VW Passat SE model - wx UK

M

Mr Mac

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Hi everyone

I was wondering if someone could give me some advice on the following;...am looking at a 2006 Passat SE model, cruise control etc., nice car with only 23000miles on the clock. It's been imported from the UK...have driven it and all seems fine(minor scratches on front bumper). The price is approx 4k cheaper than any equivalent model on cbg/carzone, however the only reservation I have is that it's not being sold by a garage, rather from a guy (trading under a company name) who just imports and sells on. The 2yr VW warranty is up so he says he'll put 3mths warranty on the invoice. The fact that he doesn't have a garage, what happens if something goes wrong, how does he go about sorting me out?...am a little anxious about progressing with it, although price is almost too good to be true!...any suggestions??...thanks
 
One or two people on here have provided good feedback doing deals for UK-imported cars from small non-franchised operations and report savings similar to yours on well-specified and maintained cars.

So don't let the size of the operation put you off try a search here for "UK import" and judge for yourself the value of what you learn; maybe PM a few posters you find and compare notes.
 
you could establish what his intentions are re warrant work,, if any

does he have a mechanic , or woild he be happy to let you use your own mechanic to do the work if something goes wrong.

3 months warranty is prob only on eng and gearbox,, with that low mileage, its unlikely that anything will go wrong

do you have a full service history to accompant the mileage quoted?
 
Thanks very for your replies, the guy has said he has the full service history, unfortunately didn't get to see it the other day as he sent a different guy out to meet me with the car. In terms of repairs he doesn't have any mechanics, simply a little store where he kept approx 6 UK imported cars. I might just bounce the mechanic issue off him, see what his reaction is. If he gives me an invoice, which he obviously has to, do I have any comeback if he decides to go belly-up in a few months??...or what approach could you take to something like this??
 
Got full check done on autotrader.co.uk, but how can you establish whether a car has been clocked??
 
If you got a full check done, then the service mileage may have been recorded at the appointed service intervals. Note : MAY as there is no obligation on the owner / keeper / service centre to do this, but many large lease companies do as it enhances the resale value of their cars. This can be compared with the displayed mileage for consistency.

With the correct diagnostic software and a lap-top, its possible to read the mileage from any VW-Audi Group ECU (as well as many other modern cars) and compare it with whats displayed on the car's dashboard odometer. The odometer reading can be changed, "clocking", but the ECU mileage cannot. If these are different, either

a) the car's been clocked or
b) the ECU's been swapped (highly unlikely).

So if you know a friendly VAG mechanic with the appropriate, software, cables, training and a laptop and the seller agrees to have his car subjected to potentially lethal "hacking" have a look.
 
VW in the uk have a 3 year warranty, the third year is with the selling dealer not the importer, so you could you up the north and claim any thing that goes wrong, the fact he didn't tell you this suggest that he doesn't want you finding out the history of the car.
 
If you want a secondhand Passat then I would suggest that you investigate buying from a VW 'main dealer' in N.I. or UK

This will clear up issues on warranty

Also, you can sue the dealer if issues relating to HPI, clocking etc turn up

Wouldnt you want to wait for the start of July registering this ?
 
Thanks for all your replies....will probably look at something similar with a reputable dealer in the North. Old dog, in terms of your comment re July, this wouldn't matter on a 2006 imported car re reduced VRT as the new emissions based VRT only applies to cars that were registered post Jan'08 in their country of origin...someone correct me if I have this wrong??
In terms of the road tax, I can tax for 3/6 months, then when renewal comes around(after July), I can apply for the reduced emissions based road tax.
 
Mr Mac said:
Thanks for all your replies....will probably look at something similar with a reputable dealer in the North. Old dog, in terms of your comment re July, this wouldn't matter on a 2006 imported car re reduced VRT as the new emissions based VRT only applies to cars that were registered post Jan'08 in their country of origin...someone correct me if I have this wrong??
In terms of the road tax, I can tax for 3/6 months, then when renewal comes around(after July), I can apply for the reduced emissions based road tax.
Click to expand...

No - After July VRT is emissions based for ALL cars. Road Tax is emissions based for 08 cars and cc based for pre-08 cars.
 
Looking at getting a passat maybe '05 '06 new model later this year,
How does the 115bh petrol compare to the diesel models.
Anybody any info or comments
 
1.6 petrol Passat is very lethargic. Avoid unless it's clean as hell, and dirt cheap.
 
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