Buying a secondhand Polo 1.9 tdi - what to look for

[jozua]

Hi all,

I'm new here and in the process of looking for a pre-owned VW Polo 1.9tdi. I drove a 2006 Jetta V 1.9tdi for a long time, until the fith gear packet up at 309 000km. It had some other small issues such as a small oil leak and a hard time starting (even in summer), but other than that I loved it. I sold it since the gearbox was going to be expensive and got a 2010 Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi, which is great, but not a VW and not as light on diesel.

So now I am look at buying a Polo 1.9 tdi. I found a 2007 model with 220 000km on the clock and a full service history. It's going for R85 000, but I am going to see if I can get him down to at least R80 000. The owner is selling because they need a bigger car with a second child that just arrived.

Basically I would appreciate some advise as to what to look out for when viewing this nifty little car?
Is the price acceptable or can I push the owner down. Getting it down to R75 000 would be great!
I was thinking of asking about the following: cambelts, problems with tubro, water pump, diesel pump... what else would you recommend?

[NHB_R]

I would offer R70 000...wouldnt go higher than that.
Call your insurance and tell them you want to insure that car and ask them what the value of the car is

[MarshallGTi]

Thats the going rate these days unfortunately.

Make sure the cambelt and waterpump have been done on time (should be 90k and 180k)
Listen for creaks andknocks at full lock.
96kw turbo's do blow so see if its got the recall turbo fitted or plan to replace it at some point.
If you can get someone to log it for you that would be great, to confirm injectors are still within limits. Also pay attention to the clutch and try gauge how much life it has left.