HELP Before buying Scirocco from 2'nd hand

[NuXeR]

Hi Everyone,

I am currently in a process of checking a 2.0 TSI 2009 Scirocco before purchase.
The seller is 25 years old and he is the second hand. the car has done about 90,000 Km.

We went to a garage to have the car checked today and there are a few findings, 2 of them are major in my opinion:

1. There is an oil leak from the DSG gearbox, one guy said its a LEAK while the other said it's the gearbox "sweating" and it's nothing to worry about.
2. In the coolant tank\reservoir there are normal water with rust and corrosion. Not the kind of water you would expect in a car like this.
We could wash it out and replace the water but I'm afraid there might be damage to the engine or the radiator itself.

I would greatly appriciate any help on this, as this is my first car and I have worked hard for the money.
As much as I am interested in this car, I do not want to end up buying it and having issues with the engine or gearbox soon.

Thank you very much!

[skippy]

If it were me, I would walk away from that one, I have never heard of a gearbox 'sweating', more likely a leak. Being a DSG this could be costly to put right. That alone would put me off unless the car is priced to take repairs into account.

[BenBAC]

Sounds like to much of a risk to me, far to many questions to be asked and answered. I personally would walk away from it.

[Shorum]

Is this a bargain price? Is it local to you?
If there are other options then the best thing is to walk away. The old adage "if it seems to good to be true..."

90k on a petrol of only 4 years old is very high mileage in my opinion, and this is bound to lead to mechanical wear issues.

[NuXeR]

I am from Israel so pricing and mileage here are a bit different from the UK.

This car is usually sold for 132,000 nis (local currency) which is the equivalent of 23564.67 British Pound Sterling.
The seller is asking for 121,000 nis, which is the equivalent of 21765.84 British Pound Sterling.

Besides the mileage, I understand that these are serious malfunctions that might be costly to repair and could lead to more damage in the future?

Your recommendation is NOT to buy the car?

Thank you very much for all the help.
I am a student and this is my first car to buy (Drove leased \ hired car until now) so it is very important to me.

[whiteDevil_170]

Out of curioustuy how much is one new other there? £21k gb for a 4 year old is insane. £21k would nearly buy you a brand new roc over here.

[Ozmosis]

I must agree the asking price for a four year old car is way too high when compared to new...

90,000km is not so bad (it's around 56,000 miles) for a four year old though. Just depends how it has been driven. Which leads to:

Any oil leak (or sweat!) from any gearbox wouldn't be a good sign, in my opinion. Plus the expansion tank water being rusty already isn't a great sign that the car has had a full service history (this should be changed every two/three years) and could indicate a dodgy head gasket (from a not good personal experience with a Peugeot in the past!).

I think everyone is saying the same thing, you have saved the money to get a Scirocco, don't just pick the first one. I would say leave this particular one alone...

[whiteDevil_170]

Also soon as anything goes wrong with a dsg it becomes a very expensive fix. And judging by the prices over their just for the car I can't imagine what the cost would be if dsg box went.

[NuXeR]

okay guys, thank you very much for the help.
I have decided to wait a little further, and invest some more to increase my budget and find a scirocco in a better condition.

Regarding a new one here, the 2 liters version is around £38K.

[whiteDevil_170]

Wise decision! Jesus that's alot! Around £14k more than here.

[BenBAC]

Indeed very wise. Prices are a little crazy over there.

[RisingRoc]

At that price difference I'd investigate the cost to import a new Roc from the UK!

[whiteDevil_170]

Yh surely that's got to be a better option.

[NuXeR]

I will look into it tomorrow, problem is import tax is around 100% if I remember correctly.
Plus you have to buy the car without driving it first or seeing it... well, I guess I could take a flight in that case

[Mark V]

Which side of road do you drive on there?

[skippy]

Which side of road do you drive on there?

Just checked that one, it is on the right, so LHD.

[Mark V]

I would have thought importing a nearly new one from Germany would be worth considering....

[NuXeR]

Looked into import taxes, the government charges you around 100% import tax on a used scirocco.
AND they limit you to import only REALLLY old cars, or maximum 2 years old cars which means 2011. Which is a little out of my budget.

PROBLEM!

I have found another 2009 Scirocco, white one and it looks in a pretty mint condition.
An extra £2880 on top of the price of the previous Scirocco I was after. (total £24.5K) I hope this one comes out of the test with better mechanical condition.

I couldn't find anything for £12K from Germany so it would worth importing...

[whiteDevil_170]

Feel sorry for you cus that's almost the price of a brand new one over here. But hope it all goes well..