GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => General discussion => Topic started by: Ch0yc3 on 21 April 2007, 00:44
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I've been looking at buying a Mk3 Golf VR6 for about a month or so, and in the last couple of weeks I've been to see a few, some good, some not so great. I really need to take the plunge at this point as I have no car and public transport is doing me head in somewhat. It comes down to two choices really:
[Car A] - Black, 5 door, R reg 97, c.90k, cloth interior, AC, the two most recent MOT certs, Service History book, nine months Tax left, 4 previous owners.
and
[Car B] - Black, 3 door, P reg 97, c.70k, grey leather interior, AC with climate control, lots of MOT certs, no Service History book (lost), SORN (as sitting on his drive, so needs to be Taxed), 1 previous lady owner (as the current owner has not registered himself on it).
Both are pretty much the same price (although the latter comes out as more expensive due to lack of tax), both have recently passed their MOTs. I called VW customer service, and both their last services registered by VW dealerships were in 1999, after that I guess they were done elsewhere.
What do you think? I am in a bit of a pickle, and don't want to mess either party around.
What would you consider more important - the MOTs or the Service Book. Does the latter car sound honest. I'm confused! Ask me more details if you like, but I would appreciate your amassed expert opinion.
:undecided:
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well id want the 3 door, and its got the leather but like u say not quite as honest is it :undecided:
very strange he hasnt registered it as its up to the previuos owner. whats his excuse??
thats the risk u take im afraid :smiley:
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Basically he said he has a modded mk3 8v and a modded Fiesta. His dad knew the lady who owned the VR6 and got a good price for it. He was going to keep it, but decided against it as it would be faster than his modded 8v. He didn't want to register himself on it to keep it as 1 previous owner. What do you think?
To complicate matters, the other (5door r-reg) car i looked at had continuous ABS Light, which I stated would mean MOT failure. He then realised he'd forgotten to MOT it. Since then he's called me to say it did indeed fail the MOT, but that he's had it looked at, and it the rear wheel bearings (?) that were causing the problem with the ABS light - and assured me this would be sorted and MOT passed by the next time I see it (sunday).
So both have their complications!?
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well in my experience ive never bought a perfect 2nd hand car. theres always a niggle somewhere and if its the car for you , you will see past those problems and rectify it yourself. :smiley:
i dont want to say buy this or buy that as its not my choice its yours. if your not completely happy with the car then dont buy it, its not the one for you and wait for the right one to turn up. :undecided:
i think the 2nd car sounds like there trying to make a few quid on it. theyve bought it cheap, dont want to keep it so are making a quick pound and i dont really see anything wrong with that, would u agree?
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Yeah, there's no problem with him wanting to make a bit of money on it, he more or less said that when I met him. It's not really about it being prefect, I just don't want to have to have some £700+ job to fork out within three months of buying it.
The thing is both fit my criteria, just trying to gauge which is the safest option to go for. Do they both sound honest?
One thing about the P-reg 3 door is that it didn't have much coolant, was at the minimum - there were no leaks on the drive or any spots in the engine - could this just be due to the car having not being driven regularly for the last few months?
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I'd be cheeky and find out the "1 previous lady owner's" address off the V5 document and contact her to see if it's firstly legitimate and secondly to ask her what she sold it for,so that you know what you can haggle him down to without him losing on the deal :wink:
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That's certainly a good idea, but would certainly be cheeky to write down the address in front of him! But from the point of view of legitimating it that's a good idea. Does the HPI check tell exactly which/how many owners there are, and from what exact dates?
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OOOOOOH!..Now that is a totally different kettle of fish
As far as HPI checks go, they are a good outline guide as to how honest a car is.........as long as the car isn't a total stitch up :shocked:
ie. a car can be cloned to give it the representation of an honest car and if the scammers know what they are doing they can find a way around it...no matter what it is. you have to remember that they will have access to HPI checks as well :sick:
It may sound daft but the obvious ones are the VIN plates, chassis No's that match the V5 doc and that the V5 doc isn't a forgery. At the end of the day you have to use your best judgement on both the car and the person selling it. :wink:
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Do you know where on the Mk3 VR6 the VIN plates are located? That was something me and my brother were trying to work out, as I haven't checked that on either car. Also, are there any tell-tale signs of tampering, or can it be forged pretty easily?
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the vin plate on late cars is not on the slam panel its a sticker that is on the passenger side front inner wing turret.
Personally buy the 5dr one its a private sale with a new mot and comming with a new abs sensor £80 plus and bearings.
check for pannel gaps and overspray for body damage also check the sills and wheel arches as later ones from factory werent fitted with arch covers so can suffer from bubbles, tail gate should have no rust as it is galvanised after 1996, creases in the boot floor and moisture can point towards damage.
5dr's in my opion seem to be better looked after as a family car and not thrashed
also if the aircon is there easy to pick up a black leather 5 dr interior for a couple of £100.
the three door sounds like trade not declaring them selves to me.
although considered a 16V as nearly as much power no where near as thirsty and its a lighter engine so the handling is not as badly effected the vr lump makes the car front end heavy and can cath you out if your uses to say a GTi
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Thanks for your quick responses.
Is there only one VIN plate on these cars?
Both the cars seem to have been well looked after, interiors very clean, and engine bays seem to be spotless too. The three door doesn't seem to have been thrashed, and the five door has been a London car for a while which is never really good (pot holes, humps, traffic etc), but obviously I can't really tell how they've been treated.
Also, the three door seemed to have very low coolant, although no discernable leaks in the engine / spots on the floor. Do you think this could have been due to the car not having been driven for the last couple of months?
Certainly the lack of service history book is a worry, but would evidence of service (ie garage receipts with registration printed) be an adequate substitute? Also, with regards to the 5-door, without having the old MOT certificates is there anyway to accurately verify the mileage?
I'm still a bit confused, and there's another very similar one that I may be looked at too...
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got to be the first one for me i`m afraid, sounds the better deal, regards the second one i think it`s illegal not to register a car if you own it, so he`s breaking the law do you want to deal with people like that?
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Basically it's been registered as SORN since the day he bought it, so it's been off the road. He basically wants to preserve the 1 lady owner status. I think that's ok isn't it, as long as it's registered as SORN?
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how can he register it sorn if it`s not in his name? if you have bought a car it`s illegal to not to register it in your name. on the v5 there is a peice to fill out if you buy it and your a trader as it doesn`t add extra owners, i would of thought he would have done this if he was all legal etc. unless he`s just selling it for her but doesn`t sound like it
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I see... hmm. It does seem unnesssasarily complicated. Thanks for your healthy scepticism :wink:
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i`m not saying there`s anything wrong with the car just that he`s going completely round the wrong way of selling it. i just can`t undersand people who sell cars illegally
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I get what you're saying. It does lead me more and more towards Car A.
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In my opinion mate and i know alot of people call 5 doors but car a seems a lot straighter to me i know the 3 door has leather but you have to think about when you come to sell it and you have no service book is it going to be really hard to sell. I know how it is mate that moneys burning a large hole in your pocket and you want to spend it, why dont you just put up with the public transport for a little longer and wait for that little minter..... :smiley:
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Thanks very much for your replies. I think I am erring towards the first car, it does seem more genuine and I shouldn't really be taking any unnecessary risks; it is also a little cheaper AND has tax till the end of the year. Just have to make sure it has genuinely passed its lastest MOT. I don't have a lot of money to spend at the moment; I was in an accident that wasn't my fault and really do need a car immediately for the next month. I was just hoping to be able to get one of these while I need a car rather than buying a temporary runaround which I'll have the hassle of having to sell off in a month's time. Obviously I might have to do that, but I think car A does seem like a more sensible option, as long as all the paperwork is correct. Is 95k miles a lot; just worried about having to change the timing chain - it surely won't need doing for another year at that mileage will it?
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do the vr6 thing if thats what you want, if youve test drove a decent one a gti wont do anything for you..... the 'can catch you out' comment regarding the handling are to be ignored also.... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
if it were me id do my home work and go for knockdown on the 3 door.... probably cause i buy and sell the odd vw in my time and a 3 door will be easier to sell than a 5 door even without service book.... well thats how i look at it, if you could show some pics of each example it would help, but theres to many private peeps out there pretending to be privates sellin dressed up sha@tters as there is traders trying to earn a living.......
do hpi check on the 2 your interested in... test drive both, get rac/aa inspection or take some one who knows alot about cars to help you decide.... its your money and your choice so your call... dont feel bullyied into buying something that might not before you!!
disclaimer... these are my points of view, and my points of view only...
:smiley:
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if you're sceptical,walk away from both.
Don't rush into buying one as I did...then end up forking lots of £Â£Ã‚£ on it!
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Wise words from TJD the Vr6 can be a great car or a big fat pit of woe if you get a bad one. I love mine and shes running mint now but on having a service at my local Vw specialist just after i brought it the mechanic found a few things wrong with her, to cut a long story short it cost me nearly £700 all in all. So its worth spending that bit extra time finding a good one. :wink:
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My brother's been coming with me, he knows a something about cars/engines etc. We've been using the buyers guides on here and other forums for things to look out for, and both these two seem pretty good from that perspective. I suppose it is worth the money getting an aa/rac check, as it could also be a bargaining tool. How much are they, around £150-£200?
I am a little worried about the 3door without service history, I'd love not to be. It looks pretty mint to be honest, engine and interior-wise. There are a couple of rust spots but nothing to write home about.
I'm still really in a bit of a pickle. Some people think the Service History is v.important, some not so much. They can be forged can't they.
**** it, I'm saving up for an RS4 now (so that's 10years of london transport then).
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don`t know how much you have to spend but this looks a clean and well looked after car
http://www.edition38.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=85767
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Whats your budget and location mate.... :smiley:
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I'm in London, both cars were around the £2250 mark. The thing is both the vehicles do seem mechanically sound, they were both advertised for a lot more than I have got them down to, and it's really doing my head in!
The thing with the 5-door higher mileage car is that I haven't been able to see the car where the guy lives, and he also was trying to arrange me picking it up from a site where he's working rather than from his home (although he did say that he needed a lift back). I'm a bit dubious about buying a car from someone without knowing where they live.
Regarding the 3-door, if I got the address of the previous owner (as apparently there is only one) and asked her about mileage and servicing, surely that would clear up a lot of concerns about that car?
I have noticed one for about £700 more which has FSH, low-mileage, I'm seriously thinking of going for that just for my own piece of mind.
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Sounds a better one mate.... :wink: