How likely is it the client busted the intercooler after they purchased the car? Surely they would have noticed it not building boost and running poorly on the test drive.

I have a good friend that's been in your business for 27 years Wizard. ANY vehicle I consider buying goes to him first without exception. Needless to say, I've never has an issue with one single vehicle I purchased, and yes, I've given an absolute NO WAY on several vehicles that had hidden/undisclosed issues. I trust NO ONE but my personal mechanic.

There's no way the customer bought the car like that- it would have been running poorly from the get-go

I strongly suspect the bumper & intercooler damage was done by the new owners or someone they lent the car to, as they would have surely noticed it driving poorly from the moment they left the dealership if it already had a punctured intercooler. This would likely explain why they didn't complain to the dealer and insist that they fix it.

That damage looks shiny. Shiny=fresh. Highly suspect that they drove around 200 miles from Oklahoma to your shop with a hole in the side of the intercooler and no boost. I’d say your customer is the shady one and trying to lay blame on the dealer for something they did after the purchase

The cabin map light being abnormally worn like that is a sure sign that this was used as a delivery or service vehicle. Adnormally worn bolsters are also a sign of this.

I'm leaning toward the customer having run over something, after purchase, to cause that damage. The bumper is visibly damaged. It wouldn't have run right from the get go on the lot with that hole in the intercooler.. and that interior door card is very standard for a mk5. I'm more surprised the headliner isn't sagging. That missing rear muffler and tip is the only thing that might be attributable to the dealer..

As someone who lived 30 years in Oklahoma, the front end impact damage looks like the result of hitting an armadillo. As for the rest of the underside damage, it could be from someone playing "Dukes of Hazzard," but its just as likely to be normal wear and tear associated with living on a rural Oklahoma road, most of which are maintained horribly. A small car is going to drag and scrape along many of them no matter how carefully its driven.

Selling that car without telling the buyer about the problems would be a criminal offence in Sweden.

In 2020, I was car shopping and every local car dealership refused to allow a pre-purchase inspection or test drive. I told them to go screw and bought a new Toyota so I don’t have to deal with sketchy dealers for the next 10 years.

A low boost code on a VW that wasn’t a wastegate?!? That’s amazing.

Did you consider that most likely the damage occurred while in possession of the new owner.

Sounds to me like the person bought the car and hit something the first drive and wants to blame the dealer.

We purchased a used Lexus LS from the local Lexus dealer, carfax showed a minor accident to the rear end. We later found the rear bumper was loose. Took it back to the dealer (who was not the shop that did the body repairs) and the dealer made it 100% correct at zero cost to us. We later purchased a used Lexus GX from the same dealer. In less that 2,000 miles, there was a part failure with emissions system that cost $2,500 to repair. There was no way to diagnose the issue in advance, but the dealer picked up 50% of the repair bill. Not all dealers are bad (just most of them!)

Strike 1: 14 year old European car Strike 2: No warranty Strike 3: No pre purchase inspection Strike 4 is too many strikes, but depends on if they over paid to add insult to injury.

More than a decade ago, my friend bought a BMW from a high end BMW dealership. He sold it to someone not too long after and the guy had it inspected. It was ruled a totaled vehicle due to all the body repairs that had not been reported. The dealership actually hid what was on the title.

MY AUNT tried to get my sister to buy her end of lease car that we found has not only been in a collision but has been very poorly repaired. She feigned ignorance. Trust no one.

I would not be surprised if the odometer was rolled back

I mean, I get buying a used car without getting an inspection done, but how do you not notice there's no tailpipe!?

Did the client wreck it after purchase? Looks like they drove over something.

I have a hard time believing they did not notice that visible damage when they bought the car. They probably liked the car so much they decided to ignore what their eyes were seeing.

It almost sounds like the customer did it themselves and just didnt wanna admit it. Or if they did they had to have gotten it sight unseen no way they wouldn't have noticed all that.

Seems to me that the buyer likely ran over something that caused the loss of turbo boost as I think they would have noticed a problem when test driving prior to purchase.

Hey Car Wizard! Thank you for letting people know the dangers of not getting a pre-purchase inspection. I think most people's hesitancy to get one is they can cost in the ballpark of $75-$150 depending on the age and make of the vehicle and where you go to get it inspected. Most people shopping in the used Jetta price range don't have the ability to get multiple cars inspected in their quest for something their family needs ASAP. Can you please do a video on how to do your own pre-purchase inspection? Show people how they can check body lines for damage that might be covered up or how to make sure they haven't done a quick band-aid fix that only lasts the first 100 miles. Thank you so much for all you teach me about maintaining my own car!

The shop I work for doesn't charge for a pre purchase inspection, 99.99% of the time we usually find major things wrong with the cars the people are both selling and purchasing, and when we find major things wrong they almost take the car back immediately and never go back to that lot ever again

It's a fourteen year old Jetta, it is at the end of it's lifespan.

i bought a 2011 pathfinder..i watched its price drop every month for 6 mo. once it got way below bluebook i went and looked at it...it was clean in and out. ran perfect BUT the reason it didnt sell is because when you test drove it and hit a bump you really had to hold the wheel because it went all over the place...the front struts were shot......dealer was convinced the tires were out of balance lmao...so got a nice pathfinder way under bluebook and only cost me the cost of front struts which i did the work some small dealers are like this. they have no clue about the vehicles.

Car Wizard I so appreciate your professionalism and what you are doing for us all. Thank you for educating us all! This channel saved me from make a money pit mistake! by buying a used 2013 Mercedes s600 with a 12 cylinder engine that had major compression engine problems after thinking about everything you said. I decided to bring the car to a shop I deal with (and I'm a mechanic with no car lift at home) and get the engine checked out and the tech walked in and told me, man take it back and don't look back! tell them it's not the one for you and walk away very fast! It had oil leaks , transmission leaks, coolant leaks and the suspension parts all needed to be replaced.

I bought a "pre-purchase inspection" on a salvage car I purchased at Copart. For some reason, *the car was still wrecked* when I took delivery. Sheesh, these inspections are such a scam!

Buying that from the dealership advertised as perfect condition car in Finland would lead straight to consumer disputes board and eventually the dealership would need to pay the required repairs or redeem the car back

A big Thank You! And please keep harping on the Pre-purchase Inspection! People can't hear it enough! You guys are performing a very valuable service!

I once bought a car from a used car dealer. I took it to another used car dealer, down the street, that also did mechanical work. I paid him $100 to check it out. He found a couple of minor things wrong. He told me the other dealer was a good guy, buy the car, but for $500 less than offered. I took it back and told the first dealer what his competition said, he laughed and said OK after a bit of haggling. My brother, a master Tech, fixed the issues for next to nothing. I ran the car to about 275,000 miles. I bought other cars from the dealer over the years.

Thank you, Wizard and Mrs. Great encouragement for pre-purchase inspection - even if you think you know. Thought the red dirt was rust. Seeing the underside reminded me of the skid plate on my 84 Audi 4000 saved me many repairs

Over here the dealer very often, has a pre purchase inspection done by an independent third party company, and uses it as a selling point.

Car Wizard, Thank you very much for posting videos like this alerting people against dishonest people. Too many people have been taken advantage of and this NEEDS TO STOP . It is really revolting ! Thanks again, David !

It’s truly sad there are so many unscrupulous dealers out there. PPI’sfrom a reputable mechanic like yourself are a must!! Thank you for sharing their pain!

My 06 Acura TL has peeling door cards also, pretty common issue. VW’s soft touch switch gear looks like crap 5 years after purchase. The MK4, MK5, and MK6 all have this problem.

You can buy a door panel online for less than $100 for that car. So forget a $200 trip to upholstery shop...

you should do a series where you go to a used car lot, look at a vehicle and bring it back to your own shop to inspect it to show the absolute bullshit that these thieves will try and get away with. obviously you'll need to send someone they won't know under the guise of them bringing it somewhere else for a PPI.

I believe someone ran over something hard at highway speed, and drove completely over it. Damage going from front to back is all relatively in the same location front to back.

The last two used cars I bought, I also bought the extended warranty. Both times repairs were needed that were about equal to the cost of the warranty. Pay up front or plan to pay later.

The way the market is right now, there is more of this crap than normal going on. There is one dealer I know of in Charlotte that puts a lot of garbage out on their lot.

Who buys a car with out looking it over or having a pre purchase inspection. When spending a lot money on a new used car. People have to much trust in dealerships. Some dealerships only care about the money and not being honest. Car wizard I like how honest you are. No wonder people come from far away to get their cars fixed.

one owner. grandma's pride and joy. only driven back and fourth to church.

I had a similar experience shopping for a car last year. Found what I thought was a nice 2012 Golf at a no-haggle dealership. Test drove great, but I noticed the belly pan was missing. Took it for a pre-purchase inspection and they found all the lower trim was broken and the radiator support was cracked. My guess is the previous owner ran over something on the freeway. Estimate was ~$1200 to fix. Took it back and said I was still interested if they fixed the issues… Nope. They blew it off like it wasn’t even a problem. It sat on their lot for over another month, and then disappeared. Probably found their sucker.

If it were my car: replace fans and intercooler, tighten exhaust clamp, get the missing undercarrige plastic from junkyard along with the interior light button, reglue the door panel-or junkyard it, wash it. I mean like i can see this being a $4k car with not a whole lot of work

This is great what you are doing by putting the word I don't know how many times I informed a customer to do this exact thing and they do the opposite I tell them to check to see where the car came from and check the weather history cause a lot of cars come from floods that car I definitely would take the interior apart and check for flood damage because not only it looks like it came from Oklahoma they to have had a lot of flooding this year. Sure it's going to run OK but that exhaust could kill someone by not exiting the car there are to many factors in buying a used car that consumers need to be aware of. Love your content and God bless you guys and as always be safe 👍

Looks like the owner Better Call Saul's Wizard. Really like the way this channel is evolving. Big hello from France.

We did that a few years ago when my son was looking for a vehicle, found one that he liked but told the sales people we were going to have our mechanics look at it and they suggested he not get it unless he want to spend more money fixing it properly. We went back and told them what our mechanic found and they tried to get us to believe them instead of our mechanic. Later on he found a vehicle that fit he's needs better, other than it being a gas hog, but it's reliable for him and his wife.

No way the customer could have driven the car off the dealer’s lot without noticing this problem. It is quite possible that the customer wrecked the car soon after buying it and then tried to blame someone else.

Great advice, Wizard. I would add, though, that if a person does not know cars, take a friend who does before the pre-purchase inspection. The number of times I have told friends to walk away from a car is scary. The friends that don't ask my advice often end up with cars like that poor Volkswagen. It is only in certain specific and particular cases I have told friends to buy right now, without an inspection. Those cases where the car in question I precisely what they want and need, is in good looking shape on top and underneath, drives as it should, and is an unusual spec. My brother's 86 Colony Park was one. 2 owner car, private estate sale, came with every piece of paper back to the original purchase invoice, original paint with no rust, receipts from Krown Rustproofing. All of that in the good column. What made it a buy it now was the factory 351W and factory Trailer Tow III Package. Combine that with reasonable mileage, and the car was worth every penny of the asking price. Worked out well, since he put another 400,000 miles on it before the body mounts broke.

Thank you Car Wizard. Very good eye opener. Right on time. Specially with the newer Volkswagen Passat and Jettas.

We’ve been real lucky with our old 07 Audi A4 2.0 T We’ve had it six years, it only had 60k on it when we got it, we’ve spent a few thousand on it over the years, but really nothing major, it’s been bullet proof really, a tough little car. I have no complaints if it quit today. 🤣thanks Wizard for all the great content, and look forward. to all in the future.

I appreciate these videos, not just because of the message, but to show all the hack jobs that occur on cars like these. It makes a stronger impact pointing out how horribly these cars are thrown together to make a quick buck.

!Wizard! That dome light switch is a potential FIRE HAZARD! I have the extact same thing in my Jetta, the switch contacts are pressed steal and they wear, arch, and rust making high resistance contacts that melted that switch. Is is though a relatively quick fix with a file and some bending of the contacts.

i had one of those 2.0T jettas and it is imperative that you keep clean synthetic oil in it.. the direct injection fuel pump is a high friction point at the end of the camshaft. If the oil gets really dirty the lobes can wear quickly.

Pretty sure those are NOT Wolfsburg Edition wheels, as I'm pretty sure those were the nice VW 5 star wheels. I'd be willing to bet the previous owner bent 2 of the wheels, and the dealer replaced them with JY wheels and new tires. That explains the VW emblems missing, cause those wheels are for another car.

I see a few things here: - Owner certainly didnt try hard enough to see if they were buying something decent; a broken front bumper and a missing muffler are 2 things you can see by just looking at the car while having zero knowledge about them. -With that said, as a person who knows VWs first hand, i can say this is actually not a bad vehicle. Yes it has damage that should had been addressed by the dealer but in the end its a 2008 vehicle. Interior is actually above average considering how MK5 interiors age. This vehicle also has an Optional OEM Votex body kit, which adds value to the proposition. - The only actual red flag for me (and it might not be a red flag once a further inspection is done) is that this car was modified. There are certain elements that gives this possible aspect away, but then again its up to the owner or the PPI place to determine how far that went. IMO, this is far from a bad vehicle. Its just the wrong car for whoever doesnt know anything about them. Lets just hope they paid a fair price which i certainly doubt based on their ability to miss some obvious things about it.

With this being 2.0t engine (GTI in Europe) the cam follower that sits inside the high fuel pump can be worn down and should be checked and changed regularly 2-3 years

You guys are great this video will help people when they go to look for a new used car. We miss your boat videos. Thank you for the great content

Your repetition is great! Thank you for all of your round the car inspections. It helps as a reminder to look for things while out shopping the used (and sometimes new) market. Guys like you, and Scotty Kilmer are our allies in this screwed up market. Thank you!

Having a pre-purchase inspection is great when you have a trusted mechanic

Good advice Mr Wizard. The local vehicle ads around here are crazy right now as far as what the sellers think they have and can pass off on people. Raggedy stuff for a king's ransom style.

I usually do my own inspections on vehicles I buy, but as someone who works on his own vehicles, and buys from private sellers, I know what to look for. Tack on the fact that I generally won't buy anything too new, or out of my wheel house, I generally get a good vehicle.

I tried to get a pre-purchase inspection before buying a car recently, I called 10 shops and each told me they could get me in 2 weeks later. Crazy times we're in.

Wizard, I agree with you on a PPI but again some shops are notorious for passing vehicles that clearly need work. On this particular vehicle I also feel that owner accountability is warranted - the car's a 14 year old VW with visible cosmetic damage. Hopefully they did NOT overpay for this vehicle.

I have noticed that reputable garages and shops are usually several weeks backed up with work nowadays. This in itself makes it hard to get pre purchase inspections. I don't think many buyers or sellers have the time to wait weeks to get an inspection. Some states mandate emission inspection and a few like Virginia do a bit more detailed inspection. It wont show all the problems a car might have though. So I'm not sure what the solution is for getting a vehicle inspected.

When you said 'Dukes of harzarding it' I laughed so hard 🤣 love this freaking channel!! Thank you for all you do.

Keep it up Mr. Wizard, these days buying a car has never been more expensive and risky, you are genuinely doing a service which will yield true results.........

I work for an independent dealer and we have sworn off any VW 2.0 from this gen. Won't buy them and if one comes in on trade they go straight to the auction. They're a friggin pain in the ass once you get over 100k. I have an 07 Jetta Wolfsburg 2.5 5spd and it's a far better engine. Less power but much more reliable.

Reminds me of the movie "Used Cars". Being sold a car that is not road worthy when it was advertised it was is really bad. Hopefully the bumpers weren't held on by bubble gum as shown in the movie. Awesome video of the need for buyer beware!.

Thanks for exposing these ludicrous practices.

Side suggestion for you to give to the customer. They sell metal skid plates for them and you can actually install one of those without having to paint and replace the front bumper. Will be cheaper and give some more protection to the motor.

That interior damage makes me wonder about the mileage being legit.

What that looks like is somebody knew their car was getting repossessed so they just beat the crap out of it then the dealer bought it at auction realizing it was beat the crap and polished it up a little and sold it!!

This really doesnt seem that bad, but maybe thats cause I'm familiar with these. Both the door panel peal and exhaust clamp is real common with VW-Audi cars.

Man, I love your channel! Very informative and not too much of a one sided bias. i.e. Scotty Kilmer and his love affair of Toyota. Your not only a mechanic but a car guy too! Your basically a more rational person ( with car purchases), with great mechanical knowledge version of Tyler Hoover. ( but share the same passion for cars). The first time I saw your channel was when your were talking about your daughters Deville. I was able to relate because I owned a 2004 Cadillac seville, at the time. since than I have been hooked! Thank you.

Lmao there’s no way the new owner didn’t do this to the car, they can try to sue all they want, if they signed papers saying it’s as is and there’s no lemon laws they’re shit out of luck

I do a lot of my own work and have owned mostly VW vehicles. You can get a good deal if you can inspect the vehicle yourself or have it inspected first. The cost to have it inspected will often come right off the asking price based on repairs that need done. If you are not mechanically inclined it is well worth it to get an inspection done.

Wizard is absolutely right about needing to get an inspection. A couple of months ago my son bought a vehicle from Carvana. Thanks to their 7 day return policy, he took it to a local trusted mechanic. The car was one owner, no accidents, looked and ran great. The mechanic found an extreme amount of rust underneath and was even able to point out a waterline in the engine compartment. The car must have sat in water for some time. He returned it to Carvana no problem and got another car. Again one owner, no accidents. The mechanic found that the car had sustained front end damage but was repaired properly, except for the sensors/camera that controlled the adaptive cruise control. That needed special equipment for calibration, which meant a trip to the dealer. There was a bit of back and forth, but ultimately Carvana approved the dealer repair with OEM parts. The bill came to 4 grand. It cost my son $100 for the inspections, but it was well worth it.

Suspensions tight, no timing chain, tires and brakes are runnable issues. Just slap an intercooler and fans on it and it'll go miles and miles without issues. Id imagine most 14 yr old used economy cars look like that, at least in area. It is minor damage and there's no way they are more than 15k deep in a car they can run and drive for years with a clean title. Yeah, its rougher than they anticipated but it's hardly a rip off imo.

Hey wizzy I know when you are looking under a car on camera it is a cursory inspection but you may be misleading people by stating the shock is nice and dry (and they think it is OK) , but that as you know it is not an indication of a good shock all it means it the top seal isn't leaking, the internal components may have failed and the shock is not doing it's job. Just my 2 cents.

I’m glad I went to a small reputable dealership in a much more affluent area of my state who was very up front with my “new to me” 2006 Buick Lucerne and told me that there was water in the passenger front footwell from it being washed and the sunroof drains being frozen and to keep an eye on it to make sure that it wasn’t the sunroof leaking. Thankfully the footwell dried out and it’s been dry ever since. Only other things I’ve noticed is a P0128 (the cooling system just needed to be topped off) and my rear power locks don’t unlock (even commanding them to unlock with my VCXNano does nothing) and getting a history report from my local Buick dealership (they are free, just give them the VIN number that you want the history report for) revealed that the instrument cluster was replaced 4 times under warranty and the radio replaced once under warranty.

I have the same exact muffler situation on my gti, rubber hangers failed. A coworker sawed it off in the parking lot at work, car runs great 😊

It was definitely a teenagers car. Every 16yo cuts their muffler off lol. Intercooler, fans, bumper paint matched with a belly trey is easily $2,000.. ouch! Hope the dealership makes it right or the buyers sue.

Maybe the new owner bottomed it out on a dirt road,if it was that way they should have looked closer.the smart thing is they brought it to you. Never buy at those loan shark lots.thanks john from arizona

I agree about having a Pre-Purchase inspection done to a car. Question is what if the car you want is not within 25 miles of your good independent mechanic that you use. How do you find someone to trust in the area of the selling dealer to make a good inspection. Not one that will just work with dealer and say it is a good car when it really is not?

If I had a dollar for every "Certified Pre-owned" and CarFax accident-free vehicle I've ran, not walked, but ran, away from over the last thirty or so years...I could afford at least a modest down payment on a new vehicle. Of course, VW has gone to crap over the last few decades so the car in this video would be no surprise to me even if it was new off the showroom floor. I feel sorry for the current owners of the car as I would strongly suspect, as a now retired LEO and having worked hundreds of vehicular collisions over my career, that the car featured in your video was the "aggressor", so to speak, in a rear end collision or there was a deer/cow/or horse involved, and no police report was made. Another excellent video on what a buyer SHOULD do before buying a used vehicle! P.S.: I took a moment to rethink my conclusions as outlined above and now think this car was abused by a/the previous owner. There is also the strong possibility that the car went "mud bogging" by accident when the driver lost control and ended up in a field or relatively wide ditch. Regardless of how the car was damaged the dealership should be held accountable for lying to the current owner.

The radiator support has already been replaced before, the stickers on the top are missing

That red dirt can hold water and be nearly as bad as salt in some cases.

I am with you. If people skip the pre purchase inspection they deserve what they get. Just look at all the crap (and not properly fixed) cars people and dealers sell here on YT! I only know of one (you read correct ONE) You Tuber who fixes bodywork correctly.

Several months ago I went to take a look at 2 Lexus GX 470s on a used car lot. Both of them said they had no accidents, but one had a loose bumper with obvious variation in color and the other had airbag codes. After that, I just decided to spend a bit more money at a Lexus dealership and get a newer GX. Really happy I did. Unless I’m getting a beat around work truck or something like that, I’ll never shop at a used car lot again

You werent kidding, looks like the car lived on a red dirt road, bounced & banged Dukes of Hazard style over em 4 years. Also the no muffler is a performance upgrade,+5 hp & abadassound!

I'm dealing with the same situation on a used VW I bought 6 months ago. I bought the car from a "reputable" dealer and didn't get a pre-purchase inspection. Beautiful car physically inside and out. Reported as 1 owner. It wasn't until after I purchased that the Carfax updated to show 2 prior owners and the last only owned the car for a short period of time. After 4 months the engine light continues to come on. Will need over 3K in work to repair and not covered in warranty.

I like that you do this. Could you do a video of what to look for if someone would go to a dealer?

I bought my daughter a 2014 Jetta this diesel a year ago -so far cars been awesome

I agree with everything you said about the car buying experience that this owner has endured. However, from what you showed in the video, if we isolate the car from this bad experience and if the car was purchased for a good price, aren't the bones of this car otherwise pretty good once these issues are fixed?

These are relatively easy fixes Atleast, nothing like needing a new engine

Not sure if it’s available everywhere, but when I lived in California I would use the AAA-approved garages for my repairs and pre-purchase inspections. A bit more in labor costs than the chains or some places that look like someone’s literal home garage, but the guys were very honest and knowledgeable, the place was very clean, and you never felt you were getting upsold or told you needed repairs you didn’t actually need. Not perfect (what place is?), and a bit more expensive for certain jobs, but I know in my early years I paid way more going to a budget chain like Pep Boys and paying for a ton of repairs or parts I didn’t actually need. [Edited to add: AAA also inspects the places and ensures minimum qualifications of the mechanics (at least per the AAA website), and if you have a dispute or complaint, AAA will get involved and try to help the parties reach a solution (again, per the AAA website; fortunately I never had a dispute).]

Hey look a mechanic that works on domestic and foreign cars and is honest. You sir are a rare breed