Hints on buying 2nd hand Golf GTI

[guest12345]

Hey guys,

So here is the deal... i actually wanted a golf gti back in 2006, but back then there was a 12 month waiting period, I was 18, getting my first car, i didn't have another car, therefore I went for a Mazda MX-5 instead.

Even though i have enjoyed my MX-5 for the past 4 years, i have always regretted not getting the Golf GTI.

So now i'm looking for a Golf GTI... or even a Golf GTI Pirelli!! but from searching there aren't many available.

So here is what i'm really looking for... preferably low KMs (around 30000km max), 2006-2008 around 30-40k... all depends on how much i could get for my MX5, i probably have $10k max on top of that...

But there are some sticking points at the moment...

1. Trying to sell my car... from carsguide/carsales, my car with similar KMs and year PRIVATELY, people are putting 32k+ but i have been to a few VW dealers inquiring about trading in, they are saying around 21-25k... thats a BIG difference, from i have heard in the past, it should only be around 2-3k difference, even dealers are selling for 30-32k (with more KMs)... So i'm wondering if there are too many Mx5 in the market, therefore there isn't a demand? So any suggestions on where to sell (in Sydney)?

2. Before registering, i was going through the Golf forum here... i have seen people having to pay alot for servicing... so i'm wondering what year/kms would be ideal for me to buy? i WAS thinking about getting a 2006... but it seems like the 4 year service is over $1000...

3. Does anyone know the price difference between standard golf GTI to golf GTI with DSG, sat nav, parking sensors etc when new? so i can try and work out how much extra i should pay 2nd hand for those.

4. a bit off VW topic... this would be my 1st time (possibly) buying from a private seller... do the seller pay for pre inspection? or do buyer pay for pre inspection? What other hints on buying 2nd hand cars, as people who buy GTI usually thrash around in it (even though they love their car).

5. For people who have dealt with 2nd hand cars from dealers... from the price they set (eg. $37999) how much can i try to negotiate?

Any other input from you guys would be much appreciated.

Ps. i put this in the newbies thread... but surely this would be a better audience.

[Axis]

Yo,

Just for interests sake, I picked up a Black 5 door Pirelli 2 weeks ago for $39k. It only had 7500kms on it. As the ks were so low and the care came with a service history I didn't bother getting it mechanically checked out. If I wanted to, I would have had to pay the fee to get that done however.

As for additional features - your best bet is to do some searching on carsales. You can save searches so create a few for different feature sets and check it every few days. Before I bought mine I was checking car sales for a few months with the following search criteria:

1 - Black MKV GTI
2 - Black MKV GTI MY08+
3 - Black MKV GTI MY08+ with Sunroof
4 - Black MKV GTI with Sunroof
5 - MKV Pirelli
6- Any MKV GTI in Tasmania (they're rare)

And a couple of others..

Anyhow - I found this was the best way to see what is available at what price over time. For example, when I first started looking there were some MY08s with a Sunroof for ~$34k but when I was ready to buy they were all up around $38k.... Then when a Pirelli popped up in Tasmania (I live in Hobart)... I just jumped on that as it was so convenient

[FIR-26T]

So now i'm looking for a Golf GTI... or even a Golf GTI Pirelli!! but from searching there aren't many available.

So here is what i'm really looking for... preferably low KMs (around 30000km max), 2006-2008 around 30-40k... all depends on how much i could get for my MX5, i probably have $10k max on top of that...

But there are some sticking points at the moment...

1. Trying to sell my car... from carsguide/carsales, my car with similar KMs and year PRIVATELY, people are putting 32k+ but i have been to a few VW dealers inquiring about trading in, they are saying around 21-25k... thats a BIG difference, from i have heard in the past, it should only be around 2-3k difference, even dealers are selling for 30-32k (with more KMs)... So i'm wondering if there are too many Mx5 in the market, therefore there isn't a demand? So any suggestions on where to sell (in Sydney)?

2. Before registering, i was going through the Golf forum here... i have seen people having to pay alot for servicing... so i'm wondering what year/kms would be ideal for me to buy? i WAS thinking about getting a 2006... but it seems like the 4 year service is over $1000...

3. Does anyone know the price difference between standard golf GTI to golf GTI with DSG, sat nav, parking sensors etc when new? so i can try and work out how much extra i should pay 2nd hand for those.

4. a bit off VW topic... this would be my 1st time (possibly) buying from a private seller... do the seller pay for pre inspection? or do buyer pay for pre inspection? What other hints on buying 2nd hand cars, as people who buy GTI usually thrash around in it (even though they love their car).

5. For people who have dealt with 2nd hand cars from dealers... from the price they set (eg. $37999) how much can i try to negotiate?

1. Selling a second hand car is not the easiest thing, especially in today’s market.... I am not surprised what the dealers are offering for second hand cars these days.... If you are in no hurry to buy/sell, then advertise your MX5 and try to sell it privately.... I’m sure an interested buyer will pop up somewhere....

2. With any car NOT just VW, the servicing costs are pretty steep.... Major Service will hit your pocket even harder.... So it’s really up to you wether you want an older or a newer car... Maybe buy a car that had its major service....

3. Second hand cars "for sale", that have the sat nav, parking sensors etc will only appeal to many buyer over standard features, BUT does not necessarily mean you have to pay more.... First find out what you are after and what you really want and/or need, a manual or a DSG box, then start searching... If you go with many options it will give you a headache....

4. If you want the car to go under inspection, you will have to pay yourself around the $200+ mark with NRMA.... Remember not all drivers thrash their cars... You will have to be the judge of that... Some purely buy a sports car to enjoy the ride.... Some buy it as a family car, while others buy it for track work.... I bought my GTI from an old fella, who used it as a company car, most KM were HWY km’s to and from work.... PERFECT buy!!!

5. From my previous experience, with dealers you can usually take of a good $2000 to $5000 of the drive away price for a car being sold between $20K-$45K, depending how good you are (or should I say annoying to the dealer).... Set yourself a price and stick with it... If the dealer wants your business, want your money, he will bend the rules to get the sale....

[guest12345]

Yo,

Just for interests sake, I picked up a Black 5 door Pirelli 2 weeks ago for $39k. It only had 7500kms on it. As the ks were so low and the care came with a service history I didn't bother getting it mechanically checked out. If I wanted to, I would have had to pay the fee to get that done however.

As for additional features - your best bet is to do some searching on carsales. You can save searches so create a few for different feature sets and check it every few days. Before I bought mine I was checking car sales for a few months with the following search criteria:

1 - Black MKV GTI
2 - Black MKV GTI MY08+
3 - Black MKV GTI MY08+ with Sunroof
4 - Black MKV GTI with Sunroof
5 - MKV Pirelli
6- Any MKV GTI in Tasmania (they're rare)

And a couple of others..

Anyhow - I found this was the best way to see what is available at what price over time. For example, when I first started looking there were some MY08s with a Sunroof for ~$34k but when I was ready to buy they were all up around $38k.... Then when a Pirelli popped up in Tasmania (I live in Hobart)... I just jumped on that as it was so convenient

Thanks for the response,

very nice tips! and congratulations on the pirelli!! that is an extremely good price. There is a pirelli on carsales in Sydney that has 30,000km and is going for 42k, so you definitely got a bargain, and am very jealous, as i would jump on that as well haha

i have only been searching for 1-2 weeks, i guess i have to be patient and not rush into anything major.

1. Selling a second hand car is not the easiest thing, especially in today’s market.... I am not surprised what the dealers are offering for second hand cars these days.... If you are in no hurry to buy/sell, then advertise your MX5 and try to sell it privately.... I’m sure an interested buyer will pop up somewhere....

2. With any car NOT just VW, the servicing costs are pretty steep.... Major Service will hit your pocket even harder.... So it’s really up to you wether you want an older or a newer car... Maybe buy a car that had its major service....

3. Second hand cars "for sale", that have the sat nav, parking sensors etc will only appeal to many buyer over standard features, BUT does not necessarily mean you have to pay more.... First find out what you are after and what you really want and/or need, a manual or a DSG box, then start searching... If you go with many options it will give you a headache....

4. If you want the car to go under inspection, you will have to pay yourself around the $200+ mark with NRMA.... Remember not all drivers thrash their cars... You will have to be the judge of that... Some purely buy a sports car to enjoy the ride.... Some buy it as a family car, while others buy it for track work.... I bought my GTI from an old fella, who used it as a company car, most KM were HWY km’s to and from work.... PERFECT buy!!!

5. From my previous experience, with dealers you can usually take of a good $2000 to $5000 of the drive away price for a car being sold between $20K-$45K, depending how good you are (or should I say annoying to the dealer).... Set yourself a price and stick with it... If the dealer wants your business, want your money, he will bend the rules to get the sale....

thanks mate nice tips as well...

yeah dealers don't seem to value cars as much anymore, or business is tough therefore in order for them to make a profit they are buying for less and selling for more.

2. Servicing cost for my mx5 is pretty good... 10000km standard check is only around $200, as when i bought it i signed some flat rate servicing deal.

3. I sort of have some features i want, but if the price/KMs/year is right and at a very good price, i would take everything into consideration. So since it is the start of my search, i'm looking for GTI DSG, and possibly Pirelli if there are any good ones out there. The major point is still $$$ i have to sell mine first!!

4. thats true, it is hard to judge what kind of drivers they are though... i don't mind paying for the inspection, just curious how does it work?? i pay for the car, get it inspected? what if something is not right?

5. wow 2k-5k!! i will keep that in mind, but i guess i have to find a decent one 1st from a dealer, they don't seem to have many good ones, i guess people only trade in with crappy worn out cars, or else they would sell it privately as well, as the money difference is alot.

[chriskq]

i've had my 2005 mkV GTi for just over 2 years now.

I bought my golf 2nd hand from vw barloworld at mascot. I had the old jetta (vento) before that and sold privatly on carsales.

At the time when i looking to buy there were hardly any GTi's with all the extras. I wanted 4 door, leather, sunroof, sat nav and manual. My dad was trying to persuade me to go for a new comfort line or pacific - but for a few extra k$ i really wanted a 2nd hand GTi - and the previous owner of mine was a company Ex also so it was taken care of well and had really low km's.

dealer advertised at 42k. after over a month of me annoying him i got it for 37.5k paid with a cheque.

Just had the 60k service (even thou its only done 42k) and that was $1180. Thats the most expensive service they say. I have only serviced at vw dealer to preserve log book.

Its been a pleasure to drive.

the only thing that is buggin me atm is no direct ipod connectivity or bluetooth - i would go for those out of the box next time instead of fooling around with retrofits (i am about to diy install the ipod cable via the back of the sat nav unit, this means i loose the 6 stacker thou).

even my dad is looking to trade in his passat to get a mkvi GTi now

goodluck.

[Axis]

that is an extremely good price. There is a pirelli on carsales in Sydney that has 30,000km and is going for 42k, so you definitely got a bargain, and am very jealous, as i would jump on that as well haha

The one I bought was also advertised at $42k. I offered him $39k and said I could hand over a $10k deposit immediately and the rest of the money within 4-5 days. That was enough to convince him.

Should've tried for $38

[guest12345]

The one I bought was also advertised at $42k. I offered him $39k and said I could hand over a $10k deposit immediately and the rest of the money within 4-5 days. That was enough to convince him.

Should've tried for $38

haha well some people are luckier than others!!

I doubt there would be many Pirellis with that low KMs now anyway... just have to keep searching and waiting...

problem i also have is, i use my car to work... i just don't want to sell it and have no car few a few weeks, so tough situation trying to balance timing and everything else!!

but hey if for some reason you are sick of your pirelli i will take it off your hands for say... 35k?

[Axis]

lol - I've only had it for 13 days... still discovering things about it as opposed to getting tired of it!!

There was a yellow 3 door Pirelli on carsales for ages in QLD which was $42k with only 1500kms on it.... there might be a few more around like that. After never seeing any on the road I've now seen 2 others in Hobart since buying mine... lame!

That said - that Blue Graphite one that you have referred to (with 30 000kms) looks good to me. Its got Sat Nav and Bluetooth which mine doesn't have.

If I was in your position I'd offer the owner $38k or $39k and see what happens (providing that's in your budget).

A few years ago I was trying to sell an S15 Silvia and struggled. Some people made me offers early on that I turned down as I thought they were ridiculous. I ended up selling it for much less than those offers.

Point is - even if your offer is a bit lower than might be successful its worth having it out there on the table so the seller knows they have an option should they get impatient or more keen to sell. Worst they can say is no!

[edit] This one only has 10 000ks... http://goo.gl/XxLD[/edit]

[gerhard]

Here's something I've discovered in my time ....

If buying privately, and you offer someone a seemingly lowball price for their car when they are asking too much, they will NEVER come back to you when they come to their senses. They will continue to resent your offer and will rather sell the car cheaper to someone else than let you have it at your price.

Weird, that.

[Fanaki]

Here's something I've discovered in my time ....

If buying privately, and you offer someone a seemingly lowball price for their car when they are asking too much, they will NEVER come back to you when they come to their senses. They will continue to resent your offer and will rather sell the car cheaper to someone else than let you have it at your price.

Weird, that.

^ Must agree. That exact thing happened to me before I bought the GT Sport. Saw a 1.8T A3 for sale on carsales, went to Sydney for a test drive (cheekily on company time) and put in an offer. Long story short 2 months later the car was sold only 1k more than I offered after the seller reduced the price by more than 5k

But live and learn...

[guest12345]

lol - I've only had it for 13 days... still discovering things about it as opposed to getting tired of it!!

There was a yellow 3 door Pirelli on carsales for ages in QLD which was $42k with only 1500kms on it.... there might be a few more around like that. After never seeing any on the road I've now seen 2 others in Hobart since buying mine... lame!

That said - that Blue Graphite one that you have referred to (with 30 000kms) looks good to me. Its got Sat Nav and Bluetooth which mine doesn't have.

If I was in your position I'd offer the owner $38k or $39k and see what happens (providing that's in your budget).

A few years ago I was trying to sell an S15 Silvia and struggled. Some people made me offers early on that I turned down as I thought they were ridiculous. I ended up selling it for much less than those offers.

Point is - even if your offer is a bit lower than might be successful its worth having it out there on the table so the seller knows they have an option should they get impatient or more keen to sell. Worst they can say is no!

[edit] This one only has 10 000ks... http://goo.gl/XxLD[/edit]

yeah true... well at the moment i'm concentrating on selling mine first... the Pirelli with 30000km is not too bad, i know sat nav is worth $2000 and blue tooth a few hundred as an option new... so i took that into consideration. But with 30,000km on it, i don't think i have to rush sell mine yet... no point offering when i can't sell mine right? (no offers yet)

I saw the one with 10000km... but it is in melbourne while i'm in sydney... i think it would be too complicated at this point in time (even though it would be fun to drive 10 hours back in a gti pirelli!!) lol

The problem with one that is very far away is it would be a waste of money and time if it is not as good as advertised, can't do inspection etc.

[guest12345]

Here's something I've discovered in my time ....

If buying privately, and you offer someone a seemingly lowball price for their car when they are asking too much, they will NEVER come back to you when they come to their senses. They will continue to resent your offer and will rather sell the car cheaper to someone else than let you have it at your price.

Weird, that.

^ Must agree. That exact thing happened to me before I bought the GT Sport. Saw a 1.8T A3 for sale on carsales, went to Sydney for a test drive (cheekily on company time) and put in an offer. Long story short 2 months later the car was sold only 1k more than I offered after the seller reduced the price by more than 5k

But live and learn...

thanks for the responses guys, i will take that into consideration. As mentioned before by a fellow postie, the range is around 2k-5k? So if it is around $42k i will just offer my maximum....

As for selling... i've placed my mx-5 on carsales for $32k... it is not overly expensive, similar to quite a few out there. I would settle for somewhere close to $30k for now, depending on how desperate i get.

But i have seen other similar cars on the website for a 1-2 weeks now and its still there (and who knows how long they were there before i decided to sell).

anyways all other responses and tips are welcome.

again Axis you are more than welcome to sell me yours hahahaha or anyone with a pirelli looking to sell for a reasonable price with reasonably low kms.

[Axis]

Good luck with the sale... Living in Tassie means I'm quite used to looking interstate for cars. Have bought a couple from Vic. Its not so bad

[guest12345]

Good luck with the sale... Living in Tassie means I'm quite used to looking interstate for cars. Have bought a couple from Vic. Its not so bad

lol you are used to living in the middle of nowhere... i guess you have your advantages and disadvantages. the market is smaller and much less competition selling or buying.

[Leagle]

Yo Den, the Golf GTi is a great car, no doubt. But the MX-5 would have been a great first car. Indeed I doubt that there are too many cars out there with the same level of engagement, handling, wind in the hair good feel. The GTi will be sportier, true but don't be surprised if you miss some of the mx 5 attributes.