Hi all. I've been looking at buying a MkI S and was wondering if anyone in the local area has history with any of the cars below:

#1 http://www.luxeauto.com/inventory_detail.cfm?Invid=952
#2 http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/1283983306.html
#3 http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/1281646259.html

I have driven the first car and it sounded and felt very nice to drive. The dealer let me take it out by myself so I got a good drive in.

Is there anything that I should look for in particular on a car with 40k miles? Thanks for any information.

My sister had a 2003 S and loved it.

-Stu

 

Just anticipate minor things to start going wrong in the future like electric window openers, power steering pump, electric mirror switch, second radiator fan, brakes, etc... get a full history from CarFax or equiv. and contact the servicing dealership to get a service history of what has already been replaced in warranty. I like the first one :-).

 

I went and looked at #2 and #3 today and drove #1 on Friday.

Car #1: Nice little car to drive. The most basic of the bunch, cloth, manual climate control, but heated seats, DSC and HID lights. Other than that it is very base model; no trip comp, no sunroof. More rock chips than the others and 2 rims have curb rash, one of the black bars that seperates the lower dash swithes has the paint chipped bad. Cal car with clean carfax, 34k miles and one owner. $19,900

Car #2: Very nice little car. Leather, sunroof, trip computer, traction control (not DSC) speedo and tach in front of steering wheel, sunroof, auto climate control. The only thing I did not like was the clutch cable felt sticky and the A/C fan speed control button was sticky like someone had spilled a drink on it (cup holder is right there). A SoCal car with clean carfax, 42k miles, one owner. $18,900

Car #3: The black "JCW" car has small oil dripplets on the underside of the motor and there are lots of scuffs and scratches on the interior like it was not kept very clean (even after they did the dealer super clean). I would like the extra HP but it looked like the car had not been handled with care. It is a SoCal car with a clean carfax, one owner, 31k miles. $20,000

The black JCW car is off the list. Nothing should have oil seeping from it with 31k miles.

-Stu

 

#2 talk em down, 16500-17000 have look at clutch