Can you tell if the turbo has been swapped from these pictures?

[munkey]

My Mini had just a stage 2 tune. Don't buy a car that has had ANY tune. 9/10 times the former owner beat the piss out of it. Especially owners with a hot air intake.

I plan on doing a stage 1 apr tune anyway, and it's a dsg and still under a lot of warranty.

In general I totally agree with you and this car in particular looks like it may have been driven hard. If it was local I would feel much better but it's several hundred miles away.

You're probably right though.

 

[vj123]

I plan on doing a stage 1 apr tune anyway, and it's a dsg and still under a lot of warranty.

Tuned and still under warranty?!

 

[The Butcher]

I plan on doing a stage 1 apr tune anyway, and it's a dsg and still under a lot of warranty.

In general I totally agree with you and this car in particular looks like it may have been driven hard. If it was local I would feel much better but it's several hundred miles away.

You're probably right though.

Don't count on the warranty for engine and trans repairs if you're tuned. Google VW TD1 Flag. Long story short, if your engine and trans fails and you're tuned, VW Corporate will likely deny any warranty repairs. If it's a third party warranty, it's a coin toss.

That being said, I tuned my GLI APR stage 1 ecu/dsg tune at 1100 miles knowing that. But every mile is driven by ME. I don't beat up my car, so the risk is a lot less.

Just think smart. Unless you're paying in full, you'll be paying the car off for 5 years most likely. If you blow the engine due to the former owner being an entitled 18 year old showing off to his tinder date, add $5-10,000 to your budget.

Paranoid? Yes, but I like sleeping well at night.

 

[jay745]

I truly do wonder what most people think "abused" means.

I'd personally much rather buy a used car that was driven hard vs a car that was granny'ed until 80k miles.

Now, a car that was truly abused on a track or something that's different. Most dudes with an intake and a tune never drive it on a track..

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

I truly do wonder what most people think "abused" means.

I'd personally much rather buy a used car that was driven hard vs a car that was granny'ed until 80k miles.

Now, a car that was truly abused on a track or something that's different. Most dudes with an intake and a tune never drive it on a track..

The answer to your first question would usually be best answered not by the person typing it on the internet but by the person who said it once before “modded car = abused” and they read it and now regurgitate it.

the whole hot air intake bit is hilarious like a persons driving style would be directly connected to thier decision to purchase an open intake.

I have first hand knowledge of the temp difference between a open intake (IE) and a closed system (stock & Neuspeed) and not by ways of “it felt different” but actually being able to see
The IAT differences in logs and in real time . It’s literally a 4-6 degree delta... the turbo generates so much heat anyways it’s not a HUGE deal between the two.
For me personally I prefer the closed but surely I don’t think open “HOT” is something massively detrimental to a FI car. Maybe on a natural aspirated car it’s bigger.

 

[KevinC]

I truly do wonder what most people think "abused" means.

"Abused" to me means that some flat-brim vape bro bought a GTI, slapped a bunch of mods on it, rode it hard and put it away wet, started having problems with it, and unloaded it so that some other poor sap would have to deal with his problems.

Did that happen here? We just don't know. But the presence of mods, and even the presence of an APR sticker (or any aftermarket stickers of any kind), are red flags to me. Why take a chance? Far more cars available out there that are unmodified. Ah, but this one is a "solid deal". Another red flag.

 

[jay745]

The answer to your first question would usually be best answered not by the person typing it on the internet but by the person who said it once before “modded car = abused” and they read it and now regurgitate it.

the whole hot air intake bit is hilarious like a persons driving style would be directly connected to thier decision to purchase an open intake.

Agree with you there.

"Abused" to me means that some flat-brim vape bro bought a GTI, slapped a bunch of mods on it, rode it hard and put it away wet, started having problems with it, and unloaded it so that some other poor sap would have to deal with his problems.

Did that happen here? We just don't know. But the presence of mods, and even the presence of an APR sticker (or any aftermarket stickers of any kind), are red flags to me. Why take a chance? Far more cars available out there that are unmodified. Ah, but this one is a "solid deal". Another red flag.

So what are they specifically doing that's abusing it? Hypothetical of course since we don't actually know.

 

[dequardo]

Hard no from me.

 

[munkey]

"Abused" to me means that some flat-brim vape bro bought a GTI, slapped a bunch of mods on it, rode it hard and put it away wet, started having problems with it, and unloaded it so that some other poor sap would have to deal with his problems.

Did that happen here? We just don't know. But the presence of mods, and even the presence of an APR sticker (or any aftermarket stickers of any kind), are red flags to me. Why take a chance? Far more cars available out there that are unmodified. Ah, but this one is a "solid deal". Another red flag.

I somewhat agree. I do think the price is low enough (from a dealer, no less) that there is something going on. But it's a large reputable dealer (Chevy dealer) so maybe someone just traded it in.

It's in Buffalo, ny if anyone wants to look at the car. 2018 Autobahn with dsg asking just under $23k and only 16k miles on the car. No high doc fees or anything else since it's in NY.

I do get a bit of too good to be true vibe. Especially since the car was sold in 2019 as a leftover and one of the wheels is curbed pretty bad. But it's a very good deal if the car is clean.

I wish I could go see it in person. Oh well.

 

[RichardCranium]

I truly do wonder what most people think "abused" means.

I'd personally much rather buy a used car that was driven hard vs a car that was granny'ed until 80k miles.

Now, a car that was truly abused on a track or something that's different. Most dudes with an intake and a tune never drive it on a track..

You'd be in the minority.

I wouldn't want anything to do with a used, modified turbocharged car, let alone one that supposedly has a lot of warranty left on it. People do all sorts of dumb shit to cars, why take that risk?

OP, just judging by the picture of the engine bay with that janky looking intake and missing the top engine cover, I'd walk from this one.

 

[jay745]

You'd be in the minority.

I wouldn't want anything to do with a used, modified turbocharged car, let alone one that supposedly has a lot of warranty left on it. People do all sorts of dumb shit to cars, why take that risk?

OP, just judging by the picture of the engine bay with that janky looking intake and missing the top engine cover, I'd walk from this one.

I'm aware I'm in the minority, most people don't know what theyre talking about and think driving the car through the entire rpm range is bad for the car when it's actually the opposite. Most of the cars I work on that end up having lots of problems are the ones that are grannied their whole life. All of the other technicians I work with agree.

 

[Diggs24]

Jay says send it.

?

 

[mopar22]

Can't see the downpipe but the clap is positioned the wrong way from factory (unless they switched it up for the mk7.5) which means something was off at some point there.

 

[Diggs24]

Can't see the downpipe but the clap is positioned the wrong way from factory (unless they switched it up for the mk7.5) which means something was off at some point there.

yup. Good eye.

 

[mopar22]

I was able to zoom in some and it looks to be aftermarket downpipe which means it's most likely stage 2