JoeNose 0 Posted July 17, 2003 Having recently agreed a sale with Autotek in Guildford for a pristine looking 71k M Reg VR6, delivery was delayed because after the presale service a new water hose had to be ordered from Germany to solve an overheating issue which had arisen. Unfortunately, the problem was not solved when the replacement was installed. It appears combustion gasses were getting into the cooling system. The head unit was removed and remanufactued at the garage's expense. The problem only got worse! After testing for cracks, the problem was diagnosed as lying with the main block itself. It's terminal. Now, fair play to Autotek. They've done the right thing and refrained from trying to disguise the problem and sell me the car. I can back out of the agreement without any real loss. If I'd have bought privately I'd have been screwed, as the test drive appeared fine. It was only the hot weather which has really made the problem stand out, it seems. The other option is more intruiging. The car now will be getting a fully reconditioned engine as a replacement. The dealer needs to get the work done regardless - but says he'd then offer to sell me the car without any margin whatever before readvertising at a higher price. "Without any margin" however would still mean I'd have to find about another grand to make the purchase - about £7600 in total. In isolation, this still seems reasonable. In all other respects, the car looks to be in fine condition, and the dealer certainly seems to know his stuff. Time to walk away, or should I bite his hand off? Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted July 17, 2003 Walk away....there are better examples out there for less and that don't have terminal engine failure. Be it the result of a manufacturing defect or the product of abuse, it is not a good car. Kev Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 1 Posted July 17, 2003 It makes you wonder how badly the previous owner(s) have neglected the car in other areas (that perhaps might not be noticable on the surface) if the engine block has a fault in it.. But then considering the amount of effort Autotek have put into this (and to be honest, I am very impressed by what they have done) it'd be a bit of a shame to get this far into the deal and walk away. I dunno.. not sure to be honest. Anyone else got an opinion? :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR Zen 0 Posted July 17, 2003 Take a walk, no point in taking any more chances Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
funky 0 Posted July 17, 2003 id say go for it. whenever buying a car no matter what you know about them its always a bit of a gamble surely the odds are in your favour with a recon engine and presumably this will come with a warranty. you may find as good cars for the money but how many with a garuntee the engines as good as new, worth paying a little extra for me thinks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeNose 0 Posted July 17, 2003 There ARE good cars out there for 7k or thereabouts.... Yet the engine in this car will be to all intents and purposes a new one; and it will have a warranty which is not insignificant... I think I'll haggle some and give it some more thought... Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Majik 0 Posted July 17, 2003 Its going to be a gamble......on one side a good reconditioned engine may give the car a new leash of life and give you peace of mind, or on the other it could be rebuilt using cheap parts and there is a chance that things may not be replaced properly which could be headache in the long run. you have to make that choice! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henny 0 Posted July 17, 2003 How long's the warranty? if it's 1 year with the option to pay more to extend it, bite their hands off, and don't forget to pay the extention! If it's less than 1 year, have a good long look at autotrader (or the for sale section here! :lol: ) and think long and hard about it... You've probably got a little while as a rebuild won't be done over night (and if it is RUN! :lol: ) As JoeNose says, time to haggle... Good luck... 8) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ramsay 0 Posted July 18, 2003 Being in the car trade - your best bet would be IMO to walk. All they want to do to this car is getting it cooling and heating properly. They are only likely to replace the bits that need doing, rather than if it was our car, our mechanic would say, '' well that is going to need doing, and we may aswell do it with the head off''. This guy will not do everything and may use non VW parts to save money. This guy, if he the chap just off thr roundabout and has a small office and little showroom at the back then I would stay well away!! I went down there with a friend in my Jetta when I was 17teen, I saw there a silver G60 for around 8 grand, we took it for a test drive and all seemed OK. I then said, I need a bit of time to think about it as I needed more money for my Jetta to what he was offering as part of my P / X. I had someone from Bournemouth wanting to buy my car, and he was calling me and I had a chat with him whilst I was in the office, and he said, '' GET OFF YOUR PHONE''! I said, '' excuse me'', he then walked to his fron t door and obstructed us from going! He thought that there were 2 yound guys just taking him for a ride and he made me worried untill my friend piped up. The guy was implying I said I would buy the car after the test drive!! I mean how insane is that, so walk away mate and find yourself a nice car, which will be much cheaper as his cars are expensive. I do agree that he does get some nice Corrados in, but dealers have at least a grand in on the profit if not much more. You can take your own waranty out with Warranty Holdings, who are one of the largest waranty firms in Europe, there are different levels of cover and I can get you signed up to this for peace of mind, or for anyone as I deal with one of the reps. If you were to buy this car, I would say in the even of this engine failure, you should let me have the car at Xxxx price, obviously give a much cheaper price than he asking, if he says no, then say you will put his car on th enternet and tell everyone what has happened!! Then you have got him in a corner, just like he had me!! Dont ever fear these traders, just put your foot down, they will not loose money on a car and you know when he doesnt want to do the deal as he will tell you straight to forget it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scott 0 Posted July 18, 2003 Walk ....... endof. :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rory 0 Posted July 18, 2003 For £7600 you could get a one owner car where the history is almost certainly genuine with no engine probs and all the services. You might need to search for a good one but they are about for that money and less and you can tell what sort of life theyve had by the condition. Mine is nice @ £5500 :D 77k 95N Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeNose 0 Posted July 19, 2003 Thanks for all the replies gents - be you Yeas or Nays :) The warranty which comes with the engine will be for 1 year, with the option to extend it for as long as the purchaser has the car. He's also lowered the extra premium he was asking by several hundered after I made him an offer. Ramsey: interesting story! I don't know whether I caught him on a good day or you caught him on a bad day, but to be fair a few other guys on these forums seem to have had good experiences with Autotek. Doesn't mean I'm daft enough to mistake him for a charity, but I can't see that I could have asked him to do much more than whats he's currently offering...either way he HAS now spent a lot on this car... I guess it's always going to take bravery / stupidity to spend 7k+ on a 9 year old car. I'm inclining towards going for it, just need to find out next week how bullet-proof this warrantys going to be... Regards Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rams 0 Posted July 21, 2003 Waranty - you have to be so carefull with warantys, make sure you get from him in writing what it covers, the amount and length of time. Give his suggestions of a problem you might experience and then ask him if you're covered. Get him to refer to the waranty booklet and show you examples to back his theory up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeNose 0 Posted July 21, 2003 Turns out the cars new engine is being sourced from Vege (UK) and is a complete unit. Anyone had any experience dealing with them? http://www.vege.nl Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sc16v 0 Posted July 21, 2003 Vege proudce very good engines and never had any problems with them( after about 30 engines/head/ boxes etc) :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
les 0 Posted July 21, 2003 cos he's had to put an engine in it don't mean u gotta pay another £1000 for it......If I've had to repair something pre-retail, well thats tough, part of being in the Trade I'm afraid, everything a gamble, most u win...some u loose. Have a chat with him, tell him u still want it? but u won't pay another grand, its his responsibility to supply cars in proper working order. les Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6storm 0 Posted July 21, 2003 one thing though if you do decide to go for it is......make sure its an ABV(2.9 VR) code engine as i'm pretty sure it would be all to easy for him to "accidentally" fit the AAA(2.8 VR) code engine........though maybe the ecu would also have to be replaced :? :? my gut reaction is to walk away.........if this has been an underlying problem before what other nasties might surface.....as this is maybe why it was traded in to autotek Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
