New to forum

[timcheck]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum.

Looking at buying a second hand 2015 mk7 GTI with about 100,000ks on the clock.

Price point would be appreciated, can provide link.

Tim

[Lucas_R]

Hi and welcome. Pricing has gone nuts over the past 12-18 months with Covid on 2nd hand cars. I purchased my 2015 GTI Performance with 48,000kms for $27.5k just over 12 months ago, but now it would probably sell for about $32k.

Put up the CarSales links - pricing depends on condition/options/km's travelled/service history etc etc. Looking on Carsales now, looks like you'll be paying between $25-28k for a Mk7 with around 100,000km's at the moment.

Any car with 100,000km will have had its waterpump/thermostat replaced at least once in its life - make sure there is a receipt for this in the service records - its a good $1200-1500 job. The waterpumps are garbage and made from plastic - normally they fail with 3-4 years or around 50,000km. And if its DSG, make sure its had at least one oil change/service on the DSG transmission as this should be done every 4 years or 60,000km.

Also try to get a GTI with the optional xenon headlights - not only do they look miles better cosmetically, they perform much better at night too.

Are you looking for a manual or DSG?

[timcheck]

Hi Lucas,

Thanks for the info!

Looking at getting a manual

Below are the links:
carsales.com.au
This guy is pretty firm on $24k, has apr stage 1 tune and in decent condition although service history seems a little spaced out

carsales.com.au
I got this guy down to $21.5k but was selling on behalf of someone else, body has a little bit of damage and interior is a bit worn. Previous owner was a smoker and kind of a deal breaker for me. Really shouldn't have negotiated with him to be honest but was my only option at the time.

Was happy to pay extra for the better kept option at $24k but wasn't sure if I am overpaying.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Lucas_R]

That grey one has been tarted up for sale, but you can tell it hasnt been taken care of. Badly worn interior etc. And as an ex detailer, you literally cannot ever get rid of smoke smell in the car. It just goes into all the fabrics, foam in the seats, carpet etc. You can shampoo and clean all you like, but it will always be there. It also has the older non-Carplay/Android auto head unit fitted to the earlier Mk7's.

The white one you linked to looks ok and about what you would expect condition wise for a car that's travelled 115,000km. The stage 1 tune is a nice bonus which will save you about $1k and is what these cars really need to wake them up a bit. There is no clear image of the head unit so I cant tell if this has the older head unit or the updated one. Car overall looks tidy in the photos (some of the photos arent great though).

Can you stretch the budget a little for this one? Lower km's, xenon headlights, and the updated head unit (slightly larger and has Apple Carplay/Android Auto). Worth having a look at least?

carsales.com.au

As much as I love manuals, the problem is that very few manuals were bought - so there are not many to choose from on the 2nd hand market. Something like 85% of cars are DSG.

[timcheck]

I think they are meant to be the other way around.

White one has been smoked in
Grey one is in better overall condition and APR stage 1 tuned.

Anything about the grey one (other then the lack of aesthetics on the lights) that you don't like?

The grey one does have a few shots of the head unit, mind taking a second look? Although I'm pretty sure it's the older head unit.

I have test driven the white one and it feels like it hasn't been taken care of. Have also test driven the grey one and drives well, has been taken care of a lot better the the white one.

I'd really like to get that white one you linked, I have seen it on carsales but its very much out of the budget at this point

[Lucas_R]

Sorry - i thought you meant the grey one had been smoked in. It makes sense that the grey one has a tune on it, as it has the aftermarket rear wing, blacked out VW badges and APR badge on the rear hatch. My comments about the head unit are correct though I believe - its the older head unit without Carplay/Android auto. If it drives well and you like it then do the deal and just try to locate a new drivers seat that's in better condition - its easy to swap. There are plenty of GTI's in wreckers so you can find trim pieces and seats etc for sale on ebay or Facebook marketplace.

The grey colour is really nice when the car is clean and the sun is shining. Offer them $23k and then be prepared to settle for somewhere between $23-24k. Even if you can only get $500 off its better off in your pocket.

The white one you linked to appears quite tidy in the pics. What about it doesn't seem right when you drove it?

[timcheck]

The clutch was slipping and had a very high friction point. Feels like its on its way out. Service history was all over the place. It really just felt like it hadn't been looked after at all.

It's not much to change a clutch but the smoke smell (with the obvious wear on the lighter button with a finished cigarette butt in the drink tray) really turned me off. The car you said was "tarted up for sale", was this in reference to the white one?

It just didn't feel as good as the grey one.
It could have been the smoke smell and me being really turned off by that when the guy told me it hasn't been smoked in. The guy selling the white GTI was on-selling for someone else so he was probably only relaying the information given to him. Not being able to talk to the actual owner was another semi red flag. Body has cheap touch up paint used to cover body damage. It wasn't significant but it didn't look good.

The guy with the grey car didn't know much about cars at all. Just got stage 1 tune to get a bit more power but no other mods on it. I tried to get $23k but he was very firm on $24k. I'll try for an in between amount but it's unlikely unless I wait a few weeks and he doesn't get any offers. He had it up on carsales for $26k for a couple weeks and dropped it to $24k. When speaking to the guy he said that he had it up for $26k but his lowest offer would have been $24k. Had no interest at $26k so dropped it to $24k and doesn't want to move.

Problem is I don't have a car atm. Had a 2008 fn2 type R which got written off like 4 weeks ago. Some stupid **** on his phone rear ended me at 70ks an hour whilst on his phone

[Lucas_R]

Sorry to hear about the Civic Type R being written off, hopefully you were not injured.

When I said the grey car had been tarted up, I meant it has very obviously been detailed to sell, which always makes me wonder the condition it was in before the detail. I always try to buy cars in non-detailed form so you can see how well or poorly it has been looked after by the previous owner, and then I detail it myself after purchasing.

[timcheck]

No worries,
Thanks for your help Lucas, much appreciated!

Should I pull the trigger on the grey one or simply wait until prices level out a bit coming out of covid?

Also, is it possible to change the halogen headlights to the xenon style?

[Lucas_R]

No worries,
Thanks for your help Lucas, much appreciated!

Should I pull the trigger on the grey one or simply wait until prices level out a bit coming out of covid?

Also, is it possible to change the halogen headlights to the xenon style?

It depends on how quickly you need a car - I think prices for 2nd hand cars will remain inflated for a while yet (6 months at least) because of the continued shortage on brand new cars.

Have you had a mechanical check over done on the grey car? I would strongly recommend this (for the sake of about $200-300) for piece of mind before you buy. Depending on where you are in Melbourne there are specialist VW mechanics (like Volksrepair in Airport West) who could do this for you, or at the very least use a service like Stateroads who offer a mobile pre-purchase car inspection service. Doing a pre-purchase inspection could potentially save you from buying a lemon. Ive used Stateroads a few times now and they do pretty comprehensive check over including heaps of photos and a full report.

As for the headlights, you can buy aftermarket xenon headlights from iilumo and Supernova which are designed to replace the factory halogen headlights on the Mk7.

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF– iilumo

Golf MK7
– Supernova Lighting