GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: oryx3dr on 17 August 2025, 20:01
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Casual reminder to always do your digging when buying used cars.
I'd just put a deposit down on a perfect spec TCR. 3dr grey, performance pack and just ticked over 30k miles! All seemed well, until this morning when I'd managed to track down the owner who had informed me that the car had actually been stolen and recovered.
Despite doing a HPI check and CarVertical check that both indicated that the car was never stolen or written off etc.
Thankfully able to get a full refund on the deposit and found all of this out before going too far.
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This is what stopped me from going down the used R or S3 road.
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Sorry, misread the title as dogging.
Nothing further to add here…
Oh, ok, while I’m here, not a huge amount of time ago I saw a very tidy looking up! GTI advertised for sale at a dealer an hour or so away from me. It had lots of nice photos, a well written advert and decent spec, but it looked a tiny bit cheap and was at a small “family run” independent dealership of the type that put question marks in my head as to why they’d have a car like that at that price.
Literally two minutes of searching threw up a post on an owners forum from a while ago saying that car had been written off. No mention of that fact in the ad funnily enough.
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Sorry, misread the title as dogging.
Nothing further to add here…
Oh, ok, while I’m here, not a huge amount of time ago I saw a very tidy looking up! GTI advertised for sale at a dealer an hour or so away from me. It had lots of nice photos, a well written advert and decent spec, but it looked a tiny bit cheap and was at a small “family run” independent dealership of the type that put question marks in my head as to why they’d have a car like that at that price.
Literally two minutes of searching threw up a post on an owners forum from a while ago saying that car had been written off. No mention of that fact in the ad funnily enough.
Yeah very scary - it was searching for the private plate that actually lead me to the owner. Such a shame as well because the spec was great, car drove really well. All in all the damage wasn't substantial but sadly the money didn't reflect this fact.
Not in any rush to change my PP with all of that being said, I think I might just stick it out and swap the wheels out for something a bit more interesting.
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Yes Stolen Recovered doesn't show up on HPI.
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Casual reminder to always do your digging when buying used cars.
I'd just put a deposit down on a perfect spec TCR. 3dr grey, performance pack and just ticked over 30k miles! All seemed well, until this morning when I'd managed to track down the owner who had informed me that the car had actually been stolen and recovered.
Despite doing a HPI check and CarVertical check that both indicated that the car was never stolen or written off etc.
Thankfully able to get a full refund on the deposit and found all of this out before going too far.
Thanks for the warning, any other databases to check? I used Vcheck just last night!
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What the issue with buying a stolen recovered car?
If it's good spec and has no damage and is not recorded on HPI, I really don't see the issue?
Casual reminder to always do your digging when buying used cars.
I'd just put a deposit down on a perfect spec TCR. 3dr grey, performance pack and just ticked over 30k miles! All seemed well, until this morning when I'd managed to track down the owner who had informed me that the car had actually been stolen and recovered.
Despite doing a HPI check and CarVertical check that both indicated that the car was never stolen or written off etc.
Thankfully able to get a full refund on the deposit and found all of this out before going too far.
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What the issue with buying a stolen recovered car?
If it's good spec and has no damage and is not recorded on HPI, I really don't see the issue?
If I found out about anything like this with a sale and it wasn't openly disclosed, I'd walk away. You don't know what you're getting into. Maybe there isn't obvious damage but I'd be concerned about the engine and the things I couldn't see or which had been patched up.
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I’d also walk, you’ve no idea what the car went through whilst in the hands of the scrotes, but I bet they didn’t give it an interim service just to make sure all was ok.
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I think there’s a legal obligation to declare the status of a stolen and recovered car when selling it.
I personally wouldn’t knowingly buy a stolen and recovered car; as @Adam T7 has said, how it was treated when in the hands of the perpetrators is a big unknown and it almost certainly wouldn’t have been treated with any degree of mechanical sympathy. Hidden damage as pointed out by @AGB would also be a concern to me.
It may also cost more to insure a stolen / recovered car; insurance companies usually view these vehicles to be a higher risk than one that hasn’t been stolen / recovered. Additionally, when the time comes to sell the car, an owner might find it difficult to sell as the potential buyer pool will be (much?) smaller than it is for a ‘normal’ car for the reasons highlighted in this discussion topic.
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I hear what you are all saying about this, but if any of the checks you can do don't show "stolen recovered" how are you supposed to know?
Yes the OP found this by a bit of google, but I'd say thats a random chance of success...
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So what it’s stolen recovered?
Any car you buy from a dealer or private, even with a flawless service history, immaculate paint, spotless interior etc, could have been driven very hard for all of those miles, even tracked, how would you ever know?!
Where as stolen recovered was probably taken with minimal fuss, maybe to order, and driven within speed limits as so not to draw attention to it, ready for its onward journey. Not every stolen recovered was thrashed, that’s for sure.
I get it, the OP wants to buy the best for their money, but I really wouldn’t so be picky, life’s too short.
Example here:
https://youtu.be/b4HTLVpey9s?si=wQYtxM_ByJjSxZde
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😂 Been a while since I’ve seen that.
Each to their own when buying a car, I’d always try to minimise any risks, but you are correct, unless you personal know car / driver, every 2nd hand car purchase comes with a risk.
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It was only through tracking down the owner did I really find out about the theft, it wasn't disclosed by the garage unfortunately. Insurance quotes were absolutely fine but to be honest, if I'm going to part with the money for a TCR, I want to know it's been kept in the best hands possible.
Sure, there are no guarantees when buying used cars, but the issue I had with this was that the price also didn't reflect the history.
I think moving forward I'll always favor VCheck for doing checks, cheaper and seemingly more thorough.