What to Look For When Buying Used?

silvapain said:

I'm liking this one a lot better. 20K less miles, plus HID. It does have NAV though. Oh, well.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...pp=50&feedSegId=28705&aff=national&listType=1

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I helped a client get a certified 2010 DSG autobahn for less than that at that exact dealer, with a tad less mileage, some 6+ months ago.

I'd ask if its still considered certified - I can't recall if its private party only transfer (with fee) or if a dealer can re-certify it again. The headlights look tinted, hopefully not permanently. I do not recall that car from our local scene though. If its not certified, you should def have more wiggle room there. Be careful, they also try to sell you on GAP and service warranties/coverages.

I checked their site and that car is not certified. I do not recall (you'd have to peep the VW certified info on the VW website) but it may not transfer over to you. If it's not certified by the dealer again, it begs the question as to "why"?

Excellent info! I'm not used to worrying about warranties, so I forget about that sort of stuff. I voided the warranty on my Mazda looooooong ago...

not bad then, I'd just be careful as GTI's can have their issues too, similar to MS3s

I'd say you can probably get them down to $20,750 or so.

They weren't the dealing type last night. The car had a dent in the LF door, and a bunch of light scratches in the paint that were poorly touched up. They totally lowballed me on my trade-in, and scoffed at my counter offer for the GTI. Basically told me to pound sand.


I expect they'll call me back in a day or two. If they fix the dent, clean up the paint, and go down a grand in the asking price I'll talk.


Oh, and the headlights did have vinyl film tint on them. Easy enough to yank off if we buy the car.

GunKata said:

not bad then, I'd just be careful as GTI's can have their issues too, similar to MS3s

I'd say you can probably get them down to $20,750 or so.

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Haha, unless the GTI's have a tendency to do this when you mod them, I doubt it'll be as... temperamental... as my MS3.





Snapped the #4 connecting rod and it went right through the block. Granted, I was running E85 and beating the living piss out of the stock K04 (~350WHp, ~450 WTq peak). About $5K and six months later I finished building a new forged high compression engine and gone BT.

silvapain said:

They weren't the dealing type last night. The car had a dent in the LF door, and a bunch of light scratches in the paint that were poorly touched up. They totally lowballed me on my trade-in, and scoffed at my counter offer for the GTI. Basically told me to pound sand.


I expect they'll call me back in a day or two. If they fix the dent, clean up the paint, and go down a grand in the asking price I'll talk.


Oh, and the headlights did have vinyl film tint on them. Easy enough to yank off if we buy the car.

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cool. yeah, they play hardball there, no doubt.

Lol @cracked block

Found your thread. Is the lady coming up for MMWNM? I've got a buddy here with a MKVI who may be around. You can talk to him if you want.

Sent while "doing the speed limit"

maisonvi said:

Found your thread. Is the lady coming up for MMWNM? I've got a buddy here with a MKVI who may be around. You can talk to him if you want.

Sent while "doing the speed limit"

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Unfortunately, she and Danny won't be able to make it up for the big meet this weekend. I'll definitely ask him some questions though.

Not sure if you purchased yet but...

I test drove a bunch of GTIs before buying my CPO and I noticed a few things.

Drive it on the freeway. Don't remember what it's called but the rubber seal thingy around the door tends to crack and wear out and you can hear a whistling if you drive it above 60 mph. Heard that in a few cars.

Check in the trunk for all of the crap you're supposed to get like the spare, the tool to actually get the lugs off, the jack to get the car up in the air, etc. All that stuff has cut outs in the back and if you see outlines for stuff but something isn't in it's place chances are it is missing entirely. This was pretty common.

If it has over 10,000 miles or more make sure they did the service on it you're supposed to receive for free every 10,000. Doesn't seem like a lot but one dealership didn't want to provide this service to a GTI I was looking at even though it had 12,000 on it and they considered it long and gone. Maintenance is important so make sure it's been done or that they'll provide you with any maintenance it has missed with no hassle.

If you're not buying certified (CPO) make sure they aren't charging you the added fees for it being certified. I was talking to a service manager and it actually adds about $800 to the car's price when it's certified. I think this may be the cost of the CPO warranty but not entirely sure. I personally wanted CPO because the warranty means a lot to me but you should be aware.

Hopefully some of this helps. Good luck with your purchase

Well, we went back to the Naperville dealership last night and picked up the one we test drive last week. Looks good in our garage:







As you can see, I already pulled off the headlight vinyl tint.