There is a moral to this story, so please bear with me on it.
I bought a 2009 registered 'VW approved scheme' GTI Mark 6 on 31 December 2009 from a main VW dealer at an excellent discount versus new (3,850 miles only, 5 door, DSG, leather, metallic, 18" monzas). All in all a very nice, well priced 'nearly new' car, as I didn't want to wait 6 months for a new one. There were a few minor issues on delivery, but nothing that the dealer wasn't prepared to put right.
Then when I hand washed the car for the first time I noticed that the tailgate was rubbing on the bumper in each corner taking the paint away. I took it to my local main VW bodyshop and they said it was warranty work as the tailgate hadn't been fitted right, but they couldn't do the work as they were not a VW approved bodyshop warranty repairer
So I took it to an approved repairer who looked under the boot carpet to find not only a badly fitted tailgate, but also an inch of water in the spare wheel well and new welds and paint overspray. We then looked over the whole car to find residual masking tape unpainted fine lines on most panels, an incorrectly painted roof, rough welds along each roof edge, peeling paint along the rear wheel arch edges and, of course, the leaking rear floor pan which was corroding.
He had discovered that the car had been in a very major accident in its very short life, possibly a roll, with a new boot floor and rear panel incorrectly fitted, new bumper, new roof, panel beaten rear quarter panels and repainted doors, etc. The job had been done by a cowboy outfit and did not meet VW standards. All in all, a complete mess and a lemon of a car
Nothing came up on the HPI check. The car now needs major work including an almost complete respray.
So this week I legally rejected the car, which was accepted without a wimper
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the VW main dealer has agreed to swop me into a brand new, unregistered stock showroom car (built in December 2009) for no extra money, which I pick up next week (5 door GTI, black pearl, 18" monzas, leather, manual - my ideal spec). As such, it qualifies for 15% VAT and pre-VW price rise. Result!!
I have to compliment the main dealer on their brilliant customer service in recognising the problem and responding, awesome in fact, but they should never have retailed the car in the first place, which they accept. I assume it was bought in by a buyer from the previous 'private' owner and not checked properly. Now I know why the owner got rid of an otherwise fantastic car so quickly perhaps.
So to all of you out there, the moral is just to be very, very careful when buying second hand, whether under the VW approved scheme or not......please check everything. Also, that my chosen VW dealer's after sales service has been 100% exemplary in all respects, so well done to them. And that the VW used car scheme quality guarantee is worth the paper its written on.
I'm now a very happy bunny.
