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Thoughts on buying a car with previous front end damage?

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Slow4

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
MN
I'm looking at buying a GTI from a dealership out of state. Seems to be a good deal, so I'm entertaining it. I'll post the carfax info and any relevant info i can find when I get it, I'll ask the dealer for any repair records and information on who repaired it.

Just curious what people's thoughts are on this, and if its something that you should generally stay away from. Here's the car in question, I'm thinking that I'd certainly have a reputable performance shop check it out before doing anything
 
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Slow4

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
MN
Looks like the airbag was deployed, had front and rear damage, and it occurred at about 5,000 miles (car currently has 25,000).

It also looks like it has had a good chunk of maintenance/repairs such as sunroof, and an engine removal to complete a repair or two.

I'm thinking this just may be a bit problematic
 
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RichardCranium

Ready to race!
Location
Arizona
The damage is fine if it's been fixed correctly, but I wouldn't be interested in something that took front and rear damage plus an airbag deployment. It sounds like a headache, I'd pass.
 
The Fed

The Fed

Old Guys Rule
Location
Florida
I once had a somewhat expensive car that I ran into a truck that ran a light. I wish it was totaled in a way. I knew the owner and manager of the body shop. It was across the street from my base. I figured I'd check on it one day. They let me in the shop, and when they seen my face they said this is why we usually don't let customers see a repair in progress. There was nothing in front of the firewall. Absolutely nothing. They replaced the front bodywork and subframe. On my next inspection it was on a uni body fixture and they were pulling it to make it square. Amazingly to me, I never had a problem with it, and I drove it to over 10 years and 100,000 miles. It had a sunroof, ABS, electronic suspenstion, and variable power steering. So it really depends on the shop that did the work, and how many shortcuts they took. But I wouldn't have bought it as a used car.
 
PowerDemon

PowerDemon

Autocross Champion
Location
Richmond, VA
Car(s)
Golf GTI, Camaro ZL1
Strange Mud said:
it would have to be super cheap for me to even think of it
Click to expand...

I'm with Mud on this one. You can find a similar one with the same miles for roughly the same price. The price on this one is not good enough to justify the risk imo. To be devils advocate if the repairs were done correctly and everything was replaced with genuine parts you may never have an issue. But the risk would be too much for me to knowingly go into. Hope it works out!
 
randomhobo130

randomhobo130

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Niagara falls NY
Car(s)
2020 Autobahn DSG
All of that headache for close to 23k isn't remotely with it. You can find plenty of used for the same price that weren't in an accident. I would say continue the search.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
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Genegenie

Drag Race Newbie
Location
North Yorkshire
Car(s)
VW Golf
Thoughts on buying a car with previous front end damage?

I wouldn't unless very (very) cheap: too many poss issues & hassle, keep looking plenty of cars out there another will come along soon enough as the poster 2 up from here found:

"I bought a brand new 2017 GTI Sport for under 23K like 6 months ago. I wouldn't pay anywhere near that for the one you're looking at"....
 
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imthanick_a

imthanick_a

Autocross Champion
Location
Ohio
I wonder if it would be possible with some nice detective work to find the police report for the crash. You know the date it happened but not the area, but most police reports have vehicle descriptions, no?

Would it even be worth looking into to try and find photos to assess how bad the damage was?

I also just noticed the engine and transmission were replaced along with a lot of other stuff. I'd definitely pass fort he listed price. If you could knock off like 8k I think it would be worth considering
 
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NickRE2000

New member
Location
St. Augustine Beach, FL
Car(s)
2018 R
There are so many of these cars around I wouldn't entertain one with accident damage unless it was really cheap.

For some perspective I would sell my car (2017 Sport, 6k miles, Unitronic Stage 1 ECU/TCU) for $23k
 
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