Clubsport Edition 40

[Hatrick]

Have a local dealer advertising a 5 door clubsport edition 40.  Thing that's putting me off is the mileage of 78k.  Car is down as having a full service history.  Should I have any concern or hold fire for a lower mileage alternative.  Car is priced at 20k, 5 door auto in white with the bucket seats.

[Exonian]

Former Clubsport Ed40 owner here but that’s as far as it goes for me, I have no knowledge on current pricing as these things fall under their own micro-bubble of enthusiasts.

I’m assuming £20k is the lower end of the price spectrum especially as it has the hallowed buckets(?)

The questions I’d throw in would be:

Why do you want an Ed40 and what will you be using it for?
Will it be occasional use or daily driver?
Trackdays?
Will you modify or keep standard?

These questions are relevant to special editions as regards to likely future value.

The mechanicals are plenty strong enough and easy enough to maintain, the bodywork however will need very close scrutiny depending on your own standards though.

[clubsport]

I would think the first question you have to ask yourself is how many miles do you drive a year?

I seem to drive 2k a year in my CS, so the mileage wouldn't be such an issue?  If however you are driving 20k a year you will soon be at 100k on the clock.

I don't think the car will neccesarily fall apart at 100k, but you may need to consider shocks, bushes, wheel bearings etc at a higher mileage which are outside the usual servicing schedule. That all adds up £££ !

If you are piling on the miles a GTi PP with a lower initial mileage may be the better car for you?

[Hatrick]

Thanks for the replies.  I don't do more than 2-3000 miles per year.  More a 2nd car for short commute to work etc but think the higher mileage is going to play on my mind.  Back to the hunt for a lower mileage example I think. 

[Exonian]

Correct decision in that case.

There’s good bit of argument in buying a higher mileage car, keeping it for a few years only doing a low mileage bringing the overall average back down, spending some time tidying it and enjoying it and protecting your investment that way. Some would enjoy doing the tidying and maintenance at weekends too.

There’s always a case for buying a car that’s a little rough round the edges if you’re doing track days and want to modify or just upgrade parts that are naturally wearing out. A few battle scars add to the authenticity! Again, some owners would relish spending time sorting out the aesthetics, mechanics and modifying process.

But if you want a tidy example that’s not in need of TLC and aren’t going to pile on many miles it’s always better to spend a little (lot?) more on a car with good provenance and lower mileage.
Part of what makes the Clubsport unique in the way it drives are subtle factory upgrades and would be masked by wear and tear of suspension parts. So a higher mileage car might turn out to be a false economy if you want it to be mint and would end up spending a lot of time and money replacing moving parts and getting stonechips sorted, gloss black trim restored and so on.

[willni]

But if you want a tidy example that’s not in need of TLC and aren’t going to pile on many miles it’s always better to spend a little (lot?) more on a car with good provenance and lower mileage.

In short Exonian, CS prices are mental at the minute as I was looking at them out of curiosity and the good ones were sitting £26-£28k

Personally I no longer buy cars in the 60-80k mile range anymore, timing belts, brake discs, suspension other niggles all crop up and people that owned them sell them before they need to do it! 3k-50k or 100k+ miles are my ranges.

But the important thing to note, and I'm surprised Clubsport or Exonian haven't said it already Buy on condition only, the UK is full of mileage snobs but miles don't kill a car, letting issues mount up does!

[Exonian]

Blimey, I paid £28k for a one month old one back in 2017!  (admittedly without buckets)

Buying on condition not spec is common sense surely? I dropped enough hints in my posts above!

[clubsport]

I also felt I mentioned condition in the likely need for non service items to be replaced at a higher mileage, i made the assumption it was neither a wreck nor a rebuilt concours example for sale at a dealer for £20k? !

I bought my CS 4 years ago this month, it has just gone through 14k miles with full VW history, it would appear to have appreciated quite nicely from the time of purchase. Which sounds great, but it's hardly a life changing sum, as a 3 door, manual well specced example, it should continue to do well? 

Of the cars I own, it is the only sensible one, hence the low mileage!

[Exonian]

You did indeed, case closed your honours… 😁

Will has a point condition, condition, condition for all car buying whether you want a nice car to keep or a rougher one to do up and wish to pay accordingly. In bold type and unequivocal.

The trouble with Ed40’s is they’re six plus years old, sold in very small numbers and most people have a unicorn spec in their head which are literally as rare as horses with large spikes on their noses and rainbows tattooed on their arses.
You pay a lot of money for a unicorn and there’s no guarantee it’ll have been treated as lovingly as you’d wish.
Not that I’m a pessimist or anything…  (well, I am when it comes to second hand cars)

The Irish “import” cars seemed to have better specs when I had mine (which was a zero option car aside from black roof)