Help! Deciding between these two cars?

[SteveTDCi]

heated seats even in cloth trim is great, if you ever get back pain the warmth helps. Out of those two the FR wins for me, mainly because of the sunroof. The best bit about the special edition will be the cupra seats. If its private try and do a bit of digging to see why they are selling, it may be they have a new car on order and will need to sell before it arrives. Start low, even if you know its going to get rejected, its easier to go up but never come down, i'd start at least 1k below asking

 

[Gary@Cookies]

Put it this way, if two people came to me looking to trade in those two cars I'd be offering between £500-£750 more for the FR with options, the 550's didn't sell particularly well when new and are still less desirable as used cars.

 

[AP_V5]

Like others have said the kitted up FR wins it for me too, plus you're more likely to be able to haggle on the price at the end of the day.

 

[robin cur]

Looking at the auto traders advert I think the fr550 looks a lot better but you cant go by a photo.

Think the fr for £14000 is dealer price and not worth that kind of money I am sure you could find you self a lot cheeper one so have a good look round, I have seen on autotrader leon fr tdi going for around £12.500 same year and mileage.

 

[BuZZarD73]

I've recently picked up an 07 TDi FR 170 and it's quite tasty.

However the DPF (Diesel Particle Filter) can be a serious issue if you don't put in the mileage on runs above 40mph apparently.
I've had mine 6 weeks and 2 weeks after my last long trip and since only doing 25 miles a day, the DPF light came on, then the exhaust and it's just gone into limp mode with the engine management light flashing.

I did 30 miles on the motorway (not easy getting up slip roads with a <3k rpm limit) and the problem is still there, so going up steep hills faster than 3o is virtually impossible now.

In retrospect, I'd have gone for the 2.0TDi Sport and had the remap.

 

[robin cur]

Had mine now for 3 months only do about 80 miles a week but give it a good blast for 10 mins once a week and is been fine fingers crossed. I do wish i had gone for a cupra as do such low milage

 

[Nick G]

Well, i've gone for the Private one, got it down to £13,100 which I think is a good deal - it's just had it's second service and the car is really nice. The wheels are all kerbed which i knew about and there's a small dink on the rear off side wheel arch so i've taken these into account and will get it sorted once i get the car.

If you look around there really aren't many for sale, certainly not privately but the owner is VW technician and was completely up front about the DPF issue and any other problems they've had with the car - all seems spot on so i'm looking forward to getting it on Wednesday.

 

[2zeroalpha]

Right, this is where you have to put your hard nosed face on. Ultimately the private seller will be more likely to drop their price as they know they have to compete against the security offered by buying from a dealer. I would have a look at both and then make a cheeky offer on the private one, fully expecting it to be refused. Then go back a few days later and say, my offer is still on the table and I am ready to buy now. Selling privately is always a nerve wracking business (trust me I know, just flogged my k1) and can be played upon.

Edit: just seen your latest post. Please ignore me