Getting ready to pull the trigger! Need opinions ASAP.

Hey guys..

Found the car I have been looking for. Spent several months on Fooberts, Cars.com, Autotrader and all the other sites. Need some opinions.

Located a 2011 4DR Golf TDI with Sunroof that has 70,000 miles at a dealer out of state. Emailed back and forth, photos look good, carfax is clean. Dealer says car is in very good condition and has all necessary service completed. Carfax shows this as well. I have already booked a flight but still have a few hours to back out if necessary.

The dealer said that all inspections have been done on this car to list it as CPO but they have not listed it as such in an effort to keep the price down. They offered me the Certification, if I wanted it, for $475.00 (which would come with an additional 2yr 24,000 warranty. I passed.

Long story short, here are my concerns.

- According to carfax, the vehicle had the complete fuel system replaced 2,000 miles ago. I assume this was due to the well known HPFP failure. Should I be concerned? Better that this was taken care of before I purchased the vehicle? That is my thought.

- Also noted on their inspection of the vehicle are the following:

1) Tires are "cupped" and tech recommended replacement. I know this could be the result of a poor alignment, worn suspension parts, or over inflated tires, the latter being the least likely cause. The dealer assures me that the tires have a good amount of tread and their are no suspension issues per their inspection. They are trying to convince me that the "cupping" condition could be the result of the vehicle being out of alignment or the tires being "out of round" Thoughts?

2) Tech noted that the Serpentine belt should be replaced. I questioned this as it seems a bit pre-mature with 70,000 miles on the car. They said that in order to qualify as CPO, the vehicle would have to have the belt replaced. I have already beat them up on the price, and they are NOT willing to replace the belt as part of our negotiated deal. Thoughts? I will be driving this car several hundred miles home and do not want to have a failure of any kind.

Other things I should look for when I inspect this vehicle that could have been unintentionally or intentionally overlooked by the dealer? Please give me your thoughts. I literally have hours to make a decision here. I am scheduled to fly out tomorrow AM.

Thanks
Jeff

Nothing? No opinions?

Save your money. The dealer is not trustworthy.

2 year warranty is worthless unless it is honored at any dealer in the country. Verify this. Tires get "cupped" because of misalignment or suspension problems, not over inflation. Beyond that is doesn't look too bad. Be willing to travel there and walk away from the deal and fly home.

Well. I appreciate the responses. It is to late for me to cancel the flight and get a refund so it looks like I will fly out tomorrow. I really hate doing business with car dealers, VW dealers specifically. I am even more leary about out of state, sight unseen type sales.

The deal with the serp belt.... because I elected NOT to pay the additional $475.00 for the warranty, the dealer said they will not include the replacement of the belt in my pre-negotiated price. I am buying the vehicle as a regular pre-owned vehicle and not a "certified" vehicle unless I fork over the $475.00.

The salesman stated that if I wanted it CPO I could decide at the last minute and he would have the belt replaced and give me the warranty (2 years/24,000 miles). Every other goofy inspection has been done, but apparently, to CPO the car, the belt needs to be replaced.

Like I said originally, Based on the carfax, it appears the HPFP already failed on this car 2,000 miles ago and the entire fuel system was replaced by VW. So, I am gambling that I will not have another HPFP failure.

I will see what happens. Should be there around noon tomorrow. I am an auto insurance appraiser by trade (Have been for 16 years) very few things go unnoticed by me when it comes to cosmetics and mechanics of vehicles. I told the salesman this. If this vehicle is not as described mechanically/cosmetically and has other issues that the salesman "failed" to mention, heads will roll. lol.. I think the salesman knows that I am serious.

Hopefully everything goes as planned. I will report back here with my experience sometime Sunday. I have a 750 mile drive back home tomorrow.

Thanks
Jeff

By the way... I forgot to mention, the Golf is a Manual.

MichVW said:

By the way... I forgot to mention, the Golf is a Manual.

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What are you paying for this car sight unseen...pre negotiated. What bs really....

USA Vehicle transfer Out-of-State

tdi90hp said:

What are you paying for this car sight unseen...pre negotiated. What bs really....

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In Michigan, there is a lot of salt applied to the roads during the winter, as well as IL,WI,IN, etc....

There are several listings for TDIs around the Michigan Area, for 2011s, and the prices are all in 18 -25 K range for Vehicles that have 30-40 thousand Miles on it.

There are some Limes that come up for sale, that are not available locally, so because it is going out of state , the dealer knows, there is little chance they will get sued for selling a defective car, even though it is not CPO ( Certified Prior Owner) .

The difference is in the size of the risk, as this purchaser knows the 'Risk' it is safe to say the price is significantly discounted from the going prices in the NE USA.

Based, on the information, this means the car is not the next state over (4 hour drive), or the next one to that (8-10 hours).

There was one listed in New Jersey with no photos online, and No Price in the listing.

So as long as the buyer knows the risks associated with these limes, then its "Caveat Emptor".

It may be sweet, it may be sour. My guess is 5 to 10 thousand for the Car, and another hundred or so for airfare. The 480 could be wasted money since, once the car drives off the lot basically, its all the new owner's responsibility.

Won't know until the owner drives it for a bit, then discovers why the original owner wanted to sell.

[Probably got so fed up with VWoA, after the HPFP problem, and others that they changed to another Brand]

Just my $0.018 worth of words. (discount for Being Can/US Conversion)....

tdi90hp said:

What are you paying for this car sight unseen...pre negotiated. What bs really....

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Why is it BS? No money has exchanged hands. Before I sign anything I will be sure to inspect the car, test drive it, and check everything out. I have the option of walking away. How else would you make an out of state deal? Fly out on every car you think might be good?


Either way, The car is several states away (south) and I am paying much, much less than $18,000.00. Several thousand less.

I would never by a used car from Michigan or the surrounding area right now. on 8/11/2014 metro Detroit had terrible flooding, as an insurance appraiser, I personally totaled over 300 hundred vehicles for water intrusion. Our company received 13,900 flood claims. There are probably plenty other vehicles in the immediate area that had water in the interior, and rather than settling with the insurance company and getting a branded "flood title" the owner just got out the shop vac and called it good. Buyers beware... Not saying that this couldn't happen anywhere, but it was a complete catastrophe here. 15 foot of water under the overpasses, cars completely submerged.... a mess.

Case in Point.. there is a 2010 JSW manual 12 miles from me at Bill Fox Chevrolet. It has 90,000 miles and has been listed for $15,000 for almost a month. I am sure I could get it for less. Had a body tech friend of mine who works at the dealer check this car out and he said it looks like a solid vehicle. I really wanted a golf or I would have been all over this. I would have first confirmed that is was never involved in flooding of any kind. May be a good vehicle for someone else that is looking. Platinum gray, no sunroof, heated seats.. Nice Car..

So I am off to the airport. I will let you guys know what happens. Thanks for the input.

Jeff

Does the $475 CPO certification include the price of the new belt or is that a separate charge? I agree that as long as the CPO warranty is honored country wide, then it is worth it. One thing to remember about the Detroit flooded, and else where, is that those cars car travel many miles from auction to auction until they find a lot to sit on and get sold. I remember seeing reports of hurricane flooded cars from NC showing up as far away as Chicago.

03_01_TDI said:

^. It's often done to title wash the salvage claim.

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Yep, a lot of that happened around here after Sandy.

Well I bought it.... And I will say after driving it 750 miles last night, it is a great car. It is raining right now or i would post photos. Picked the car up from a dealer in Atlanta. There were two other people there looking at the car when I arrived and there was another gentleman who had an appointment to buy the car if my deal fell through.

Yesterday was a very long day. Planes, trains an automobiles. Left my house at 4:45am to catch my 6:30am flight out of Detroit. Connection in Charlotte and arrived in Atlanta at 10:50am. 45 Minute train ride to the station where I had agreed to meet the salesman. Arrived at the dealer, inspected and test drove the car, and headed back to Detroit at 2:30pm. took me 11.5 hours with three pee stops and one stop to eat. Car drove flawlessly and I got 622 miles on my first tank of fuel (even driving through the mountains of Kentucky and Tenn. .)
I generally speed on long trips... so the cruise was set at 70-78 through most of Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. I HATE Ohio!! construction the whole length of I-75 through Ohio. 65,55 and even 45 mile per hour limits. I lost a lot of time in Ohio. 11.5 hours total drive time.

What I got:
2011 Golf TDI 4DR manual in Blue graphite metallic
Charcoal interior
Bi-Xenon Lamps
Sunroof
17" Portos
71267 miles on the clock.

The good:
The car is in great shape. Really, it appears to have been well taken care of. The interior appears new and looks like no one has ever sat in it. The steering wheel shows some wear from 70,000 of use. Everything else is in working order. The paint, glass (it has a nice tint...not too dark and not to light) all look great.

The bad:
It has noisy Falkan tires which appear to be nearly new and the dealer said were "cupped". I haven't done any research on the tires but the create a lot of road noise. I assume they are cheapies.. or rated for 90000 miles and hard as rocks. I will look into this and possibly just use them until winter hits and then get some 16" wheels wrapped in Hakkapeltias What are VW steelies going for these days?

The body has a few small dings and stone chips but nothing that wasn't expected on a vehicle with 70,000. The right side wheels have a bit of rash but nothing that I cant live with. There is one dent that is under the drivers side door mirror that is a bit more major and directly on the body line. It cannot be removed with paintless dent repair. The rest can.

So far I am a very Happy Camper. Very tired, and even surprised that I am awake, but I am happy. I did not get the CPO warranty. Looking back, I probably should have but too late now. I hope all the bugs are worked out of this one. I plan on driving the heck out of it. I will try to post pics later.

Thanks
Jeff

Welcome to the club. Glad everything worked out in your deal.

MichVW said:

Well I bought it.... And I will say after driving it 750 miles last night, it is a great car. It is raining right now or i would post photos. Picked the car up from a dealer in Atlanta. There were two other people there looking at the car when I arrived and there was another gentleman who had an appointment to buy the car if my deal fell through.

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This is a scam some dealers employ to pressure you into buying the car. I have seen other salesmen posing as buyers and they receive a cut of the profits from the car. I am unmoved by such pressures and once passed up a car despite it, only to see it still on the lot a month later. When I pulled in to check it out, the person interested in buying it came over to see if they could answer any of my questions. They obviously didn't remember me but I just laughed and drove off. never returning.

I would recommend having it checked head to toe by a local guru/mechanic of your choice who knows the platform. This way you can potentially fend off problems the CPO missed.

I am dying to hear how Jeff's experience went. I am also looking for the perfect tdi and may go out of state. Now I'm worried about cover ups of things like flood damage and such. I see lots of good prices on higher mileage 2009-10 Jettas at small type dealers. Is it safe to trust carfax reports?
I hope Jeff made a good choice...

$475 for two years of warranty? I would buy that right now if I could CPO my 2003 Jetta! That's so cheap!

If the tires are cupped there is a problem. It most likely worn shocks and or struts. 70K is more than enough miles to wear them out. The tires are probably noisy because they are cupped.

It needs to be addressed before you buy new tires. Once you cup tires it isn't going to fix its self. If you put snow tires on without fixing the issues they will cup super fast since they are a softer compound.

It seems like you got a good car. Congrats on the purchase!

giuseppe_b said:

I am dying to hear how Jeff's experience went. I am also looking for the perfect tdi and may go out of state. Now I'm worried about cover ups of things like flood damage and such. I see lots of good prices on higher mileage 2009-10 Jettas at small type dealers. Is it safe to trust carfax reports?
I hope Jeff made a good choice...

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Other than traveling for almost 24 hours straight, I had a good experience. No issues what so ever. I made it a point to get as many photos from the dealer as I could. I advised them to take up close photos of any damages, dings, dents or other issues. I found nothing on the vehicle that was not discussed previously.

as others on this site have mentioned, buying a used TDI is a gamble. Especially with the CR, electronic everything cars. I am hoping that with good maintenance, this car will last me a long time. Like I said, it performed flawlessly on the ride home and all day yesterday during my 100+ mixed driving for work. The only think I am not please with are the cheap Falken tires. I just ordered 15 inch steel wheels and 195/65/15 Nokian Hakkapelitta R2 snow tires with VW center caps. I will be swapping wheels/tires sometime in November.

I am thinking the issue with the cupping tires may have to do with the car being out of alignment coupled with the crappy $75.00 Falken tires. The dealer aligned it prior to me taking delivery and replaced the oil (VW spec) oil filter, Cabin Filter and Fuel filter. I let go of the wheel at 75 mph on the highway and the car tracked straight as an arrow. Did not notice any excessive bounciness which would lead me to believe the struts are worn. So far so good.

Jeff

giuseppe_b...

I also reviewed a few cars being sold from smaller, independent dealers. Those scared me a bit. If you review the car fax, many were purchased at auction. Based on my knowledge, and someone can correct me if I am wrong, but usually auction cars have sat on a dealers used car lot for over 30 days. At this point, the dealers decides to cut ties with the car and sends it to auction trying to re-coup as much money as they can. I made it a point to steer clear of anything that was sold at an auction and purchased by "Jim's auto sales" in No where, USA. Just my choice. There may be success stories of others buying from independent dealers or even auctions, but if I was going to travel across the country for a car, I was going to take as many possible problems out of the equation as possible.

I wanted a vehicle with a traceable history, 1 owner car fax, clean title and no history of accidents. Whether or not Carfax is accurate is debatable, but I think it is better than nothing. Will I have issues with my 2011 Golf? Who knows. That is a risk you take when buying any used car, especially a TDI.

Hope this helps.
Jeff

From what I've been told, the auction route can also be used if the dealer doesn't think that particular model will sell. They keep pretty good records of what does and doesn't move on their lot. With some of these mega dealers, there is probably less of that since they just haul the car from one lot to another.

I think you guys are right. I looked at a 2012 Golf TDI today, 4 dr with 79,000 miles. I liked it actually, even though I have been looking for Jettas with Leatherette seats. This car did come from a VW dealer, who had it on its lot for a while and it didn't sell due to the miles. Also there is an accident report on the carfax and autocheck. This small local dealer says that they had it inspected and found no signs of body work. I called the VW dealer and they did verify all services, including the DSG!

Also, it had Falken tires and they were a bit noisy. If I can talk the wife into spending a bit more for this car than we were planning, I may just do it. They also liked my trade. Who knows...???

giuseppe_b said:

I think you guys are right. I looked at a 2012 Golf TDI today, 4 dr with 79,000 miles. I liked it actually, even though I have been looking for Jettas with Leatherette seats. This car did come from a VW dealer, who had it on its lot for a while and it didn't sell due to the miles. Also there is an accident report on the carfax and autocheck. This small local dealer says that they had it inspected and found no signs of body work. I called the VW dealer and they did verify all services, including the DSG!

Also, it had Falken tires and they were a bit noisy. If I can talk the wife into spending a bit more for this car than we were planning, I may just do it. They also liked my trade. Who knows...???

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Good to hear... Good luck. I like the golf. Sporty compact that has enough guts to get out of it's own way yet still gets really good mileage.