Joined
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21,472 Posts
This is a photo of my car, with the summer wheels fitted
Hello All:
I'm sad to put my car up for sale - I've owned it since it was brand new, and got a lot of enjoyment from both the car and participating here in the forum - but, I'm just not using this car anymore. I've driven it less than 1,000 miles a year for the past 7 years, and once again, it's in heated winter storage. So, I'm selling it.
It is a 2004 W12 'Premiere Edition' Phaeton. This is the car that has the Klavierlack Black paint and the Sonnenbeige (tan) interior. VW imported 300 of these W12s to North America for the launch of the Phaeton in 2004. I bought mine new in the fall of 2005, it had 3 km on the odometer when I picked it up. It has about 67,000 miles on it now.
The Premiere Edition Phaetons were all identically equipped, and that equipment spec was, basically, "fully loaded". In addition to the W12 engine, the car has the 12 channel DSP sound system, parking sensors, hydraulically operated trunk, etc., etc... basically, every option that was offered in the North American market, except for cell phone prep, which was not offered until the beginning of the 2006 model year.
My car also has a great deal of VW options and features installed that were not available in the North American market. In every case, these retrofits were embodied in EXACT compliance with VW OEM specifications. By that I mean every single part, right down to the wires and connectors, and how the wires and connectors were fitted, met OEM specifications. Here is a partial list of the retrofits I have accomplished on my car:
Retrofitting Keyless Start to Phaetons that are equipped with Keyless Entry
Retrofitting Dual Xenon Headlamps
Retrofitting Paddle Shifters to the Steering Column
Retrofitting the OEM Fire Extinguisher
Retrofitting a Warning Triangle in Trunk Lid
Retrofitting a 6 button Cruise Control Switch (Gradation + and - Buttons)
Retrofitting Aspherical Rear View Mirrors (ROW Spec Mirrors)
Retrofitting a Television Tuner (same as factory installation)
Retrofitting an Ashtray and Cigarette Lighter
....Retrofitting Ashtray (Coinholder) Lights
Removing the 'Schriftzüge' (model-writing) from the back of the car
Changing the front grille style (I have the 2005 grille installed on my car)
Upgrading MY 2004 rear console trim to MY 2005 specification (colour matched)
Lowering the Car (my car rides at the OEM spec height for European cars)
Retrofitting additional road noise suppression material
Rear Fog Light - Retrofitting (or enabling) this on a North American Phaeton
Phaeton Winter (rubber) Floormats (European factory specification product)
If you click on any one of those hyperlinks above, you will be taken to the illustrated thread that shows how I did all the work on MY CAR. In other words, the car you see being retrofitted in all of the above links is the exact one I am offering for sale. It's the same darn car in every one of the above posts.
In addition to all of the above retrofits, the following is included with the car:
1) It has a European-spec Front Information and Display Head. This means that there is no legal message to dismiss. It also means that you can turn the TPMS on and off, or the spare tire monitoring on and off, directly from the display screen. I also have the original (NAR spec) J523 head unit, in original packaging, it is included with the car. Note that with the European-spec unit installed, not all AM radio stations can be received, this due to 9 Khz frequency spacing in Europe. FM and everything else works just perfectly.
2) Right now, the car is fitted with brand new high performance summer tires (Continental ExtremeContact DW, in the OEM spec size). I bought these 4 tires last summer, they have less than 500 miles on them.
3) Included with the car is a set of 4 'Performance' rims (the 2005 spec rim) with 4 top of the line snow tires mounted on them. The snow tires have about 30% of useful tread life remaining (not 30% of total tread, 30% left to go until the wear bars).
4) All 8 tires have NEW TPMS sensors installed. The 4 snow tire sensors are about 3 years old. The 4 summer tire sensors were all new last summer when I bought the new summer tires. The spare tire is the OEM spare, it has never been used, it still has the mold marks on it. The TPMS system works properly with all 8 tires.
5) Front floor mats are new 2 years ago and have about 2,000 miles of use. The rear seat has only had passengers in it perhaps half a dozen times in the life of the car, hence the rear floormats are 'like new'. The footrests are present and also like new. A spare set of front floormats (slightly used) is included. A complete set of European winter mats for front and rear are included. The trunk has always been fitted with a VW foam floor protecter (specific to the Phaeton), hence the trunk carpet is 'like new'. A rear bumper protective cover is included (see description here: Protective Cover for Rear Bumper ).
6) The car comes with 2 steering wheels. One is the original brown leather heated one, the other is a woodgrain wheel (matches the interior wood perfectly) for use in the summertime. Right now the woodgrain one is fitted, because I have not used the car this winter.
7) The car also comes with a complete set of spare headlights (the original North American ones, which I replaced with the dual xenon ones).
8) Four keys are included - three normal ones and one valet key. All of them work. The rubber button is a little worn on one of the normal ones (hence the reason why I bought the 4th key).
9) The right battery (starter battery) was replaced 6 months ago with a VW OEM left side (larger size) battery. The left battery is about 3 years old.
10) The Canada nav disc is fully up to date (2013). The USA nav discs are kind of old, but all of them are present in the original leatherette holder.
11) The original owner's manual is present. It also comes with a complete German language owner manual.
12) Naturally, all the software in the various controllers is fully up to date (what else would you expect from the forum moderator's car?)
13) Every service record from initial PDI all the way to the last oil change is included. 100% of the work has been carried out by the VW dealer that I bought the car from (an amazing dealer, I have bought 9 VWs from them over the last 30 years).
-----------------------------------
Mechanically and electrically (in other words, in all operational aspects), the car is superb. There is nothing wrong with any system that I know of, other than that the 'locking' button (the black rubber pushbutton on the outside door handle) on the left rear door has become intermittent over the last year - sometimes it works, sometimes not. The car has no fault codes. Every system works.
Cosmetically, the interior is in outstanding condition, with very little evidence of wear and no dirt at all. Basically, this has been a "one person" car (I have no kids, and my wife has her own Golf).
On the exterior, there is one blemish about the size of a 5 cent coin on the hood of the car. I have no idea what caused it, I am guessing it was a drip of some kind of chemical onto the hood. It's not a dent, it is a blemish (rough surface) in one small round area. Otherwise the paint and all exterior surfaces are in very good condition. There is a tiny scratch on one of the side windows (this caused by a bit of sand that got caught in the window mechanism). You have to go looking to find it. There is a bit of corrosion (paint bubbling) on the underside of the passenger side exterior mirror, but this has not broken through the surface. It seems to be stable (meaning, not continuing to bubble under the paint).
I had a tiny accident with the car the first year I had it, this resulted in the front bumper cover being repainted (not replaced) and the licence plate frame being replaced. Otherwise, it is accident-free. This wasn't even a 'fender-bender', it was a 'bumper-scuffer'.
-------------------------------------
I don't have any pictures to post of the car, because it is in heated indoor storage about 60 miles away from my home. But, if you look at any of the links I provided above, you can see what the car looks like. The summer tires are mounted on 'Innovation' rims (I imported these rims from Europe, they were never available in North America) and the winter tires are mounted on 'Performance' rims. The rims are all in excellent shape, although one of the Performance rims has a minor curb rash thanks to a valet at a hotel I stayed at. You can see the rim photos here: Phaeton Wheel Photos
Now, concerning pricing, it's difficult to establish a price for a W12 Phaeton, because there is not much trade in them - I think that VW only imported about 350 W12s total to North America during the 3 years that the car was offered for sale. Kelly Blue Book shows that a W12 Phaeton, which comes with the upgraded sound system and other options, should sell privately for about $12,000 US dollars if it is in 'very good' condition.
So... I'm going to offer this vehicle for sale, complete with everything listed above, for $12,000 US dollars or the Canadian equivalent of that. If the buyer is from the province of Ontario, I'll certify the car for you (you pay the fee for certifying it, I'll pay for anything that needs to be done to obtain the certification). Otherwise, the car is for sale "as is, and where is". It's in Toronto, Canada. It is a Canadian car, I don't know what the process is for importing a Canadian car into the USA but as I have mentioned in other discussions, the Canadian Phaetons are identical to the American ones except that our coolant temperature gauge is marked in degrees C rather than in degrees F.
I've priced it realistically, and I've priced it to sell quickly, so unless you are prepared to pay the $12,000 asking price, don't even think of contacting me. The price is simply non-negotiable. Payment is either straight cash, or bank transfer, or by certified cheque or bank money order. If you wish, you can pay me the Canadian equivalent of USD $12,000 rather than paying in US funds. YOU can't test drive it, but if you wish, I'll take you for a drive in it for as far as you (realistically) want to go.
If you want to buy this car (it's probably the last one-owner Phaeton in North America, certainly the last one-owner W12 in North America unless there is a barn find out there somewhere), contact me by email: [email protected] Whoever offers me the simplest, most straightforward, and least complicated offer gets the car.
Michael
What KBB says it should sell for:
(the $187 difference between what KBB suggests and the $12K price covers the 4 snow tires and extra wheels, and all the other extra stuff mentioned above)
Hello All:
I'm sad to put my car up for sale - I've owned it since it was brand new, and got a lot of enjoyment from both the car and participating here in the forum - but, I'm just not using this car anymore. I've driven it less than 1,000 miles a year for the past 7 years, and once again, it's in heated winter storage. So, I'm selling it.
It is a 2004 W12 'Premiere Edition' Phaeton. This is the car that has the Klavierlack Black paint and the Sonnenbeige (tan) interior. VW imported 300 of these W12s to North America for the launch of the Phaeton in 2004. I bought mine new in the fall of 2005, it had 3 km on the odometer when I picked it up. It has about 67,000 miles on it now.
The Premiere Edition Phaetons were all identically equipped, and that equipment spec was, basically, "fully loaded". In addition to the W12 engine, the car has the 12 channel DSP sound system, parking sensors, hydraulically operated trunk, etc., etc... basically, every option that was offered in the North American market, except for cell phone prep, which was not offered until the beginning of the 2006 model year.
My car also has a great deal of VW options and features installed that were not available in the North American market. In every case, these retrofits were embodied in EXACT compliance with VW OEM specifications. By that I mean every single part, right down to the wires and connectors, and how the wires and connectors were fitted, met OEM specifications. Here is a partial list of the retrofits I have accomplished on my car:
Retrofitting Keyless Start to Phaetons that are equipped with Keyless Entry
Retrofitting Dual Xenon Headlamps
Retrofitting Paddle Shifters to the Steering Column
Retrofitting the OEM Fire Extinguisher
Retrofitting a Warning Triangle in Trunk Lid
Retrofitting a 6 button Cruise Control Switch (Gradation + and - Buttons)
Retrofitting Aspherical Rear View Mirrors (ROW Spec Mirrors)
Retrofitting a Television Tuner (same as factory installation)
Retrofitting an Ashtray and Cigarette Lighter
....Retrofitting Ashtray (Coinholder) Lights
Removing the 'Schriftzüge' (model-writing) from the back of the car
Changing the front grille style (I have the 2005 grille installed on my car)
Upgrading MY 2004 rear console trim to MY 2005 specification (colour matched)
Lowering the Car (my car rides at the OEM spec height for European cars)
Retrofitting additional road noise suppression material
Rear Fog Light - Retrofitting (or enabling) this on a North American Phaeton
Phaeton Winter (rubber) Floormats (European factory specification product)
If you click on any one of those hyperlinks above, you will be taken to the illustrated thread that shows how I did all the work on MY CAR. In other words, the car you see being retrofitted in all of the above links is the exact one I am offering for sale. It's the same darn car in every one of the above posts.
In addition to all of the above retrofits, the following is included with the car:
1) It has a European-spec Front Information and Display Head. This means that there is no legal message to dismiss. It also means that you can turn the TPMS on and off, or the spare tire monitoring on and off, directly from the display screen. I also have the original (NAR spec) J523 head unit, in original packaging, it is included with the car. Note that with the European-spec unit installed, not all AM radio stations can be received, this due to 9 Khz frequency spacing in Europe. FM and everything else works just perfectly.
2) Right now, the car is fitted with brand new high performance summer tires (Continental ExtremeContact DW, in the OEM spec size). I bought these 4 tires last summer, they have less than 500 miles on them.
3) Included with the car is a set of 4 'Performance' rims (the 2005 spec rim) with 4 top of the line snow tires mounted on them. The snow tires have about 30% of useful tread life remaining (not 30% of total tread, 30% left to go until the wear bars).
4) All 8 tires have NEW TPMS sensors installed. The 4 snow tire sensors are about 3 years old. The 4 summer tire sensors were all new last summer when I bought the new summer tires. The spare tire is the OEM spare, it has never been used, it still has the mold marks on it. The TPMS system works properly with all 8 tires.
5) Front floor mats are new 2 years ago and have about 2,000 miles of use. The rear seat has only had passengers in it perhaps half a dozen times in the life of the car, hence the rear floormats are 'like new'. The footrests are present and also like new. A spare set of front floormats (slightly used) is included. A complete set of European winter mats for front and rear are included. The trunk has always been fitted with a VW foam floor protecter (specific to the Phaeton), hence the trunk carpet is 'like new'. A rear bumper protective cover is included (see description here: Protective Cover for Rear Bumper ).
6) The car comes with 2 steering wheels. One is the original brown leather heated one, the other is a woodgrain wheel (matches the interior wood perfectly) for use in the summertime. Right now the woodgrain one is fitted, because I have not used the car this winter.
7) The car also comes with a complete set of spare headlights (the original North American ones, which I replaced with the dual xenon ones).
8) Four keys are included - three normal ones and one valet key. All of them work. The rubber button is a little worn on one of the normal ones (hence the reason why I bought the 4th key).
9) The right battery (starter battery) was replaced 6 months ago with a VW OEM left side (larger size) battery. The left battery is about 3 years old.
10) The Canada nav disc is fully up to date (2013). The USA nav discs are kind of old, but all of them are present in the original leatherette holder.
11) The original owner's manual is present. It also comes with a complete German language owner manual.
12) Naturally, all the software in the various controllers is fully up to date (what else would you expect from the forum moderator's car?)
13) Every service record from initial PDI all the way to the last oil change is included. 100% of the work has been carried out by the VW dealer that I bought the car from (an amazing dealer, I have bought 9 VWs from them over the last 30 years).
-----------------------------------
Mechanically and electrically (in other words, in all operational aspects), the car is superb. There is nothing wrong with any system that I know of, other than that the 'locking' button (the black rubber pushbutton on the outside door handle) on the left rear door has become intermittent over the last year - sometimes it works, sometimes not. The car has no fault codes. Every system works.
Cosmetically, the interior is in outstanding condition, with very little evidence of wear and no dirt at all. Basically, this has been a "one person" car (I have no kids, and my wife has her own Golf).
On the exterior, there is one blemish about the size of a 5 cent coin on the hood of the car. I have no idea what caused it, I am guessing it was a drip of some kind of chemical onto the hood. It's not a dent, it is a blemish (rough surface) in one small round area. Otherwise the paint and all exterior surfaces are in very good condition. There is a tiny scratch on one of the side windows (this caused by a bit of sand that got caught in the window mechanism). You have to go looking to find it. There is a bit of corrosion (paint bubbling) on the underside of the passenger side exterior mirror, but this has not broken through the surface. It seems to be stable (meaning, not continuing to bubble under the paint).
I had a tiny accident with the car the first year I had it, this resulted in the front bumper cover being repainted (not replaced) and the licence plate frame being replaced. Otherwise, it is accident-free. This wasn't even a 'fender-bender', it was a 'bumper-scuffer'.
-------------------------------------
I don't have any pictures to post of the car, because it is in heated indoor storage about 60 miles away from my home. But, if you look at any of the links I provided above, you can see what the car looks like. The summer tires are mounted on 'Innovation' rims (I imported these rims from Europe, they were never available in North America) and the winter tires are mounted on 'Performance' rims. The rims are all in excellent shape, although one of the Performance rims has a minor curb rash thanks to a valet at a hotel I stayed at. You can see the rim photos here: Phaeton Wheel Photos
Now, concerning pricing, it's difficult to establish a price for a W12 Phaeton, because there is not much trade in them - I think that VW only imported about 350 W12s total to North America during the 3 years that the car was offered for sale. Kelly Blue Book shows that a W12 Phaeton, which comes with the upgraded sound system and other options, should sell privately for about $12,000 US dollars if it is in 'very good' condition.
So... I'm going to offer this vehicle for sale, complete with everything listed above, for $12,000 US dollars or the Canadian equivalent of that. If the buyer is from the province of Ontario, I'll certify the car for you (you pay the fee for certifying it, I'll pay for anything that needs to be done to obtain the certification). Otherwise, the car is for sale "as is, and where is". It's in Toronto, Canada. It is a Canadian car, I don't know what the process is for importing a Canadian car into the USA but as I have mentioned in other discussions, the Canadian Phaetons are identical to the American ones except that our coolant temperature gauge is marked in degrees C rather than in degrees F.
I've priced it realistically, and I've priced it to sell quickly, so unless you are prepared to pay the $12,000 asking price, don't even think of contacting me. The price is simply non-negotiable. Payment is either straight cash, or bank transfer, or by certified cheque or bank money order. If you wish, you can pay me the Canadian equivalent of USD $12,000 rather than paying in US funds. YOU can't test drive it, but if you wish, I'll take you for a drive in it for as far as you (realistically) want to go.
If you want to buy this car (it's probably the last one-owner Phaeton in North America, certainly the last one-owner W12 in North America unless there is a barn find out there somewhere), contact me by email: [email protected] Whoever offers me the simplest, most straightforward, and least complicated offer gets the car.
Michael
What KBB says it should sell for:
(the $187 difference between what KBB suggests and the $12K price covers the 4 snow tires and extra wheels, and all the other extra stuff mentioned above)
