Water causes corrosion

This car is kept in a garage full time and only sees the light of day about 35 days out of 365 a year so they won't see as much of the wet stuff as one left outside

Strange the back suspension springs are still ok and I would think they would have more rubbish thrown at them from the front wheels

As for corrosion how come its still the original exaust system thats fitted

Edited by alan kearn on 30/10/2017 at 12:53

You've decided, in your mind, that it's worth considerably more than an equivalent car with 'normal' mileage. You came on here, hoping that people would support your reasoning.

That didn't happen, so you're now trying to justify your reasoning, by pointing out the 'real' plus points that you can see, but nobody else can.

Let me put it this way, however.

When a car is left to stand, you'll get condensation in the engine. That condensation normally, in a regularly-used car, goes away. In a really lightly-used car, however, it doesn't. Exactly the same with the exhaust. The condensation sits in there, rotting it from the inside out.

Unless the garage is heated and perfectly dry inside (and most garages don't have a damp-proof course built in), then the garage is damp. Again, more rust on unprotected components - hence the coil springs breaking.

If you really want to find out what it's worth, then the best bet is ebay motors. Start it at £1, no reserve, and wait and see what happens.

However, prepare to be very disappointed. I think you're reckoning it's worth a lot more than it really is.

I'd not give 4 figures for it, unless it was in immaculate condition underneath. It's an old diesel - the sort that are going to be banned from a lot of cities in the next 2-3 years, or will have to pay heavy 'pollution penalties'.

If i needed a car in this class i'd be beating a path to your door right now, i wouldn't be the only one, whether you will find the right buyer on a VW forum i don't know, an ad on gumtree would be free but oh boy are you letting yourself in for some undesirable attention, the bay of e might be better but i'd do a simple classified ad because that place too has its share of those you would go out of your way to avoid.

I'd love to be on the way up now, why do these cars never crop up when i or any of my family need one? best of luck getting the right buyer.

All you can do is put it on a well known auction site and see if there are two people who really want it and bid the price up.

Someone may even buy it just for the engine. An old 19,000 miler is more useful than a blown 200,000 miler.

So you would buy a car with say for this year 80,000 miles on the clock over one with 19,000 because the one with 19,000 it will have deteriated more because it has been kept in a garage

Cars need to be used, simple as. This was, for it's time, a highly complex turbo diesel runing an extrmemly high pressure (25000psi) fuel pump. This PD (or pumpe duse) technology is what VW used before 'common rail' technology became the norm. Arguably, the PD is better, but this is irrelevant for the post as having such a low mileage is not a particularly desirable trait for a complex diesel engine whether common rail or PD. Someone who knows about these things is rightly going to be put off by such a low mileage on a car like this. Whereas someone who doesn't know much about it is, (a) not likely to want an old diesel car (due to the anti diesel hysteria) and, (b) not likely to want a car this old full stop.

Personally, i am a huge fan of this engine in either the polo, lupo, or audi A2, and drove quite a few during my time working at a VW dealership during the early 2000's. I was blown away by the mid range grunt of this engine and it's remarkable ability to cover ground at a much higher rate than you'd expect from a car with only 75bhp.

But i have to ask, given your useage, why on earth would you buy one?. They were considerably more expensive than the petrol equivalent, and considerably less suitable for someone covering such a small amount of miles.

Oh, and with regards to your question above. Assuming both cars were in similar condition, with eveidence of the proper service schedule having been strictly adhered to, i'd be more inclined to go with the 80k mile car.