The Volkswagen GTI - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

bax · 03-21-2019, 11:34 AM

Hello!

I've been in the market for a Volkswagen GTI for about a year now. I've done my research and am certain this is the vehicle I would like, but I have no experience with shopping or purchasing vehicles. I have only ever owned one vehicle and I have had it for the last 11 years.

I found a GTI in my price range. 2015 with 65,000 KM for $22,000. I ran a carfax on the vehicle and saw that it had two claims on it- one for comprehensive at $6,000 and one for collision at $18,000. Does this make the vehicle a poor choice to purchase? Is there anything else about GTI's that I should be aware of before making a purchase?

This car is also coming from a used car dealership. I'm not sure if that has any bearing on anything at all.

Any advice about owning a GTI or about purchasing a used vehicle would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

GoinAllTheWay · 03-21-2019, 11:36 AM

Comp claim I wouldn't be too concerned with but a collision claim with an $18,000 payout is significant. Not sure it's one I'd want to pull the trigger on.

Other than that, great choice of cars. Hope you find one that works for you.

burn_this_city · 03-21-2019, 11:39 AM

Find one with a clean title, there's plenty of fish in the sea. Also you're better off buying privately if possible. We had a 2012 for 6 years that we sold last spring, they are the best bang for buck in that segment.

Sliver · 03-21-2019, 11:48 AM

Don't buy it. There's no point in getting a crashed car and that isn't anywhere close to discounted enough to interest me.

GTI is a great choice, though. You'll have a lot of fun and it's a popular car so there will be some very nice ones to choose from. Get one from an owner because a lot of car guys buy GTIs so you'll find one that was super well taken care of. I'd pay a few bucks more to get one from an original owner that takes care of his stuff. When you look at the car, see if his house is clean and his garage is clean. If he runs a tight ship domestically, 9 times out of 10 that will translate into maintaining his cars well, too.

Dube · 03-21-2019, 11:48 AM

There’s used to be a VW employee who posted on this forum. Not sure if he’s around anymore? Can’t recall his handle

Locke · 03-21-2019, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dube

There’s used to be a VW employee who posted on this forum. Not sure if he’s around anymore? Can’t recall his handle

That was Pylon. I can put the OP in touch with him if he wants.

Fuzz · 03-21-2019, 12:11 PM

I'd love to see the before pictures. I can't imagine how much damage a small car like that would take to hit $18000 in repairs. Rollover?

Erick Estrada · 03-21-2019, 12:12 PM

Yes this particular car is a poor choice. There are plenty of used GTI's available in Alberta. One thing to look at with these cars is that they have chronic water pump issues. The water pump started leaking on my 2016 Golf R at 16k km's and I had to wait a month to get it replaced because they were on B/O due to so many failures. If the car is out of warranty make note that if you smell coolant from the front end that the water pump is probably leaking as even if they don't drip on the floor the leaks can be very small where the coolant evaporates before it can hit the ground as that's how my leak started. They are great overall cars otherwise.

Sliver · 03-21-2019, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'd love to see the before pictures. I can't imagine how much damage a small car like that would take to hit $18000 in repairs. Rollover?

Yeah, that's approaching write-off territory. Must have been a mess.

blankall · 03-21-2019, 12:42 PM

You can certainly get close to $10k in damage just from superficial door and exterior dents. $18k suggests frame damage or significant front end damage.

The mileage on that car is relatively high too.

The seller seems to be asking market price too.

There are better deals out there.

bax · 03-21-2019, 01:05 PM

Thanks for the help so far everyone. Sounds like I might be best to just stay patient and wait for the right one to come up.

Dube · 03-21-2019, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bax

Thanks for the help so far everyone. Sounds like I might be best to just stay patient and wait for the right one to come up.

Very important. There’s TONS of inventory. Get in touch with that Pylon guy.

burn_this_city · 03-21-2019, 01:22 PM

I bet the majority of that $18k was OE parts and panels, that stuff is ridiculously expensive.

Sliver · 03-21-2019, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I bet the majority of that $18k was OE parts and panels, that stuff is ridiculously expensive.

For sure. Definitely something front end related, though, because you can replace all the body panels for less than that. Probably radiator gone, both headlights, a couple wheels, plus hood, bumper, fenders, grill. That'd put you at $18k pretty fast and you could do that just by rear ending a guy going 40kph.

bax · 03-21-2019, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I bet the majority of that $18k was OE parts and panels, that stuff is ridiculously expensive.

What exactly does this mean? The dealer claims it was cosmetic only, but that just seems crazy to me for 18k.

Fuzz · 03-21-2019, 01:36 PM

LOL. A dealer claimed that? I'd ask to see the repair invoice then.

Ducay · 03-21-2019, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bax

What exactly does this mean? The dealer claims it was cosmetic only, but that just seems crazy to me for 18k.

Definitely could be; a couple body panels and paint/body work adds up to $18k fairly easily, but suffice to say, its not worth the risk.

At $10k sure, but you'd need to be getting a steal of a deal to bother with that risk.

bax · 03-21-2019, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sliver

For sure. Definitely something front end related, though, because you can replace all the body panels for less than that. Probably radiator gone, both headlights, a couple wheels, plus hood, bumper, fenders, grill. That'd put you at $18k pretty fast and you could do that just by rear ending a guy going 40kph.

Don't know if this helps at all, but the carfax lists "left rear side" as the details on the claim.

Sliver · 03-21-2019, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bax

Don't know if this helps at all, but the carfax lists "left rear side" as the details on the claim.

That's almost worse. Like, in the front end there is a ton of expensive stuff that would add up super fast (lights, rad, engine stuff, etc.). I don't know how you get $18k in damage in the rear end of a FWD car, but I'm no expert.

burn_this_city · 03-21-2019, 01:54 PM

I bet the quarter panel on that car is $5k just for the part.