Buying & Selling TDIs? Read this first!!

[BKmetz]

Don't put the price of the car in the thread title as one cannot edit the thread title once they post. Many times people post an optimistic price in the title and then after a week of no activity they start dropping the price.

Never list your price as 'FIRM', that turns people off. Always give yourself some bargaining room and use 'OBO.'

.

[mtogburn]

Hello,
And as the other newbies said I read this. Also the vehicles are out there and like the Person who posted it said you need to be quick to get the deal. I found a 96 passat tdi posted for $1500 at 6:30 on a Saturday. Wrote teh guy an email told him I wanted to buy it and had $1500 cash for him. Got an email the next day with pics and he called him that afternoon. Said he was getting offers for more than he posted it for. I told him I was not surprised because the vehicles were pretty high in demand. Told him I would give him $2000 for it if I liked it. I got to see it yesterday evening and take it for a spin. Gave him a $200 deposit and have a reciept. He will be shipping off in the next couples of weeks. I am supposed to pick it up next Tuesday. I think I will be doing pretty well to get in that cheap. He had the exhaust manifold replace recently said it was an $800 job. Also had the timing belt done about 25-30K ago. She has 209000 on her. I figured get the small coolant leak fixed, check all the brakes out get it inspected then woory about the small amounts of rust on the doors. Lots of donor cars out there for the doors. One on ebay right now that was totaled and all the doors look perfect. It has a TDI in it two so I might be getting parts car. Later Mike

[mvdiesel]

Originally Posted by tomo366

But....do you honestly believe the Newbie........is going to read this????
I have my doubts........

I'm brandie new and I found it very helpful

You dudes are into it to say the least. I want to keep reading just to figure out *** you are tallking about!

MV

[hbarca]

Originally Posted by Edgfld

I'm a newbie and I read it!! ;-)

I read this too and I found it helpful.

Thanks,

Scott

[Shrubman]

I just noticed something. The paragraph addressed to buyers says "TDIs are in high demand" and then goes on to say deals are hard to come by. The next paragraph, adressed to sellers, also says "TDIs are in high demand" but then cautions that it is not a sellers market.

Is this neither a sellers or buyers market? Seems unlikely.

My 2 cents...

[darkscout]

Originally Posted by Shrubman

I just noticed something. The paragraph addressed to buyers says "TDIs are in high demand" and then goes on to say deals are hard to come by. The next paragraph, adressed to sellers, also says "TDIs are in high demand" but then cautions that it is not a sellers market.

Is this neither a sellers or buyers market? Seems unlikely.

My 2 cents...

Stupid copy paste editing:

TDIs are in high demand. It is definitely a seller's market.

Fixed

[curtisspearsjr]

Originally Posted by tomo366

But....do you honestly believe the Newbie........is going to read this????
I have my doubts........

I am new to the site and will be selling my 98 tdi beetle on the right forum (hopefully). Thanks for the great advice. Hope I can remember all of it....LOL

[dfwtdi]

I have been contemplating purchasing a TDi for the past month or so, and as such, I have also been trolling the message boards, cars.com, dealerships, craigslist, and ebay.

The main thing I noticed is that these cars are overpriced...not by a single digit % or even a modest 10%, but by anywhere from 15-30%...and for some reason, everyone on the forum lines up to justify this. Before you get upset and tell me I don't know what I am talking about, I would like to explain my position. First of all, I get the supply and demand argument...there are more people wanting to buy these cars than there are available, fuel economy, good resale value, etc. I have been told by several owners and a few shady "TDI only dealers" that KBB does not apply with these vehicles.

A few logical rejections:

Insurance: All insurance companies pay total loss claims based on KBB or similar published book value. True, if you had a total loss and filed under your own insurance, they would have to pay you actual cash value, but this also assumes you declared the value when you insured it. Also, any betterments such as expensive or recent maintenance or upgrades must be documented and you must be able to prove their value. If some jerk hits you and you use their insurance to pay for your vehicle, good luck getting more than book value.

Banks: A bank loans money on vehicles based on book value. Why? Because it is collateral against your debt. There is not a great number of bankers who will loan you $15K for a $12K vehicle.

IRS: If I donate a vehicle to a charitable cause, IRS defines "fair market value" as the published book value. Period. If you claim anything over that, you are claiming a fraudulent deduction.

A practical rejection:

A friend of mine went into a VW dealership three days ago in my Honda, asking about TDIs. The sales manager immediately started telling me that these cars fetch a higher price because of their desirability and fuel economy, blah blah blah. So he showed me some overpriced, trashed out, cars. I left.

Yesterday, the same friend who owns a TDI went to another VW dealership, trying to trade his TDI in. They initially offer him a little less than book trade in, at which he scoffs. He repeats the argument from two days prior almost verbatim, trying to justify why he should be paid a premium for his trade. The manager laughs him out of the building, offering the exact opposite argument. His points for rejection were: not a mass market technology, diesel costs more to maintain b/c of specialized body of knowledge required to work on them, diesel costs more so not that much cheaper to operate, etc.

So, my conclusion: If you are trying to buy, you justify a low price based on what benefits you, and if you are trying to sell, you try and gouge people because you think you have solid gold under the hood.

[steakman]

A friend of mine went into a VW dealership three days ago in my Honda, asking about TDIs. The sales manager immediately started telling me that these cars fetch a higher price because of their desirability and fuel economy, blah blah blah. So he showed me some overpriced, trashed out, cars. I left.

Yesterday, the same friend who owns a TDI went to another VW dealership, trying to trade his TDI in. They initially offer him a little less than book trade in, at which he scoffs. He repeats the argument from two days prior almost verbatim, trying to justify why he should be paid a premium for his trade. The manager laughs him out of the building, offering the exact opposite argument. His points for rejection were: not a mass market technology, diesel costs more to maintain b/c of specialized body of knowledge required to work on them, diesel costs more so not that much cheaper to operate, etc.

So, my conclusion: If you are trying to buy, you justify a low price based on what benefits you, and if you are trying to sell, you try and gouge people because you think you have solid gold under the hood.

Ain't that the truth...!!

Oh and BTW...I too, am a relative neub here...not to diesels but TDI's. I do know enough to know that oil/type/freq of change etc and TB are likely the 2 most important items for PM on these units. Secolndary Fuel/Oil filtration & blocking your EGR are also some things I would consider in a TDI.

Yea I'm looking..look at my sig...who ain't..?? Some very good advice in the thread start.!!

cheers,

stk

[turbo power since 1978]

Another newb, great thread!

Chuck

[climbinghalfdome]

good thread BTW,
Well I'm new to TDI's but I come from a VW family. I read all 3 pages of this thread and I want a medal from Tom.
I think that people selling their TDI's are like people selling their houses. Folks think their's is the best and don't understand why the world isn't banging down their door to buy it at top dollor prices.
I'm looking for a lower mile TDI wagon (Jetta or Passat), automatic, and in the lower $teens. Before you all laugh me off the list, know that I have time and I love the thrill of the hunt. It took me 8 months of daily searching to find my 1987 VW Syncro Vanagon. It's a 1/2 camper and had 260K miles on it then and has 330K miles on it now. (I'd work in a trade if your interested.) Wish me luck.
Now for the accranims. These are what I've figured out so far.
TDI = Turbo direct Injection (duh)
TB = Timing Belt, (This is important cuz I'm guessing if it breaks the valves fall into the head and everything gets ground to bits.. Right?)

MFA = Married, Female, actuator?
EGR = Elderly Grandpa Regulator?
Help me out here.

Kevin in Kanab UT
87 Syncro Weekender 331 K Miles
1966 type 1 Wolfsberg baja project
1966 type 1 parts project
1998 Chevy Metro 160 K miles (49 MPG Unleaded)

[bikegeek]

just keep reading

[Kara]

Thanks for the info, hopefully TDI's will be more accessible in the future. I wish I were able to travel for a vehicle but I just can't buy something sight unseen!

[rbobgovw]

Great thread, I am a "newbie" to Tdi Club that has been lurking here for over two years. Thank you for posting all the info anyone can use. After a two year search on several web sites, I've recently purchased a 02 golf gls auto tdi 116k, and a 96 passat tdi 250k needs work, but looks and runs ok.(11k for both) Rare cars in chicagoland but both found on C.L. late at night and inspected and purchased the next day. Luck ; is when preporation, (searching daily with cash in hand), meets oportunity,(the one you want).

[anasopia]

Originally Posted by tomo366

But....do you honestly believe the Newbie........is going to read this????
I have my doubts........

I'm a newbie, and I read it