|
"But it still fails HPI checks because of that. Terrible system. Surely if you knew a cars registration and wanted to, you could pay for an HPI and either ruin or fabricate its mileage?"
Yes, you can, and it is not beyond some dealers to quickly do a NMR check on a potential part ex out the window then do another one with the customer in front of them and say "oh dear, there is a mileage error on your car - it's clocked - I'll have to reduce the part exchange by £1500". Worried customer then agrees desperate to be shot of car they now think has done 250,000.
HPI is sometimes spoken of as some sort of statuory body and definate authority on cars - it's not - they're just a company making money on keeping records and whilst useful should always be cross verified and not taken as gospel whether they say a car is good or bad.
|
|
I am amazed you have a car with dubious mileage the worst engine you could have no service records or bills and you still want to buy the car,there must be thousands of genuine Golfs for sale why on earth pick a dubious motor.
|
|
The car doesn't have dubious mileage, it has a consistent 7000/year. I was mainly asking about the last MOT, whether there could have been an error and if it can be corrected? I sat in the car the day before the MOT, with 42000 miles but the MOT says 62,000.
So now I have a golf which is:
- Top of my budget, but very good value for money.
- Reduced twice due to lack of interest, suposedly due to lack of service history.
- Consistent low mileage
- I have now verified its servicing
- No advisory on any MOT, which I assume is unlikely if the car had never been serviced
- Very good condition isnside and out
- Conditional of passing AA inspection
- 3 month warranty
And you are amazed that this car is good? To be honest everyone here has given me helpful advice regarding servicing/mileage but you see more interested in insulting me for managing to find a good car.
|
|
As moderator I should have said 'welcome to the forum'.
Almost all of us try to be helpful, so don't worry about Collos. He always 'knows best' and implies that everyone else, including me, is an idiot. He often talks sense but can't seem to express himself politely.
I think that with this Golf it all depends on whether you feel you can trust the previous owner and his son's competence as a mechanic. You're right to have an AA inspection: if it throws up anything dodgy, as others have said there are lots of other used Golfs around.
|
|
the worst thing to do when buying a new or used car is to just rush in and buy it then realise your mistakes later,,so you are doing all the right things now in checking everything out before hand,,,,the AA inspection will hopefully complete the jigsaw,,, good luck,,
|
|
Yes, exactly. The car is very good value, I just need to work out why. I have done my research, filled in the blanks - I now have the whole story about the cars life.
1 old owner - purchased new - serviced by his son, a professional mechanic (employed - not a part timer) - MOTed every year without advisory - low mileage. Without the inspection and service history I would become much more weary about it.
Thanks for the advice, I just need to wait for the inspection and try and sort out this latest MOT mileage error, so it doesn't affect anything in the future.
|
|
|
|
|
Thank you, I have had some good advice so far. TBH the ex-owner sounded genuine, he had no reason to lie. It didn't sound like he was making stuff up, he was happy enough to chat about it and said he had never had any problems with it, it had been a great car for him and he traded it in for a new golf. He also told me to take care of it.
I would never buy the car if the AA inspection had bad things in it. The dealer told me if the AA inspection had anything like "brake discs near end of life" and stuff like that, then they would fix it for me. If it was catasrophic then I can get my deposit back.
Thanks for your help :)
|
|
If the last owner bought another Golf, that's always a good sign as he was clearly happy with the first one.
|
|
Thanks, thats what he told me on the phone.
I am not 100% sure, but the fact that:
A. The car has four michelin tyres on it, all the same type, not a mixture of random chinese ones.
B. The car has never had an MOT advisory, so it must have been maintained well.
Are these signs that it was taken care of. The peugeot which I didn't care about, and I was running into the ground, I just put on the cheapest tyres one by one when they needed replacing.
And for the MOT, say its brake discs/pads or something like that weren't being changed, it would have failed its MOT. So someone must have been doing it - his son.
Is this reasonable thinking, or am I just wishful for the best?
Edited by cagiva on 06/04/2013 at 22:13
|
|
The reason its so been reduced twice is twofold one its lack of any service history and no matter what you say the mileage is dubious because it cannot be proved plus its the most unreliable engine VAG have produced.There are thousands of Golfs out there why risk good money on a suspect one..
Edited by Collos25 on 06/04/2013 at 22:38
|
|
How is mileage dubious? It is proven. The MOTs are pretty substantial - it goes up 7000/year. If the MOTs done prove mileage then how can you prove mileage on any car?
Please let me know why you think it is unproven/dubious and I will look into it because I genuinely don't want to buy a bad car, but I don't think you understand exactly the steps I have taken to check everything out.
The reason is that I want a TSI model and my budget wont stretch that far unless it is clearly a bad deal (damaged, needs repairs etc.) except for this - because most people are put off by lack of service history, it has been reduced.
Mileage is completely proven, it is a 100% non-issue. I just want to know how to get the mileage corrected on the most recent MOT.
|
|
|
>> If it was catasrophic then I can get my deposit back.
Really, you reckon so?
I sincerely hope you go through with the purchase, because leaving a deposit is AFAIK proof of intent to purchase, unless you have it in writing that it's a returnable deposit?
|
|
Yes, my order form says at the bottom:
"Subject to AA inspection"
|
|
Just my gut feelings.....
the only negative thing about this car is the lack of service history.
After the legal documentation, isnt that the single most important thing to look for when buying a seven year old car (some evidence - any real evidence it was ever serviced?)
His son is a trained professional mechanic, that is his main job, so he did the servicing on the car
So does his professional training include not filling in any paperwork whatsoever (service booklet) or providing some scant evidence of servicing (the odd receipt - an oil filter - a spark plug - some oil)? Perhaps he'll give you the name/address of the garage where he works so you can (physically) go and check up he exists and is really a mechanic.....
2006 (mk5) golf 1.4 TSI engine (not standard 1.4)
Is this a 140bhp/170bhp Twin charger (GT/Sports) model introduced late 2006? - If not it must be the 1.4 FSi model as the standard Tsi didnt seem to exist before 2007
Anyway £5800 is way overpriced even if it had some service history
I have never known an MOT tester to put down anything but the real,actual odometer reading on a certificate (surely they would lose their licence straightaway for such a basic error)
Good luck with the car, you're obviously besotted with it and determined to buy it no matter what, even though the basic checks all shout "walk away"........
Edited by brum on 07/04/2013 at 01:08
|
|
I would never accept the ex-keepers word for it if it was a private sale. But the car was px-ed and then sold to a used car dealer, why would he ever make up this story?
Yes it is the 140bhp Twin Charger model (5 door sports).
£5800 is underpriced, go send me a link to a TSI in Scotland for that much which is not from a private seller.
I was going to post back here with the outcome of the AA inspection and if I bought it, the outcome of the car. But instead of giving me advice you just seem to think I am stupid.
I have had much more help on a VW forum in terms of what to look for, and check up on. Here is is just:
1. Moan about lack of service history, even though there is a reasonable explanation from someone not involved with the sale and with nothing to benefit from lieing.
2. Keep on going on about a mileage discrepancy that doesn't exist.
3. Keep telling me I chose the wrong model, despite the review on this website saying "Decent handling and comfortable on the move, impressive TSI engines, massive improvement over the previous Golf" and the same with other sites, which swayed my decision towards this model. If it is as terrible as you guys keep telling me, why do all the magazines claim it is a great engine.
But no, of course this car has never been serviced. It somehow runs completely fine with the same oil, filters and brake pads that it was delivered with 7 years and 40000 miles ago. And the ex-keeper is definitely conspiring with a car dealer to scam someone - it all makes so much sense. And dont forget all of the mileage discrepancies, just forget that is has a documented 7000/year.
I will just stick to the VW forum, at least they have given me some actual helpful advice on what to look for when I go to pick it up, instead of belittling everything I say.
TBH I wont be back on this forum to let you know how I get on - the way everyone here acts is incredibly offputting to new members.
Edited by cagiva on 07/04/2013 at 01:43
|
|
ask for opinions and then gets so upset when someone gives an honest opinion that doesnt match his own?
|
|
2006 is not a new car and once outside of the manufacturers warranty period most cars are probably going to miss or exceed a service interval every now and then............
However, if I were spending nearly 6k (a lot of money to most of us) I would want to see some evidence of the car having been looked after. I mean even if the person has 'home serviced' it then at least they should have some recent receipts for oil, filters & other parts purchased. Without any history then for all you know the car could have done 80k in the first 2.5 years and chopped back to 21k just before the first MOT.
Good tyres can be a good sign as people who don't service are hardly likely to splash out on preimum tyres........ but again, it isn't a guarantee. My parents have never had their car properly serviced in the 5 years they have owned it, they just send it off to a family friend for repairs when things break or are completely knackered, yet it always has premium brand tyres on - bought as part-worns from the local backstreet tyre place!
I don't know what warranty you are getting, but most of the insurance based ones are not worth the paper they are written on as they so rarely actually pay out. SOGA does at least offer some protection from major faults in the first 6 months or so.
Personally I wouldn't buy it unless it was exceptionally cheap, leaving me a reserve fund for repairs. It isn't like a GOLF is exactly a rare car.
|
|
|
|
|
