Would you buy a 2009 TDI that was a buy back

My dealer has purchased a couple 09 Jetta TDI's from a VW auction that were customer buy backs due to potential lemon law suits. The one that has caught my eye has the 6 speed manual and 4,000 miles. The report that came from VW said it was plagued with cel's for electrical issues. VW bought it back and replaced the entire wiring harness. It will come with a full 3 year 36,000 miles bumper to bumper warranty is in like new condition and I can get it for $19,000 plus Michigans 6% sales tax. What do you guys think? The way it's equipped I can save about $2,500 over brand new.

only if its got a warranty and you have connections with a car rental company, then I'd take it.

Kidding aside, I'd look away. You're buying someone's siphilis.

is this the same one that you negotiated an extra 24 months and 24,000 miles? (60/60,000)

My brother has a buyback 2007 Passat. It was repurchased for some lame noise complaints, CA has some strange consumer protection laws. His car has been solid. That being said, I don't think I would buy that one that had a major electrical issue.

I once bought a car that was a "buy back". The car was a 1981 Plymouth TC3. It had 2800 miles on it when I bought it in June of 1982, and it was in nearly perfect condition. The car had the best black paint job I'd ever seen on a chrysler product. There was a defect in the original engine that caused complete engine failure for the first owner. Chrysler replaced the entire engine with a brand new one. I had no issues with the car other than a blown head gasket... which was typical for the Chryco 2.2L engine of that era. I sold the car in 1988 with 80K. So... if you're convinced VW has corrected the electrical problems with the Jetta you're looking at it might be a good vehicle for you. Make sure the title isn't flagged in some way.

Search the forums here & you will find that harness chafe is a common VW issue. So, that part of the claim makes sense. With said, How comfortable do you feel that 1) You are getting the entire story & truth? & 2) That the root cause of what ever the problem is has been corrected?

Dan"Gerous" said:

What do you guys think? The way it's equipped I can save about $2,500 over brand new.

Click to expand...

Doesn't seem like nearly enough of a discount considering the potential for on-going problems the dealer can't resolve AND diminished re-sale. The car has been branded "buy back"...kinda like salvage, Dan

It'd have to be a better deal than that, a much better deal than only $2,500, unless it was exactly what you wanted *and* you plan to keep a spare vehicle around.

Lots of manufacturer buybacks are mainly just to save face, or to deal with some really whiney customers. Lexus bought back a few RX400h models because people were complaining about poor fuel economy . When in fact, there was NOTHING wrong with them at all, but in order to keep them happy...

However, given VOA's "head-in-sand" approach to most problems, it is unusual for them to buy back something that really has nothing wrong just to save face. Really it all depends on what was actually the 3 C's: Complaint, Cause, Correction. One of the MB techs I worked with bought a really nice C class buyback...because the owner complained about brake dust . That car was basically perfect at 13k miles. Brake dust is of course a 100% normal condition on that car.

I too would be leary of any electrical harness issues, however if you look the car over and it does not look butchered up, everything is working, and they are willing to stand behind the problem if it should return, and the price is good enough...

Sip'n Diesel said:

is this the same one that you negotiated an extra 24 months and 24,000 miles? (60/60,000)

Click to expand...

No, that was a silver auto. I don't like silver and really wanted a manual. So I passed on that one. It is still there if anyone wants an 09 for $19,700..........

as a salesman im going on record as saying thats not NEARLY enough of a discount on that car. Ask them how much the trade in value for a similar car would be if the customer was trying to trade it in for something else. all problems aside. Its called depriciation, it happens the instant the customer drives it off the lot. I had a customer try to trade in his 2009 mustang pony (6 banger) for a new CC. he owed 18,500 on it, and we appraised it for 12,500. i think it had fewer than 4000 miles on it. and thats without any known electrical problems or being a buy back.

just as a point of reference.

as to the repairs, electrical fixes are hit or miss. unless than can verify that they actually located the cause of the faults durring the repair, and didnt just replace the harness as a shotgun effort to just "replace everything and see if it fixes it", i wouldnt touch it with a ten foot pole. And thats because i used to be a tech, specializing in electronics repair. if you find the fault its easy to fix, but if you havent found it, no ammount of replacing parts can guarantee its fixed.

The car was driven by a VW exec for 2,000 miles after with no repeat of the cel.

Have you checked the VIN with carfax just to see what has been entered so far?

I'd hammer them on the price if you want the car. If it were $5K less than new then it might be worth dealing with. We purchased our 09 last Saturday for $300 under invoice, about $1800 under sticker.

Here's the numbers for a basic manual trans car with no options:

MSRP $22,970.00

Invoice $21,704.00


If I were you and I could get it for $17K I'd seriously consider it.

Totally agree that the price is too high. It's been sold, therefore it's a used car. Period. End of sentence.

MarsBar said:

It's been sold, therefore it's a used car. Period. End of sentence.

Click to expand...

Agreed, with the addition of the fact that it's a black-listed car. What further discounting is appropriate


IMO, Dan, they're [leonard-speak] porkin' ya where the sun don't shine! [/leonard-speak]

Solution: Go see Chris ! and get a tax credit

now in all fairness, they may be pricing it, expecting people to negociate it down. It really makes absolutely no difference what you offer a car for, people will always want you to drop the price, and if you dont, they wont buy the car. It has no relivance what kind of amazing deal the price of the car is to start with. Some customers i deal with, i feel like i could offer them a car for 50% off, and they would ask for $1,000 more, if i didnt do it, they would refuse to buy on "principle" because i should "play ball". Happens all the time with internet pricing, which tends to be as low as possible to get peoples attention and keep them from going to other dealerships. even if the car is 3500 below sticker, which often is 1500-2000 below invoice. they will want 1000 more, and wont do the deal if you dont agree.

In any case, that may be whats going on. They are basically trying to sell this used car at a new car price (yes it is possible to buy a new TDI for 20k. I sold one yesterday for 20,750, and that was with ipod, rubber mats, and satelite radio). That deal was a 1500 dollar looser. that is a net loss of 1500 dollars to us. No games, no semantics, no lie.

Great a guy has driven it without problems for 2k miles. that does not... let me say that again, that DOES NOT!! mean it is fixed. That means its not doing it right now. Now it is also possible that its fixed. the point is, unless at some point durring the repair, a mechanic was able to seriously touch something and say "Well THARS your problem", you dont know its fixed. I worked on electrical problems in cars as a profession, you really should take my word on this. Especially if it was a wire harness rub through, where a sharp edge of something cut into the wiring harness, shorting it out. Often the "tech" will replace the damaged harness, temporarily fixing the problem, but will fail to either grind down, tape over, or bend away the offending sharp edge. Meaning at a completely unpredictable moment, it will cut into the new harness, causing faults. maybe the same ones, maybe different ones, thats the joy of electrical issues.

Ignore everything the sales people have to say, ask to speak to the tech who did the repairs. if he seems to know what hes talking about, and can tell you what was wrong, and how he fixed it, youre ok. buy the car, but not at the asking price. or at the VERY VERY least, get a free extended warranty as part of the deal, 5year 100k to cover your butt for electrical issues. thats worth a lil more than $2k.

On the flip side, if the tech stumbles with things, says um alot, or dosnt realy know what was wrong, in either case. run far far away from this thing.

Guy's, I really appreciate the feedback, keep it comin; pro's and con's.

Used 09's are few and far between and look at how many 06's are for sale out there in the high teens. Would I be better to buy this used 09 with warranty and roll the dice on the wiring harness being the original culpret or get a PD and risk a cam issue with little to no warranty? My work doesn't want me to get anything older than an 06 or the reimbursement drops significantly.

In Michigan, if a car has been bought back like this, can it be bought back again? In other words, if the problem isn't fixed sure they have the warranty, but the car warranty to begin with and it was bought back because the issue couldn't be fixed appropriatly. So where will you stand with the car now if a problem keeps coming back?

Go hammer out the best deal you can get on a never-titled 2009. You will get almost enough in tax credit to make up the difference. I have heard many, many people speak of great deals by going through VW of Langhorne, PA as a previous post said. You will have no possible problems, no defects on the title, peace of mind, and the price difference at the end of the year will be almost ZERO.

Wouldn't this car be eligible for the tax break? I went to the IRS website and it simply said 09. It did not make reference to newly titled only..........

Dan"Gerous" said:

My work doesn't want me to get anything older than an 06 or the reimbursement drops significantly.

Click to expand...

That's the icing on the cake once you make that disclosure.

How will your employer look at you if you purchase a known-lemon that's sitting in the shop 24/7?

Viewed thru your employer's eyes, will that make you appear to be a good or a bad business person

New car sales. Not used cars.

OK all, here's the link to the car:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370194807410&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&viewitem=

Sounds like your company wants you to be driving a car that is less than 4 years old. So, what happens in 2013 when they want you to get a newer car? You're stuck taking a hit on a car that has been branded as a Lemon in the title.

Report Run Date 2009-05-01 15:48:58.293 EDT
Vehicle: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI (3VWAL71K19M035755)
Event date Location Odometer reading Data Source Details 10/10/2008 LAS VEGAS, NV

Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL 10/27/2008 LAS VEGAS, NV 8
Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:NV003003653-4)(Lien Reported) 03/18/2009 NV 4,971
Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:NV003242523-4) LEMON

I was reading the tax stuff this morning. Since they are selling it as a used car, no tax credit is available. With the title branding I wouldn't pay more than $14K, but my first choice would be to go get a brand new one.

Yikes, it actually states the word lemon???

ah, so "buy-back" and "lemon" are synonymous?

Sip'n Diesel said:

ah, so "buy-back" and "lemon" are synonymous?

Click to expand...

Buy back doesn't hit like lemon does IMHO.

Dan"Gerous" said:

Buy back doesn't hit like lemon does IMHO.

Click to expand...

Right! That's why they use the term!
Check KBB or one of the other USED car sites, find out what it is worth discounted for the 'lemon' label and the 'may-or-may-not be fixed' electrical issues and proceed accordingly.