Pre-facelift 2.0L TSI Buying Tips

[Andres]

Turns out the white one has already sold a while ago, they just hadn't updated their ad on Carsales.

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[Andres]

Having a look at this one, this arvo. A little bit higher in kms that I would have preferred, but it does have the sunroof and leather which I'm keen on.

2009 VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN 125 TSI 5NC MY09 6442 « www.cronullacarsales.com.au

I reckon for $18,500 I'd be looking alright.

Still looking at Foresters as well (about the only comparable car), but they seem to be a lot more $$$s to run.

[Andres]

I went and had a look at the car. It was very tidy, nothing seemed out of place beyond a little bit of gutter rash on the wheels. Interior was schmick, exterior was neat, no scratches/dents, under bonnet was spotless. Had the leather interior and sunroof (which is frikken awesome!!)

It's the first one I've driven and I am very impressed, quite peppy, and very refined. Gearbox is quite notchy though - is that normal?

BUT... I had a look at the servicing and while the first few services were OK, the 60,000 km one was done at 62,000kms and the 75,000kms one was not done (car is at 82,000kms). So it's waaay overdue on it's last service which has turned me off it. Also the airbag light was on. I don't think I can bring myself to purchase a turbo car that hasn't been serviced in ~20,000kms!

Am I being too fussy, or is this prudent on a modern, turbo car? Otherwise it ticks all the boxes.

[YellowLemon]

Am I being too fussy

It's easy to miss a service by a few KM so 60k for the 60k MAJOR service is fine. The 75k service is just basically an oil change so probably no big deal if it was missed - it is only ~7K late it seems, not 20K like you say? The normal interval is 15K for this car. Probably not a dealbreaker to be honest. The 75K service is only a $150-200 from your local VW independent or ~$350 at the dealer IIRC.

HOWEVER with the airbag I would get a VCDS scan to see what's going on: I have had the airbag light come on for silly insignificant errors in VCDS like "battery voltage low" at the airbag module (ie. I left the car out in the cold and the battery ran a bit low - just required the code cleared and good to go. Then again it could be a serious fault - is there anyone near you who could lend you a VCDS cable to check it out? Then if it's no big deal, get them to know a few thousand $ off for the error Or get the owner to take it to VW dealer for a checkup and ask them to let you talk to the VW service personally to get the low-down on the car's state especially RE the airbag light?

[tigger73]

+1 what Yellow said.

I don't think it's great but wouldn't turn me totally off the car as you said it's got the options you're looking for. I'd just use it as a tool to bring the price down... in fact I'm really surprised the yard hasn't got the service done to help move the car. I'm sure they fix up the minor dents and scratches before putting it on the lot.

And agree airbag and the lack of service leaves you wondering what else didn't the previous owner do. I'm guessing there isn't a lot left on the brakes/tyres either and combined with the 75k/90k services the car is going to need $1.5-$2k spent on it in the next 6 months or so. Not that I'm putting you off buying the car but this is probably partly the reason why the previous owner has traded it in at the time that they have.

So if you want to go ahead with this car I'd suggest getting the warning light checked and then price up all the maintenance items required in the next (say) 12 months. Add this to the purchase price of the car because that's effectively what you're going to end up paying. If I was in your shoes I'd be looking at the car (including maintenance items) costing $18-$19k.... but then again I drive a hard bargain. Depending on how much the dealer wants/needs the sale will be how low they are prepared to go on the day.

As a guide, Redbook pricing for a 2009 125TSI Manual:

Private Price Guide $15,500 - $17,700

Trade In Price Guide $12,100 - $14,300

Average Km 80,000 - 130,000


Obviously the extras do make this car a bit more attractive, however the reality is the dealer probably wouldn't have paid any more than the redbook price for the car.

[Andres]

The dealer just called then to follow up. Apparently they're getting it serviced currently - which is good, but it will also probably be the cheapest/nastiest service they can do! Thankfully the 75k service appears to be a relatively minor one.

We're getting our money sorted out at the moment, as I want to be able to talk 'cash' (bank cheque) with the dealer if I go ahead with it.

Assuming the dealer 'resets' the airbag warning light (and doesn't just pull the globe!!) - the light WILL illuminate again if something is fundamentally wrong, and it's not just the low-voltage error, right? i.e. you can't just tell the ECU to 'ignore' the error can you?

Edit: Forgot to say, appreciating all the input guys! Seems like a great community you've got here!

[YellowLemon]

Assuming the dealer 'resets' the airbag warning light (and doesn't just pull the globe!!) - the light WILL illuminate again if something is fundamentally wrong, and it's not just the low-voltage error, right? i.e. you can't just tell the ECU to 'ignore' the error can you?

Hehe yeah if the light goes out and stays out, it should be OK. There is no setting to ignore warnings and they can't 'pull the globe' because it's a LED soldered to the circuit board

[Andres]

Popped in an enquiry on this one:
2009 Volkswagen Tiguan 5N 125TSI MY09 4-Motion
Really not a huge fan of silver, and the dashboard looks very dated with the AC controls, but I could probably live with that. 4X,000 kms is more appealing than 8X,000kms, especially if I'm going to push it a little bit with a tune. It still has leather + sunroof, so should still be a nice place to sit.

I'm originally from SA, so doesn't bother me too much getting a car from there.

Frustrating search continues... There's nothing available that ticks all the boxes, even if I up the budget to 30K.

[tigger73]

The other thing you can do is to fit leather into a existing car. I had a previous car retrimmed in leather. It will cost about $2k to get done. Best thing is you'll end up with brand new seats

This will also open up more possibilities in finding the right car.


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[YellowLemon]

The other thing you can do is to fit leather into a existing car. I had a previous car retrimmed in leather

How does that work with the airbags inside the seats?