Buying & Selling TDIs? Read this first!!

[nicklockard]

What is so dang hard about posting a price? You can always say $14,000/or best offer (obo); meaning you consider that the starting point and are not locked into the first offer, but will consider all offers and take the best one that suits you (and the buyer obviously).

We just don't want this site to be an auction site. It's not the purpose of the club. We want sales to be clear and transparent with no hidden agendas. This post was made a sticky by us, the moderators and admins because the Tdiclub wanted it and agreed with it.

And FWIW, I've never sold any of my Tdi's on this club. Too many cheapskates! lol.

 

[lilzeus]

Congrats! You deleted the ad and protected the community from a very good low-miles TDI! Mission accomplished!
What actually is clearly stated and I quoted is that feeler posts are fine and I've presented half a dozen others that were not attacked like this. Heck, RC's post w/no price was January and he even stated "no real hurry on parting with them", no price until April. Why are the rules not applied consistently? Why am I being singled out for attack and harassment?

I get it, you guys are all trying to protect something/someone but you're actually hurting a lot more over something utterly insignificant. No one is harmed by my post being a feeler. I've been more clear, detailed and transparent than most, you have my real name and general location. You can go back and see I was an involved member for several years. I know several gurus personally. Run a background check. Whatever! There is no hidden agenda going on here so I'd like to be treated the same/fairly/equitably as the other members who made posts without price. Treating me like some potential scammer/crook is over the top. This is pretty ridiculous. No price does not equate to hidden agenda.

This post was made a sticky by us, the moderators and admins because the Tdiclub wanted it and agreed with it.

Not everyone agreed with it, see the #5 post?

I have no intention of changing my posting habits........

Who/what is "the Tdiclub"? Am I not a 17 year veteran of it? Do I not have the TDIClub license plate frame? Did I not visit and host GTGs? Did I not purchase thousands from venders at a TDIFest? Didn't my ad welcome gurus to inspect my car to protect potential buyers? Yes to all, of course. If you're going to accuse me/assume I have hidden agendas then clearly good people are not welcome here.

You guys really need to take a step back. The attacking and harassing over no price listed and/or not applying those "rules" consistently is the bigger problem. I only planned on it being up here for half a day or so, knowing that I'd be getting low offers, and that's accomplished. Its been posted to Craigslist LA so offers and requests are coming in fast. The price: $1. Now that you know it, how does it help you? You still have no idea if there are better offers unless you make one to find out. So knowing an asking price made no difference in the outcome - if you're an interested buyer, you'll STILL have to make an offer. The seller will tell you if they have a better offer or not. Demanding a price doesn't change the fact that the seller can lie about the private offers so having it doesn't change anything. Not posting a price in this market also doesn't mean you treat veteran members like potential criminals/scammers.

When I try to search for vehicles anywhere near what mine is, there are virtually none in the whole nation. The closest comp I saw had 300k miles on it and they were asking $8000. That's insane. Prices are insane! So demanding one in a used car sales market none of us has ever encountered before actually is a lot to ask. Prices have NEVER been like this and nobody is an expert so attacking folks for not having one figured out is going too far. That's my 2 cents on the matter.

 

[lilzeus]

I'm bringing this here because I'm not gonna jack Kurt's thread anymore.

It wasn't a feeler. You said you were selling it, and you were giving us a half-day head start over other sites -- but we would have to spend that half day guessing what price you wanted to be paid. Asking for a price is not harassment.

GLWS

edit; To answer your question from the deleted thread, yes i was interested, depending on what price you were asking. I have seen your price on CL, and the car looks very nice, and i repeat GLWS.

Look again. You're way out of line. Kurt said he's selling his, too, just like me.

looking for your feedback on pricing the 2003 TDI Wagon I have for sale.

So you're hung up on, what? Being given the first crack at mine before I put it on CL? Kurt's post was made without a price and requesting opinions. That's what I did and clarified when asked. I was the one asking for pricing opinions. If you have no clue the value of my car you had/have no business attacking me and getting my post censored - for asking for pricing opinions. If you have no idea the value of my car, its your own fault for not knowing what to offer me when I asked. I brought the car here first to NOT sell it to someone who's unfamiliar. As you can see from Kurt's post, people are happy to give their opinion on price. You're the one with a problem with me, not a lack of price.
Threatening to delete and censor based on provably unfair treatment is harassing. I'm the one who felt it.
Thankfully, another member saw my car before you (and the mods you got involved) censored my post and is very interested in buying it. (Update: he IS buying it) Based on the pricing discussed here, at a substantial discount - what I was willing to do to assure I handed it to a competent TDI/diesel owner. If you have no clue my car's value, then its not for you and you should have left me alone.
What could you and those mods possibly think was accomplished by deleting MY feeler in particular over others? Its already very well established none of you have even the slightest regard for my feelings on this horrible treatment, what about the other members like the one I'm in contact with who watched? What you all did was hurtful and harmful and not limited to me.
You, and those mods/admins, are all wrong for what you did and all you did was expose an ugly and hostile environment which is not friendly to good people. The policy and approach itself of assuming and treating members like potential scammers is not friendly to good people. I've read all the reasoning and excuses you guys use for it, like this advice/suggestion post, but they don't hold at all. Not all buyers or sellers are the same. They don't think of money the same, spend it the same. A communist-style social credit scoring system is not friendly to good people.
I am good people.
And thanks to you and those mods/admins who completely and utterly unfairly attacked and censored my harmless post, I do not feel welcome here anymore. Thankfully the car will be gone soon (today!) and I'll never have to give you or this anymore concern.

 

[tomo366]

Popcorn in hand.....chomping away !

 

[turbodieseldyke]

(and the mods you got involved)

I never got anyone involved, did not "report post" or anything of the kind.

You're the one with a problem with me, not a lack of price.

Don't tell me what I think. I don't know you, or have a problem with you. My problem was with your ad, not you. When people see a FS ad, they expect to see a price. It's that simple. Other people had the same "problem", and we all tried to resolve it the same way, by asking the price. You could have answered, but chose not to, then the mods deleted your thread, and now you feel persecuted.

The status of your car (non-op for 4 years, can't pass smog) meant that the buyer would have lots of logistics to deal with, possibly having to move it to a non-smog state. With all that to consider, the price of the car was probably more important than mileage or age of timing belt.

You posted your price on craigslist... eventually. That means either you respect CL buyers more than us, to not make them waste time and bandwidth asking back and forth "how much?", OR you were getting flooded with ridiculous offers of $1 or $200 or $500, and you had to block them somehow ... by posting the price you wanted in the first place.

Anyway, you found a buyer, you both are presumably happy with the price paid/received. Good luck to both of you.

What could you and those mods possibly think was accomplished by deleting MY feeler in particular over others?

Again. Not exactly a "feeler", when you say you are selling it, and intend to list it on CL/etc after giving us a half-day head start. The other guy's wagon "feeler" (he called it a "price check") had an actual discussion about prices, and within 3 hours someone found his CL ad with the final price. Your thread, to my recollection, lasted several hours longer and only got a garbage throwaway response "I offer $1". In retrospect, if you had posted in the Mk4 forum instead of Cars For Sale, it wouldn't have been deleted. Probably not gotten the smartass "$1 offer" either.

I am good people.

I don't doubt it. I think you're just taking it all a bit too personally.

 

[1854sailor]

I'm bringing this here because I'm not gonna jack Kurt's thread anymore.

Look again. You're way out of line. Kurt said he's selling his, too, just like me. So you're hung up on, what? Being given the first crack at mine before I put it on CL? Kurt's post was made without a price and requesting opinions. That's what I did and clarified when asked. I was the one asking for pricing opinions. If you have no clue the value of my car you had/have no business attacking me and getting my post censored - for asking for pricing opinions. If you have no idea the value of my car, its your own fault for not knowing what to offer me when I asked. I brought the car here first to NOT sell it to someone who's unfamiliar. As you can see from Kurt's post, people are happy to give their opinion on price. You're the one with a problem with me, not a lack of price.
Threatening to delete and censor based on provably unfair treatment is harassing. I'm the one who felt it.
Thankfully, another member saw my car before you (and the mods you got involved) censored my post and is very interested in buying it. (Update: he IS buying it) Based on the pricing discussed here, at a substantial discount - what I was willing to do to assure I handed it to a competent TDI/diesel owner. If you have no clue my car's value, then its not for you and you should have left me alone.
What could you and those mods possibly think was accomplished by deleting MY feeler in particular over others? Its already very well established none of you have even the slightest regard for my feelings on this horrible treatment, what about the other members like the one I'm in contact with who watched? What you all did was hurtful and harmful and not limited to me.
You, and those mods/admins, are all wrong for what you did and all you did was expose an ugly and hostile environment which is not friendly to good people. The policy and approach itself of assuming and treating members like potential scammers is not friendly to good people. I've read all the reasoning and excuses you guys use for it, like this advice/suggestion post, but they don't hold at all. Not all buyers or sellers are the same. They don't think of money the same, spend it the same. A communist-style social credit scoring system is not friendly to good people.
I am good people.
And thanks to you and those mods/admins who completely and utterly unfairly attacked and censored my harmless post, I do not feel welcome here anymore. Thankfully the car will be gone soon (today!) and I'll never have to give you or this anymore concern.

 

[nicklockard]

Everything will work out okay. It's just an inanimate object whose worth is not your worth. On the rare occasion someone on the club actually buys a Tdi from the club, it's either a super high value unicorn or dirt cheap fixer-upper. 99% of clubbers are too much of a cheapskate to buy rides like yours and mine. Don't worry about it, move on and GLWS.

 

[henry2000]

I’ve read the whole thread & still have a question: where do you all think is the best place for buying/selling TDIs now in 2022? I bought my 2000 New Beetle TDI 5 speed manual on Craigslist in 2009. It’s been my daily driver since then & still is, but I’m thinking of selling it. But now looking at Craigslist, it seems like there aren’t as many cars on it as there were back in 2009, & the ones listed are often dealers & not private sellers. Do TDI folks still check non-local Craigslists? Is eBay still good for selling TDIs (as stated upthread in 2008)? Cars.com? Autotrader? Other suggestions? I’m not on Facebook, so no Facebook Marketplace for me.

 

[turbodieseldyke]

Craigslist killed itself as the go-to car marketplace, and since then no One site has ascended to the throne. You'll probably need to list it in multiple places. Get a burner phone and throwaway email to register for Face***k. I've browsed the marketplace, but like you I'm not on FB, so I can't even respond to sellers.

I've never searched cars.com until just now. Looks useless.

My brother used to work for autotrader 30 years ago. I can't imagine wanting to use it today, just for that reason. Nothing against the company, but they started out as a magazine who sent guys all over to photograph private party sales ads, but mostly hosted dealer ads. I looked at them for the first time just now -- 1 diesel vehicle in 100 miles, not VW. Useless, as expected.

I don't know what to tell you. Good luck.

 

[Mongler98]

Imo FB marketplace is by far the best place to get top dollar as a private seller. Now anyways. Way too much hassle though if you dont like to be bothered.
2nd best is to put a sign up on it with a phone number and leave that phone turned off and only have messages.
I've sold way too much on FB and it's by far 100x better than what craigslist used to be.

Ebay is terrible and gets no traffic.

But the best place to sell one is to post it here! No fuss no bs. Word will spread. Like the thread says... a proper deal will go fast.

 

[1854sailor]

I found both of our '15s on CarGurus.com. The wagon was a CPO at at a VW dealer and the hatch back was was at an independent used car dealer who had about a dozen VW and Audi TDIs. Both were Dieselgate buy-backs and both had "the fix" done. I avoid Craigslist like the plague...

 

[ibid]

Craigslist still works. Real people still look at it. There aren't as many private party sellers on craigslist any more since the $5 charge for an ad was implemented. I find the $5 fee worth trying that venue as well as others. You WILL get spam responses so I just block them and move on. The key to a good craigslist ad (or any ad anywhere) is good details and great photos.

These days I pay the $5 craigslist fee, plus use FB marketplace (I joined FB because of car stuff actually back in 2013).

I personally don't care to use this venue (or any 'enthusiast' forum because as someone else already stated, many cheap-skates here and people will respond trying to tell you all sorts of reasons why you have the wrong price or whatever. I'm over it.

 

[nicklockard]

Ibid, that would be me. Club members are huge cheapskates. I've never seen any Tdi sell here unless it was a special unicorn, or a jalopy practically given away.

 

[henry2000]

Thanks everyone for the info. Ugh, it sounds like I might have to join Facebook just to sell my Beetle! And probably post in multiple places. When I was looking for a newer (non-TDI) car recently, I used Autotrader, cars.com, Carfax, Cargurus, Truecar, & Edmunds & found good choices & ultimately bought a car I’d found on those sites. (I also looked at eBay, local Craigslist, Carmax, Carvana, & Vroom but didn’t find them useful for what I was looking for.) I didn’t know if seller or buyer aficionados of specific vintage/older/classic/collector/“cult following” cars would use the same sites that have a lot of newer cars on them, or if I needed to look elsewhere to sell.

 

[Ewalt1]

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

I just did, lol

 

[jledda]

Not much of a internet socialite but finally registered after lurking about for years.. Main reason is I finally have small free time and am looking to thin my VW herd and parts bin. All of this makes good sense and appreciate the time spent in crafting such a detailed note. Have had VW's since I started driving in 77 and discovered a love of diesels with my ol 81 Rabbit diesel.

 

[Ti63R]

Just added my Golf TDI - Don't drive it that much and It will be best to go a TDI enthusiast. All original - no mods at all except GTI rims and still have the originals to go with it for the right price.

 

[jstory66]

Looking for some advice for an odd situation I am in. My wife has a 2013 Golf TDI and has loved it. One day at work it didnt start and we took it to the VW dealership. They said the engine was shot and we ended up buying a Subaru Outback. The dealership kept the car because they said VW might do a buyback and needed time. VW ended up replacing the engine and Turbo so now I have a 2013 VW Golf TDI with a new engine and turbo but my wife now likes the newer features of the Subaru.
What is the best way to sell this car under these circumstances?

 

[indyscott]

have you considered keeping the car instead of the wife?...

 

[oilhammer]

If my wife chose a Subaru over a Volkswagen, I'd kick her out, too. (that would never happen, thankfully).

 

[TDInewbe]

I'm new here and I read this whole thread. I joined to learn something before making a decision on selling one and reading is how I do it. My wife thinks a dozen cars is too many for some reason.

Being new to TDIs, I need to get up to speed on them. The 99 came my way in a trade deal and I wound up liking it so much I bought the 04 when it popped up on Craigslist. Unknown history on both so each time a TB kit was ordered. Did the 99 in time, but the belt broke on the 04 before I could get to it. I found a complete BEW motor but decided it would be easier to swap heads than motors. It runs well now but I'm still not driving it cause the plates expired before I got around to fixing it and now the windshield failed it for state inspection. The only thing I'm sure I want to sell is this extra motor I don't need. This seemed like a good place to be if I'm going to find someone that needs it. I'm also looking for someone local to me to do the fine tuning on these cars since I don't have a computer set up to do it.

 

[MAC10mm]

I am a Newbie. I read the post. I will donate some money to support this site.

 

[Deckard]

Read

 

[kooks314]

I'm a newbie and found this post incredibly helpful and insightful.

My 2012 Jetta TDI (101K miles) needs the EGR valve and Diesel Particulate Filter replaced. Instead of putting the money into repairing my vehicle, I am leaning towards trying to see what I can get by selling it.

Because of the car's condition (needing significant repairs) and niche (German diesel), I'm expecting it to be much more difficult to sell than the average used car. This post recommends E-bay, and other comments seems to favor Facebook. Or would a forum like this be better considering my circumstances?

Does anyone here have suggestions for how to best go about this process?

 

[pkhoury]

I'm a newbie and found this post incredibly helpful and insightful.

My 2012 Jetta TDI (101K miles) needs the EGR valve and Diesel Particulate Filter replaced. Instead of putting the money into repairing my vehicle, I am leaning towards trying to see what I can get by selling it.

Because of the car's condition (needing significant repairs) and niche (German diesel), I'm expecting it to be much more difficult to sell than the average used car. This post recommends E-bay, and other comments seems to favor Facebook. Or would a forum like this be better considering my circumstances?

Does anyone here have suggestions for how to best go about this process?

You'd be surprised - they're still in decent demand. Yours is low mileage, though the DPF replacement is somewhat of an issue.

My gf bought her 2011 JSW off facebook marketplace a few months ago. It was listed for $4000 and the seller sold it for $3000, given it also needed a DSG flywheel. For you, I'd at least look at comps along with KBB. If someone did a delete with tune, that's about $2000 (assuming they do their own labor), so figure whatever the car's worth minus about $2000 potentially.

I don't suppose your car is still under the emissions warranty by chance, or have you even got the fix? I got lucky, and her car has about 5K miles left for the emissions warranty.

 

[kooks314]

You'd be surprised - they're still in decent demand. Yours is low mileage, though the DPF replacement is somewhat of an issue.

My gf bought her 2011 JSW off facebook marketplace a few months ago. It was listed for $4000 and the seller sold it for $3000, given it also needed a DSG flywheel. For you, I'd at least look at comps along with KBB. If someone did a delete with tune, that's about $2000 (assuming they do their own labor), so figure whatever the car's worth minus about $2000 potentially.

I don't suppose your car is still under the emissions warranty by chance, or have you even got the fix? I got lucky, and her car has about 5K miles left for the emissions warranty.

Thanks for this info! I did get the fix and have a little less than 25K miles left on the Extended Emissions Warranty, which lasts up to 126K miles as I understand it.

 

[pkhoury]

Thanks for this info! I did get the fix and have a little less than 25K miles left on the Extended Emissions Warranty, which lasts up to 126K miles as I understand it.

So if that's the case, I'd definitely get the DPF replaced under warranty if you can, which would make the car more valuable for sales purposes. Or fix it and keep it. I almost had the opportunity to buy a $1500 2011 JSW - I think it had under 200K, but needed a new DPF (and who knows what else). I ultimately passed, because I don't really need any more projects right now (and it wasn't a manual). Now if it had a working DPF, that car should've easily sold for $3500-5000 based on the condition in the photos.

 

[kooks314]

So if that's the case, I'd definitely get the DPF replaced under warranty if you can, which would make the car more valuable for sales purposes. Or fix it and keep it. I almost had the opportunity to buy a $1500 2011 JSW - I think it had under 200K, but needed a new DPF (and who knows what else). I ultimately passed, because I don't really need any more projects right now (and it wasn't a manual). Now if it had a working DPF, that car should've easily sold for $3500-5000 based on the condition in the photos.

So I looked into this. Upon further review, even though my car is under the miles threshold, it is no longer covered by the Extended Emissions Warranty because I am beyond the allotted amount of time after both date of service and date of modification. Bummer.

 

[pkhoury]

So I looked into this. Upon further review, even though my car is under the miles threshold, it is no longer covered by the Extended Emissions Warranty because I am beyond the allotted amount of time after both date of service and date of modification. Bummer.

That is a total bummer! I think I'm under both time and miles, but by barely 5K. If it wasn't for the extended warranty, I'd delete it.

So I guess you gotta weigh your options at this point. The low mileage is a good thing, but with the DPF replacement, expect to have people nickel and dime you. I have a 2005 Wagon I'm trying to sell, and because it has a CEL (because Malone did a crappy job on a retune), I've had pretty crazy offers, to where I could make more money parting it out, if I had the time.

 

[marinastarbucks]

What is so dang hard about posting a price? You can always say $14,000/or best offer (obo); meaning you consider that the starting point and are not locked into the first offer, but will consider all offers and take the best one that suits you (and the buyer obviously).

We just don't want this site to be an auction site. It's not the purpose of the club. We want sales to be clear and transparent with no hidden agendas. This post was made a sticky by us, the moderators and admins because the Tdiclub wanted it and agreed with it.

And FWIW, I've never sold any of my Tdi's on this club. Too many cheapskates! lol.

yes a ton of cheapskates. It has been disappointing.