Volkswagen Golf TDI

[kircher]

Hi all,

My mother is in the market for a second hand car, and I've been tasked with finding one for her and I've narrowed the search down to a Mk V Volkswagen Golf TDI with DSG. She wants fuel efficiency, comfort, good handling, refinement, a good auto transmission and decent performance and the Golf is basically the class leader in its segment. It's also the safest and has best standard equipment and the best stereo. The DSG is an awesome transmission too.

One car we're considering is a 2006 2.0L TDI, with leather upholstery, a towbar and roof racks and it has 95 000km. The car is located in Wollongong. The other car is a 2006 1.9L TDI with the same spec level, minus the leather upholstery. It doesn't have roof racks or towbar either. It has 85 000km. This car is located in Narromine and has been driven purely on the highway as a commuter car. It has full service history.

My thoughts are that the Narromine car will have less wear and tear because it's a country car with all highway Ks, and the other will have more wear and tear because of its use as a city car and tow car.

What are other peoples thoughts on the matter? would you avoid buying a car that has a towbar and roof racks? My head is saying go for the 1.9, but my heart is saying go for the 2.0L because its closer, has leather upholstery and because they have significantly better performance: 105kW and 320Nm vs. 77kW and 250Nm.

Whether or not we end up buying either of these cars, I'm still curious about other peoples thoughts on buying a car that was used as a tow vehicle. It's common knowledge that country cars are better than city cars too.

Edit: Forgot to mention both cars are priced roughly the same.