Buy or avoid ?

bikingbarney

Looking to sell my 2018 Octavia VRS and move into a car like a VW Tiguan.

I've found a model that I like which is a 2.0 TDI SE-L so quite well specced.

It's priced well and has about 15-20k less miles than others at the price point.

I found a few issues when looking at it:

Discs corroded all round.
Slight dent in black plastic on rear bumper
Fuel filler flap doesn't ping open
Slight marks on the plastic centre armrest

It will also need a new cambelt and water pump in 3 months at the 5 year old point.

Strangely the exhaust rear pipes look immaculate and a lot cleaner than in the photos online.

The dealer has said it's priced well and won't reduce it.

I've not mentioned any of the above to him yet.


What would you do ? Try and haggle or avoid it.

For reference there are 13 of this model for sale between 18 and 19k on auto trader. The next one is on 72k miles whereas this one is 55k

Keen to hear your thoughts.

flashg67

Worth an ask based on what you'll need to spend in 3 months and to put the damaged/non working bits right, but sounds like this has already been factored in? Disc corrosion could just be because it's sat around on a forecourt. Mine get surface rust in just a few days if not used

motorguy

bikingbarney said:

Looking to sell my 2018 Octavia VRS and move into a car like a VW Tiguan.

I've found a model that I like which is a 2.0 TDI SE-L so quite well specced.

It's priced well and has about 15-20k less miles than others at the price point.

I found a few issues when looking at it:

Discs corroded all round.
Slight dent in black plastic on rear bumper
Fuel filler flap doesn't ping open
Slight marks on the plastic centre armrest

It will also need a new cambelt and water pump in 3 months at the 5 year old point.

Strangely the exhaust rear pipes look immaculate and a lot cleaner than in the photos online.

The dealer has said it's priced well and won't reduce it.

I've not mentioned any of the above to him yet.


What would you do ? Try and haggle or avoid it.

For reference there are 13 of this model for sale between 18 and 19k on auto trader. The next one is on 72k miles whereas this one is 55k

Keen to hear your thoughts.

The discs corroded could easily be just with the car sitting for a period of time, if it is surface corrosion on the discs themselves.  I noticed the discs on our (2019) car went rusty with sitting around over christmas.  Or is there something else?

Slight dent - if its the black plastic that could likely be popped out and replaced.  Or perhaps a smart repair.

Fuel filler cap - Doesnt open or doesnt "ping" open?  Again, might just be with lack of use.  If it doesnt open at all thats a different issue.

Arm rest - could be an easy swap out with a new top?

55kmiles is going to see a reasonable amount of wear and tear on the car.

Timing belt, yes i'd either be wanting them to do it, or if they wont, then yes you'd definitely want it done.  Again, its how much they are willing to do there, if anything.  For example a lot of people do the water pump and tensioner too, however i suspect VW guidance is maybe just the belt.

Whether the dealer is willing to do any of that on a five year old car is another thing entirely, but you could ask.

In the current market the dealer may feel no urge at all to either haggle or rectify any of those items.

Ectophile

Discs corroded all round.

That means it's been sitting for a few days. All cars do that. It's normal.

Slight dent in black plastic on rear bumper

Have a really good look to see if that's all it is. Try to stick your head underneath the car to have a better look. Decide if you can live with it, or get it fixed.

Fuel filler flap doesn't ping open

It probably needs a bit of oil, or a new spring.Unless it's actually the opening mechanism that's broken, in which case you'd have to get it fixed.

Slight marks on the plastic centre armrest

Maybe the previous owner wore a watch with a big buckle, or a flashy bracelet. Is it bad enough to matter?

It will also need a new cambelt and water pump in 3 months at the 5 year old point.

That's going to cost a few hundred pounds. Allow for it when deciding if you think the car is good value.

Strangely the exhaust rear pipes look immaculate and a lot cleaner than in the photos online.

Maybe the old ones fell off. Maybe they just cleaned them. Does it matter?

bikingbarney

The discs are properly corroded. Not just from being sat for a few days but a lot worse. 

The dent in the plastic bumper part I could live with. 

The scratches on the centre console are at th back and look like something heavy has been loaded in the boot and through the ski hatch in the rear seat and been rested on the arm rest mount 

I should explain about the exhaust in that it's not just the tips but the whole rear section of the exhaust look new. 

daveyjp

Fuel filler not opening and new exhaust and tempting price.  Has it had a rear shunt?

Bigwheels1111

plastic bumper fix could be as easy as a paint stripping hot air gun.
Warm it up and push from behind works 50% of the time, fuel cap could need a new cable or just a lube job.
Exhaust could just have been cleaned or replaced, but I would look underneath to make sure the cats not been removed.
Disc and pads not to much of an issue. Just a bit costly ?.
How many miles has it done.
My car is 100k or 10 years for replacement.

k6chris

The fact you are asking the question suggests that "avoid" is the right answer.

motorguy

bikingbarney said:

The discs are properly corroded. Not just from being sat for a few days but a lot worse. 

The dent in the plastic bumper part I could live with. 

The scratches on the centre console are at th back and look like something heavy has been loaded in the boot and through the ski hatch in the rear seat and been rested on the arm rest mount 

I should explain about the exhaust in that it's not just the tips but the whole rear section of the exhaust look new. 

It sounds like there is enough concerning you about the car to suggest you'd be safer walking away and finding a car you're 100% happy with, even if that costs more.

bikingbarney

Just to update this thread. 

We went and had another look at the white one that I had concerns about and decided that the little niggles weren't to bad. The discs had been cleaned up and it test drove really well. 

Unfortunately we noticed that the bumper had been really poorly repaired so that, combined with the fact the fact there was only one key and also the dealer wasn't willing to do the cambelt, put us off. 

We then went to see a couple more, one was decent looking outside but inside was completely mouldy, I mean absolutely covered in it. 

The newest one we looked at was at Evans halshaw and was battered. Same age as our Octavia but looked like it had had a hard life. 

We finally found a nice clean one at VW that was in budget. Paid a bit more but got two years warranty and a few other things added too. It drove lovely and had obviously been looked after. 

Collect it next Saturday