Another mkIV vs mkV/VI thread.

Thanks to the forum and the members for all of the info already on here. There are already a bunch of threads that are similar, but mine has a personal story So I'm justifying a new thread. Posted originally in reply to a thread in TDI 101, then remembered the rules about the 101 section and decided to delete that and come here to post.

I'll warn you, it's a bit of a yarn because I have been keeping most of this in my head for the last week and a half.

I'm in a similar position now as several other users, Our poor '04 wagon, Ferdinand (god rest his soul), was recently totaled in a rollover on slushy, icy, mountain roads and I'm in the market for the next thing. My wife was the only one in the car, so kids and I were fine and ,thankfully, so was she.

After the initial secondary trauma of realizing it could have been much worse and I nearly lost my wife, my mind immediately went to what we were going to do after losing the car we thought we'd teach our now-7-year-old to drive in, come 2028.

Due to a branded title we opted to only cover it with liability insurance after a prior accident and insurance screw-up resulted in it being totaled in 2014.* So, no payout is forthcoming for anything beyond a part-out (which I don't have time for) or sale for parts car/scrap. :'(

Then my wife is having commute anxiety and doesn't want to make the drive to work in the loaned Chevy Cobalt we have for a few weeks thanks to a kind boss who also commanded her to take a week off to recoup and recover physically and emotionally. Much gratitude.

Anyway, I start looking for cars immediately. Anything from $800 to about $3,000 is our budget. Maybe push to $6-7k after a tax refund shows up. I look and after a couple of days recovery start to share ideas with my wife.
We waffled between larger vehicles (Ford Flex? Volvo XC90?), other wagons,(Subaru, Volvo, MB), Regular cars (yuck- we are totally "wagon people"), and even a Prius.

I started to feel pretty good about giving up fuel economy and getting into a late 2000's Volvo wagon, FWD or AWD would be fine.
I was uncertain, even hesitant, about moving from my trusty, reliable, simple, and relatively low-maintenance ALH into any of the newer TDI's. I knew I'd miss the fuel economy, but wasn't sure I could afford the more rigorous maintenance schedule and little additional costs like DEF.

Back to battling that commute-anxiety and the love she had found for our old wagon. She has expressed on several occasions how grateful she was for how well the car held up. Dented roof fore of the sunroof and broken roof rails, dented all down the passenger side and broken passenger window. Pillars and door frames look straight or very nearly so. That car cradled her in the middle of a cage of safety. She didn't even hit her head on steering wheel or driver-side window. No bruises or scrapes, just sore muscles.

I thought, here's a good idea, I take DW to a few local dealerships to look at/touch/sit in random used cars to see how she felt about them. Feel safe? Feel comfortable? Feel ready?

Almost everything we sit in at the first place is a no. She is an industrial designer and hates some aspect or another of most of the American and Japanese cars. She was done after 10 minutes but endured another 30 so we could see all the options. Also, I think she felt really safe, retrospectively, in Ferdie.

The VW lot is just 1/4 mile up the road. Let's tell them about what happened and see what they have, their used inventory doesn't have to all be VW's.
We walk in and they had literally just ordered a buyback car that morning. Due for delivery by the 29th.
2014 TDI Sportwagen - no sunroof - 6M - 38k mi.
Dang. It's double our high budget. Should we finance the balance?

VW Lease car, one owner/lessee. Purchased in Chico, CA. First titled in Berkley, CA. First serviced in Newark, CA. All subsequent services at same dealer in Newark.

~NO OIL CHANGE RECORDS ON CARFAX. They could have done it themselves, but for a lease car I figure they'd have gone in. Maybe VW has records for the VIN?~

Returned to VW in late 2016 probably and re-titled to VW in Michigan in June 2017.
I've been pouring over the forums since we saw the picture of it and asking car-people I know, including a VW Tech buddy at the dealership here.
Here's what I've learned.
Most of the early common-rail issues are probably sorted out.
Buyback cars are offered to VW dealerships first. So dealerships get first pick. All other cars that are at local used car lots are second string, AKA didn't really make the cut. No VW dealers wanted them.
Some have had flood damage unreported (my tech friend went to look at one with another buddy and found 3 inches of standing water under and around the spare tire... inside the vehicle). I think someone on here talked about using a mirror to look for debris on top of the fuel tank, etc.

Original warranty is long gone.
Fuel/emissions system is covered for another 5.5 years/87k miles under extended warranty. Which they say is either 10.5 yr/126k miles from first service date or 4.5 yr/54k from date of emissions modification. Owner notwithstanding.

ANyway. Looks good. Feels good. Seems like everything lined up well. I plan on taking it to an independent shop to have a PPI done and look for rust (thanks Oilhammer for the corrosion warning) and see if they'll check over all the other stuff for me like steering components/ball joints, bushings, suspension, etc.
I've been reading threads looking for problem areas to make sure to inspect before purchase but I'm kind of looking for someone to talk me out of it since it's such a stretch financially for us right now.
What do you all think?

For me, it's hard to turn down the low mileage car and the fuel economy which nothing can touch but a Prius C. Also the weird Kismet where it feels like it was ordered for us before we got there.

Going to the bank tomorrow to see about financing the stretch (about $7k). Just need some thoughts and feedback before the car is delivered on Friday.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for still being here even though most other forums are dying.

You guys are amazing. This site is one of the main reason I'd be willing to get a newer TDI. Support is great!

Cheers!
~Bob


*
(Whole other story: Rebuilt/remanufactured title from an insurance snafu in 2014 when another driver slid into my parked TDI because they were driving too fast in a 4x4 jeep. We lost the fight against the insurance company after a flubbed valuation and subsequent 'total loss' after they comparatively valued it to gas sedans and one gas wagon because they couldn't find a diesel wagon for sale within 100 miles).

If it's a low mileage 2014, from a VW dealership, it should come with the CPO warranty, which is 2yr/Unlimited mile B2B, with the emissions warranty on top of that. I love my 2014, but don't be too shocked when you don't get the fuel economy in the JSW that your other TDI got. It will not be as good.

Thanks for the reply, Judoka.
I was losing MPG in my mkIV because it was due for a carbon cleaning on the EGR and possibly the turbo and exhaust manifold, so I am prepared for a bit less.

Mostly I'm curious if you or anyone has any insight as to WHY it might not be CPO? I'm calling the dealership today to inquire, but wanted backup info from the knowledge-pool here.
Conversely, why it SHOULD be a CPO as a low-mileage offered through a dealership, as you said.

Thoughts?

CPO is at the dealer's option, and it costs the dealer money. They may not have wanted to make the CPO purchase on that vehicle, or may not have wanted to do repairs/replacements (tires or brakes, for example) that would be required to qualify as CPO. Best way to find out? Ask.

What Indigo said. How much are they asking for the car?

$12,490.
I plan on an extensive PPI and wheedling them down on stuff if I can. But I have no idea what they paid for it and don't know if they'll show me an invoice.

I'd find out what maintenance/replacements were done prior to sale. Tires, brakes, wiper blades, filters, oil. This car sat for close to two years. It's going to need some love.

At that price, it should be a CPO car, which would come with a 2yr/Unlimited mile bumper to bumper.

CDKJudoka said:

At that price, it should be a CPO car, which would come with a 2yr/Unlimited mile bumper to bumper.

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Yeah maybe. That is the perfect spec of the car in my fully biased opinion. I paid about $3k more than that at this time last year. Mine was CPO. I know the market has softened a lot so I'd agree that you might be able to get it CPO at that price. Or not and talk them down to $12k.

FWIW my CPO car has been to the dealer (or any shop) zero times since I bought it. So it hasn't been of any value yet, except a bit of peace of mind. Of course being CPO did mean that it had new brakes and tires all the way around which is nice.

Here's the shakedown. I did just need to ask (Thanks!)
They ordered it and set the price with CPO built in. It had to arrive, be inspected by them, have several repairs like brakes, some minor bodywork that they let me look at before the repair, new tires, new wiper blades, oil change, fluids checked, topped, and changed, etc. I have to go back to the dealership and get the list of everything done. Oh, and they will be replacing the windshield because the original is all etched from having the blades worn down to nothing and running the wipers. I don't think it sat-sat for 2 years, I think it sat until they needed to shuffle it around to make room or rearrange the storage lot. Then they probably ran it for 5 mintues at a time, then sat again...
Also it was at 0 for fuel for the test drive, I think they forgot to run it to the fuel station after all the service work. The computer said I had 0 miles of range but it let me drive for 12 miles without running dry.

I politely asked if they wanted to give me a fuel card to top it off, but they declined.

Ran it down to a mechanic to look over and make sure it was in good shape. Looks like the TB will need done soon, but he said I'm probably not going to be able to get them to do it since it's a belt and therefore a wear item.

I think I'm gonna go for it. CPO will be in place after the glass/body repairs are made. My independent mechanic (VW factory certified tech who just opened his own VW/VOLVO performance shop) said he'd buy it if I didn't!

You just wrote my story, down to the Volvo! Except I foolishly bought aV70. Sold it, bought a 11 CPO, LO V E the car. I dont know why the wagon has faded away?

I bought the 11 with 69k as a backup vehicle. They accepted my phone offer of 10k out the door.

The 14 is the most refinedined in alot of ways. Enjoy

YoungDieselstein said:

Ran it down to a mechanic to look over and make sure it was in good shape. Looks like the TB will need done soon, but he said I'm probably not going to be able to get them to do it since it's a belt and therefore a wear item.

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Why did he tell you that it would need a TB soon?
My 2012 JSW had a 120K TB interval and my 2015 GSW is 130K if I'm not mistaken. You should have close to another 100K trouble-free miles ahead of you (in regards to the TB anyway).

Just as a car, based on my experience with a '97 Jetta, and '02 Jetta, and a '12 Golf, ou and your wife will find the '14 familiar but much improved. For instance, the '14 will have the ground clearance the MkIV lacks.