Hi all, Steal of the century?

Just wanted to reach out and say hi to the community. I just purchased my first GTI. I am pretty sure I basically stole it. Found it online at a dealership in MN (I'm in MI) that specializes in buying salvage cars from auction and reselling them. It is a 2012 2D Autobahn DSG with 48K miles on it. I was able to talk the dealer down to $6,700. I don't think they knew what they had. This car was not in a wreck previously, it had hail damage. After popping the hood, I saw a unitronic cold air intake and was pretty certain it had been tuned. After purchasing it, I stopped at a unitronic dealer and found out it was Stage 2. I can not get a good look at what it has yet, due to the snow up here and the fact that this thing is absolutely slammed down to the ground. The wheels actually are partially covered buy the body. Its so low, in fact, that it I will have to have it adjusted to be able to use it up here, let alone get it into my driveway without scraping. But just a quick glance tells me it has the tune with all the required extras, upgraded breaks, suspension, aftermarket exhaust, and god knows what else. Can't wait to find out, its like unwrapping presents Christmas morning. Pretty sure I paid less for the car than the cost of the upgrades it has. The interior is absolutely immaculate, just missing the driver side air vent?!? No idea what happened there. Anyway, just wanted to say hi, share my good fortune, and say thanks in advance. I am sure I will be posting a lot in the near future as I jump into learning about this car.

It's a salvage?

Cadubya said:

It's a salvage?

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Technically, no. It was not a branded title or anything because they never submitted it. They bought it, did nothing to it, and passed it to me. So I will be getting a clean title back. Still has tons of dents, which I am deciding if it is worth repairing them or not. But everything else about it is solid.

So when you say "they specialize in buying salvage car and then reselling them" what does salvage mean? Used? Or damaged? Good deal if it's a clean title car with no accidents.

You got some aftermarket tails as well

Cadubya said:

So when you say "they specialize in buying salvage car and then reselling them" what does salvage mean? Used? Or damaged? Good deal if it's a clean title car with no accidents.

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They usually buy mostly "domestic" vehicles that have salvage titles at auction, then fix them and sell them rebuilt. But somehow, this ended up at auction. Since they don't do VW usually, the owner didn't want to jump into it so he was ok with letting it go cheap. So this one will not be on a salvaged title, it will be clear title. The thing I have a hard time understanding is why someone would spend all that time and money on this car and then leave the parts on it when they gave it up.

jebusfreek666 said:

They usually buy mostly "domestic" vehicles that have salvage titles at auction, then fix them and sell them rebuilt. But somehow, this ended up at auction. Since they don't do VW usually, the owner didn't want to jump into it so he was ok with letting it go cheap. So this one will not be on a salvaged title, it will be clear title. The thing I have a hard time understanding is why someone would spend all that time and money on this car and then leave the parts on it when they gave it up.

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I'm sure someone on here has seen the car and can fill you in.

Cadubya said:

I'm sure someone on here has seen the car and can fill you in.

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I was kind of thinking that it may have been owned by someone on here. The GPS still has a "home" address logged in it. I think it was in ID or CO, but I don't remember. The car has a DipColorado sticker on the back window, and I think it was previously completely covered in black plastidip. The spoiler still has it peeling off, and I can see some peeling at the edges of some of the body panels.

jebusfreek666 said:

I was kind of thinking that it may have been owned by someone on here. The GPS still has a "home" address logged in it. I think it was in ID or CO, but I don't remember. The car has a DipColorado sticker on the back window, and I think it was previously completely covered in black plastidip. The spoiler still has it peeling off, and I can see some peeling at the edges of some of the body panels.

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Is it hail damage? Maybe insurance totaled it. Post on the mk6 fb sites. Probably figure out the owner quicker. You could always mail the address in the nav.

Cadubya said:

Is it hail damage? Maybe insurance totaled it. Post on the mk6 fb sites. Probably figure out the owner quicker. You could always mail the address in the nav.

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Yeah its hail damage. I will still end up with a clean Michigan title though either way. But even if it ended up with a rebuilt title, it would still be worth more than I paid for it by far. Thought about sending a letter to the address. And I may be the only person on earth who doesn't have a fb, just refuse to do it.

I have the same wheels, they are very light and strong.

Nice looking car, congrats.

Hmmm... I agree it's a good deal if you don't mind a car with extensive hail damage. That can't be cheap to fix.

They probably had a boost gauge in the driver side air vent. Simple enough to fix with a new vent pod kit. https://www.urotuning.com/Mk6-2-0T-...CwWFXBwYmmgo7gP_AhGu5m0RJr0HoZYTR0aAhug8P8HAQ

jebusfreek666 said:

Technically, no. It was not a branded title or anything because they never submitted it. They bought it, did nothing to it, and passed it to me. So I will be getting a clean title back.

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Did you check this yourself or are you going by what they tell you? The dealership/seller has nothing to do with determining whether the car is a salvage title or not.

Personally, i don't think this is that great of a steal unless its being turned into a dedicated track car. It has plenty of damage, which will certainly cost a pretty penny to fix. Add that to the $6,700 you paid, and you could get clean, stock, example for around the same price and be fine with resale somewhere down the line. If the title is salvage, which i'm lead to believe is, you're even worse off...

2012TP said:

Did you check this yourself or are you going by what they tell you? The dealership/seller has nothing to do with determining whether the car is a salvage title or not.

Personally, i don't think this is that great of a steal unless its being turned into a dedicated track car. It has plenty of damage, which will certainly cost a pretty penny to fix. Add that to the $6,700 you paid, and you could get clean, stock, example for around the same price and be fine with resale somewhere down the line. If the title is salvage, which i'm lead to believe is, you're even worse off...

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I'm still debating fixing/replacing the panels. Maybe trying to find others that have been wrecked that I can strip from, then repaint. Will probably just live with it though, since I know its going to get tore up with the garbage roads and terrible weather in the U.P. Thanks for the link!

2012TP said:

Did you check this yourself or are you going by what they tell you? The dealership/seller has nothing to do with determining whether the car is a salvage title or not.

Personally, i don't think this is that great of a steal unless its being turned into a dedicated track car. It has plenty of damage, which will certainly cost a pretty penny to fix. Add that to the $6,700 you paid, and you could get clean, stock, example for around the same price and be fine with resale somewhere down the line. If the title is salvage, which i'm lead to believe is, you're even worse off...

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Yes, just waiting on my new title now. And I have no idea where i could find a clean titled, undamaged 2012 GTI with 48K miles for 6,700. I have seen them around 10,000 for double the miles.