Help with buying Golf TDI

I recently decided to buy a "fixed" Golf TDI manual, since I've had a Golf in the past and loved it!
Any pointers on what are important questions to ask when checking these used cars at a dealership? I like these cars, but I'm not a gearhead, so whenever I go to dealerships, I feel a bit out of my element.
I've heard that many of the "fixed" TDIs on market now will have been sitting in the lots for > 1 year which seem to harmful for brakes, battery, etc. Would dealerships already have replaced or inspected those components?

I think you need to use full diligence. Some will be in excellent condition, while others may have neglected maintenance which the dealership selling them has not brought up to date. They all should have a new battery and new tires, but the gearbox oil, brake fluid, and maybe even the engine oil might not have been changed. There will probably be no records for a timing belt change, but you can ask and if one is due then you would have no reason not to ask that it be done on their dime. (If you buy from a non-VW dealership, then do not ask them to do a TB or any other TDI-specific work.)

I bought my fixed jetta last friday from a VW dealer. it's got 35k miles. They provided me with paperwork noting a new battery, 4 new tires, brake fluid flush, coolant flush, air filter replacement, cabin air filter replacement, fuel filter replacement and engine oil and filter change.

how was the haggling process? were you able to get much off the sticker price?

i didn't haggle. it was the lowest priced, lowest mileage 6mt tdi jetta for sale in all of Houston. i researched prices on autotrader, cars.com and carvana for weeks prior. the manual tdi's move off lots as soon as they come up for sale. their asking price was 13981 and seemed like a good deal to me so i took the plunge. no regrets. good luck with your search!

w123houston said:

i didn't haggle. it was the lowest priced, lowest mileage 6mt tdi jetta for sale in all of Houston. i researched prices on autotrader, cars.com and carvana for weeks prior. the manual tdi's move off lots as soon as they come up for sale. their asking price was 13981 and seemed like a good deal to me so i took the plunge. no regrets. good luck with your search!

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Wow. The current environment is just crazy. I've been taking a peak at some of these post-fix scandal cars, and it's just bonkers to me. I admit, I'm pretty ignorant of new car buying, and the sharp depreciation after 2-3 years, but this still seems almost too good to be true.

I've seen 2013-2014 Jettas with ~80k miles being sold from dealers for $8000-9000.
A ~4 year old car, diesel, with sub-100k miles for ~$8k that returns 40-45mpg?
I've seen a couple of Golfs with lower mileage listed with asking prices of 12-13k.
I think your Jetta with sub-40k miles for ~$14k was a great catch in my opinion. The initial reconditioning process and the extended warranty is almost too much for me to comprehend, but there's a bunch for sale.