YACT: '02 VW GTI 1.8t for ~$9k ?

[StageLeft]

It is our opinion that MOST flood damaged vehicles can never be returned to pre-accident condition because of hidden damage. The majority of the damage surfaces at a future date, leaving the unsuspecting owner of the vehicle, many times, with insurmountable problems.

Sounds to me like $5-6k is more in line of what it's worth :~

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

It is our opinion that MOST flood damaged vehicles can never be returned to pre-accident condition because of hidden damage. The majority of the damage surfaces at a future date, leaving the unsuspecting owner of the vehicle, many times, with insurmountable problems.

Sounds to me like $5-6k is more in line of what it's worth :~

If that. Do you really want a car which may or may not be riddled with electrical gremlins that pop up for the rest of its life? especially one where the parts are as expensive as they are on a VW?

 

[geno]

I'd stay away and find something more reliable for 9kl

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: SkoorbWe're anti-vw for reason. The newer golfs/jettas,etc. have known and documented serious reliability problems. There is a reason why VW is worse than mitsubishi for quality. Worse than Ford. Worse than Dodge. That smell could, as mentioned above, require removal of all upholstery from the vehicle. There may be rust in areas you can't dream of. There may be mold in areas you can't dream of. Flood damage cars, aside from having horrific resale, will sometimes illicit problems that all but cannot be solved. Maybe your tailights will go out and continue to go out, time and time again. VWs have bad enough problems as they are, that they don't ned this thrown on

You may do well. It may be an easy job to clean the smell out and mild electrical problems. But, I doubt it. If it was a quick fix the seller would do it and sell it for more than $9k.

thank you, I didn't think of rust/mold problems... the reason why I'm getting it for the price I am is because I'm friends with the shop owner. He has a wholesellers license and bought this car at auction. I'm basically buying it from him at the cost he paid for it.

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: SkoorbWe're anti-vw for reason. The newer golfs/jettas,etc. have known and documented serious reliability problems. There is a reason why VW is worse than mitsubishi for quality. Worse than Ford. Worse than Dodge. That smell could, as mentioned above, require removal of all upholstery from the vehicle. There may be rust in areas you can't dream of. There may be mold in areas you can't dream of. Flood damage cars, aside from having horrific resale, will sometimes illicit problems that all but cannot be solved. Maybe your tailights will go out and continue to go out, time and time again. VWs have bad enough problems as they are, that they don't ned this thrown on

You may do well. It may be an easy job to clean the smell out and mild electrical problems. But, I doubt it. If it was a quick fix the seller would do it and sell it for more than $9k.

thank you, I didn't think of rust/mold problems... the reason why I'm getting it for the price I am is because I'm friends with the shop owner. He has a wholesellers license and bought this car at auction. I'm basically buying it from him at the cost he paid for it.

You don't want this car. Thier is a reason people try and hide salvage titles/flood damage from prospective buyers.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

thank you, I didn't think of rust/mold problems... the reason why I'm getting it for the price I am is because I'm friends with the shop owner. He has a wholesellers license and bought this car at auction. I'm basically buying it from him at the cost he paid for it.

so you are already made the decision to buy this car. so why did you ask for our opinion on whether this is good deal or not (in your OP)? did you just want some reassurance? well im not VW crapping....i own a GTI VR6...and i love it. but ANY car with flood damage is not a good idea from a reliability standpoint....

 

[N8Magic]

Flood Damage = LOSE.

Seriously, I would stay far far away from this car. Electrical problems are the toughest thing to troubleshoot... if it was easy/cheap to fix, it would be fixed already.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Aharami

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

thank you, I didn't think of rust/mold problems... the reason why I'm getting it for the price I am is because I'm friends with the shop owner. He has a wholesellers license and bought this car at auction. I'm basically buying it from him at the cost he paid for it.

so you are already made the decision to buy this car. so why did you ask for our opinion on whether this is good deal or not (in your OP)? did you just want some reassurance? well im not VW crapping....i own a GTI VR6...and i love it. but ANY car with flood damage is not a good idea from a reliability standpoint....

WTF, how is my post implying that I already made the decision to buy this car I just said the reason why I'm getting it for that price because the guy is my friend.

 

[StageLeft]

Have u decided yet?

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Have u decided yet?

I haven't... but you guys swayed me to the NO side. When I saw the car last night I was like 75% sure I was going to buy it, but now I'm 50/50 again.

No matter how you cut it, it's still a good deal $9k (assuming there's no other electrical/other problems that are going to cost an arm and a leg). If I keep the car for 5 years and sell it for $5-6k I'd say it's worth it.

But I'm going back tonight and examine the car, try to fix the electrical problem (which needs to be fixed anyways for my friend to sell the car to someone else).

 

[vi edit]

No matter how you cut it, it's still a good deal $9k (assuming there's no other electrical/other problems that are going to cost an arm and a leg). If I keep the car for 5 years and sell it for $5-6k I'd say it's worth it.

You aren't going to sell it for $5k-$6 in 5 years. You'll be lucky to get half that. Like I said earlier, salvage titles are the kiss of death.

 

[cressida]

Just save your money and keep looking

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: PrimativeScrewhead

No matter how you cut it, it's still a good deal $9k (assuming there's no other electrical/other problems that are going to cost an arm and a leg). If I keep the car for 5 years and sell it for $5-6k I'd say it's worth it.

You aren't going to sell it for $5k-$6 in 5 years. You'll be lucky to get half that. Like I said earlier, salvage titles are the kiss of death.

Absolutely no way in hell it would sell for that in 5 years.

As everyone mentioned, if it was a car with minimal problems, it would be selling for more than $9k.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: PrimativeScrewhead

No matter how you cut it, it's still a good deal $9k (assuming there's no other electrical/other problems that are going to cost an arm and a leg). If I keep the car for 5 years and sell it for $5-6k I'd say it's worth it.

You aren't going to sell it for $5k-$6 in 5 years. You'll be lucky to get half that. Like I said earlier, salvage titles are the kiss of death.

Absolutely no way in hell it would sell for that in 5 years.

As everyone mentioned, if it was a car with minimal problems, it would be selling for more than $9k.

$3k for a '02 GTI in 5 years, you gotta be kidding. Is there any way to find out for sure? I'm sorry that I'm doubting you and I'm not trying to make excuses but I'd prefer some facts. It's just in my mind there's no way that this car would only be worth $3k in 5 years. Do you have experience in these matters or just are you just guessing?
And the price is $9k because he got it as AUCTION. I'm paying the price HE paid for it at AUCTION, maybe he got lucky?

 

[StageLeft]

I'm guessing, but how much is a 7 year old car with flood damage likely to be worth? Not a heck of a lot!

 

[vi edit]

$3k for a '02 GTI in 5 years, you gotta be kidding. Is there any way to find out for sure? I'm sorry that I'm doubting you and I'm not trying to make excuses but I'd prefer some facts. It's just in my mind there's no way that this car would only be worth $3k in 5 years. Do you have experience in these matters or just are you just guessing?
And the price is $9k because he got it as AUCTION. I'm paying the price HE paid for it at AUCTION, maybe he got lucky?

It's not a question of what it's worth, it's a question of what could actually sell it for. Big difference. People don't want to buy 7 year old salvage cars. They aren't worth the money.

7 year old "clean" titled GTI's are selling for between $6,000 and $7500 right now. A salavage would be worth half that. People don't want them, especially when they could get a clean title for a couple grand more.

They are an "okay" deal if they are a brand new vehicle that you clean up and run into the ground. It's a whole different game if you try selling it 7 years down the road.

Ask Rossman about selling a salvage title.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: PrimativeScrewhead
It's not a question of what it's worth, it's a question of what could actually sell it for. Big difference. People don't want to buy 7 year old salvage cars. They aren't worth the money.

7 year old "clean" titled GTI's are selling for between $6,000 and $7500 right now. A salavage would be worth half that. People don't want them, especially when they could get a clean title for a couple grand more.

They are an "okay" deal if they are a brand new vehicle that you clean up and run into the ground. It's a whole different game if you try selling it 7 years down the road.

Ask Rossman about selling a salvage title.

I'll PM Rossman. I don't know what my plans for the car are. Tt'll be my daily driver for a while. Then when I can afford it I'll buy a new car and run this one at the drag strip. Or I might sell it 5 years, I don't know.

Yes yes I know, I'm reachin' real hard here to convince myself to buy this car.
ebay salvaged title 2000 golf for $5k 2 days left

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: PrimativeScrewhead
It's not a question of what it's worth, it's a question of what could actually sell it for. Big difference. People don't want to buy 7 year old salvage cars. They aren't worth the money.

7 year old "clean" titled GTI's are selling for between $6,000 and $7500 right now. A salavage would be worth half that. People don't want them, especially when they could get a clean title for a couple grand more.

They are an "okay" deal if they are a brand new vehicle that you clean up and run into the ground. It's a whole different game if you try selling it 7 years down the road.

Ask Rossman about selling a salvage title.

I'll PM Rossman. I don't know what my plans for the car are. Tt'll be my daily driver for a while. Then when I can afford it I'll buy a new car and run this one at the drag strip. Or I might sell it 5 years, I don't know.

Yes yes I know, I'm reachin' real hard here to convince myself to buy this car.

Only buy the car if you have every intention of driving it into the ground.

DO NOT even think about selling this in a few years unless it's for $1,500 because salvage titled cars are the KISS OF DEATH. I had one and it was nasty trying to sell it.

I would buy a salvage titled car again (not one in a flood though) but only if it were salvaged because of a minor problem (car was stolen and seats were ripped out for instance) and only if it were $4k or less.

You are asking for trouble if you buy this car. If you do buy it, I hope you keep it until it dies because you will have a very hard time selling it.

 

[fs5]

well after ripping the car up last night looking for the electrial problem I decided not to get it. There too much rust in critical places. When we took off the driver side door it was apparent that the car had been sitting in water for a prolong period of time.

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5
well after ripping the car up last night looking for the electrial problem I decided not to get it. There too much rust in critical places. When we took off the driver side door it was apparent that the car had been sitting in water for a prolong period of time.

I knew it. Good call on actually taking things apart.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: tnitsuj

Originally posted by: fivespeed5
well after ripping the car up last night looking for the electrial problem I decided not to get it. There too much rust in critical places. When we took off the driver side door it was apparent that the car had been sitting in water for a prolong period of time.

I knew it. Good call on actually taking things apart.

yeah most people on the board made the right call, but I just had to see for myself. There was always a chance that it was an insurance write off with minimal flood damage.

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: tnitsuj

Originally posted by: fivespeed5
well after ripping the car up last night looking for the electrial problem I decided not to get it. There too much rust in critical places. When we took off the driver side door it was apparent that the car had been sitting in water for a prolong period of time.

I knew it. Good call on actually taking things apart.

yeah most people on the board made the right call, but I just had to see for myself. There was always a chance that it was an insurance write off with minimal flood damage.

minimal, flood damage, write off, and car don't often go together.