Eek! half way through buying a used VW Passat 2.0TDI - what do I do????

nemsyb

So, last week I put down a £500 deposit to buy a second hand (12 plate) VW Passat 2.0 TDI diesel estate, with a view to pay the balance and pick it up on the 3rd October.

And now, this whole VW diesel scandal has blown up!

What do I do? I actually still really want the car but I'm worried that the original price is now too high based on the scandal which related to it's 2.0 TDI engine. There's been no recall so far in the UK but it's just a matter of time.

Do you think I can negotiate the price down???

Not sure what my options are.

Thanks

dogshome

Have a look at the paperwork - Chances are that unless you are prepared to walk away losing £500, you are committed to the deal

motorguy

nemsyb wrote: »

So, last week I put down a £500 deposit to buy a second hand (12 plate) VW Passat 2.0 TDI diesel estate, with a view to pay the balance and pick it up on the 3rd October.

And now, this whole VW diesel scandal has blown up!

What do I do? I actually still really want the car but I'm worried that the original price is now too high based on the scandal which related to it's 2.0 TDI engine. There's been no recall so far in the UK but it's just a matter of time.

Do you think I can negotiate the price down???

Not sure what my options are.

Thanks

And what do you think your chances of success are going to be given that :-

(a) theres no evidence - yet - that it affects UK cars
(b) theres no suggestion that anything other than a software update will correct it
(c) theres no evidence to suggest that the used value is / will be impacted

nemsyb

Having had a quick look around, the second hand prices on these vehicles don't seem to be reducing yet. I supposed it's early days. Although I would have thought that they would go down almost immediately after a crisis like this.

nemsyb

Yes, there's no evidence of any of those things.... yet! Doesn't give me much to go back to them with in the short term. Just feels like the worst timing ever to buy this car.

reeac

Many diesel owners make a big thing of their low road tax and this may change in the light of so-called new information but it would be a political hot potato so probably wouldn't happen quickly. If it did then second hand prices would probably dip.

Herzlos

The issue is just around emissions; I doubt the UK gov are going to reclassify the tax bands for used 2.0 TDI's, and if they did you'd be able to get compensation from VAG. They may require a recall which will change the mapping and potentially reduce performance but that may be avoidable.

It's unlikely to change the value by much at all, probably by less than your £500 deposit.

reddwarf2002

I don't see why the scandal should affect second hand prices. What VW did was for the benefit of themselves and the customer, but at the expense of the enviroment. If I was you I would be happy that the car was operating in a way that was beneficial to your pocket due to less stress on the DPF and EGR.

If it was recalled then the problem would most likely be fixed by a free software update. But as an owner why would you want that to be done?

Mr_Mink

The only people who really care are the ones jumping up and down in the press trying to look holier than thou.

In 6 months time the average Joe on the street will have totally forgotten about the story and the car's value will be the same as if none of this had ever come out.

The press stories of people suing for lost vehicle value are people looking to cash in on the situation. Fact is, you like the vehicle, and chances are your decision had very little to do with the car's nitrogen emissions so don't worry about it.

nemsyb

yes, I do like the vehicle. Took me ages to find it and feel like I had a good deal. The scandal doesn't stop the cars from being and reliable and exactly what I want. it's just leaving a bit of a sour taste and a slight doubt now based on it's future value.

WellKnownSid

nemsyb wrote: »

There's been no recall so far in the UK but it's just a matter of time.

If they are recalled, all they'll probably do is re-flash the ECU and if you're lucky give you a free courtesy wash. Urea injection won't be needed for what is a Euro-V model here. It's a different problem to the States where they never fitted the necessary equipment.

You may lose the bragging rights of having a 'VW' parked on your drive for the next few months.

Do you remember that massive scandal in the US with Toyota recalling cars because of accelerator pedal problems, and then again because of their hybrid braking systems? Long term, it probably did the company more favours because of the effort they put in to make things right.

You can expect similar here from the company that set out to beat Toyota on sales in 2015 and become the largest manufacturer of cars in the world.