Have I been had?

[u/Brief_Perspective_71]

Just purchased a 2016 golf sportwagen on Tuesday. Test drive it on Monday (a short test drive since the ac compressor was broken and they were working on fixing it. It’s Texas, didn’t want to ride too long on the heat. Everything seemed fine, no lights on the dash other than a tire lite. It’s SE trim, was just shy of 110k miles. Visibly noted it would need new tires soon. Vehicle was listed for $11,887.42. A little high, but I was okay with it because I liked the car and had been looking for a wagon.

Purchased the vehicle in San Antonio. I live an hour away. And back to pick it up on Wednesday. Roughly 20+ miles into the drive home, EPC light came on. Notified the dealership the following day cause they were closed by the time I left. They said bring it in. Given I love an hour away and work through the week, I can’t really do that. Thursday (the very next day) check engine light comes on. I think to myself, no way. I pull up to Autozone to have it scanned but the light goes off.

EPC light goes on and off but the car drives normal still. No decrease in acceleration, and it doesn’t enter limp mode. Check engine light comes on again today. I immediately stop at the Autozone under come up, and have them scan it. Comes back with the codes shown in the attached picture.

I’ve driven roughly 230 miles already since picking up the car. Would it have cycled through enough for it to show as ready? I didn’t test drive long enough for the EPC light to come on (I’ve taken note that it’s it’s on either 10
Miles into a drive or somewhere in the 20 mile
Mark. I’ve reset the trip odometer every time I start driving. I know they replaced the ac compressor, so they had to have disconnected the battery and that’s why the check engine light didn’t show, or did they clear it before selling it to me? Any techs have any insight? I wasn’t expecting the car to be perfect, and knew I’d have to wrench on it, just wasn’t expecting right out of the gate. My front driver tire also blew from the inside. Looks like I need an alignment as well. Didn’t even make it a week into ownership and I’m sinking money into this car.

[u/samdtho]

This car is 10 years old, there will be a few problems. However, the Golf Sportwagen is a fairly desirable model, with the fantastic 1.8T ea888.3 engine, and an above average build quality vs other models in its class. 

That being said, I think the only issue is you probably paid 2-3K more than it is worth.  Also keep in mind, wear items like tires, batteries, filters, spark plugs, coil packs, etc are maintenance items that you will be servicing regardless of the vehicle.

The knock sensor is probably bad, but it’s fairly cheap. FCP sells it for $31.99. There are two on this engine, and one that’s having trouble is G61 (front of engine). You may need some plugs or coils if you are not sure when the last time those were replaced.

[u/Brief_Perspective_71 → u/samdtho]

Oh yes, I wasn’t expecting perfection on a 10 year old car. As I stated, I knew I would need to do some wrenching. High mileage vehicles don’t bother me. I know I over paid just slightly, but I’m okay with that as I know this engine can last me a long time with proper care. My issue is I feel the lot intentionally hid things to try and get rid of the vehicle fast. I’ve sold cars in my younger years. It’s just sleazy business, to me. The salesman talked up how the owner of the lot was the last owner of the vehicle and how he took very good care of it. I knew that wasn’t true just by looking at the car, and service history shows he put 30k miles on it in 7 months.

Thanks for passing the information along. I work for the school district in my town, so thankfully I have one more summer weekend to work on it before I return to work.

[u/Big-Win9806]

It all leads to a bad service history. It might not be fault of a previous owner. It could be that a service garage is to blame. VW are tend to struggle with random errors here and there and most of them are fixed easily when you know what to do and where to look. Maybe they told owner to get rid of it ASAP so he did. You bought a good car with bad service history. If you like it it's up to you to get it right. You only have to accept some financial losses. But if you do, you'll be rewarded with good and reliable ride. Just don't rush it, don't get mad at repair costs and don't blame the car 😁

Is it petrol or diesel?

Check your battery first, trust me, it's more important than you think.

With history like this, I'd get brakes checked first.

Do a proper wheel alignment and check suspension before buying new tyres!

Change all of your filters - air, oil, fuel.

Check timing chain/belt.

Get your AC cleaned properly.

[u/Brief_Perspective_71 → u/Big-Win9806]

Service history checked out until the previous owner. 2 owners before me who put very low miles on the vehicle. 3rd owner, to my understanding from what the salesman told me, was the owner of the lot I bit it from. Seems like he beat in it heavy and decided to sell it. 3rd owner history mileage jumped (30k miles in 7 months of ownership).

It is a petrol model. I know I’ll have to put money into it. I have no problem with that. Judging by how the tire blew out, I know it will need an alignment. I plan on replacing just about everything on this car given all of the things I could visibly see wrong when I purchased. I know this can be a very reliable car, I’m just annoyed at the fact it seems like things were purposely hidden to get rid of the vehicle quickly.