Golf R - Rod knock 2 days into ownership

[Deerhound93]

Hi all, I'm looking for some advise as I'm a bit confused over the situation.

Last Sunday (23rd Jan) I travelled to purchase a 2015 Golf R from a reputable used car dealer. The car had 50k miles (recorded me doing 267 miles since buying it) 12 months MOT, FSH and the usual maintenance jobs done such as clutch and waterpump. Perfect spec to what I was after, the only downside was that it was a Cat N stolen recovered, however the price was very competitive. The car was not advertised as any modifications other than an upgraded clutch (weak point on manual Golf R's), however my butt dyno thought it felt a little more fruity than the standard 300bhp, coming from an S2000 that just may have been me not knowing what torque was.

I drove the car 200 miles home, I did at one point faintly hear what I thought was maybe a piece of trim or plastic making a small noise, but didn't think much of it and decided I'd take a look when I got home but didn't see anything. I then didn't drive the car until Wednesday evening when my partner and I went to the cinema, on the way home the EPC light came on, shortly followed by the engine management light, a horrific knocking/screeching from the engine and the car was a horrible juddery mess with no power. Luckily I was close to home so managed to limp it back. Took a video of the sound and a few friends confirmed it 100% sounded like rod knock. I managed to average 35mpg in the short time I had it and only really put my foot down on motorway onramps so I hadn't even driven the car very hard.

I sent the dealer a video and they were straight on the phone to me in the morning, sent a flat bed to collect the car at 2pm Thursday and it's now been taken some 200 miles back to them to be assessed. I'm no mechanic but I'm pretty sure it's either going to need a new engine, or complete rebuild.

Ideally I'd like to keep the car, as it was immaculate in every other way and it's my ideal specification, but what should I reasonably expect? If it's a replacement engine, I think an extended warranty on a unit with same or lower mileage should be given?

I've had a text update this morning to say the garage haven't yet had chance to look at the car. The dealer has been very helpful so far and apologised so I do believe he's going to get this sorted for me, they have a 5* ratings from a few hundred reviews (one of the reasons I purchased from them). I paid for the car via bank transfer but also put £1000 on a credit card to qualify for section 75 just to be safe. I also took multiple videos of the car running, car info screen and mileage before the flatbed arrived.

[normalbloke]

Stolen recovered, suggested it has probably been absolutely thrashed to within an inch of its life previously. I’d look to get out of this one immediately.

[Southerner]

It sounds as though the dealer is indeed reputable, not many that would happily send a flatbed on a 400 mile round trip. So, put your faith in them for now and see what they come up with first. If you want to keep the car, ultimately there'll always be a risk that it's been misused and the next bill is just around the corner, so really you need to decide whether to accept a repair solution here or to play safe and chuck it back I guess? I'm not sure the exact nature of the engine repair on this occasion is the only thing you need to consider; leap of faith or run away quickly!

[waynecyclist]

So you purchased a cat n stolen recovered which you say was a competitive price.

I would be looking to get my money back and run away, it will have been thrashed to death, never worth the hassle and I doubt the dealer will do a proper repair if it has been sold cheap.

[pincher]

No idea on what to expect but it’s good to see that the Dealer seems to be taking it seriously.

Hopefully they see it through and treat you well. Got to give them the benefit of the doubt, at least initially - they may have had no idea it was about to have such a failure. You’d like to think so anyway.

[jamieduff1981]

I'm usually quite brave with car purchases but if you can get your money back I'd be running for the hills with it if I were you. I wouldn't be taking this sort of risk for a Volkswagen.

[Dr Interceptor]

Three options, all beginning with R. Repair, Replace or Refund.

They sound like a very good garage, so they will no doubt offer you one or more of the above options.

[ashenfie]

I would say that they are worried for sure. Get your money back and IMHO and look for another car. Clutch at 50K, what else will go wrong simply is unknown. You have the right to reject right now.

[Deerhound93]

Thanks for the replies so far - the clutch at 50k didn't phase me as the OEM units are know to slip as low as 20k miles as they're not quite enough for the power of the car.

I'll await to hear from them by the end of today - luckily I work from home so it hasn't given me too much grief without it.

[Trevor555]

Dealer sounds like they're going to do the right thing for you in getting it collected quickly.

Just so you know, your 30 days right to reject period extends by any time the car is back at the dealership.

So if they have it for 2 weeks you add two weeks onto your 30 days.

Hopefully they'll fix it for you if you want to keep it.

Edited by Trevor555 on Friday 28th January 15:24

[CarCrazyDad]

I just looked on Ebay and Golf R (2017 etc model) engines are not "that" expensive, £2000 or so , obviously a lot but not too much for the price of the car.

I suspect they would just buy a replacement used engine.

Good luck

[lord trumpton]

Get rid asap

[CoreyDog]

At least the dealer appears to be doing the right thing! Makes a change from most of the stories you see on here.

If it's going to be a rebuild or replacement engine job, I'd be happy with that.

When was it recorded stolen?

[Acapulco99]

Not worth the aggro for a Golf.

[M.F.D]

I concur with the theme here, get out the car and into something else.

Not sure how long you were looking to keep the car, but trying to sell a Cat N car with replacement engine would be horrific, especially on an R which already has a questionable image.

[covmutley]

I may be wrong but I thought there was a 14 day cooling off period.

I'd be looking to give it back in that timescale rather than 30 days.

[Funk]

Sounds like the dealer's a good one so far and you've done all the right things in terms of how you purchased etc.

As others have said, I'd have had hesitation about buying something S/R unless it was significantly beneficial from a financial perspective...

I'd be inclined to bail out of it completely though to be honest - unless there's a sudden shortage of Golf Rs out there to choose from?

[anonymous-user]

Sounds like an excellent dealer, not many would respond so positively and quickly.

IMHO wait and see what solution they come up with - you might end up with a completely rebuilt and effectively new engine and the backup of a very rare honest dealer, which seems a lot better than taking a refund and buying an equally unknown similar car from another place which might have the same / other issues and they will just try to screw you over if anything goes wrong.

[Deerhound93]

I have been very impressed with the dealer so far, they’ve been nothing but helpful!

[Funk]

If that continues to be the case make sure you mention who they are too. Good dealers deserve to be given credit where it's due.