Would you have concerns?

[hooligan74]

Looking at a used '16 R with ~20K miles.

It was Unitronic Stage 2 at some point, for an unknown # of miles. Would that cause you any concern?

How do the MK7s OEM clutches hold up to Stage 2?

 

[GTI Jake]

Unitronic is the mildest of the tunes so you should be good for the life of the car. Just keep up with maintenance and don't do things that'll put extra load on the clutch (like rolling into wot in high gears, if you're gonna get on it down shift into the proper gear first)

 

[nate704]

Even with the mildest tune, stock clutch will not survive that long. I am guessing the clutch on that car is near the end of its life.

 

[Oldschoolmk7]

Depends mainly how it was driven. That is total crap shoot. Be financially ready to drop 1500-2000 worst case.

 

[Gawernator]

I wouldn't want to buy a tuned car used, not because the tune but because the risk of getting it from some dude that abused it badly or some other issue is too high for me. It's like buying a track/race bike used. They go cheap for that reason. If he went super low on price, then sure.

 

[c31561]

I'm guessing it is a grey, lowered R? I had been thinking about that one too. Been sitting at that dealer for a while, makes me wonder what it wrong with it.

 

[Firstboost]

I would be willing to bet that the stock clutch is toast and that is why it is still sitting there. It's practically the norm to have to upgrade the clutch in the R when it has been tuned. Go test drive it and see if the clutch slips.

 

[hooligan74]

I would be willing to bet that the stock clutch is toast and that is why it is still sitting there. It's practically the norm to have to upgrade the clutch in the R when it has been tuned. Go test drive it and see if the clutch slips.

I may well, but it's a 90 min drive away and I work in another state M-F, so.....

 

[ecsta]

I personally would not buy a car that had been tuned as goodbye engine/powertrain warranty. Maybe email the vin to Unitronic and ask when it was tuned to give you an idea of wear and tear?

If you were planning to go stage 2 right away then it might save you some money. Doesn't stage 2 require supports bits? I'd be curious to see if the rest of the car is stock or modified. Usually when a popular car's been sitting without selling for a while there's a reason why.

 

[Gawernator]

I may well, but it's a 90 min drive away and I work in another state M-F, so.....

Call the dealer. Not like a salesman won't hang around to 6-8 PM

 

[mad_sb]

As others have said, be prepared to replace the clutch, because if it is not already toast, and you plan to tune it, you will need one anyway.

It's possible the previous owner dumpped it when he went to stage 2 and had the clutch slip, so rather than spend another 1500 - 2000 he just went back to stock and got rid of it. It's also possible the clutch has already been replaced so..... you deff need to drive it if your considering it.

I have a stock disk and pressure plate with 2,600 miles on them, new in box TOB, and a full set of new, unused R hardware left over from my RSR install. I preemptively replaced the clutch while waiting on the access port. PM me if your interested but I would not personally put a stock clutch in an R if you plan to tune it.

 

[KevinC]

The odds that it's been ridden hard and put away wet are VERY high if it was tuned - I'd run from that thing.

 

[The Fed]

Looking at a used '16 R with ~20K miles.

It was Unitronic Stage 2 at some point, for an unknown # of miles. Would that cause you any concern?

How do the MK7s OEM clutches hold up to Stage 2?

They don't. DSG or manual?

 

[Gawernator]

The odds that it's been ridden hard and put away wet are VERY high if it was tuned - I'd run from that thing.

Rode or driven? Hahah

 

[mto386]

Looking at a used '16 R with ~20K miles.

It was Unitronic Stage 2 at some point, for an unknown # of miles. Would that cause you any concern?

How do the MK7s OEM clutches hold up to Stage 2?

Some people quiver at the thought of buying a car already tuned and make a blanket decision to say no way. I think it takes a little more thought, research, and investigating.

R's were not designed and built to be your cheap economy daily driver. They have stronger internals, more horsepower, and scream to go fast. So what if the previous owner went fast, drove hard, and launched the car like it was designed to do. If these are things you would never do, then maybe an R isn't for you. If it is, read on.

Try to find out who owned the car, find more history on the car, and do a thorough inspection including a very spirited drive. Hook it up to VCDS, check it out. Bring the VIN number to a dealership and ask them to look up warranty information. See if has been TD1 flagged and what warranty work has been done on it. Look for any sign of maintenance neglect. Look for signs of ownership love. If any of that doesn't steer you away, read on.

My Used R Story: I found mine at a dealership for $3k under private party blue book value with 4k miles on it. I did a little research and found out it had $5k of upgrades including DP, intake, intercooler, stage 2 tune, & dsg tune. Is this a unicorn or a trap? I dug around a little more. The previous owner was a 60 y/o senior production engineer who traded it in for a Mustang GT350. Everything checked out though, no warranty issues, drove great, excellent condition, tires were stock with no signs of track use, and passed CA smog.

Try to calculate cost of mods done, blue book value, the cost of mods you would have done to a stock R, what everything is worth to you, and worst case scenario if something happens not under warranty. If the turbo goes and you need a new one, was the deal you found worth not having a powertrain warranty and buying brand new turbo? If you were already planning on tuning, chances are you were willing to replace the turbo if need be. In my case I believe my mods and KBB positive equity were worth around $8k. That was enough for me to buy the car and so far it been a great decision.