To all of you out there looking for a used 2009+ TDI, be careful. I've been looking at cars for about a week, and lately there aren't many private party sellers, dealers are overpriced as usual and the biggest thing that I'm finding is that the small lots who are selling these cars buy them from auction and slap a big price on them. I didn't look at many of these but from everything that I can tell, there is a reason that the dealers sold them at auction. Dealers LOVE selling TDI's, they move fast and bring good money, so you have to ask yourself - why are they selling these at auction?
I looked at 2 TDI's that were serviced at dealers, the first one had a beautiful body and interior, second one not so bad either. I popped the hood and the entire fuel system on BOTH of them had been replaced. Normally that wouldn't be the end of the world... there was NO record of it! Looking at all the marks on all the connections that mechanics make, it looked to be incomplete. The injectors had no markings that many mechanics make, but everything else had paint marks. The first one was a mess as far as spilled diesel all over or maybe leaking even and dust and grime collecting on it, the second one not so much.
Not to mention that the first one also had a failing DMF.
Other notes - prices are up this summer from last winter and spring. If you are entertaining the idea of getting a newer car, wait for diesel prices to go up, car prices will come back down. Last winter I know a few people who got 09 wagons for less than 10k, now they're 11-13k.
I looked at 2 2010 sedans, both had rusty trunk lids I talked to the one dealer about it and he didn't think they would be covered by the rust warranty because its not a typical spot for it to rust. The same car also had rust which was due to sand blasting on gravel roads which also won't be covered.
Always always always get carfax or autocheck or similar, within those, at least with carfax, it will tell you who did the services, call that dealer with the last 6 digits of the VIN and they can bring up the service history of the car.