Sold the most reliable car I've ever had and….

Damn.

Its genuine. I phoned VW in Preston on spec, and they stuck her on the phone!

Sounds like a DPF issue. The car has been unused for about a month, and it sounds like she’s just been pootling about in it for a couple of days before driving home.

So she works for VW Preston?

I’d say it’s still a scam. Ignore her or state sold as seen.

DO NOT REPLY!!!

IT IS NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

This can only end badly.

Then the nice VW man will fall for her fluttering eyelashes and do a forced regeneration on her Golf for free…

LHS- wasn’t gonna. Didn’t expect VW Preston to just hand the phone to her!!!

and they stuck her on the phone!

I’m confused. She was there coincidentally or just happened to be there?

Sounds like she is working there. Sorry I’d get abit rude at this stage as I’d suspect I was being taken for a mug.

If she isn’t – why is it your business?

I once bought a four year old Citroen BX 16v Gti from a private seller. As it was a very complex car, I paid for an RAC inspection. It passed this with no faults or even advisories. On my way home from seller, dash lit up like a christmas tree and smoke started pouring from under bonnet. Suspension dropped, lost all power steering and just as I pulled up the brakes went. A high pressure pipe from the pump to accumulator had fractured, spraying hydraulic oil all over exhaust manifold.
It had to be trailered home – first time that had ever happened to me. Was not happy, but I was aware that it had been OK when I left so didn’t dream of contacting seller. RAC said their inspectors could only see faults at the time of inspection so took no responsibility .

I guess what I am trying to say in a very round about way is that provided it was working when it left you and that you genuinely didn’t know there was a problem then it is up to her to sort out.

I’m confused. She was there coincidentally or just happened to be there?

Agreed, that sounds very odd!

DPF? Tough titties – if you’re buying a diesel that age/mileage then you know its a risk.

Indeed – if it is a DPF, and she’d had the car a few days, I don’t see any way you could have known about it. Chance you take with a s/h diesel.

Though you could point her at the thread discussing getting through your MOT after bypassing one…

Damn.

Its genuine. I phoned VW in Preston on spec, and they stuck her on the phone!

Sounds like a DPF issue. The car has been unused for about a month, and it sounds like she’s just been pootling about in it for a couple of days before driving home.
Genuine? That makes it *more* likely to be a scam.
1) She happens to work at the VW dealership that the car managed to limp to, despite a sob story about having been out of work.
2) She can therefore get her hand on any old diagnostics printout so support her story.
3) She can get the car fixed (if there even is an issue) at a vastly reduced price, maybe even free. Don’t tell me “homers” don’t happen.
4) It just so happens to be about the single most expensive “fault” the car can develop without actually involving any physical damage.

EDIT – I may be jumping to conclusions about her working there…

Timeline is:
1)She texted me to say she was heading to VW Preston (she lives in Southampton)
2)I called VW Preston 15 or so mins later
3)They handed the phone to her

As far as I’m concerned, its sold as seen- I’m not a mechanic, I dont work for the AA/RAC, but I’ve done all I can as “due diligence” to keep the car straight and honest.

Exactly, now don’t answer any more communications from her.

Of course, I only have her word for it that she actually does live in Southampton. I completed that section of the V5- but she could be based further north temporarily- temping?

Sorry I wouldn’t entertain her anymore.

Shes skint yet shes managed to drive 4hours away from home?

Funny, though. My commute (maybe 3 times a week) is about 25 miles of mixed driving- A road, Motorway, a short town section.

I’ve never had any DPF issues. I’ve never had ANY issues!

If she’s misfuelled it or something then its terminal for my old bus.

As LHS said ignore all future communications DPF is not your fault, or predictable, as long as it has been serviced regularly as per manufacturer instructions – which you gave her records of.

To be fair, it could be genuine – my old Saab never gave me any trouble, lots of journeys under 100miles… then I drove to Wales (for a trail centre sesh!) and limp home mode just after the Severn (about 170 miles).
Mgmnt Light would randomly come on every once in a while after that, so I got rid.

Still, not your issue!

I’d still be inclined to perhaps ring VW Preston tomorrow morning first thing and say something like “is insert whatever her name is there, please”….

That’ll tell you whether she works there or not.

Stumpy01- I’ll do that.

Could be not much, my Passat TDi had a “DPF failure” which turned out to be a faulty sensor. Cost <£50 to fix.

I’m amazed no-one has asked for pics yet

(of the car, naturally!)

Its still not your problem.

Does a DPF/sensor give an advanced warning? Surely if it was a sensor you couldn’t just extinguish the warning light as it’d come straight back on.

I heard a similar story when the person got home and the engine expired…

… they didn’t know how to drive an manual and did 20miles on the motorway in first gear. Cooked the engine.

The very reason private sales are cheaper than dealers is that the BUYER needs to BEWARE.

I’d still be inclined to perhaps ring VW Preston tomorrow morning first thing and say something like “is insert whatever her name is there, please”….

That’ll tell you whether she works there or not.

I would do that but only out of curiosity. It shouldn’t affect the outcome of this which is to ignore her. Scam or not, you don’t owe her anything.

I thought the best thing with faulty DPF was to thrash the ting to clear it?

Do you have any pics?

And you can be sure the story at the other end is ” he had a device that showed there was no problems”
“oh, he must have erased the problems” etc etc.

Buying and selling cars can be an awful experience. Good luck that it comes to nothing.

Gogg- of the fault? No.

I love the description of a 4 year old car as ultra reliable. I might describe my previous car a 16 year old Toyota that never once failed to start or broke down during that 16 years as reliable.

Another text:

“Car needs EGR cooler and its 5 hours labour (£400) and they say I shouldn’t drive it.”

I’m suspicious.

I wouldn’t even bother phoning the garage again.

Just walk away, the more you get involved the more likley you are to be sucked in with another sob story

reply – “very good ted” (said in an irish accent)

I’m in “ignore” mode.

“Sorry to hear you’ve got a bill like that to pay. Very unfortunate for you.”

When I’m skint I can’t think about buying 4yr old posh TDI’s regardless of a windfall.

When the V5 form was filled out did you so as a private seller or trader ? Did you not take note of her name and address ? Was a direct transfer or cash ?
Either way none of the above matters it was a private sale and you made a receipt which said sold as seen no warranty implied blah blah etc?

What you don’t want is some thug turning up on your doorstep ! Which is why I try not to do private sales anymore… No comeback part ex etc.

“Car needs EGR cooler and its 5 hours labour (£400) and they say I shouldn’t drive it.”

Stop texting me. I’m not your friend.

A quick google suggests it’s a fairly common problem – Honest John reckons common enough to be a service item http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/37637/volkswagen-golg—faulty-egr-cooler (and interestingly when I typed “EGR cooler” google wanted to complete with “VW”). Not that that really changes anything apart from making it even more clear that it’s nothing to do with you.

“Car needs EGR cooler and its 5 hours labour (£400) and they say I shouldn’t drive it.”

Maybe start texting her random messages about how your day is going too.

Or at least point her in the direction of the numerous internet threads on the EGR faults with the VAG 1.6TDi engine, many of which make reference to VW repairing either for free or vastly reduced price, out of goodwill. It’s a common fault, it seems.

Unlucky 🙂

Scam the scammer – tell her your wife’s just left you and killed the dogs, and you’ve got cat aids too. See if you can escalate.