2014 Sportwagen CPO debacle. Check your fluids!

Funny story...

Local dealer has a nice 2014 sportwagen. 33k Miles Black on black with nav and DSG. Ran good and was pretty clean except you could tell that it had been stored in the CA desert for awhile because dirt/dust could be seen in the engine compartment, interior door hinges. Undercarriage, crevices and anywhere a detailer might miss.

After driving the car I parked it and checked the fluids. Everything looked OK until I pulled the oil cap and it seemed like there was alot of moisture and oil vapor on the bottom of the cap. I had been idling and driving the car for over 20 minutes so this seemed unusual. I then noticed there was a pinkish hue to this oil/water mix.

I mentioned this the the salesman and grabbed a white paper towel. I wiped some of this pink oil on the towel for contrast and it was definately pink.

Pulled the car in to the service lane and the sales guy got out, removed the cap and went to talk to a technician about my concerns. After a few minutes he came back and said that it was pink. No doubt about that. He said it could be the brand of oil or a dye used to find oil leaks. However no service records indicated that any leak trace had been done. I told him that in my experience Castrol 507 oil is not pink but the coolant sure is. I said unless they are willing to do oil analysis to check for coolant contamination there is no way I’m buying this car.

So did this CPO JSW have a blown head gasket ? Or what? I was thinking maybe the EGR or oil cooler could be compromised but haven’t heard of any issues with this in the MK VI.

I’m sure they will just put it back on the lot for someone else to buy but seriously this is a CPO car?!? DubyaTeeEff??

A head gasket failure after only 33k miles? Ouch, that would be terrible. I'm not sure what exactly is done beyond a crap engine tune when VW takes them back, but maybe they pulled the head for some reason.

There are so many units available right now since VW is flooding the market, best to just keep moving and find another. When I was looking for mine, I had my pick of units - even at one dealer that had a six-pack of the same car to choose from.

Your mistake is assuming that the CPO thing actually means something. If you get a bad CPO car, their Mickey Mouse CPO inspection will not show it. On my pal's 2007 2.5 gasser with an automatic and 69,000 miles, the CPO inspection check box stating all required maintenance had been performed was checked. The record from the owners manual showed that only one oil change had been done. For some mysterious reason, no other maintenance records were available.

Their response was that VW techs were under obligation to maintain the highest moral standard in regards to the cars they inspect and in no way would a VW mechanic ever lie on a CPO inspection report. The biggest reason for the CPO thing is to get you into the system so that hopefully, you will keep coming back for service.

IMHO, there is a very good chance the lot boy did the CPO inspection when he detailed the car.

If there is pink in the oil, most likely it is coolant. If you are going to keep going to the dealer, you should really relax when they slip it to you. It will hurt a lot less that way.

Ol'Rattler said:

Your mistake is assuming that the CPO thing actually means something. If you get a bad CPO car, their Mickey Mouse CPO inspection will not show it. On my pal's 2007 2.5 gasser with an automatic and 69,000 miles, the CPO inspection check box stating all required maintenance had been performed was checked. The record from the owners manual showed that only one oil change had been done. For some mysterious reason, no other maintenance records were available.

Their response was that VW techs were under obligation to maintain the highest moral standard in regards to the cars they inspect and in no way would a VW mechanic ever lie on a CPO inspection report. The biggest reason for the CPO thing is to get you into the system so that hopefully, you will keep coming back for service.

IMHO, there is a very good chance the lot boy did the CPO inspection when he detailed the car.

If there is pink in the oil, most likely it is coolant. If you are going to keep going to the dealer, you should really relax when they slip it to you. It will hurt a lot less that way.

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The dealer in question is offering me a $1000 rebate on any new or used car because I used them when my '09 was turned in. They have had some good prices on fixed TDIs and the rebate makes it that much better.

Ironically they had a nice looking 2014 w/ 26K miles for sale for the same price about a month ago. The carfax showed that it was turned in and put up for sale, so not an auction car. However it wasn't A CPO so I never looked at it. HOW FOOLISH as it appears that CPO doesn't mean $hit!

I'm sure it was coolant. I wonder if it was overheated or run without oil or coolant during servicing or the fix which caused the headgasket to blow. Something happened.

Also noticed it was sold at auction twice within a week. I wonder if the first buyer checked it out and found the coolant in the oil then backed out of the sale so it was re-auctioned.

They still have it listed for sale on their website. I'm sure some schmuck will buy it. Not me though!

I'm looking for a 2009-2014 sportwagen. Here is my WTB thread: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=495024