Quick simple question

[Hades]

Hypothetical choice of two cars:

1) High mileage. Seems to have been maintained well. Full service history. Silly large folder full of every receipt.

2) Average mileage. Very large gap in service history. But last owner spent ££££ getting common faults resolved. Lots of receipts for recent work.

Which would you choose?


EDIT: Waits for The Fox to step in with "whichever one is the BMW"

 

[Hades]

Whats the car?

And for the record, higher mileage.

Both Corrados. Both 15 years old. very similar prices. Almost identical apart from the points above. My mileage would be around 3k per year.

I'm leaning towards 1. But wanted a sanity check

 

[Hades]

2 almost identical cars, one with a big gap in the service history and one without?


Eh?

Because the mileage is slightly lower (admittedly at this age both are high anyway) and there is evidence of lots of recent work. Ok, I'll try to explain further:

Car 1 - FSH, 170k, same owner 14 years. A few advisories on MOT including corrosion on brake pipes so expect some work there). I believe the mileage is mostly motorway miles due to where the guy lives and where he works. He used it daily.

Car 2 - Current mileage around 145k. Dealer history to around 90k then massive gap until around 140k for current owner. Lots of receipts for major work done recently (fixing common things that go wrong on these cars). Cleared last MOT with no advisories.

I've decided on 1 because it seems a good, honest, car. But I expect some extra work to come up soon. But car 2 has had all the common issues fixed.

Like I said, I've opted for 1 but was just after a sanity check

 

[Hades]

Still go for the first one, 1 owner for 14 years, thats a wet dream for Fox right there, can ask them quite possibly any question and you'd get a decent honest answer, you'd know fully what to expect.

That's what I thought. He was even concerned the car goes to a good home and only replace it with an R32. A completely open and honest guy offering the number of the garage it was services at, etc. It wasn't just the car but also the owner that 'sold' it to me.

If the 2nd car is a worth amount cheaper then no harm in spending a few quid getting it checked over by a specialist.

Very good point. Perhaps I should have done this.

1st car without a doubt

145k isn't exactly "average" miles anyway.

15 year old car Although for some reason VR6's tend to stop being used above 120k. I think people are scared they might break

 

[Hades]

Was looking to find a golf vr6 recnetly (to scratch an itch) but struggle to find anything that will not cost an absolute packet! So understand you wanting to make sure about the corrado

I used to own a Golf mk3 VR6 Highline. It was immaculate. I loved it to bits. Until some scrote burgled my house and drove off with my car. That wasn't the best day of my life

But in all honesty I probably preferred my old Golf VR6 to my current Golf mk4 V6 4Motion. There is no question the 4Mo is the better car and the more modern 24v engine pulls much stronger lower down. But it's a much softer and quieter car. The VR6 has a certain something about it. I recall the first time I went through a tunnel at speed in the VR6. I couldn't stop grinning all day I also think it's the extra weight that modern cars have sprouted that deadens the fun. My 4Mo is great on a motorway but it leans hard around corners.

The mk3 VR6 also wallowed a bit but was great if you spent a little on the handling. It's a great engine. It wasn't the most powerful in its class even back then, and certainly not now. But put it in an older lighter car (such as a mk3 or a Corrado) and they are fantastic

You need to scratch that itch!

 

[Hades]

So the owner of the second car spent a load of money on it and then decided to sell it.

My guess would be he discovered it needs a lot more spending on it, and has decided to get rid.

Good point.

First car for me please thankyou. Especially on an old VW. The 2nd one spending wedges fixing common faults then getting rid is a dead giveaway.

Good point again.