I have a good friend that's been in your business for 27 years Wizard. ANY vehicle I consider buying goes to him first without exception. Needless to say, I've never has an issue with one single vehicle I purchased, and yes, I've given an absolute NO WAY on several vehicles that had hidden/undisclosed issues. I trust NO ONE but my personal mechanic.
You're extremely lucky. Even the best mechanics cant forsee a problem that hasn't arisen yet, and many can as soon as you buy the car. Problem is some cars sit for a long time and as soon as you start using them regularly issues can appear that no one could have predicted.
@@hirolla2927 Toyota and Honda never need a pre-purchase inspection. You're guaranteed to get an absolutely perfect car that will require nothing but oil changes and brake pads for twenty years.
I strongly suspect the bumper & intercooler damage was done by the new owners or someone they lent the car to, as they would have surely noticed it driving poorly from the moment they left the dealership if it already had a punctured intercooler. This would likely explain why they didn't complain to the dealer and insist that they fix it.
Or you know, the dealer looked at it, found the hole on the intercooler, and added just enough duct tape for it not to be noticed, until the car was up to temp. Also from the outside, if the car was lower than the average price, you probably wouldn't think to much of the missing "trim" price. The exhaust one, you think would be obvious though.
@@jwalster9412 I agree. That intercooler was taped up. Surprised it was covered in rtv, then taped. The muffler and interior I don't know how you miss. If the dealership refuses to give you the opportunity to do a price or they try that 'Well I got a buyer that saw it yesterday and had his mechanic do the ppf and he's talking about coming to get it today. So if you can get your mechanic here or get it in like now, I can let you do it, otherwise I got to get it to detailing so they can get it fully ready for the guy to pick up in a few hours. I mean his mechanic had it, he knows us well, he looked at it and said it was all good. And you know this guy is buying it for his son who just had a baby. So I really can't tell him to wait, but I can tell him he waited too long to decide, must like you are doing!' I've seen all variations of that play out. And that's what they do. Or they claim some 172 point inspection and 12 of those were the AC/ Heat worked in all blower settings along with vents.
How likely is it the client busted the intercooler after they purchased the car? Surely they would have noticed it not building boost and running poorly on the test drive.
Yeah, unless that hole in the intercooler closed up pretty well, that would even idle like shit. All that air getting pushed out, which the maf sensor is seeing breathed in that isn't actually going into running the engine. Sorta looks like they slid off the road? Maybe in snow or ice? But I don't know for sure. It is a bit of an odd story.
I'm leaning toward the customer having run over something, after purchase, to cause that damage. The bumper is visibly damaged. It wouldn't have run right from the get go on the lot with that hole in the intercooler.. and that interior door card is very standard for a mk5. I'm more surprised the headliner isn't sagging. That missing rear muffler and tip is the only thing that might be attributable to the dealer..
Right I agree the wizard is being dramatic about this the rad fans and intercool would like 300 for the parts and are easy to put in. An exhaust shop could weld on a muffler for $100 and then the car is in perfect condition mechanically. And if you didn’t take 5 mins to look under the thing you’re about to spend 1000s on to see if a quarter of the front bumper is missing that’s just dumb and lazy.
The cabin map light being abnormally worn like that is a sure sign that this was used as a delivery or service vehicle. Adnormally worn bolsters are also a sign of this.
Or the person used some of petroleum based hand lotion. I've seen where people that use a lot of lotion whatever is in it will wear down switches, steering wheel, door pulls, arm rests.
@@riccochet704 Yeah I managed to ruin a small panel because I hadn't wiped my hand after reconnecting a battery and I must have had a slight amount of battery acid on my finger. I have no idea what may have caused the damage to the passenger door trim though.
As someone who lived 30 years in Oklahoma, the front end impact damage looks like the result of hitting an armadillo. As for the rest of the underside damage, it could be from someone playing "Dukes of Hazzard," but its just as likely to be normal wear and tear associated with living on a rural Oklahoma road, most of which are maintained horribly. A small car is going to drag and scrape along many of them no matter how carefully its driven.
Some of us live in a perfect world of fixing decorative junk plastic shielding on a walmart grocery getter. Repairmen should not be pushing a bunch of decorative junk on people who are better off buying new clothes and groceries.
Considering how filthy, dirty the car is presented in the workshop, perhaps some of the damage underneath the car was done by the new owner driving on a dirt/muddy road with potholes and hiting underneath the vehicle. Only the new owner knows if that happened or not.
I agree it hit a small animal. Armadillo is a good guess. It's likely it wasn't purchased in that condition, anyone would notice the poor state of tune.
In 2020, I was car shopping and every local car dealership refused to allow a pre-purchase inspection or test drive. I told them to go screw and bought a new Toyota so I don’t have to deal with sketchy dealers for the next 10 years.
A lot of frugal folks rag on new car purchasers, but buying a used car is like walking through a minefield. The odds are staggeringly high you will end up with a POS if you aren't rigorous in your research and you don't pay for PPIs. Sometimes, that extra cost is worth the peace of mind. Further, in the USA, not having a dependable car functionally handicaps your ability to accomplish the most basic daily tasks.
Any car dealership like this is 99% sourcing their cars from the lower end of auctions… think salvage titles, repos, and abandoned property. There’s a reason they don’t want you to actually see the car. I prefer used inventory from new car dealerships, or my favorite, local listings and mechanics who sell cars from their garage. You made the right move.
My best guess is that they bought the car without test driving it first, they probably just thought nothing of the bumper damage, somehow missed the missing muffler, the dealer probably found to hole before hand and just covered it with tape or something,they drove a block down the road and the car started to miss fire.
@@jordanturner97 I think the bumper and muffler were done before. The intercooler was probably patched by the dealer, who were expecting it to be a normal commuter car, so it was just patched with tape or something.
I think we as car people overestimate people's ability to recognize what we see as "obvious" issues. My significant other, who knows nothing about cars, would likely not pick up on any of these issues. Especially since she would be assured by the dealer that the car is "perfect".
@@jwalster9412 The muffler looks like the only thing that may have been there before. and I dont think that intercooler would have lasted any amount of time with tape. I think the customer ran something over and doesn't want to admit it. And just look at the car, he presumably just bought it and it' doesn't look like he's cleaned it at all.
We purchased a used Lexus LS from the local Lexus dealer, carfax showed a minor accident to the rear end. We later found the rear bumper was loose. Took it back to the dealer (who was not the shop that did the body repairs) and the dealer made it 100% correct at zero cost to us. We later purchased a used Lexus GX from the same dealer. In less that 2,000 miles, there was a part failure with emissions system that cost $2,500 to repair. There was no way to diagnose the issue in advance, but the dealer picked up 50% of the repair bill. Not all dealers are bad (just most of them!)
Your lucky there. I had a situation where I bought a 10 month old mustang ford certified. Carfax was clean and the car was nice without anything showing on the outside. few months later water was leaking into the car and apparently they did work inside the cowel that was damaged wrong. Carfax than showed a major accident that happened before my purchase but was reported almost a month after my purchase. Dealership owned body shop. Never could do anything. Ford wouldnt fix it. Dealership wouldnt fix it since ford wouldnt pay for it. Ford wouldnt even try to help with the dealership being the car was certified and had a clean no wreaks title at time of purchase.
@@AustinsCoins not the Lexus dealer here. In your case it wasn’t a major cost to fix tho and they prob had a good bit of profit in the deal they were happy to deal with. If it was certified Toyota used to keep on them about it tho. That has all changed in the last 6 months with Covid tho and I doubt they will even go back to being the top dog on customer satisfaction.
@@radzer0966 I guess you're right. That wasn't my experience though, that's someone else's. Mine was I bought a used Lexus from a private party, not from their dealership or any dealership. Anyway, I bought it and took it in to get looked at. The door panel had a spot where it was deteriorating. A common issue with the Lexus Is lineup, also known as "sticky dashes". But they replaced all 4 door panels and my front dash completely free. I had to wait awhile for parts but that's a common problem with everything nowadays. When I talk with other IS owners, they said their dealer wouldn't help them at all. I usually hear great things from Lexus dealerships generally. I think you'd have better luck if it was purchased at a Lexus dealership than any other dealership.
i bought a 2011 pathfinder..i watched its price drop every month for 6 mo. once it got way below bluebook i went and looked at it...it was clean in and out. ran perfect BUT the reason it didnt sell is because when you test drove it and hit a bump you really had to hold the wheel because it went all over the place...the front struts were shot......dealer was convinced the tires were out of balance lmao...so got a nice pathfinder way under bluebook and only cost me the cost of front struts which i did the work some small dealers are like this. they have no clue about the vehicles.
Yup, went to look at a car the other day and the timing chain cover was leaking - the sales guy said they just had it replaced (saw the receipt, so it wasn't BS) and had not noticed. He seemed pretty clueless, although it could have been an act.
That damage looks shiny. Shiny=fresh. Highly suspect that they drove around 200 miles from Oklahoma to your shop with a hole in the side of the intercooler and no boost. I’d say your customer is the shady one and trying to lay blame on the dealer for something they did after the purchase
If you weren't personally there to prove it, I call b.s. on that. It's easier to prove a dealer deceiving a buyer than THAT much damage occuring on a 200 mile drive. The burden is on YOU to prove that CWs customer caused the damage. Good luck with that.
@@houseofno then prove how they drove 200 miles with a hole in their intercooler no boost to the turbo and a check engine light without turning around in the first 10 miles and going back to the dealer 👌🏻
More than a decade ago, my friend bought a BMW from a high end BMW dealership. He sold it to someone not too long after and the guy had it inspected. It was ruled a totaled vehicle due to all the body repairs that had not been reported. The dealership actually hid what was on the title.
A high end BMW dealership hid car damage !!!! As if poor reliability and high maintenance costs aren't bad enough against BMW but covering up serious damage is serious
@@Brian-jv8iy Yeah dude, for every so called "reliable" BMW I will show you 10 absolutely unreliable buckets of crap. Don't think because you got lucky with yours that all the rest are the same. I used to be a BMW mechanic, worked on them every day, have owned plenty and still own one. Reliable it ain't, even with impecable maintenance. It is fun to drive though, which is why I keep it. But please don't try tell me that these cars are reliable when experience tells me they are not. In fact the only less reliable car I worked on was Audi/VW, and that's not saying much. If you don't believe me, just ask the car wizard.
I have a hard time believing they did not notice that visible damage when they bought the car. They probably liked the car so much they decided to ignore what their eyes were seeing.
There's a lot stuff on this car that even an inexperienced novice buyer should notice with even a casual look over, like the missing muffler, interior wear and broken spoiler. Even the fan blades missing should have been obvious.
I think some of the damage (the interior maybe some mechanical) was there before but the new owner was doing the off-roading and damaged things. The dirt is still on the car. The sidewalls of the tires are dusty. There is dust on the rims and all over the body of the car. there is fresh caked on dirt behind the rear wheels. A used car dealer would hide or ignore mechanical issues but will always clean the car to make it look nice before selling. There might have been some mechanical issues but if the new owner was doing the off-roading as I suspect it is hard to say what damage is new and what was already done when sold.
Hey Car Wizard! Thank you for letting people know the dangers of not getting a pre-purchase inspection. I think most people's hesitancy to get one is they can cost in the ballpark of $75-$150 depending on the age and make of the vehicle and where you go to get it inspected. Most people shopping in the used Jetta price range don't have the ability to get multiple cars inspected in their quest for something their family needs ASAP. Can you please do a video on how to do your own pre-purchase inspection? Show people how they can check body lines for damage that might be covered up or how to make sure they haven't done a quick band-aid fix that only lasts the first 100 miles. Thank you so much for all you teach me about maintaining my own car!
In Spain the law is quite similar. If the seller hid or matipulated information (and that includes rolling back the odometer), it's a crime. And if the seller didn't know about the defects present at the time of the sell and those were hidden (the buyer couldn't detect them, unless it was a proffesional) it's not a crime, but the seller has the right to be compensated.
Seems to me that the buyer likely ran over something that caused the loss of turbo boost as I think they would have noticed a problem when test driving prior to purchase.
MY AUNT tried to get my sister to buy her end of lease car that we found has not only been in a collision but has been very poorly repaired. She feigned ignorance. Trust no one.
@@BertReno Ruined our relationship. She is financially very well off and my sister not so much. She was acting like she was doing her a favor but did not want to risk having the dealer do a turn in inspection. All over a couple of grand. Terrible.
@@dumbeezy5480 Damnit! Ok, I'm an idiot. I had an A5 Jetta TDI and knew VW was using variable geometry turbos on them. I had not realized VW was still using wastegates on the gas engines. I knew the turbos on the TSI's were spooled and making peak torque before 2000rpm and figured they had to be using variable geometry turbine housings to be able to spool so quickly. That's what I get lol Thank you for correcting me.
Buying that from the dealership advertised as perfect condition car in Finland would lead straight to consumer disputes board and eventually the dealership would need to pay the required repairs or redeem the car back
Strike 1: 14 year old European car Strike 2: No warranty Strike 3: No pre purchase inspection Strike 4 is too many strikes, but depends on if they over paid to add insult to injury.
It almost sounds like the customer did it themselves and just didnt wanna admit it. Or if they did they had to have gotten it sight unseen no way they wouldn't have noticed all that.
Word, there is absolutely no way this wasn’t noticeable on the test drive, loud exhaust and runs like shit. The only person here that got bamboozled was the wizard for eating up this story the customer told him. 🤣
The shop I work for doesn't charge for a pre purchase inspection, 99.99% of the time we usually find major things wrong with the cars the people are both selling and purchasing, and when we find major things wrong they almost take the car back immediately and never go back to that lot ever again
I once went to a neighborhood shop to asked them about doing a PPI. When I told them the car I was interested in, an older Cadillac with a Northstar, they laughed and told me to save my money, both on the inspection and purchase. They listed some of the most common very expensive items and told me how much they hate working on them.. Shops like this are a blessing.
@@aaronbenton7 go to a small reputable auto shop and have them do it. If a dealer/person has nothing to hide they won’t mind you having the car looked at before you purchase. That’s what I always did when I bought a used vehicle.
@@sheiladawg1664 looks like a good car to me. Just needs an inter cooler and fan. What’s the bid deal? He is trying to scare the crap out of the buyer for no good reason
The last two used cars I bought, I also bought the extended warranty. Both times repairs were needed that were about equal to the cost of the warranty. Pay up front or plan to pay later.
@Tony1500 It used to be true, but these days I am not so sure. An extended warranty is $2k - $3k and with a AC compressor job costing upwards of $1500, just a few major repairs will cover the cost. On some cars with chronic issues, an extended warranty will pay for itself many times over. Doug Demuro basically started his YT career with an extended warranty from CarMax that eventually paid out $15k IRC.
I paid $2000 because I was afraid of a bigger repair. I broke even both times. But either way, a used car has no track record. When I get my car fixed, I know how many parts have been replaced. A used car comes with a big ? mark.
In this case, an extended warranty would not cover parts that were broken due to collision damage. They would tell you to call your car insurance company.
@@ckm-mkc I paid for an extended warranty on a used (but newer and low miles) VW. The car my parents had bought me shat it’s transmission out and was gonna be 7k in repairs. I remember thinking to myself, I don’t think I’ll have any major problems any time soon but as a regular ass 24 year old something like this on a car I’m still paying for would financially devastate me. The extended warranty offered a lot for what amounted to an extra 45 dollars a month on my car payment. The math was simple to me. 2 years and 15k dollars later I think it’s safe to say I won that bet.. and on that note.. fuck VW. I’ll never buy another one unless I can afford it as a weekend toy. I never imagined it was possible to develop a fear of ones own car. Das Auto 🥴
I had a similar experience shopping for a car last year. Found what I thought was a nice 2012 Golf at a no-haggle dealership. Test drove great, but I noticed the belly pan was missing. Took it for a pre-purchase inspection and they found all the lower trim was broken and the radiator support was cracked. My guess is the previous owner ran over something on the freeway. Estimate was ~$1200 to fix. Took it back and said I was still interested if they fixed the issues… Nope. They blew it off like it wasn’t even a problem. It sat on their lot for over another month, and then disappeared. Probably found their sucker.
You'd be surprised. A careless owner will age a car like milk. I had a 2019 accord in the other day with 13K on the clock and the front tires were absolutely trashed and the underside was beat to shit. That said, odometer tampering is a possibility.
There a scan tool that can check the mileage on most German cats called Carly, it represents complex engine codes is a way normal people can understand, it can check mileage because German cars have so many modules tracking the mileage aside from the gauge cluster.
I looked through the service history on the used car I was viewing and asked the sales person why a service was performed at higher mileage than what currently showed on the odometer. They were ready for me, they had a fake change odometer document that made it legal for them. Fuckers.
This really doesnt seem that bad, but maybe thats cause I'm familiar with these. Both the door panel peal and exhaust clamp is real common with VW-Audi cars.
@@anthonyxuereb792 It doesn't typically come to any real issues, so I guess they figured their time was better spent elsewhere. Source: have both 92 and 96 Audi/VW products with the same exhaust clamp issue, we ignored it because both have 500k KM's on them and it hasn't caused problems for us yet.
My 06 Acura TL has peeling door cards also, pretty common issue. VW’s soft touch switch gear looks like crap 5 years after purchase. The MK4, MK5, and MK6 all have this problem.
I feel like the Mk5 we're the worst, I had a GTI with 38k miles and it had the radio buttons gone. I've got a mk6 with 150k miles and nothing has peeled.
I have 2007 Mercedes GL450 with many buttons with thin rubber coating, which all deteriorated and became sticky and peeling off after about 8 years. I bought After market Chinese made replacement buttons with no rubber coating, just black plastic surface, and they are doing fine so far. Also, those window switch plastic started to crack and broke off around 10 year mark. also replaced them with Chinese made knock offs.
I am In South Africa. Bought a brand new mk5 2.0tfsi. Had zero problems for 1r years. Except from a sagging roof liner, interior was still in superb condition. I am a meticulous owner though.
Wizard, I agree with you on a PPI but again some shops are notorious for passing vehicles that clearly need work. On this particular vehicle I also feel that owner accountability is warranted - the car's a 14 year old VW with visible cosmetic damage. Hopefully they did NOT overpay for this vehicle.
If it were my car: replace fans and intercooler, tighten exhaust clamp, get the missing undercarrige plastic from junkyard along with the interior light button, reglue the door panel-or junkyard it, wash it. I mean like i can see this being a $4k car with not a whole lot of work
I see a few things here: - Owner certainly didnt try hard enough to see if they were buying something decent; a broken front bumper and a missing muffler are 2 things you can see by just looking at the car while having zero knowledge about them. -With that said, as a person who knows VWs first hand, i can say this is actually not a bad vehicle. Yes it has damage that should had been addressed by the dealer but in the end its a 2008 vehicle. Interior is actually above average considering how MK5 interiors age. This vehicle also has an Optional OEM Votex body kit, which adds value to the proposition. - The only actual red flag for me (and it might not be a red flag once a further inspection is done) is that this car was modified. There are certain elements that gives this possible aspect away, but then again its up to the owner or the PPI place to determine how far that went. IMO, this is far from a bad vehicle. Its just the wrong car for whoever doesnt know anything about them. Lets just hope they paid a fair price which i certainly doubt based on their ability to miss some obvious things about it.
Most people know the market is f'ed right now and want something to last until the marketplace is better. Car needed an intercooler and a tune up. Big deal. Good find. Inside is beautiful. I think they found a good one but needs some work that the dealer could have done. No warrany, no 'lemon law ' in Trump states?
PO hit a curb or, more likely, flat ran over a curb and damaged the bumper, intercooler, tore out the belly pan, damaged the floor pan and muffler continuing over the curb and back on to the road. Sons ran over a huge block of ice that fell off a semi truck and damaged the bumper and cracked the oil pan. Thankfully I had an aluminum Panzer Plate from DieselGeek under it vs. the plastic belly pan.
Thank you, Wizard and Mrs. Great encouragement for pre-purchase inspection - even if you think you know. Thought the red dirt was rust. Seeing the underside reminded me of the skid plate on my 84 Audi 4000 saved me many repairs
i had one of those 2.0T jettas and it is imperative that you keep clean synthetic oil in it.. the direct injection fuel pump is a high friction point at the end of the camshaft. If the oil gets really dirty the lobes can wear quickly.
Great advice, Wizard. I would add, though, that if a person does not know cars, take a friend who does before the pre-purchase inspection. The number of times I have told friends to walk away from a car is scary. The friends that don't ask my advice often end up with cars like that poor Volkswagen. It is only in certain specific and particular cases I have told friends to buy right now, without an inspection. Those cases where the car in question I precisely what they want and need, is in good looking shape on top and underneath, drives as it should, and is an unusual spec. My brother's 86 Colony Park was one. 2 owner car, private estate sale, came with every piece of paper back to the original purchase invoice, original paint with no rust, receipts from Krown Rustproofing. All of that in the good column. What made it a buy it now was the factory 351W and factory Trailer Tow III Package. Combine that with reasonable mileage, and the car was worth every penny of the asking price. Worked out well, since he put another 400,000 miles on it before the body mounts broke.
Your repetition is great! Thank you for all of your round the car inspections. It helps as a reminder to look for things while out shopping the used (and sometimes new) market. Guys like you, and Scotty Kilmer are our allies in this screwed up market. Thank you!
Wizard and Scotty are polar opposites. Wizard actually does quality work. Scotty "Odometer Discrepancy" Kilmer will charge you for a head gasket job but secretly just pour in a bottle of BarsLeak.
I do a lot of my own work and have owned mostly VW vehicles. You can get a good deal if you can inspect the vehicle yourself or have it inspected first. The cost to have it inspected will often come right off the asking price based on repairs that need done. If you are not mechanically inclined it is well worth it to get an inspection done.
Suspensions tight, no timing chain, tires and brakes are runnable issues. Just slap an intercooler and fans on it and it'll go miles and miles without issues. Id imagine most 14 yr old used economy cars look like that, at least in area. It is minor damage and there's no way they are more than 15k deep in a car they can run and drive for years with a clean title. Yeah, its rougher than they anticipated but it's hardly a rip off imo.
We did that a few years ago when my son was looking for a vehicle, found one that he liked but told the sales people we were going to have our mechanics look at it and they suggested he not get it unless he want to spend more money fixing it properly. We went back and told them what our mechanic found and they tried to get us to believe them instead of our mechanic. Later on he found a vehicle that fit he's needs better, other than it being a gas hog, but it's reliable for him and his wife.
Side suggestion for you to give to the customer. They sell metal skid plates for them and you can actually install one of those without having to paint and replace the front bumper. Will be cheaper and give some more protection to the motor.
@@thomasallen6980 vw of that era have a lot of connectors that by now are dried out and can get splash into them. If your in a bad streets area a true metal skid plate can’t hurt. Crazy what those are selling for right low so don’t wanna kill it on a pothole.
@@georgevavoulis4758 One brand name is called "panzer plate" I've got one on a Mk4 ,not sure if they make them for a mk5 , but if they don't I'd imagine someone does. Mine was around 350$ if I recall because I got the additional side pieces to protect the belts and the trans side.
We’ve been real lucky with our old 07 Audi A4 2.0 T We’ve had it six years, it only had 60k on it when we got it, we’ve spent a few thousand on it over the years, but really nothing major, it’s been bullet proof really, a tough little car. I have no complaints if it quit today. 🤣thanks Wizard for all the great content, and look forward. to all in the future.
I believe someone ran over something hard at highway speed, and drove completely over it. Damage going from front to back is all relatively in the same location front to back.
I tried to get a pre-purchase inspection before buying a car recently, I called 10 shops and each told me they could get me in 2 weeks later. Crazy times we're in.
I posted this up thread - I have used a service called LemonSquad, they do mobile inspections. Mostly used them for far away cars. No affiliation, just a useful service.
@@ckm-mkc Agreed. I recently used LemonSquad for a PPI on an M4 I was looking at. It was local, but my trusted local mechanic wouldn't have been able to get to it for a week or so, and I didn't want to let the car slip through my fingers given the current market, so I went with the internet service. They gave it top marks while noting a few dings and dents that not even I noticed when I was looking at it. I bought it and took it to my own mechanic afterwards just to get a second opinion, he said it was just fine, too. LemonSquad's communication was kinda poor, but they did a great job and issued a quite comprehensive report with lots of photos and even a video of the convertible top in operation. Would have been really appreciated if I were a remote buyer.
Area under bumper likely was driven into a curb. Happens quite a bit with low riding cars with high curb stops. Missing belly pan? Shoot, most of them in our area are missing. (Curb damage, hitting something in the road...common practice is to just remove the remains and call it a day. Sometimes it's just a lazy shop that had it removed to preform a repair, and they either damaged it or didn't feel like putting it back on) Wheel emblems: People in our area steal these things all the time. We had our Beetle purchased with all 4 at the start. Parked at the local shopping mall where I work one day- Came out to find them all pried off and missing. Moron's steal those things thinking how "Cool" they look like. Door card plastics: Very common issue. The plastics start to shrink a bit and the entire assembly breaks down and then it becomes floppy and starts to pull out. Has no effect other then cosmetic. Take a walk around a pick and pull yard! You'll see that material sticking out all over the place in the door cards. (If you can find 'em. Usually they are the first thing that gets stripped out, along with high use switches.) Exhaust: VW's use stainless steel exhaust but the welds are normal and tend to rust and rot out. Highly likely the muffler separated at the pipe and the last owner simply cut the muffler off. As the muffler flops around, that usually does a number on the VW slip joint coupler. So nothing here is that unusual. Yeah the dealership should have fixed the fans and inter-cooler, as well get the exhaust repaired. Used cars are selling at a premium due to a lack of new car parts, and that has driven used car prices up by about 40-50%. The lots get these cars in usually via trade in's or at the copart or other auto auctions. Probably sat on the dealership lot for a couple of hours before being snapped up. I can't blame this 100% on the dealership, as much as the consumer that purchased a car that clearly had a CEL and severe drive ability issues from the hold in the inter-cooler. Did they test drive before buying it? Did they request the dealership repair the known items? Or did they just flip the cash out knowing this car would need the work done, but it was all they could get. Edit: Some have pointed out it is very possible this damage was caused by the new owners. Upon reading the comments, I find this to be plausible. As I lost count of the number of times I was lied to when I used to be a mechanic before retiring. People spinning a yarn trying to get a discount, or trying not to sound like it was "Their" fault. So it's very plausible the front end damage was caused by the end buyer.
With this being 2.0t engine (GTI in Europe) the cam follower that sits inside the high fuel pump can be worn down and should be checked and changed regularly 2-3 years
I agree about having a Pre-Purchase inspection done to a car. Question is what if the car you want is not within 25 miles of your good independent mechanic that you use. How do you find someone to trust in the area of the selling dealer to make a good inspection. Not one that will just work with dealer and say it is a good car when it really is not?
I appreciate these videos, not just because of the message, but to show all the hack jobs that occur on cars like these. It makes a stronger impact pointing out how horribly these cars are thrown together to make a quick buck.
I’m glad I went to a small reputable dealership in a much more affluent area of my state who was very up front with my “new to me” 2006 Buick Lucerne and told me that there was water in the passenger front footwell from it being washed and the sunroof drains being frozen and to keep an eye on it to make sure that it wasn’t the sunroof leaking. Thankfully the footwell dried out and it’s been dry ever since. Only other things I’ve noticed is a P0128 (the cooling system just needed to be topped off) and my rear power locks don’t unlock (even commanding them to unlock with my VCXNano does nothing) and getting a history report from my local Buick dealership (they are free, just give them the VIN number that you want the history report for) revealed that the instrument cluster was replaced 4 times under warranty and the radio replaced once under warranty.
It was definitely a teenagers car. Every 16yo cuts their muffler off lol. Intercooler, fans, bumper paint matched with a belly trey is easily $2,000.. ouch! Hope the dealership makes it right or the buyers sue.
It doesn't need a bumper, the lower piece unclips from the bumper and can be bought online for '$100... many of them are broken on these cars in the wild from hitting curbs or small animals or other debris.
I have noticed that reputable garages and shops are usually several weeks backed up with work nowadays. This in itself makes it hard to get pre purchase inspections. I don't think many buyers or sellers have the time to wait weeks to get an inspection. Some states mandate emission inspection and a few like Virginia do a bit more detailed inspection. It wont show all the problems a car might have though. So I'm not sure what the solution is for getting a vehicle inspected.
Keep it up Mr. Wizard, these days buying a car has never been more expensive and risky, you are genuinely doing a service which will yield true results.........
Mr. Wizard needs to distinguish between needs to have and nice to have. New plastic fake ground effects is best forgotten in favor of putting the money in the bank. The car market is 100% f'ed right now, cars are not a status symboil anymore people just need a hunk of junk to get to work and to the Walmart.
Who buys a car with out looking it over or having a pre purchase inspection. When spending a lot money on a new used car. People have to much trust in dealerships. Some dealerships only care about the money and not being honest. Car wizard I like how honest you are. No wonder people come from far away to get their cars fixed.
I'm dealing with the same situation on a used VW I bought 6 months ago. I bought the car from a "reputable" dealer and didn't get a pre-purchase inspection. Beautiful car physically inside and out. Reported as 1 owner. It wasn't until after I purchased that the Carfax updated to show 2 prior owners and the last only owned the car for a short period of time. After 4 months the engine light continues to come on. Will need over 3K in work to repair and not covered in warranty.
By any chance is it a TDI? If so, you are probably still covered by the supplemental TDI warranty that applies to all 2.0 TDIs are a result of the class action lawsuit.
"Reported as 1 owner. It wasn't until after I purchased that the Carfax updated to show 2 prior owners and the last only owned the car for a short period of time." Won't the second owner be the dealer who sold it to you? Or does it work differently in some places?
my car reports two owners because i leased it and then bought it out but i’m the only person who has owned the car. it’s because when you lease a vehicle, the leasing company goes on the registration too. so when i refinanced it, it was retitled into just my name.
Tinted windows usually means thrashed and trashed. Worn out light button. What's going on in the dark at night regularly? 5th gen Jetta look out for plugged sun roof drains and self-opening sunroof.
The way the market is right now, there is more of this crap than normal going on. There is one dealer I know of in Charlotte that puts a lot of garbage out on their lot.
I agree with everything you said about the car buying experience that this owner has endured. However, from what you showed in the video, if we isolate the car from this bad experience and if the car was purchased for a good price, aren't the bones of this car otherwise pretty good once these issues are fixed?
@@georgecummings7559 I have owned three and they have been great but you are right, if you delay maintenance, you will absolutely kill them, and your wallet. Do not buy German cars if you are cheap.
Car Wizard, Thank you very much for posting videos like this alerting people against dishonest people. Too many people have been taken advantage of and this NEEDS TO STOP . It is really revolting ! Thanks again, David !
Maybe the new owner bottomed it out on a dirt road,if it was that way they should have looked closer.the smart thing is they brought it to you. Never buy at those loan shark lots.thanks john from arizona
It’s truly sad there are so many unscrupulous dealers out there. PPI’sfrom a reputable mechanic like yourself are a must!! Thank you for sharing their pain!
Pretty sure those are NOT Wolfsburg Edition wheels, as I'm pretty sure those were the nice VW 5 star wheels. I'd be willing to bet the previous owner bent 2 of the wheels, and the dealer replaced them with JY wheels and new tires. That explains the VW emblems missing, cause those wheels are for another car.
@@Noah_E I was kinda thinking it looked like a 6th gen steering wheel, cause I own a 2014 and it looks very similar, just didnt want to say anything. Those wheels are from a 6th gen as well
Those are the upscale / GLI wheels for higher end MK5 Jettas, the emblems fall off easily after a few yrs, you can even see the glue residues at the center. I have the same wheels on a similar 2.0T Jetta, and all but one emblem have fallen off from them. Wonderful car to drive, but kind of a pain in the ass to have it in top condition after a few years. Still have mine though, it beats newer cars in the segment by far, and I just can´t afford a new one tbh. Steering wheel is correct as well. Interiors look a little too basic for a Wolfsburg Edition, but I have a similar car from an earlier year (2006). Maybe VW just started cutting corners in the later years, considering how expensive to make this generation was.
Assuming this wasn't the customer that caused this damage, not reporting a little accident (if it's just some cosmetic damage and a new intercooler etc.) doesn't mean they didn't have insurance lol. A guy ran into the back of my buddy's volvo and they didn't report it after they determined there was next to no damage but some scratches on the bumper.
I work for an independent dealer and we have sworn off any VW 2.0 from this gen. Won't buy them and if one comes in on trade they go straight to the auction. They're a friggin pain in the ass once you get over 100k. I have an 07 Jetta Wolfsburg 2.5 5spd and it's a far better engine. Less power but much more reliable.
The gaping hole may have been the catalytic converter - if so the old one is likely sitting in a scrap yard somewhere. Sold for the platinum. I bought my 2006 Explorer from a reasonably reputable independent lot. Not sure how it got from Arizona to east Tennessee but for the most part it's been the best vehicle I've ever owned (had it almost 5 years). I fell into the "no inspection" trap, but I got lucky.
he clearly said it was the muffler and fyi the catalytic converters sits as close as possible to the engine so they get really hot and clean and reburn the exhaust gases so they would be at the front of the car right next to the engine or underneath it
No way the customer could have driven the car off the dealer’s lot without noticing this problem. It is quite possible that the customer wrecked the car soon after buying it and then tried to blame someone else.
My thoughts too, The car is covered with dirt. And I'm pretty sure the first thing any used Car Dealer does is to wash the damn car, before putting it on their lot for sale. ie, the dirt is the new owner's doing. I think the new owner drove it down a dirt road several times after buying that car. And probably hit something and broke the fan and intercooler himself.
Wizard is absolutely right about needing to get an inspection. A couple of months ago my son bought a vehicle from Carvana. Thanks to their 7 day return policy, he took it to a local trusted mechanic. The car was one owner, no accidents, looked and ran great. The mechanic found an extreme amount of rust underneath and was even able to point out a waterline in the engine compartment. The car must have sat in water for some time. He returned it to Carvana no problem and got another car. Again one owner, no accidents. The mechanic found that the car had sustained front end damage but was repaired properly, except for the sensors/camera that controlled the adaptive cruise control. That needed special equipment for calibration, which meant a trip to the dealer. There was a bit of back and forth, but ultimately Carvana approved the dealer repair with OEM parts. The bill came to 4 grand. It cost my son $100 for the inspections, but it was well worth it.
I once bought a car from a used car dealer. I took it to another used car dealer, down the street, that also did mechanical work. I paid him $100 to check it out. He found a couple of minor things wrong. He told me the other dealer was a good guy, buy the car, but for $500 less than offered. I took it back and told the first dealer what his competition said, he laughed and said OK after a bit of haggling. My brother, a master Tech, fixed the issues for next to nothing. I ran the car to about 275,000 miles. I bought other cars from the dealer over the years.
"Wolfsburg edition" made in Mexico.lol As an Immigrant from Germany i wished Americans would stop falling for the "German engineering" slogans (VW used the slogan "Das Auto" = The Car). They think they're getting quality & reliability yet VW is the exact opposite of Toyota & Honda.The Passat is even worse. Again,just like when they made the Rabbit in a plant in PA in the early 80's,they hoodwinked American buyers.
Think about it, if VWs were still made in Germany, almost no one of the demographics they're aimed for would be able to afford them outside of Germany...
This customers first problem was buying a used VW with the 2.0L turbo engine, it will eventually need a new turbo with the wastegate linkage failing sooner or later.
Most common failure on these cars is the cam follower on the high pressure fuel pump. So check the cam follow on the high pressure fuel pump before it destroys the intake cam and throws metal all through the engine. @shopdap has a really good write up on the common problems of the fsi, tfsi, and tsi engines.
I totally agree with Wiz for the 80% of people who are not auto "gearheads". If you are a "gearhead" I don't think you really *need* a pre-purchase inspection. If you have a trusted buddy or mechanic who will do it for free or cheap fine. I've bought at least 12 used cars over the past 18 years and none, not a single one, did I experience a "gotcha". Everything from a $3500 Acura to a $35,000 Jag (I did buy a warranty with the Jag though!!! Never used it however.). However I've never bought a used car with dash lights showing; even the $3500 Acura had no dash lights lit. Any "gearhead" would have got on their belly and looked under there where the bumper was damaged and seen the plate missing, probably would have seen the broken fan blades, (but not the intercooler hole on the side.). Just seeing that would be enough to challenge the "no accident" BS and either walk away (or knock $1000 of the price).
I have a 2013 VW Golf, built at Wolfsberg. I average about $1,200 every six months for repairs and maintenance. We're over 130,000 km. I don't complain about the maintenance because the car runs great. If you want to keep an older car on the road, that's just the way it is. I don't let damage accumulate. If something gets broken, I get it fixed immediately.
You're absolutely right Surfer Dude 🏄♂️. Look after a car and it will look after you . Don't wait for things to go from minor bad to seriously bad . That's why Toyota cars are made well it's the Toyota founding father philosophy especially on looms which is what they started with .
Lmao there’s no way the new owner didn’t do this to the car, they can try to sue all they want, if they signed papers saying it’s as is and there’s no lemon laws they’re shit out of luck
Not in NY. How can you buy a car without knowing the check engine light is even showing codes until it goes through a number of cycles? No wonder our hunks of junk are all shipped to your state. We cant sell them without an engine job to clear the codes.. You get ripped off every time you buy something, no wonder they are always crying for lower taxes and handouts everytime a tornado blows through.
Not sure if it’s available everywhere, but when I lived in California I would use the AAA-approved garages for my repairs and pre-purchase inspections. A bit more in labor costs than the chains or some places that look like someone’s literal home garage, but the guys were very honest and knowledgeable, the place was very clean, and you never felt you were getting upsold or told you needed repairs you didn’t actually need. Not perfect (what place is?), and a bit more expensive for certain jobs, but I know in my early years I paid way more going to a budget chain like Pep Boys and paying for a ton of repairs or parts I didn’t actually need. [Edited to add: AAA also inspects the places and ensures minimum qualifications of the mechanics (at least per the AAA website), and if you have a dispute or complaint, AAA will get involved and try to help the parties reach a solution (again, per the AAA website; fortunately I never had a dispute).]
Hey wizzy I know when you are looking under a car on camera it is a cursory inspection but you may be misleading people by stating the shock is nice and dry (and they think it is OK) , but that as you know it is not an indication of a good shock all it means it the top seal isn't leaking, the internal components may have failed and the shock is not doing it's job. Just my 2 cents.
Yes, getting a pre purchase inspection is ideal. Unfortunately it's becoming very difficult to get one done in this market. If you find a car for sale that's a good deal, chances are it'll be bought up quick and you often have to pull the trigger or not on the spot. Sellers won't want to go through the hassle of taking it to another shop and waiting on your decision when they can just sell it quickly to someone else. Best option these days may be to buy from a reputable small used car dealer that offers limited warranties on vehicles. Do not buy as-is. Or better yet find a mobile mechanic who does PPIs.
If this was driven before purchasing, the issues with drivability would of been blatantly apparent and either the sale wouldn’t of happened or it would of been corrected. My guess is all the damage to the underside happened on one good “off road mishap” and that this happened after it was purchased.
Absolutely correct and first error was buying a VW. I recently purchased a 147,900 KM Honda Accord V6L in Australia (prob equivalent of US 9th Gen V6 Touring or Sport). I had a pre purchase inspection by RACV (Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) for $386 with up to $3000 of coverage for missed items in first 28 days. Now passed the first month and car is as rated in the inspection. Perfect. $386 (AUD) Pre purchase inspection has saved me thousands.
This car is 14 years old! Cars like this are normally sold per weight (scrap metal). If you own an old VW the underbody damage is the smallest problem. Especially the 2.0 will fail within the next several thousand miles. In my opinion this car is accident-free. Some undercarriage damage (the bumper was obviously) but nothing major. The interior wear is also obviously and not hidden. Therefore nothing to complain.
I was looking for a very specific vehicle a few years ago, had three inspected, saved me two round trip flights to other parts of the country. Unfortunately between the time the 3rd passed it's PPI and when I went to get it (3 days) the rear airbag suspension failed, and I couldn't drive it home, so I got a ride back to the airport and bought a ticket home. PPIs have saved me money and headaches for sure.
The customer probably did this themselves. Looks like it’s been driven down a dirt road and ran off into the ditch. The exhaust clamp has come loose from all the vibration of running through potholes for years.
I usually do my own inspections on vehicles I buy, but as someone who works on his own vehicles, and buys from private sellers, I know what to look for. Tack on the fact that I generally won't buy anything too new, or out of my wheel house, I generally get a good vehicle.
Australia has great consumer affairs laws that (generally) protect against this kind of blatant ripping off... One of the few perks of living within a highly authoritarian political culture.
@@joshuagibson2520 Yeah after the last couple of years, the argument for our particular flavour of political rule has grown rather weaker... Whenever I hear people make the gun or healthcare arguments based on the " look at Australia" argument, my response is always "careful what you wish for"
