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

KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
So what are they specifically doing that's abusing it? Hypothetical of course since we don't actually know.

I was a young kid once who abused his cars, and had friends who were much worse than I ever was, and I can remember all kinds of insane abuse. High RPM clutch drops, speed shifting, piss revving, repeatedly bouncing off the rev limiter when stone cold, on and on.

There's just no good reason to take a chance on a car like this, unless the buyer knows the owner personally or something. If it's at a dealership and there's no way of knowing what kind of life it led, then there are enough red flags here for me to run - fast. And being a "good deal" to me is even more of a red flag, because it means the dealer probably picked it up on the cheap, which implies that someone was happy to unload it.
 

daconchslop

Autocross Champion
Location
SC
Car(s)
ACS SE/Tech
Def APR DP it’s likely a Stg2 flash.
 

munkey

Ready to race!
Location
VA
Thanks everyone for the insight. As someone mentioned, the low price is probably the biggest red flag. I think the dealer knows something is up because a 2018 Autobahn asking under $23k without crazy reconditioning or doc fees seems way cheaper than the market.

I'm going to pass on the car. Thank you to everyone for your insight and comments.
 

riceburner

Autocross Champion
Location
nice try PPNT
Car(s)
MK5 Best GTI
90% of people on here mod their cars, is it truly safe to say that 90% of the cars on here are truly 'abused'? serious question. these cars handle modding very graciously, even some 'abusive' driving. You can tell when you look at a car and driving it if it was really abused - signs of neglect in the interior and how well pampered car was are bigger signs to me that the previous owner didnt really care for the car. how it idles, drives etc. I'm all for buying a modded car - saves you money on stuff you would get anyway, just be cautious.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
90% of people on here mod their cars, is it truly safe to say that 90% of the cars on here are truly 'abused'? serious question. these cars handle modding very graciously, even some 'abusive' driving. You can tell when you look at a car and driving it if it was really abused - signs of neglect in the interior and how well pampered car was are bigger signs to me that the previous owner didnt really care for the car. how it idles, drives etc. I'm all for buying a modded car - saves you money on stuff you would get anyway, just be cautious.

It depends upon your definition of abused. I've known guys whose cars were meticulously detailed that completely neglected the maintenance.
 

munkey

Ready to race!
Location
VA
Just for anyone interested, here is the car. Putting the pieces together here's what I've learned -

The car was purchased in the summer of 2019 as a leftover 2018. In the fall of'19 the previous owner took the car to boosted creations in NY and all at once did a stage 2 tune (high torque) and a tcu tune from apr and added the intake of course.

A few months later he trades the car in for a 2020 Silverado.

The car does have a "damage reported" on Carfax shortly after purchase, but as we all know that could be anything.

The guy at boosted creations said the car seemed pretty clean and the owner didn't seem like the type to abuse the car but of course they're not sure.

Honestly this car is a steal for the right buyer. Because it's in New York, there's only a $75 doc fee. I'm split - if this was local and I could see it in person I would probably buy it. But for now I think I want a stock car and just keep it and enjoy it stock and sell it in 2 years. But I may decide to go for it anyway. If someone else gets it in the mean time, enjoy!

Here is a link:https://www.paddockchevrolet.com/Ve...f_GTI-2.0T_Autobahn_DSG-Kenmore-NY/3596905653
 

YamR1rider

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Tampa, FL
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport DSG
If someone was going to buy one and put an APR stage 2 on it anyway, it might not be a bad option as of course you'd save those fees/parts costs - but you'd want to take it for an extended test drive and/or get it looked over properly if not confident yourself. As for the air intake, it's easily gotten rid of if you don't like it. The Carfax accident report is however of concern and will always affect future resale value.

But anyone buying should he under no illusion of an ironclad engine or power train warranty as per any tuned car.

I'm not wild about the other cosmetic mods on this one though....the red mud flaps/towing hook and the steering wheel flag aren't my thang - but again easy enough to get rid of.
 

munkey

Ready to race!
Location
VA
If someone was going to buy one and put an APR stage 2 on it anyway, it might not be a bad option as of course you'd save those fees/parts costs - but you'd want to take it for an extended test drive and/or get it looked over properly if not confident yourself. As for the air intake, it's easily gotten rid of if you don't like it. The Carfax accident report is however of concern and will always affect future resale value.

But anyone buying should he under no illusion of an ironclad engine or power train warranty as per any tuned car.

I'm not wild about the other cosmetic mods on this one though....the red mud flaps/towing hook and the steering wheel flag aren't my thang - but again easy enough to get rid of.

Pretty much exactly how I feel. But the more I think about it the more I think I just want a stock car to not think about for a while until the next time I get the itch to change cars.
 

sprinks

Drag Racing Champion
Location
United States
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.
I was able to zoom in some and it looks to be aftermarket downpipe which means it's most likely stage 2
That is some excellent "concours" eye for detail. Well done.
 
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