2010 Golf, one accident, dealer serviced vs. 2011 Golf, no service records

Hey folks,

I've been searching for a Golf to replace my aging Jetta.

Yesterday I had a look at a 2011 Highline Golf, 6 speed...gorgeous car. Took it for a spin and it drove beautifully. I'm not impressed with the professionalism of the owner. He has no service records, and even told me if he did, he'd throw them out. "They mean nothing to me!" I thought that was really strange. His reasoning was he didn't want to give away personal info belonging to the previous owner.

I asked if I could take it to my mechanic for inspection and he said NO.

***? "People have taken a car to their mechanic and had parts replaced". WHAT?!

I told him my mechanic was less than 10 minutes away. He relented.

Further into the convo, he brushed me off when I asked for a specific dollar amount for my Jetta. "You're going about this the wrong way. You should be asking more". Excuse me? When I asked what his best price was on the car, he answered with "We don't do the 'best price for this car' thing here. I'll give you the $750 on your trade-in, and we have a rebate going on where you pick a card from the wall, and you see if you get $250-$1000 instant rebate. THAT'S IT. If we have a deal, I'll let you go pick a card". Maybe being a woman and knowing what I'm talking about, especially when asking about the timing belt, pissed him off. *eye roll*

He really rubbed me the wrong way, including saying "The car will sell!" Yeah, okay, a$$hole. Have fun. Lastly, this car has a one year warranty from Lubrico. From what I've said so far on the internet, it's a pretty crappy company to deal with.

Later on, I had a look at another 6 speed Highline, a 2010. It drove great. However, it was in an accident in 2012, listed on the CARFAX as "front centre". But it was dealer serviced and they have all service records. I even called the dealership today and their service department looked it up by the VIN and said it was well maintained, although they didn't repair the damage. No warranty on this one. This dealership has been extremely polite and professional and has no issue with me taking it to my mechanic, who btw, is a VDub guy through and through and knows his diesels. I've been going to him for years.

I don't want to give the first a$$hole my business for his attitude, and with no service records. But the accident car has me a bit worried.

Your thoughts? Thanks all

If you have to choose between the two--take the 2010. Frankly, do better and find a newer documented one for less

Hey brian

I've been looking for a while now and I'm ready to bite the bullet. The 2010, after my trade-in, taxes and a bit of wiggle room, will come to $13800 Canadian. To be honest, I'm really happy with that price. A bit more than 160,000kms on the odo. Maybe I can get the price even lower. "It's been in an accident, dude!"

Newer than 2012 TDIs are going for insane prices here. I really don't want to spend $20k on a car!

Not saying it's the case here, but a lot of times an "accident" status doesn't really mean anything to me. I live in an area where there are tons of deer vs car/truck accidents. A good number of them are just cosmetic and/or slight structural damage. As in, bumper or fender damage. Try to find out what exactly was damaged and go from there. A deer ran into the side of my '12 JSW and broke the mounting brackets on the bumper. Bumper was unrepairable so it was replaced with a new one. This now labels my car with an "accident".

I won't be able to find out what the damage was, as it wasn't taken care of by the dealership it was from.

Having said that, I am one mechanical inspection away from purchasing this "accident" Golf. I took it out for another test drive today and wow, is it ever fun and SO FREAKIN' QUIET compared to my 2001 LOL

I'll keep ya'll posted!

Seller of 2011 wouldn't show service records even if he had them, and didn't want you to get a mechanic to check it out? To top it off, playing games on the pricing? That's one car (and dealership) that you want to run, not walk, away from.

rwolff,

I wasn't really going to give them my business. I thought I'd lay the story out here to vent! I plan on leaving them a negative review online.

The part of town this dealership is in, is particularly upper class. So I imagine their typical customer comes in, sees a car, *maybe* takes it for a spin, and says "I'll take it", no questions asked. He bragged to me about a customer who bought a car OVER THE PHONE.

OVER THE PHONE!!!!!!

*facepalm*

I just don't get folks who buy a car over the phone without having a good look at it.

That deserves one of these:

My mechanic inspected the Golf for nearly an hour. Found some small things (front grill is broken, missing kick panel...) but found three big things wrong.

EGR and DPF need replacing. And probably the intercooler. He printed out an invoice for me to take to the dealer. $3200 after labour and taxes!

Still need to find out if the timing belt has been done, as it should have been done at 160,000kms IIRC? My sales guy is going to talk to his manager and see about giving me a cash discount for $3200. I'm waiting on a call back.

I see here on the forums that some people opt for removing the DPF altogether?

Hmmmmmmmm........

if you are contemplating an illegal delete of the emissions equipment, be sure to research and understand the current rules for inspections where you live.

Not planning anything. Just frustrated. Especially if the EGR AND DPF filters can just get clogged again down the road anyway...

Dealer is only willing to give me another $1000 off. Which means I still have to put in a new timing belt and deal with the DPF/EGR stuff asap. Intercooler can wait apparently. So he's not giving me a break at all. I'll still be paying the same amount.

Knowing what you know now, I would walk away from this car.

It's hugely disappointing. Back to the drawing board.

Now also considering a GTI............only considering. Test driving one would probably be a bad idea, LOL

punkie said:

It's hugely disappointing. Back to the drawing board.

Now also considering a GTI............only considering. Test driving one would probably be a bad idea, LOL

Click to expand...

I would say the decision of a GTI vs TDI would depend on how much you drive and what kind of commute you have. If for instance you're knocking out 50,000 km per year then the TDI would be a better idea. if you're only going 20,000km per year then the GTI may be a better fit.

I'm in between jobs right now. Although I do a fair bit of driving currently and am planning more and more road trips. It's a tough call, as I don't know where my next career path will physically lead me.

Dealer has come back to me offering another $500 off.

I said no. And said I'd be coming in tomorrow to get my $500 deposit back.

Dealer calls back: offers to do the TB for me. I said I'd rather get my mechanic to do it as it's a bloody complex job. But I'd think about it.

This is NOT a VW dealership, just fyi.

Good plan! These engines are exacting in what tools are used and how the timing belt is installed. Unless the tech in their shop has the credentials that says that they are certified to do vw spacific jobs I wouldn't let them touch it with a 10 foot poll

I called back...

...and said NO.

Pfffffttttttt.

Still looking at GTIs...!