Buyback car purchases

I have even less confidence in any of the other cars I've bought used over the decades that they even had oil changes let alone the correct oil. I think most car owners, if they even think of doing an oil change at all, just drive into a jiffylube and even then I don't know how frequently they do it. I know a few people who do their own oil changes, but they also put a K&N filter on every car as the first "mod" they do. Everyone in between those groups are buying their oil/filters at walmart or autozone probably basing decisions on cost vs. quality.

In contrast, by the time someone's picked one up around here under the conditions we're talking about in this thread, it's had a couple changes done at the dealership for free and then maybe skipped one on its way to 40K, which is right about where they are getting picked up. The 15s were only on the road for a couple years at most.

I've had my 2011 JSW for a month. It's a good car but one thing annoys me. VW replaced the brake pads with new Bosch pads. However, sitting in Michigan for 2-3 winters left the rotors pitted and rusty. It took a week or two for the slight grinding noise to go away. I planned on replacing the rotors soon anyway so its not a big deal. I just think they should have cleaned up the rotors.

ss_mini14 said:

I've had my 2011 JSW for a month. It's a good car but one thing annoys me. VW replaced the brake pads with new Bosch pads. However, sitting in Michigan for 2-3 winters left the rotors pitted and rusty. It took a week or two for the slight grinding noise to go away. I planned on replacing the rotors soon anyway so its not a big deal. I just think they should have cleaned up the rotors.

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I don't think the TDI's went back to Michigan - from what I gather the Carfax just shows MI because VW took over the titles after buyback but they were just scattered in storage lots all over the country. Many of the examples around me were pretty much originally SE/Mid-Atantic owned cars (FL, GA, AL, TN, SC, NC, VA). I don't think they were mothballed too far from where they were turned in.

The '12 I just picked up last weekend was originally sold new 1/2013 by Stone Mountain VW (Atlanta), bought back by VW on/around 4/2017, titled to VW in Michigan 2/2018 then sold to me by Stone Mountain VW in 4/2019. VW had some storage space ~1 hour north of Metro Atlanta near the TN line where they had ~9000 TDI's mothballed, I imagine there were similar lots all over.

Anywho - I did a once over on my car thanks to the advice above. No evident corrosion noted above and everything works (except broken pano sunshade and missing driver side vent adjuster that will be addressed under CPO warranty). Dealer spent ~$1200 on maintenance to certify it (DSG change, new air and cabin filters, alignment, oil and filter change and new fuel filter) and Carfax shows all 10k services done on time at the same dealership. Need new tires on it though - despite 9/32" on the Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3 the almost 2 years sitting idle did a number to the traction, no visible dry rot on the sidewalls, I think they just hardened up.

I feel the need to hit the car wash all of a sudden even though it is a regular thing for me during the winter months. The bolts snapping off from the rust sounds like they were never removed in the first place for a filter change.
As a general rule I stay away from cars that have sat in any lot for over a year. There always seems to be excessive corrosion and damage that generally makes it not worth it to me.

Bmr4TDI said:

Great info. Thank you

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Actually 2011 has apparently the “updated” CP4 fuel pump as my old 2011 JSW never had a HPFP failure and so far as I have been a member here and hardly see any failed HPFP on 2011’s. Mostly 2009-10.

I did update CP4 to CP3 around 240k miles then went thru buyback nearly 300k due to mechatronic ecu failure in the DSG plus she got rear ended so the hat h wont close properly so she had to go. the best and the most reliable car I ever have owned. Never needed a tow truck, only had 3 dead batteries and one glow plug during whole ownership, of course timing belts and tires replaced. OEM original Brakes and shocks/struts lasted to 235k miles and front brakes had 25 percent life and rears were about depleted. She had malone stage 2 tune with DPF/EGR delete from 180k miles and was a hoot to drive.

Keep in mind, BMR4TDI, those cars that sat one year or more as for my 2014 JSW that sat for 2 years-ish and sold her to me and I noticed slightly whining noise coming from engine bay to DSG and thought it was the DSG whining then after she had 5 HPFP’s since Sept 2018 until 2 weeks ago, they finally caved in and opened the fuel tank and found freaking MOLD!!!!! Now the noise is completely gone, gotcha! It was the fuel pump whining that actually vibrated the whole car few weeks before the 5th failure. Since 5th is completed, the car strted quick and smooth acceleration at all gears and WOT. No more CEL and glow plug flashing and limp mode when I accelerate past half pedal of gas. It was a scary nightmare with tail gaters going into highway speed of 70-75 mph here in Central Florida with tons of aggressive drivers.


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Oh forgot to mention, 2011-13 options of JSW are the same. 2014 gets standard rear view camera. Thats why I got the 2014 to take it easy on my neck from the rear end accident.

Yep 2 discs in my neck are bulging and herniation. Oh yeah it hurts..... please watch out for tail gaters... its getting worse out there today than 20 years ago.


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03GolfTDI said:

I don't think the TDI's went back to Michigan - from what I gather the Carfax just shows MI because VW took over the titles after buyback but they were just scattered in storage lots all over the country. Many of the examples around me were pretty much originally SE/Mid-Atantic owned cars (FL, GA, AL, TN, SC, NC, VA). I don't think they were mothballed too far from where they were turned in.

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Here is drone footage of the Michigan, (and maybe neighboring states) TDIs:

https://www.mlive.com/auto/2017/03/silverdome_drone_footage_volks.html

IndigoBlueWagon said:

This is the risk. If the Carfax doesn't show service visits I would be inclined to pass on the car, even thought Carfax is far from accurate or complete.

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After avoiding these cars for some time, I could resist the urge no longer and last week picked up a low mileage 2013 Golf w/DSG. The Carfax documentation, while not perfect, was a big selling feature for me. The car was dealer serviced from brand new, and it had full service and recall work done in Sept 2017 (Last entry on the Carfax report). I called the dealer where the car was serviced and they were kind enough to tell me the mileage at that last service (16,782 miles). I don't know exactly when the car was sold back to VW, but I bought it with only 17,190 miles on it.

The original owner clearly didn't drive the car much. Purchased late in 2013, it basically only saw 4000 miles per year. Thankfully they were diligent with the dealer service, right up to the end of their ownership.

I looked at a couple dozen of these buy-back TDI cars that are now flooding the local market, and my biggest complaint with them was the door dings and paint chips everywhere. It seemed like every one of them had the paint chipped off the edges of the doors. Since the rust gets them here before the mileage ever does, that's what I was looking for when going over these cars.

Still, I think they're a great deal with the added warranty.

At only 16k or 17k miles it would have only had one service required at 10k miles. With that low mileage documented service is less of an issue in my opinion. Basically an oil change and some inspections.

Lightflyer1 said:

At only 16k or 17k miles it would have only had one service required at 10k miles. With that low mileage documented service is less of an issue in my opinion. Basically an oil change and some inspections.

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According to the records, the car had it's 3rd oil change (and 2nd fuel filter change) at the 16,782 miles noted above. It looks like the previous owner was bringing the car into the VW dealer for service based on time instead of mileage. I'm going to get the thing serviced anyway...but it's still nice to know that it was done.

Lightflyer1 said:

With that low mileage documented service is less of an issue in my opinion.

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Oh...I and I should mention that I agree on the service records, but still, they're nice to have. I didn't even car about the mileage all that much...with regards to the TDI stuff. My reason for wanting low mileage was for less wear and tear on the body. Whether I bought a buy-back car with 15k or 115k didn't really matter, I just wanted one that was in the very best condition regarding the body/chassis.

Rembrant said:

Oh...I and I should mention that I agree on the service records, but still, they're nice to have. I didn't even car about the mileage all that much...with regards to the TDI stuff. My reason for wanting low mileage was for less wear and tear on the body. Whether I bought a buy-back car with 15k or 115k didn't really matter, I just wanted one that was in the very best condition regarding the body/chassis.

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Always nice to have. I bought a stop sale car for the same reason. Lowest mileage, longest warranty. Plus no one had owned it yet. Paid more than the buyback cars but for what I wanted it was worth it. Glad to see you got something you wanted and in great condition!

Yup same here that’s why I bought this 2014 JSW from a lady owner with good maintenance history and she is super clean inside. Well taken care of. 27k miles and now 44k miles since Sept 2018.

Sadly 5 HPFP...... during my ownership and now they found mold in the gas tank. So please keep a eye on yours that was gone thru the buyback process and sitting long time before finally sold to you guys. Mold doesn’t go away by fuel fill-ups until throughly cleaned out.


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There must be some sort of fuel additive that can remove mold, no? Of all the great products LiquiMoly makes, one of them might be useful.

There are products to kill it but removing it is another story I think. Probably a manual job.

For what it's worth, my old TDI sat for periods and collected black slime in the fuel tank. I opened up the tank and was able to remove it with a clean rag. It was suspended in the fuel. Do this when your tank is below half. I did check back years later, slime did not return.

BobnOH said:

For what it's worth, my old TDI sat for periods and collected black slime in the fuel tank. I opened up the tank and was able to remove it with a clean rag. It was suspended in the fuel. Do this when your tank is below half. I did check back years later, slime did not return.

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Good tip! I will check it out this weekend. Many thanks


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@oilhammer
Any chance someone could use phosphoric acid, Coca-Cola, or "A Must for Rust" on some of those components to clean them up and restore?

Iron oxide (rust) turns into iron phosphate as soon as phosphoric acid hits. Iron Phosphate is not corrosive and does not stick like Iron oxide. Is why putting Coca-Cola on bolts, drums, nuts, etc works for getting them off better than penetrating oils.

Looks like my 13 JSW was a northern states (Michigan, Wisconsin, etc) car and has some, not as bad, of those issues you mentioned. Ive been able to inspect my fuel filter and air filter without issue but have noticed some of the rust on bolts located on the bottom of the car and corrosion on some of the aluminum parts like the EGR valve and Throttle body. Ive been wondering about putting coke or some sort of phosphoric acid on the rust areas, hosing off, letting dry, then repainting if that would restore/prevent/stop more corrosion.

Thoughts?

BobnOH said:

For what it's worth, my old TDI sat for periods and collected black slime in the fuel tank. I opened up the tank and was able to remove it with a clean rag. It was suspended in the fuel. Do this when your tank is below half. I did check back years later, slime did not return.

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Good tip. I forgot to do that on my truck with the auxiliary fuel tank when it was hooked back up. The fuel was still good three years later. Fortunately, my frame rail pre-filter caught the slime.

This is an interesting thread, I just bought a CPO 2015 GSW with 18,200 miles last weekend for my son, now I am disecting the Carfax history report, comparing it with the timeline of dieselgate, and there are some interesting coincidences with some of the event dates are clearly tied to the dieselgate timeline.


Some of the Carfax information has gaps, dates, and no mileage, etc., but it appears the car was originally sold in WI on 6-11-15 after showing up in dealer inventory 2 months earlier, it was then registered in WI as a commercial vehicle, then on 9-9-15 with only 208 miles on the odometer it was re-registered in NC, then within 10 days it was sold and registered to owner #2 in GA on 9-19-15.



Looking at the dieselgate timeline it appears much of the story was breaking in the media in September of 2015 with VW admitting the software was designed to defeat testing on 9-3-15, and the EPA concluding this was a violation of the Clean Air act on 9-18-15, followed by the first of the VW stop sale orders on 9-21-15.


Moving on forward it appears the GSW had its first oil change at at VW dealership on 1-21-16 at 7,800 miles (seems odd to me as this was just 6 months after initial sale)


There are a few registrations renewals and that is it until the Michigan title is issues on 1-14-19 at 18,227 miles (note the Jan buyback cut off date matches up closely here), followed by showing up for sale at the local VW dealer on 5-21-19 with 18,230 miles, where it went through the CPO program on and was put on the lot for sale on 6-14-19 (though it had been listed for sale online for at least a week at that point).

Issues like the ones mentioned here are why I specifically wanted a car that hadn't been sitting for a long time, or in a "rusty" area. The '13 I ended up buying lived all its life in central North Carolina, was turned in for the buyback 12/2018 (Michigan title issued), purchased by a dealer in Manassas, VA 4/2018 and fix applied that month. I bought the car in May so it was off the road for ~6 months and sat in storage for less than 5. Don't know exactly where, but doubtful it was anywhere far north given that it started in NC and ended up in northern VA.

3 months in, so far, so good...

CJM_RVA said:

Issues like the ones mentioned here are why I specifically wanted a car that hadn't been sitting for a long time, or in a "rusty" area. The '13 I ended up buying lived all its life in central North Carolina, was turned in for the buyback 12/2018 (Michigan title issued), purchased by a dealer in Manassas, VA 4/2018 and fix applied that month. I bought the car in May so it was off the road for ~6 months and sat in storage for less than 5. Don't know exactly where, but doubtful it was anywhere far north given that it started in NC and ended up in northern VA.

3 months in, so far, so good...

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Likely at Manheim Fredericksburg 40 miles south of manassas. We had a ton of vw stored for quite a while.

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