Gt tdi mk5 (140) 176000 miles full history steer clear or snap up?

[BUCKINGRAM]

I know it's high mileage but it's the only mk5 that falls within my budget and it has a full complete history. The miles were clocked up on a 200mile daily round trip for the last 3 years, I've checked all of this out and done the history checks etc.
Along with the std servicing receipts are the receipts for cambelts and dual mass flywheel etc.
It appears to me to be a genuine well maintained high mileage golf.
It is the BKD engine with 140hp. It would have spent most of its driving life warmed up to temp and the bodywork and interior speaks volumes for it's owners ( 2 )
1 owner to 27000 miles and the next to date, it's been traded in at a VW garage but it's too high mileage for them to sell directly.

What do you think as I'm supposed to be collecting in the morning !

Thanks.

[phil miller]

my 1.9 has just turned 145,000 and is spot on, if the price reflexs the mileage and your happy to own a car with that amount on it then id say go for it mate

[mbev51]

hi
my sdi is on 154k, only things that have been done are gearbox rebuild (no dmf protection), new clutch, glowplugs, new radiator, all other parts are original. If it has had a good driver and the car checks out ok, as long as its cheap I would be tempted.

[BUCKINGRAM]

Aaaaaaaaargh...I got completely scammed.
Went on a long test drive around town which was good except for a slight droning from the rear and a faint turbo whistle, everything was nice and tight and booted it a couple of times without problem. I did keep asking as to where I could get on a dual carriageway ( I didnt know where I was) to get up to high speed but he never quite directed me that way which in hindsight seems obvious. Checked all the usual stuff seemed fine for the mileage, a genuine bit rough around the edges high mileage car, so I took a punt on it.
First time I got on the dual carriageway and floored it it went into limp mode, pulled up turned off and on and it was fine until the next time when it did it again. Tried to ring the guy who disappeared without ever answering his phone again and nowhere to be seen at his or what I presume was his house.
Anyway, car then came up with exhaust emissions workshop fault.
Couldn't get the guy and managed to drive home 120 miles fairly comfortably at 60/70 with the engine management light on.
It is now booked into a specialist independent this morning, I'm fearing the worst.
:-(

[mikeybutch]

Shame hope its not too bad.Did you not get his address or reg doc?

[BUCKINGRAM]

No he met us at the train station and the vehicle doc was still in name of guy who traded it. This guy is a dealer of sorts I suspect as he turned up with trade plates on ! In hindsight there was all sorts of reasons to walk away.
Anyway, turns out the fault is the turbo sticking, 1 glow plug faulty and the rear rumbling caused by 2 faulty tyres.
I know the turbo is going to hurt but the rest isn't as bad as first feared. I'm looking into the refurb / shand argument as certainly won't be fitting brand new !
Have heard that there is a decent company in derby that does the whole job as apparently its quite labour intensive?

[Teflon]

Sorry to hear about your problem. Bummer!

Phone the taxman, with whatever information you have. Pity you didn't get the trade plate number. Report him for motor trading. They can trace it back through the guy who traded it, else they will get a bit sniffy wth him. It might be that he is (comparatively) legit, but if not at least you might have the satisfaction of knowing HMRC is giving him a going over.

I once got a knock at my door and it was the DWP wanting a word about my "gardener" (the bloke who came round to cut my grass). After I'd given them all the info and my neighbours did the same, they skinned him alive.

[phil miller]

sorry to hear this mate, but as you have said it could have been worse, to change the turbo is about a 4 hr job IIRC

[Teflon]

If the turbo is sticking you can split it and decoke the inside. Takes about 90 mins once it is off the car but will save you the price of a recon which is £300-£500 from somewhere reputable. Do a search for "sticking VNT" or look for blow by blow instructions on tdiclub.com under "tdi101".

[BUCKINGRAM]

I got the car fully checked over to make sure there wasn't any further gremlins lurking around the corner before I threw money at it, other than 1 dodgy glowplug, two egged back tyres and a small split in a gaitor underneath the car was pretty sound.
I got Derby Turbos to replace it with a recon unit, they also had to thoroughly clean out all the inlet manifold/intercooler and boost pipes of sludge and carried out complete flush, oil gasket, filter change etc.
Total price was £635 + vat with a 12 month unlimited mileage warranty.
I got the 2 new back tyres that were faulty replaced and that made a huge difference to road noise.

Thanks for all your sympathy help and advice, what seemed a total tragedy at first at least now has only cost me the price of those repairs and I enjoy driving the car I'm left with.

It drives really well now, the only strange issue being that whilst it starts immediately when cold ( even -7 cold) it turns over once before starting when warm so I'm going to trawl through here and find out what that might be.

Cheers , Martin.