Same thing, different shapes…

Browsing marketplace I see an inexpensive 2008 VW R32. Title issue and previous owner had started gutting it for a racecar. Seller also has a second 2008 R32 that had timing chain failure. He was going to swap the one engine (no title car) to the other that does have a title. 
 

I messaged him with a feeler. Said I was first interested in one but kinda thinking of getting both. But I'd have to sell my Audi TT. That was intriguing to him and he's possibly interested in trading. 
 

I'd lose the manual transmission, but essentially have the same vehicle, two of them in a different shape. I could quickly make the titled car roadworthy and have a project race car or take my time fixing the legal car, possibly finding a manual transmission and doing a swap with everything apart. 
 

Is that what you *want*?

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Well I want ALL the cars.

But there are reasons I want the R32s. He has each listed at $2900 or $4500 package. He did mention possibly helping trailer one if I did a trade, saving a little in transport cost. If I got both I figure I could ask for a bill of sale for the no title one at $2000 and essentially have a arrive and drive challenge car. Fixing the red R32 would be a nice daily driver. Weird reason it might get my Mom to drive it more. She has an EOS and while she doesn't need to go anywhere in bad weather I keep trying to get her to take one of my cars at times, grocery store, etc where hers could get damaged. Also I could probably sell the red one later either for another TT or down payment towards something and probably be ahead with how R32 values are. 
 

I kinda thought though I'd never sell my TT. I had an R56 Cooper S at the same time and sold that that after getting the TT. Kinda miss the R56, but not too badly. I lost a friendship over the TT. Weird situation with a friend thinking I was lying about what I was doing one weekend because I had just gotten it delivered. Posted a couple things to Instagram but nothing of the wedding I went to. Got arrested for wteckless driving in it. 126 on Route 8, road was empty. Eventually got off.

Back out of college in 2003 I was a VW nerd and dreamed of being successful and buying a Touareg and R32 out of college. Got the Touaregs covered. And the TT is essentially the same as an R32, but the R's were limited production. Just 5000 of the 2008 version. Not sure how many TT, but certainly less in VR6 manual trim than the boring 2.0t ones. 
 

Other slight downside is it's another project to work on, not such a bad thing. Upside though is I have 3 other registered 4 wheeled vehicles, and one motorcycle. So saving a couple dollars on insurance in the meantime isn't bad either. My work commute is just over 100 miles total for a week.

I want a lot of cars an RS3 and SQ5 are still up there but I also don't like giving cars up. 

Sleep on it a couple nights. While it might be fun to rock a 17 year old VW and have a track car project... I think I would favor a running driving Audi TT. 

In reply to OHSCrifle :

The seller seems like a good guy, in the chats everything has been pretty straightforward and good. We planned to talk more tonight and he messaged around 6pm. I'm obviously still on the fence and didn't reply right away. But I did go take some current pictures of the TT and listed the few little issues I know about on it. Sent that to him and told him I was still deciding. 
 

"Ok. Thanks for the video. 
No pressure from me, just wanted to be sure I connected today since I promised I’d get back to you. 
TT looks good and I appreciate the extra details on what work you did." 

So another day thinking about it and maybe...

In reply to dan0 :

I will admit that trading sounds tempting. Getting something new is always fun. 

I have owned 2 TTs (2000 1.8t and a 2004 3.2) I have also owned a 2007 Golf R.

I miss that VR6 automatic TT hard, but the usefulness of the Golf bodied one is so much better.

Hard choices.

In reply to brysonpitstop :

Well one tricky thing is value. The running one shows a cluster at 156k, the none running was 222k and other than the rusty fenders it did look like some rust on the hatch too. 
 

My TT is at 117k miles. Cash price he was looking for $4500 for both. Am I giving up value in my TT? 
 

He mentioned he had interest but the way he worded it, the people that had money didn't want to have a project. And the people that didn't mind a project were sending him lowball offers. 
 

Going to give it another day or two and try to decide. 

The way I'm looking at it now is could I fix the titled car and if I eventually wanted to sell it, could I get the same as the TT. If I could then I feel like I'd be ahead because I'd still have the running / driving "racecar" to play with. 
 

Values on R32 and TT are all across the board. Listing prices vary a lot on Marketplace and it's tough to follow all of them and see which get sold. Not as many people use eBay for personal vehicle sales. 
 

Ive seen R32 from 4500-12500 and higher (real clean) there's a red R32 with some rust in the rear quarter and clear coat issues at $5500. 
 

TT from 3500 to 12000 for a real clean one. 

Well E36 M3. My stomach issue decided to jump ahead of all the tests I had scheduled in the coming week. After 8 hours of pain yesterday I went to the ER. Gallbladder pancreatitis, so I'm in the hospital the next few days and recovery I don't know yet. The Internet says a week to return to a desk job. 
 

I was about to message him and see if we could iron out a deal. But doing so requires me to find a parking spot for one car and ideally strip down the shell of my Touareg to haul off for scrap. But I'm keeping the engine, transmission, differentials, wiring, etc to later pull a swap. 
 

Now I can't do any of that. I'll message him later today and say what's going down. I think I want to trade but I have no idea on my timeline for doing so.. 

Still stuck in the hospital and no easy way to think about moving a bunch of cars around after gallbladder surgery. So I never messaged him more about the trade and working something out. 
 

Plus today he updated the listings. Dropped price to $2500 each or $4000 package. Says no trades. Says, "Last call before I pull ads and fix cars" 

To note I didn't ask for a trade. I said I kinda want both but I'd have to sell my TT to have the full $4500 he was asking for the package. 
 

I'm still just a little tempted to buy the running grey one that has no title. I mean, $2500 is pretty cheap for an R32, a sporty vehicle and limited production (5000 units in US). 

In reply to dan0 :

Not sure about CT but I'd have that r32 registered in half a day up here. VIN check and done. "Sold" back to you that day.

In reply to preach :

I figured there's always a way. But he seemed to think otherwise from his description. 
 

This listing is for the gray 2008 VW MKV R32

 

Last call before I pull ad and fix cars. 4k package deal if you buy both cars. Sorry , no trades. Firm on price   

 

Red one also available.

 

Gray car - No title. I can’t get one.

I’ve tried several resources to make this happen and can’t get it done. Maybe you have connections that I don’t? Maybe, like me, you don’t care and will use it for a race car or parts car.

 

Buy both cars and swap the engine from this one to the red one!

 

Car originally came from California, Nevada and was put up for salvage auction in Colorado because of a sunroof leak. Very clean underneath.

Colorado salvage title issued due to water leaking in from a bad sunroof drain at left front A-pillar.

I’ve removed all the affected stuff and was planning to use the engine for the red R32, but it runs well, and I think the car could be saved in the right hands. Track days? Lemons? Autocross? Rallycross? Turbo drag car?

 

Happy to answer any questions.

 

This isn’t Bring a Trailer, it’s bring TWO trailers! Buy both cars and get up and running fast.

I’ll  do a package deal for $4000.00 if both cars are sold together.

berkeleying hospital E36 M3! Gray one sold and red marked pending. He even dropped the price one more time, $2250. 
 

If I wasn't stuck here I would have had a car for approximately $2500 in.