Low miles Vs. No maintenance history

http://lubbock.craigslist.org/cto/4133659503.html

The price is actually 8000$ obo

So it has super low miles but no history that comes with it. Is the benefit of being basically new for a TDI worth taking the chance of not knowing what the car's brief history was like? In general its better to go with a car that has decent service records and higher mileage or am i wrong and with certain TDI's with low milage its better to take a chance and just start catch up maintenance?

A ten year-old car is not new. My questions is why no history? Is it a salvage title? If you do buy it, you must assume that nothing has been done and start with all service required for a car with 80,000 miles.

Well i texted him out of curiosity and asked if he had any records and he said no, i understand there is always a carfax to see if there is anything out there.

I would not touch that car.... There is always history on a car. It was at one time NEW and went to a VW Dealer for Service ????? I hope. No history looks like a scam or so.

I don't post here much.....this may be my first post, just don't remember. I do feel compelled to respond however.

These cars are used cars and not much different than others. When looking to purchase, you should do your research, know what to look for, and make an informed decision. The lack of maintenance records is one indicator to be aware of, but NOT a disqualification by itself. Evidence of neglect and lack of maintenance is another issue.

I just bought an 03 NB with 67,000 miles on it. The owner claimed to have bought it new and it was driven by his wife....he had another car. The Carfax showed it the mileage as correct and showed some of the regular maintenance had been done, but not all. The owner claimed that he had performed regular maintenance as required by the book, but did not have receipts. The car was 4 hours away so I decided it was worth the trip to inspect it and off we went.

When we arrived, the body had some scratches, but it was very clean under the hood and the interior was like new. When started, it had a squeal in the fan belt that went away after a few seconds, but otherwise sounded like a new tdi. After driving the car and looking under and around it, I made a much lower offer than asking price based on the lack of records, the squeal, and the scratches on the body. I also had cash in my pocket which I showed him.

He accepted the offer. It turns out after talking to him that his wife spends a lot of time out of the country, so that was the reason for the low miles.

After bringing the car home we had it buffed and fixed the squeal. Our VW mechanic looked the car over and said we stole the car. At 80,000 miles we will have the required maintenance performed and all receipts will be kept for the next owner.

So what we have now is a car that looks and runs like new for fraction of the cost. It also gets 50 mpg on the hiway and 45 around town.

My point is that a lack of maintenance records should not be the reason for not purchasing an otherwise good car. They are only part of the purchase decision.

It should help reduce the price accordingly however.

I think it's safe to assume that the timing belt has never been changed, and I would also be curious as to what recalls had been performed, if any; in particular the glow plugs. I did not have the GP recalls done on my '05, and I'm glad I didn't.

I think hutchman's post is spot on!

my 0.02-
To OP: I agree with above, wouldn't let the lack of history prevent you from buying it, but should factor into price and may be a good point of leverage for a reduction in price.

To OP and to #5 hutchmanhd...
Sounds like hutchmanhd may have gotten a nice gem, and congrats. But I want to give a strong recommendation, depending on what has / has not been done... If that car is original, at 67K it is still technically below the timing belt mileage change interval (which, I think for 03 model year, was 100K miles. May have been 80K miles, hence his reference to 80K?) At any rate, the wisdom on these forums indicates that a timing belt should be changed at 5 to 6 years, or stated mileage, whichever comes first. Point being... if you have a 2003 model year vehicle with 67K miles on it and cannot verify that the proper TB change has been done (with the full compliment of associated bits, and there are many...) then the TB is wayyy overdue for change based on calendar. Given the amount of extra work ($$) that must be done if a timing belt breaks (versus just doing a normal TB service), I'd strongly recommend get the timing belt job done now, by a properly qualified TDI mechanic (list available on these forums)... don't wait for 80K to do that.