The adventures of buying my GTI
(7 minutes reading time)
Back in 2005 when the Mk5 VW Golf GTI launched it was hailed as a remarkable car by the motoring pundits. And it was one of a small handful of attainable fast cars that I yearned to have. Its competition at the time were the Civic Type-R and for a while the JDM Integra Type-R.
But it slowly became clear that the Mk5 GTI was a classic in the making. For ten years my yearning burned for a lovely, fast, and practical car. That last point is the reason why the Hondas are not a viable option as Type-Rs are only available in 3-doors. That is except for the ancient Accord Type-R.
Within those 10 years the Mk5 GTI popped up among many greatest cars lists. The one that stood out the most was Top Gear Magazine’s 20 year anniversary. Their favourite cars from those 20 years resulted in the GTI getting second spot. Second only to the Bugatti Veyron. Ahead of the of the Rolls Royce Phantom and Ferrari 458.
For a humble hot hatchback to beat a bunch of supercars and only come second to the Veyron, it is quite phenomenal. There was no longer any doubt in my mind that this car had earned its place as my dream car.
After a sad couple of years recently I decided that some money I inherited was to finally fulfill my dream of owning a GTI.
The drama of getting a GTI
Although I had spent months years pouring over Autotrader and missing out on many gems, when I finally had the funds to buy my dream car I simply couldn’t wait any longer. My criteria for a car was for:
- 5 doors
- DSG
- paddle shifts
- 18” alloys
- as new a possible (2007 was the oldest I would look at)
What I went to view was a 2009 example with all the above plus:
- Multi Function Display
- 12(!) CD multi-changer stereo
- full leather seats
- heated seats!
- auto-dimming lights
- auto-wipers
There’s probably more that I can’t remember off the top of my head. This car was a beauty. But buying it wasn’t without issue. For starters I had to venture all the way out to Benfleet in Essex from The West Country. I decided to go by train. This made it more likely that I would come back with the car, but I bought a return ticket anyway. Well a return ticket is no more expensive than a one-way!
I also had with me a £3k cash deposit and intended to transfer the balance on the day if I could. Once I arrived in cheeky Benfleet I sorted myself out a bacon sarnie at a nice little café next to the station. Then I grabbed a cab to the house where I was going to see the car.
Be wary of rich people
The cabbie told me that the house belonged to a millionaire who made his fortune selling cars and now in the property business. It sounded intimidating but thankfully I wasn’t going to see him. I was to buy the GTI off his daughter.
I felt like I was guest appearing on an episode of TOWIE. Like, honestly this place was like a total mansion but so new money. Expensive but fake and vajazzled to the hilt. The car was in their garage and had been recently valeted. I did all the checks I had written down. I could see that the tyres were well worn. The rear pads needed replacing but the car looked really good. A couple of tiny knicks but nothing major. OK there was one warning sign that she claimed total ignorance over. Running from the battery to the boot was a power cable afixed to a fuse. This was clearly for an amp to a sub-woofer.
We took the car for a quick drive. She asked if I had insurance. I said I had fully comp and could as long as the owner gave me permission but she was a bit funny about it. She said we could only go out for five minutes which I wasn’t too happy about. I pushed that a bit when we were actually in the car. She claimed that she was going out to meet her boyfriend straight after and that’s why she was in a rush.
I didn’t care.
I fell in love with this car.
I didn’t waste much time making an offer but OMG she drove a hard bargain. She only knocked off £180 from the asking price. At least I got something. So we shook, I gave her the cash and signed the papers then I did my bank transfer. I expected that to be instant.
I also noticed that the name of the previous registered keeper was an Asian name (and family TOWIE aren’t Asian)… but my eagerness made me blind to anything dodgy. Then she also asked me to sign a receipt. It’s an AA template that you can download and print out. She was open about her dad being a former car salesman. He had sourced the car for her (apparently).
Banks are a pain. And Essex is fully of racists
I had to transfer the money to a company account and her dad would have to check for the transfer. But it hadn’t 45 minutes later. I rang up my bank and they said it had gone out of my account. The app showed that it was gone from my balance as well. But it still wasn’t showing up their end. I was assured that it would go through, subject to anti-fraud checks. Their bank, Natwest, was saying that as it was a Easter Weekend it may not appear until Tuesday. But I had checked at my bank before even setting off that Good Friday made no difference. It should still have gone through. She was stressed and I was really not happy with the bank. We worked out a contingency for me to leave the car locked in their garage but for me to keep the key for the car.
After an hour of gritted teeth I got a call from my bank’s anti-fraud team. They asked if a large amount of money being transferred out was a legitimate transaction. Yes, please just let it through now. Now.
Anti-fraud agent: “Thank you sir that has gone through now.”
Me: “It’s in their account now?”
AFA: “Yes sir that has gone straight through”
I went to tell TOWIE girl and she said she’d call her dad. And it was all done. I could drive home in MY GTI.
And thank f*** for that. There was no way I was going home on the train and then come back to this horrible part of the world full of Daily Mail reading, deceitful, new monied t***s again. While I was waiting her brother and his mates got out of their car. Upon their arrival they walked up to me and started acting out what can only be racist gestures. I said that they were being weird and she and her grandparents told them off. The grandad and fake tan apologised which was nice but it still reminded me of why I hate Essex.
## Masquerading salesman
I also later looked into whether there were any other cars for sale in that area. I found it odd that a humble couple turned up at the fake-tan mansion’s door. They pointed at a really old and out of place Corsa on their driveway. She told them to come back the next day. Well there are a ton of cars on Autotrader at that house. I searched by postcode and they are all extremely close and the pics look very much their driveway. Some even of the fake-tan mansion. I also worked out that traders don’t have to be the registered keeper of a vehicle when they purchase and sell them on. Hence why the documents had an Asian’s name. This also fits in with paying into a company account. She was masquerading as a private seller. I felt quite angry and cheated. I felt taken for a fool. But then I slowly came to realise that I was a fool myself and that I had ignored or not reacted to the warning signs.
But it’s my precious
It didn’t matter I drove home in my new car. I was in hysterics as I was driving along onto the M25. I couldn’t believe it. My dream had come true.
