Local drug treatment auto auction - donation car

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
This showed up at the Teen Challenge of the Midlands auto auction. This auction is supposed to be the 'creme of the crop' so to speak for what they get for donations.

There are a few rarer cars there, like 64 Corvair Spyder with ho hum paint and mid-70's big A body Malibu in decent shape.

This was brought to my attention several days ago by a friend: 1996 Passat TDI...



155k miles, complete, original, unmolested and well maintained by the PO. No idea where it came from but it can't be an Iowa car based on the undercarriage. Was ordered without the $855 sunroof option.

Only things I could find wrong are the passenger door handles don't work on the outside, inside ones open doors - that's not new, and the driver seat is a little wonky from what was probably a heavier owner. Something in the back mechanism isn't right, it's kind of shaky. Also the fake fog bumper filler on the driver side is cracked and the passenger side one looks to have a little water in it.

It also has the euro headlight switch with the front and rear fog switches and the headlight height adjustment rheostat control, but the rheostat isn't there. Somethings goofy.

I think it's had paint work, one corner of the rear bumper has had sloppy paint work done with non-matching white and the front license plate holder has a lot of white overspray on it. However none of it is recent IMO.

The belly pan is still there and the engine cover too with the caps. Also still has the 5th injector setup so what does that say about dealer maintenance?

The BBS wheels are 15" and the front tires are very good, rear are less but still good. The wheels are not perfect but look very good.

Anyway, my expectation is that it will take quite a bit to leave with it but that's not something we'll know before tomorrow.

I'll be going but I'm not planning on buying it. I just want to see the auction action and maybe get in if it goes for less than I think it really should.

EDIT: It also has the Votex roof rails (no idea about the keys) and a full set of the rubber waffle mats from the Mk3/B3/4 era. Also has the rear roller blind for the cargo area.

Steve
 
Last edited:

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
Wow, from here, that thing looks great! I’m curious to hear what it sells for.

-Todd
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Wow, from here, that thing looks great! I’m curious to hear what it sells for.

-Todd
Yeah, it's pretty great considering the age.

As a side note there's a VW sticker for odometer replacement at 141k miles from 2003, which was 15 years ago, but only 11k (current mileage) miles ago.

It has been sitting somewhere a while, but I would guess based on the integrity it was inside.

IMO the timing belt should be changed pronto!!! I didn't see any docs in the car that said it had been done recently.

Steve
 

Bob S.

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Location
Central MD.
TDI
A B4V, some ALHs & BRMs
Wow, nice looking car. It really is interesting how some of these cars had so little use. With the exception of the sun roof delete, it appears to have been the twin of mine. If the milage is correct, this one averaged & 7K miles per year. In that setting, it will be interesting to see what it goes for.

Perhaps this answers the question of where the missing white rear bumper cover went.

Steve, if it is your project time, consider buying it. It would be tragic if the NC Co. ended up with it.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Wow, nice looking car. It really is interesting how some of these cars had so little use. With the exception of the sun roof delete, it appears to have been the twin of mine. If the milage is correct, this one averaged & 7K miles per year. In that setting, it will be interesting to see what it goes for.

Perhaps this answers the question of where the missing white rear bumper cover went.

Steve, if it is your project time, consider buying it. It would be tragic if the NC Co. ended up with it.
Haha, unlikely the bumper cover is the missing one, it's got some blems I'm sure the other out in CA didn't have. As for NC aren't they probably defunct by now? Can't imagine their tentacles extending into the mid-west this far. It's certainly not a car that originated from their greasy garage stall.

I'm going but not seriously bidding. I already have one garage queen and in order to preserve the B3 wagon that may too end up spending winters inside unless I move south to less salty winter climate.

I will say I'm taking a chunk of cash with me...lol. They want cash purchase or letter of credit. You can use CC's but you pay the 3% surcharge which I'm not about to do.

I have a friend who's bidding also but his limit is lower than mine might be given the originality of the car. Basically if I see it going at a price I think is too low I'll step it.

Word from the auction (I'm not out there yet) is that there's a few people looking at it pretty heavy.

EDIT: This has ABS too...

Steve
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
Word from the auction (I'm not out there yet) is that there's a few people looking at it pretty heavy.

I’m sure they say that about all the cars to ensure your pockets are filled with cash. I almost wonder if these potential buyers know what they’re getting into....

Where do these cars come from? Are they seized cars or something?

-Todd
 

Bob S.

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Location
Central MD.
TDI
A B4V, some ALHs & BRMs
Have you looked underneath? Is it rust free? From the photos, the body panels appear straight. It looks like there might be a slight paint mis-match on the driver's side, But, that might just be the shadows that make it appear different.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
I’m sure they say that about all the cars to ensure your pockets are filled with cash. I almost wonder if these potential buyers know what they’re getting into....

Where do these cars come from? Are they seized cars or something?

-Todd
The people there today for this car knew what they were bidding on. The winner was a gentleman I'd spent some time talking with yesterday. He'd had a 09 TDI that he sold back to VW because of course the offer was too good. He was now driving 328D BMW but had in the past also had a 97 Jetta TDI, that he actually still owned. He invited me over once he gets the car back, I suspect he knows what he's in for.

These cars are donations that people do for tax deduction receipt.

Have you looked underneath? Is it rust free? From the photos, the body panels appear straight. It looks like there might be a slight paint mis-match on the driver's side, But, that might just be the shadows that make it appear different.
It was super clean. A touch of rust discoloration on the rocker flange weld but otherwise it was A1. There was a tiny amount of bubble at the front corner of the left rear door but otherwise it was as clean a car as I've ever seen. Undercarriage was spotless.

The only thing I noticed was the paint mis-match on the rear bumper corner. It was clearly the wrong white and it was masked off in a square, clearly not a professional job. Also the rear bumper was ill-fitting on the right side due to I think the mounting strip that sits underneath it. Since you don't have an opportunity to poke around that much I couldn't do much more than just look at it. Based on the storage areas I don't think the car had been hit.

As much as I think the front bumper cover might have been repainted I don't think any of the main body panels had been repainted. I saw no masking lines or odd feathering areas that lead me to conclude it had ever been painted. There was enough age to the paint that it was unlikely to have had (or needed) to be repainted.

What did the car end up selling for?
The car brought $2900.

I suspect the high bidder would have gone higher. I opted to not participate, I think my friend rode it up to $2300 at which point several others took over. There was a lot of interest in it, I saw several people I knew and there were a lot of folks lingering by it during the auction.

For most of the cars in this auction they were very quick to start and then shut down the engines, which I criticized to the operator after the auction. There's no reason they couldn't idle for at least a few minutes and give the bidders the opportunity to listen.

Fortunately for the Passat TDI the auction coordinator told the assistant to let it run a while. I did notice that it had more vibration than my AHU powered wagon, but that could be a consequence of several things, including the way the early 1Z powered cars run. I don't believe there was anything wrong with the engine at all despite the fact that it deserves to have the 5th injector deleted and perhaps some engine mountings replaced etc. Also, it appeared to have G11 coolant too.

I think the price was very reasonable...

Steve
 

Bob S.

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Location
Central MD.
TDI
A B4V, some ALHs & BRMs
For a rust free, clean original B4V, if a true 155K miles, I think the buyer did very well. Good to know that the buyer knew what he was buying & that a flipper did not get it.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
For a rust free, clean original B4V, if a true 155K miles, I think the buyer did very well. Good to know that the buyer knew what he was buying & that a flipper did not get it.
I don't think any of the people there were thinking of flipping it but who knows. I had two friends there to bid and neither one got it, in fact I don't think the second friend even got in to bid!

The notes the prior owner made in the repair manual (the manual was written in German!!) were in German! It made it hard to know what was done but there was a chart there with a lot of tick marks on it! I have a suspicion that the owner was some older German guy who knew what it was.

I suspect that it went to a good home.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
They are nice, and added to the value of the vehicle. I have not seen them before, then again I'm not a huge fan of the BBS style wheels. These would have been acceptable though and if I found a set somewhere I would have them on the car.

The 63 Corvair Monza Spyder coupe brought $5400, which seemed like a bit much given that it had a older paint job that was marginal from the beginning and now kinda thin. It supposedly came with a butt-load of parts though, maybe there was something in there that made the price worth it.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
hmmm...that's probably not gonna help out Mars Bar's insurance dilemma..
No, it won't help but it won't hurt either. They can't use valuation from this far away, it has to be local or very close if cross-border.

Steve
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Spoke with the buyer today, after I finally remembered to swing by where he said he lived.

He's having a few issues with it but nothing significant. I dropped off a little wedge piece for his negative battery cable that was missing. He did have to buy new battery but I expected that it would need that when I first looked at it.

He said the title he received said the car came from New Mexico, which makes sense given the condition. The prior owner apparently moved from Las Cruces to Ames and then donated the car to TC.


I'll probably give him a hand with the few things he's having trouble with, namely door handles! I pointed out how to tighten the handles, which I'm sure he'll keep an eye on from now on.

The right rear door won't open at all, which I told him I wasn't sure there was anything I could do about it without damaging the door card.

I reminded him that it would be wise to change the timing belt since it was way past due but I'm not sure that it has sunken in yet. I'll have to address this topic again I'm sure.

Steve
 
Top