Buying advice please

[hidnmine]

My Son is thinking of buying a 2005 Golf GTTDI 140HP 4-motion, but has heard that there may be reliability issues with the 4WD.

Can anyone shed any light; is there a real problem or should he just go ahead (after having a good look and a test drive, of course).

Any comments welcome - Thanks

[kite]

The 4 motion will be haldex, the oil should be changed every 20K and filter every 40K.

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[hidnmine]

This one has done over 90k miles, and has a full service history.
Will the dealer have done the oil changes you mention?

[kite]

You would have to check the paperwork.


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[richard@thebrae]

I bought a 4wd Motion passat 2.7 V6 new some 13 years ago passed it to my son in law at 106k and he has just traded at 172k and the 4Wd never ever gave a single bit of trouble.

[hidnmine]

He has now decided, and paid a deposit (without seeing the car!), so we're off to pick it up on Saturday.
Yet's hope he's as fortunate as you have been!

Thanks for the reply

[Teflon]

He has now decided, and paid a deposit (without seeing the car!), so we're off to pick it up on Saturday.
Yet's hope he's as fortunate as you have been!

Thanks for the reply

Wow!

Paying an upfront deposit is a massive risk. Unless, of course, it is a fully refundable holding deposit pending a good look at the car. Which would be about as rare as a rocking horse egg. I hope he isn't a bit starry-eyed, like most of us were as youngsters.

Please ................ take a really good look at it and if there are things to worry about walk away even if it means loosing some money. It is potentially a cracking car but could just as easily be a moneypit. For something like that I personally would spend the money on an AA inspection which includes a 10 mile road test and would spot most things that might slap him in the face within a week of paying up and driving away.

I hope you are not offended by this advice. We've pretty much all fallen for a particular model and then bought a dog at least once in our driving career.

[hidnmine]

I'm certainly not offended, and for the most part agree!
The dealer has said that if the car is not as described he'll refund the money...
And dad (me) is going along not just as the chauffeur, but also to point out the bits he misses. Not ideal I know, but I've been my own mechanic for over 40 years so I should be of some use...
I'll let you know how it went after the weekend.

Cheers
Andy