Hello all.
I'm a bit of a lurker on this forum as not yet an owner but have stepped up my search for a Mk5 GTI DSG. I did see one this weekend that ticked a lot of boxes. My main reservation was the exterior marks. Nothing was major, but it had
:
- A scratch down the length of one side, the type left by a bag or coat rather than a key, though I struggled to feel it with my nail.
- A small dent on the rear n/s wing that had also chipped the paint.
- Paint chip on the front bumper
- A couple of chips out of the paint on the edge of the drivers door.
- All the 18-inch Monza IIs had seen some scuffing, not on the face of the wheel but the on the edge.
- The wheel studs had this odd white stuff on them.
From reading past threads on here, I realise most of you are like me and take great care of our cars and get miffed at the tiniest of chips. I'm the sort with carpet on my garage walls, would rather scuff my knuckles by putting my finger round the door edge than open the dorr against a wall etc. That said, I have the benefit of running two cars and the Golf would be replacing my practical car that sits outside. Despite taking great care with that, it has suffered from being kept outdoors and does have the odd marks inflicted by bird lime or less considerate parkers/pedestrians.
My question is for those of you who bought used, how much in the way of minor cosmetic damage did you find acceptable and were there many cars that you turned down?
The car I saw was at a dealer (independent, not a VW franchise). The thing that bothers me about the light scratch down the side is that it is clear the car has seen some form of polish or wax because of the residue around the door handles. If the scratches would polish out, for the cost of a bit of elbow grease, why have they not been done.
I (or the dealer) could always get someone in to sort the chips, though the one with the dent could cause difficulty.
Most of these concerns apply to any car, but particular to the GTI are the Monza IIs, which by design are just asking to be kerbed by a less diligent driver. I've read all about difficulty of refurbing and also the white worm, of which there is only a tiny bit of evidence on the offside rear. Quite how that wheel has been scuffed I don't know. The nearside front normally takes the brunt, yet all are fairly even on this car. The scuffs rule out any warranty replacement and now the scuffs are there the condition will only deteriorate. However, with relatively little visible damage, I don't think it's worth getting them done (or getting the dealer to) straight away, particularly as I may kerb them once or twice again the early weeks of ownership, as always seems to be the case. Is a set of perfect Monza IIs the holy grail so that I should revise my expectations down?
The centre caps were going, but that could be a warranty fix. Anyone know what would make the wheel studs go a mixture of black and white?
Sorry for the long post. I'm making up for having done much more reading than writing.
