I want to buy an used VW but I heard that parts are expensive

This article was modified on 2012-05-29 09:25:46


Me and my husband are trying to get a new car and we were looking at a Volkswagen car. A 2002 Jetta with 141.000 miles but I keep hearing rumors that VW parts cars are expensive. The car is in a great condition, everything is okay with the car. I would like to know if my husband should get the car or not

I just received a question like this several hours ago and I really think that people are getting enthusiasts and they usually want a straight answer although it`s not that simple. If you find yourself in a similar situation here’s what should you do ( in my opinion ).

First thing: try to be as calm as possible, move fast but be productive and you will see what I mean. I always tend to over react thinking that a car is a great opportunity and I need to buy it fast. It happened to me so that`s why I am sharing this with you. Actually, this can do more harm than good.

Great, let’s take this example.

Brand: Volkswagen
Model: Jetta
Year: 2002
Miles: 141.000 miles

Affirmation
- the car is in a great condition

Questions
- rumors that VW parts cars are expensive
- should we buy the car or not

I always keep telling people that I am a huge Volkswagen fan but wait a minute, I would also have a couple of questions and if you already checked all of these it would be great.

- What is the price of the car ? If it’s below average it`s suspicious
- Did you also checked the price of a new VW Jetta  ? If the price is way too high probably you also might consider buying a new Jetta or a new car.
- Are we talking about a diesel or a gasoline engine ? Which one of them ?
- Did you checked this car at a VW dealer ?
- Are those miles real ? Again do you have the confirmation of a VW dealer that the miles are real  ? Forget about the car service manual, it could be easily a fake one. I am trying to be cautious here.
- Everything was changed properly ? Oil, filters and everything  ?  Again, call a VW dealer and ask there for more details, don`t trust the buyer...you have to hear this from a Volkswagen dealer.
- What about the timing belt, when was it changed  ? How time has passed since then and when you need to change it ?  Not to mention that if it`s less than one year you may want to call a VW dealer and ask the price, this will also give you a better idea of how expensive will be...am I right ? Sure I am....

Those are only a couple of questions and should be responded in a way or another. You`ve said that the car is in a perfect condition, please excuse me,  but how do you know that ?  I was a victim of a scam several years ago, actually my parents as they paid for a car that I`ve recommended them to buy it after taking and testing the car. The reparation was very expensive, almost half of the car price so that`s why I am asking you. Do you have any mechanical qualifications or solid experience as a mechanic or a person that knows cars very well ?  I don`t want to sound like a jerk, I am just trying to open your eyes as we`re talking here about your hard earned money.

If the dealer can confirm that everything is okay with the car it will still be a matter of luck. That`s why I was asking for the price of a new VW Jetta. It has 4 years of warranty, probably it will cost more but there are no risks involved.

If the price is acceptable and the car is great ( if you can find an answer to all of these questions ) probably you should buy it.

How about the VW parts ?  That`s another discussion but you can find the price for most of the VW parts if you will find a VW forum. I am sure that you can find one. For the best results the forum must be located in your country. Once you get there, you may probably want to create a free username which will allow you to browse for different topics such as the price for different parts. Not to mention the experience of other forum users which is great for you. It doesn`t mean that everyone who purchased a car will automatically create an username and post their own experience. Remember that it`s only a fraction of them. Still, it’s great to benefit from other’s people experience.

http://www.vwforum.com/forums/

http://forums.vwvortex.com/forumdisplay.php?5001-Volkswagen&s=cc27cd7dde7daa256120783ae69ef92b

Let`s investigate this further, so you would like to buy an used car which happens to be a Volkswagen Jetta 2002. Let`s say that you know the entire history of the car, you`ve checked car history at the dealer, you also had a mechanic that investigated the vehicle so everything it`s fine. There is only one thing to check to learn if the VW parts are expensive. What other sources should we check?  How about a forum ?  Also we can take a look at a website that is selling vehicle parts.

At a simple phrased buy vw parts on Google I have found this website http://www.volkswagenpartstore.com. This is only one of the many websites that are specialized in selling vehicle parts not for VW but for almost all know car manufactures. They have a phone number, live chat and you can browse by yourself through their catalog. For example I`ve selected Clutch Kit and I have found the following brands and prices

Brands ( including the number of their products )

Brand
AC Delco
(1)
Auto Com
(6)
Beck Arnley
(5)
Exedy
(4)
Luk
(3)
Sachs
(22)
Valeo
(11)

Example of a link with their prices ( too long - I`ve shortened the URL ):

http://goo.gl/P0jd6

Prices

Auto Com Clutch Kit - Auto COM OE Stock Replacement - Organic Disc-1999-2005 Volkswagen Jetta
Version of the car 2002 GL; 4Cyl 2.0L GAS;  2002 GLS; 4Cyl 2.0L GAS;
$244.26 

Sachs Clutch Kit - Direct OE Replacement 1994-2002 Volkswagen Jetta
Version of the car 2002 GLS; 6Cyl 2.8L AFP;  2002 GLX; 6Cyl 2.8L AFP; 2002 GLI; 6Cyl 2.8L AFP;
$214.95

Valeo Clutch Kit - Valeo OE Replacement - Organic Disc 2002-2005 Volkswagen Jetta
Version of the car 2002 GLS; 6Cyl 2.8L AFP;  2002 GLX; 6Cyl 2.8L AFP;  2002 GLX; 6Cyl 2.8L BDF;  2002 GLI; 6Cyl 2.8L BDF;  2002 GLS; 6Cyl 2.8L BDF;
$360.80

Since you`re not buying a car that doesn`t have a warranty maybe you have a good mechanic that you trust and you want to order the parts. As you can see, you can find all kind of parts, all you need to do is to search on the Internet and see if you can find websites that are selling car parts.

It doesn`t matter if I am just another Volkswagen fan. It`s also true that I like german cars. So what ? There are millions of people like me, some people will appreciate Japanese cars while others will think that American cars are the best. We are all different so I can`t give you an answer to your last question. The only thing for sure is that you need to investigate more on your own before you decide if you will buy the car or not.



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