decent cars; blue not so much. I missed one Lapis car by a few hours, then I went to check out another that was advertised as "Lapis Blue" but was actually Midnight Blue.
Know what? I liked Midnight Blue even better. And I ended up with this one:
Yes, I know it's gray inside and has draped leather seats. I really like the gray and the carbon fiber adds enough contrast to make it look very good.
I bought it from a dealer in Chicago and drove it back to Massachusetts. The dealer probably marked it up and I might have done better on a private sale if I could have found a color I liked. I went to the dealer with a return plane ticket in my pocket prepared to walk if it wasn't right. It was as advertised, we took a test drive on Lake Shore Drive and I made sure to test that it pulled the full 0.8 bar boost! Needless to say I ended up with the car and I'm very happy with it. 33k miles, complete service history, no mods at all, and even the full four disk PCM2 navi set. I'm the second owner. I figure it cost the original owner right around $3.33/mile for depreciation.....
It took until late October to get the paperwork straightened out so my 996TT didn't do much driving over the winter.
Now that the weather has been good I am driving it more. Some maintenance is required which I'll take care of once I have a few problems on my other cars fixed.
Other cars I've got? My red Corrado has been known to inhabit various racetracks from time to time. It's got a Vortech blower on the VR6 engine and is a hoot to drive.
I swapped my purple Corrado to have an R32 (3.2 liter 24V VR6) engine and matching 6-speed trans. I did all the wiring, made all the adapters, the whole thing myself. This was quite an experience... and this car is a hoot to drive as well.
My one-owner green Corrado is in need of body repairs, after 280,000 miles and 24 New England winters. I'm afraid to show it.
I've also got a first generation Datsun 280Z hidden away, an actual rust free Arizona survivor car with original paint & interior. I used to draw Z cars during class when I was in middle school back in the late 70's, my first car was a different first-gen Z car and I must always have one.
Anyway I'm here now! This looks like a great group of people who aren't all, uhm, persnickety? I can't think of the word to describe some of the individuals on the other forums.
