Any VW Golf Mk 6 TDi owners in?

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

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Keith
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Im thinking of getting a 2-3 year old 1.6 TDi Bluemotion. Been to look at 3 already. One on Friday was the tidiest one so far and lowest mileage at 30,000 on a 2011 (61) plate.
However whilst I was left alone in the car I dug out the service book. No stamp or anything of any kind in it apart from a delivery mileage.
Question is : surely a car with 30,000 on would have been serviced at least once wouldnt it?
I disappeared without talking to the salesman as I thought it well dodgy.

Cheers
 
A quick Google suggests that the SI on the 1600 TDI Bluemotion is 10,000 miles, so I would expect a few stamps in the book. Not necessarily dodgy but certainly a bit questionable! I wonder if the stamps would magically appear if you asked about their lack?
 
Nod said:
A quick Google suggests that the SI on the 1600 TDI Bluemotion is 10,000 miles, so I would expect a few stamps in the book. Not necessarily dodgy but certainly a bit questionable! I wonder if the stamps would magically appear if you asked about their lack?
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Yeah probably, if not for me, for the next mug.

neil_g said:
ex company car? those sometimes have unstamped books.
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Had 2 owners, so not sure. I'm not risking it anyway. Although I could ring and ask just to see what they say.
 
In before all the online experts ;)

Keith, you're buying the car not the paperwork so use your eyes and ears and sense of smell to see if the car seems to suit you.

Having said which, everybody will tell you that you want an ultra-complex variable vane psycho turbo diesel affectation - until they go wrong when they quickly become more trouble than they're worth ... you just have to read all the other threads here in OoF to see that! In these particular cases, the history of the oil in the engine is probably worth knowing!

But you've got the reg number - it's written on the front and back of the car, and possibly, equally importantly, the name of the dealership who supplied it is probably written on those number plates too [it's always interesting when the front plate bears the name of a bodywork repairer!].

A couple of phone calls; to the dealership and to Volkswagen Customer Services can quite possibly tell you a lot of the history of the car :D

Hope this helps.
 
Yves Geza said:
In before all the online experts ;)
Keith, you're buying the car not the paperwork so use your eyes and ears and sense of smell to see if the car seems to suit you. .
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Ok if you are a car mechanic by trade, but not a clueless numpty like me. All I look at is the bodywork for any scratches etc and misaligned panels, beyond that a bit clueless. I rely on the paperwork to assure me that the mechanical stuff is all ok.
But you've got the reg number - it's written on the front and back of the car, and possibly, equally importantly, the name of the dealership who supplied it is probably written on those number plates too [it's always interesting when the front plate bears the name of a bodywork repairer!].
A couple of phone calls; to the dealership and to Volkswagen Customer Services can quite possibly tell you a lot of the history of the car :D
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True.
Hope this helps.
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Quite possibly.
Thanks

neil_g said:
unless the previous owners just neglected to get the book stamped.
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A decent/main dealer garage would stamp it anyway without needing telling I'd hope.

i cant think of anything dodgy about it persay.
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Keith, not Percy. ;)
 
On most VAG diesels you have the option of regular servicing - 10,000/1 year and long life servicing - 20,000/2 years.

So it should of had between 1 and 3 services.

It will tell you on the dash how many miles/days to the next service.
 
We have two Golfs. I have a new one a few months old, previously had one for three years, and Louise has a 3 year old. We always take the cars in for service at the appropriate times to main VW dealers (we have used the main one in Liverpool for many years) and none of the cars have stamps in the service logs. All data is now kept on the VW system and can be accessed by any main dealer who can provide a print out of the service history if required. I asked why they weren't stamped ages ago and they showed me how the data is kept on their system now.

Hope that helps.

Chris
 
Forgot to add that the service interval for my car is 20,000 miles.

Chris
 
Thanks all, I may ring the garage see if I can find out more.
 
Quick braindump:
Ive chased up the car I looked at last friday some more. They are saying it was serviced at 16,048 miles on 20 Jan 2013.
It was first registered on 16/12/2011.
So thats just over a year. *If* its on VW long life servicing they can go up to 18,000 miles so that might seem about right. If its on standard servicing it's 6000 miles/ a month late.

Its an ex rental company car, Enterprise, (this might explain empty service record book?) and the 2 owners record is because the company changed name during the time they had it. Is being ex rental a bad thing? As i say it looked pretty tidy when I looked at it.

Im half tempted to go further assuming the service record is legit and I can get some proof to keep should I get it.

Id probably accept giving mine and £3000 for it, but £2500 better, if its all kosher.

Any thoughts gratefully received!
 
It will say on one of the screens on the dashboard the time to the next service or if its overdue.
 
Uncle Yves asks; who's selling the car? Is it a VW franchised dealership? If so, negotiate a deal that includes up-to-date servicing and sorting out anything they find on the car.

A rental car stands to have been prettily refinished - any marks or wheel scuffs will have been refurbished at the hirers' expense. However, as a crude generalisation, the service book will have been stamped but not all the perfectionist work that was advised at the time, will necessarily have been carried out
 
Hire cars are the fastest in the world!
 
With "ze germans" being so efficient, why does the service book have space for stamps if it is not required now?

Unusual for a hire car company to keep them for 30K / 3 yrs - unless a cheapo copany, who would potentially be more likely to scrimp on services? . Around here, and I have many hire cars via work, around 9-12K and they get sold on either to auction or to second hand car dealers with decent reputations...
 
Yves Geza said:
Uncle Yves asks; who's selling the car? Is it a VW franchised dealership? If so, negotiate a deal that includes up-to-date servicing and sorting out anything they find on the car.
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Hyundai main dealer. Bit odd. He also said they got it from auction(i think). Why would a hyundai dealer be buying VWs for the forecourt I dont know.
Test drive seemed good, mpg didnt climb as high as I hoped but got to 56mpg toddling around an A road and back roads. The bluemotion system seems to be working though, as I pulled up to a T junction I thought the engine had stalled but as soon as I came off the brake it started again.

A rental car stands to have been prettily refinished - any marks or wheel scuffs will have been refurbished at the hirers' expense. However, as a crude generalisation, the service book will have been stamped but not all the perfectionist work that was advised at the time, will necessarily have been carried out
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No stamps in service book just a printed sheet of paper from "ERAC UK" (the car rental company I believe) with some text on it saying serviced at 16,048 miles. :-/

Im going to try ringing the dealership that sold it and find out if is on standard or longlife servicing (10k or 20k) and also if any records of it being serviced anywhere. Any deal I negotiate I will try and get money off rather than letting them do the servicing then take it to a VW main dealer myself. Reason being if I was the dealer and had agreed to provide a service, Id just say to Bert in the garage, "bung some engine oil in that will you and stamp the book for a full service, cheers mate"

Didnt see anything coming on on the dash about time to next service. Would be good to have seen something to confirm at least the 16,000 had been done by a vw dealer.

Cheers all. Any thoughts still welcome.
 
DorsetDude said:
Hyundai main dealer. Bit odd. He also said they got it from auction(i think). Why would a hyundai dealer be buying VWs for the forecourt I dont know.
Test drive seemed good, mpg didnt climb as high as I hoped but got to 56mpg toddling around an A road and back roads. The bluemotion system seems to be working though, as I pulled up to a T junction I thought the engine had stalled but as soon as I came off the brake it started again.


No stamps in service book just a printed sheet of paper from "ERAC UK" (the car rental company I believe) with some text on it saying serviced at 16,048 miles. :-/

Im going to try ringing the dealership that sold it and find out if is on standard or longlife servicing (10k or 20k) and also if any records of it being serviced anywhere. Any deal I negotiate I will try and get money off rather than letting them do the servicing then take it to a VW main dealer myself. Reason being if I was the dealer and had agreed to provide a service, Id just say to Bert in the garage, "bung some engine oil in that will you and stamp the book for a full service, cheers mate"

Didnt see anything coming on on the dash about time to next service. Would be good to have seen something to confirm at least the 16,000 had been done by a vw dealer.

Cheers all. Any thoughts still welcome.
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Thankfully you're not a dealer! You're just a [slightly nasty] suspicious member of the public - exactly the sort of person why the Hyundai dealership went to auction and bought an Enterprise Rent-a-Car .. because people like Golfs - they don't know any better - and they figured they ccould put it on their forecourt and sell it for more than they paid for it!

Keith, if you don't like my tone, read back through your post and see it from the other side. You're wrong about Bert and you're wrong about most garages' standards - they're a lot higher than the general public ever give credit for and a lot higher than snide customers employ in their own dealings!

For example, how would you respond to "the brakes on your Fiesta are totally unsafe; we couldn't offer it for sale it like that!" "Oh well, my neighbour's looking for a first car for their son and they've already asked about this one" Back street car dealer? No, world famous art critic and academic!

Now, unless their dealings with VAG are totally different from their dealings with other brands, no ERAC car will be on any special service plan and I stand by exactly what I said in my last post. 56mpg on a cold engine also sounds pretty good to me.
 
Yves Geza said:
Thankfully you're not a dealer! You're just a [slightly nasty]
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Eh?!

suspicious member of the public - exactly the sort of person why the Hyundai dealership went to auction and bought an Enterprise Rent-a-Car
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Lost me there.

.. because people like Golfs - they don't know any better - and they figured they ccould put it on their forecourt and sell it for more than they paid for it!
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If I do buy it they stiill will.


Keith, if you don't like my tone, read back through your post and see it from the other side. You're wrong about Bert and you're wrong about most garages' standards - they're a lot higher than the general public ever give credit for and a lot higher than snide customers employ in their own dealings!
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All Im trying to do is minimize my risk in buying a car thats done 30000 miles and hasn't been serviced. If I do find out it has been serviced and then buy the car I dont see that makes me nasty. Ditto if I found out theres no record and then dont. It just makes sense not to.

For example, how would you respond to "the brakes on your Fiesta are totally unsafe; we couldn't offer it for sale it like that!" "Oh well, my neighbour's looking for a first car for their son and they've already asked about this one" Back street car dealer? No, world famous art critic and academic!
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Not sure what I'm supposed to make of that.

Now, unless their dealings with VAG are totally different from their dealings with other brands, no ERAC car will be on any special service plan and I stand by exactly what I said in my last post.
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Which bit? Negotiating a deal? Yes I will do if I decide to continue. Special plan? It would/should have been on longlife or standard, like any other golf thats all. I just want to know which so I can see if it was done early or 6000 miles late. If its been done early on the 20,000 plan, fair enough, all is good. If its done late I have a negotiating tool in that the car should have at least 2 services on it and be due the third.

Ive genuinely appreciated your input on here, not quite sure how Ive managed to put your back up. Maybe the comment about Bert? Thats just me being ultra cautious, I wouldnt say that to the garage. As you say most garages are completely above board and it was a bit flippant remark. Just trying to protect my interest is all. Maybe you'd be happy to part with £13,000 on the assumption that a cars ok with no service stamps at all in the book, I just want to be a bit more certain is all.


56mpg on a cold engine also sounds pretty good to me.
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on the face of it seems pretty good. The official figures give 60 for "urban". Id say the drive I had friday was more like extra urban so should have been higher but can you really believe the manufacturers quoted mpg figures.
 
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