What i do when viewing a car is when going for the test drive make the owner drive first, and see how he drives. If he's at 19000rpm before the end of his road with the water temp at 20degrees i tend to steer clear! Obviously not possible if its from a dealer, but you can bet any of the guys that work there will have ragged it about, they always do.
does anyone know if it is possible to contact the previous owner from any of the details!? that would help a lot....
all in all its a mine field . stone chips could be coz the road the last owner drove 90% of the time was crap , lets face it in the uk that is quite likely . mine has done 17k and has a few . you will never know unless you buy it brand new . and as for the mfd yeh it is the computer , if you press the button under the stalk for a moment the display will show a no(2) in the top right hand corner . this will be the 2nd function . if you then look at how many miles it has done on this setting and compare the mpg you will get some idea on how it has been driven . hope this helps
the golf is low at the front but also because of it's styling it seems to be very prone to stone chips even the mk4 i find... hmmm cheers geez
Car bras are very good at protecting bonnets. Bizarre concept I always used to think, but they can look cool... especially chequer board ones. U found any others to look at?
na not in that price range! I'm going to take my friend with me tomorrow who is more clued up on these matters and take it for a spin!
if its peppered in stone chips then it may have just spent ages on the motorway as a rep car, but then again i would have expected more miles from a rep car tbh. but if it drives straight, feels right and goes well then chances are its prob sound.
The last owner will be showing on the log book. Do a 118 118 on the name and address and if that don't work try the olde fashioned method of writing the last owner a letter asking to contact you.
Ask to see the reg document, get the previous owner's name & address from it & phone him/her up & ask how they treated the car. They've nothing to lose by telling the truth. If it's an x company car this won't work though. Edit: Sorry t'mill beat me to it
no one will tell the truth "i treated it like crap, i only put the cheapest parts on there etc" the mk4 ive been working on has not been looked after properly, but after a fair bit of work its getting back to standard. i think cars only last properly if they have a comprehensive dealer history or have been looked after by an enthusiast.
just a thought reading about clocked cars, what happens when a car with an MFA gets clocked, surely all the total mpg, average speed etc figures get messed up dont they? Only ask because my vectra's '2nd' gives the total mileage and mpg together, wonder what would happen to that if it was clocked? Im not planning it lol just wondering what happens. I agree with checking inside of tyers, always a good indication as to how its been driven, mine are fooked!! Unless it is cheap, why not just look for a different one that doesnt need painting etc? there are more and more available nowadays...
I would say that the first thing the dealer would do is reset both trip settings when they got hold of it, so it's probably not going to be helpful - but you never know! Even if trip 2 is only showing 500 miles, it should give you a good idea how the service manager has been driving it for the last few weeks whilst borrowing it... In my experience, if it looks and feels like a good car from the outset, then it probably is one. If it's got stone chips, bald tyres, wheel balancing issues and other problems that the dealer offers to repair before you pick it up, then you'll probably never be 100% happy with the outcome of the deal. A quick mask up and blow over of the bonnet and wings with the spray gun (minus correct prep) down at the bodyshop is probably the best you'll see for the respray - and with the car already sold there's no incentive for them to ensure that it meets close scrutiny. The fact that you're on here asking questions means that you've got high expectations for your new car, and this doesn't sound like one I would buy! I don't mean to generalise, but most car dealers appear to cater to the majority of people who expect a car to be just something with 4 wheels to get them from A to B, and car salesmen are just salesmen/women who are selling you a generic product. This has been my experience when looking for a new car, and also the attitude of "recommended" main dealer repair bodyshops when I had some minor work done. Repair done, looks like a car again - move on to the next one! Never mind the lack of underseal, orangepeel paintwork, overspray, etc... I'd much rather buy privately from someone who has obviously looked after the car, and fixed any problems as soon as they occurred. Passing a car off through the trade is generally a good way to get rid of a problem vehicle that needs attention. Good luck! Tim.
ohhhh well!! too late now I bought the fooker! I took it for another test drive with my friend who is a mechanic and I just love it! yeah it does have the stone chips but the wobble seems to have been a dodgy tyre.... but if it's not mint when I pick it up I won't be taking it home thats for sure. I'm pretty sure it will be though... GTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
OK, so I did generalise a little... But I have yet to find a main franchise dealer salesperson who has any obvious interest in the product they're actually selling... other than thinking of the cash. That was my point more than anything else! Hope they do a good job on the MK5 anyway, I'm sure it will turn out to be a good-un!
