Flipping Country! Guys please read

[Liqui-Moly]

Hello Guys.

Please read the thread below....

For those who are lost... My mums friend asked me to help her find a nice MK4 GTi. I obliged and she sent me the details of a GTI she was going to buy.

Two days ago I posted a thread on another forum asking about ways I could look up the VIN of a vehicle and its history as I didnt want my mums friend to get a lemon... The hunt started and these are the results... Because of this c*ock up she now wont be buying a MK4 GTi... Which is a pity as Im sure you will agree. Take a read below.

The original Post: http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index....rdseen#new

Quote:Alright guys... Today there is a lesson to be learnt...

If you remember In my first post I asked for a way to check the history of a vehicle by using its VIN. I didnt get much response from the forum but continued. Now to explain.

The car is for a friend of my mums who has always wanted a GTi. She found out from my mom that I was a GTI fanatic and begged me to help her with advice and help. I naturally obliged.

She then emailed me this description of the vehicle:

Volkswagen Golf 18T GTi Exec,
2003 Silver Metallic 114 600 km, Petrol, Hatchback, 5 Doors, Manual, 1 Owner, ABS, Adjustable seats, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Air bags, Alarm remote controlled, Alloy wheels, Bumper and mirror in color, CD Multichanger, Central doorlocks with remote control, Chair heating, Chairs adjustable in height, Climate Control, Computer, Electric mirrors, Electric sunroof, Electric windows, Foglights, Full service history, Immobiliser, Leather interior, Power assisted steering, Radio/CD. Awesome!!R 114 495

This was taken directly off this link hosted by a company called Imperial Select. A very trustworthy and common car reseller:

http://search.autotrader.co.za/dpmza/car...185602743#

At this point I advised Jane (Fictional Name) that this was an absolute bargain and she must ask for the car to be kept aside for her. As the advert said. What an awesome vehicle.

I told Jane I would get the car sussed out and called Volkswagen Cape Town (Head Office). After supplying them the VIN they told me everything I already knew. They then told me they did the first service on the vehicle.

From there onwards the car should have had a 40 000km service. And a 80 000km service. VW could not tell me if this had been done as there was no record of it. They could however tell me that the car had been serviced at the Bellville branch.

I then continued to call the Bellville branch and after supplying the VIN asked for everything they had. The results were disturbing.

1. VW Belville Serviced the vehicle on 27/09/2007
2. At that time the car had: 120 936km on the clock. Anyone seeing the issue?
3. It was a big service. Cambelts, plugs, bearings and a variety of other issues. Even dodgier.
4. There is no longer a record of any servicing and no documents were processed to VW stating that Imperial Select now owned the car.

So two years ago this vehicle had 120 936km on the clock. Yet its selling for 117 000km on the clock? According to VW the car needed many parts replacing. Possibly from an accident?

I then called Jane and told her the news. Naturally she was flabergasted and upset as she was going to buy the vehicle this weekend. I have since talked to her about a MK5 TDI or 2.0 Litre Trendline. I personally am shocked as I never expected this.

So lesson for today.

NEVER BUY A VEHICLE WITHOUT CHECKING ITS HISTORY VIA A VIN CODE WITH AT LEAST 2 VW DEALERS!

Mike

Mike

[freerider]

yeah dude, all the dealers are out to make a buck!

[Carn]

[Liqui-Moly]

Fully agreed "Doug"

Its annoying because now Im paranoid about my own car and the other cars we have bought...

Mike

[freerider]

Dude, the more you look at the more you will get to know what to look at.

I looked for about 6 months before I found my 320i was actually looking for a 330i, and for even longer to find the 540i, was actually looking for a 525i

[Liqui-Moly]

I fully agree and understand what you're sayin Don.

But Im still schocked that someone like Imperial Select is selling a vehicle that has been tampered with. Either they dont know it which they should because they should have checked the VIN or they know and are illegally selling a car.

They could get sued! Its batantly dishonest.

Mike

[Starvekos]

Thumbs up for being diligent on behalf of Jane.

Call me a Leftist / head in the sand kind of guy but this story could have easily been told from any first world country. Jooking the odometre is a universal problem not just here in SA but around the world. In my opinion, your subject is alarmist.

I am sure UK based Forum members of MKV GTI will attest to this.

[calypso]

Lol after everyone complaining about the corruption here, its so refreshing to see all the UK MP's being caught.

[Graham Savage]

Rule number 2 NEVER be scared of high mileage cars, at least they be honest :-)

take a look at my mk 4, with 280 000km on the clock, they are mostly cape trips, I used to drive down a friday night and back a sunday night twice a month for a few years when I just bought it since then it hasn't done much 5000km a year in the last two years? I have had two bumps in the car one where some dog drove into my PARKED car in a shopping car park and the other in the back by our friends who serve and protect ala dronk gat Metro police no major damage in either case.

I have changed the engine oil and filter with shell fully synthetic every 5000km since new, replaced spark plugs and air filter every 10 000km, replaced gearbox oil, coolant and brake fluid every 50 000km along with the fuel filter, replaced waterpump and oil pump at 150 000km and serviced/cleaned the injectors - nothing wrong just did it along with the coolant hoses, cambelt and tensioner every 60k did wheel bearings, airflow meter and CV joints at 250 000 km again nothing wrong just to keep my head on and so the rest is history, never opened the motor, never replaced a clutch, never had any problems with it, runs like clock work

I've seen many a mk 4 with 120k - 150k km on that are in a hideous state compared to mine yet when I was looking to sell everyone ran from the mileage...

My mk 2 Gti has been in my family since new in 1984, had the same treatment from my dad and later me, car did 980000km before I stripped it down for a complete rebuild (still in progress hehe) and the motor and box live on in a caddy bakkie somewhere - never opened that motor either - only for lifters at around 500 000km

[Liqui-Moly]

Thats how a vehicle should be treated. Thumbs up to you!

I dont mind high mileage. The question however is will you unlike most others turn back your clocks so as to sell it to a market where people wont run?

Mike

[Graham Savage]

Nope, I have yet to sell any car I have owned..... It's becoming a problem :-)

Honestly I'd rather keep them, they don't cost me anything, they are all in 100% good condition so no REAL reason to sell. I can't justify the prices of new cars, I mean 400k for a Golf R32? almost HALF A BAR for a GOLF??? Not me guy :-)

Those guys must have some sort of ECU, EPROM read/writer to change mileage? It's recorded in the ECU on most of the new cars, not like back in the day when you just swap clusters, each cluster is coded to the ECU and it's not easy to swap - trust me Merc battled for a few weeks when the one in the ML packed up