Used Car of the Day: 2004 Volkswagen Golf R32

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Today's UCOTD is a nearly two-decade-old hot hatch with some mods. Hit the jump for more on this 2004 Volkswagen Golf R32.


The seller says the car is in good condition with a clean title and it recently passed North Carolina state inspection. The mileage is just under 140K.

Mods include a Forge intake, Magnaflow exhaust, high-flow cats, H&R springs, adjustable rear lower control arms, and more. Oh, and the car is, of course, tuned.

The asking price for this ride is $18,000. Click here to check it out, and to read up on the mods I didn't list.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

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  • JMII JMII on Oct 17, 2023

    My brother had one of these and for some reason VW leased it to him as if it was a normal Golf. VeeDub fans on the Vortex know this is a rare and special car so they seek it out. So when his lease ran out he immediately flipped it for a $6k profit. Can't say that about many cars. After riding in it I can tell you it was a rocketship with great handling in its day, the brakes were amazing for a stock vehicle. My brother continued his German love affair with a Golf R and now a collection of Porsches. Me? I had a B5 Passat 1.8T and learned my lesson after suffering thru multiple problems and failures - so no more VWs for me. I've always found it interesting how my brothers experience with the brand were so different then mine. However in his defense he has always traded his VWs after 3 years where we kept that Passat for nearly 7 despite its issues. I noticed around year 4 the German engineering fails right on schedule when the warranty expires.

  • Zerofoo Zerofoo on Oct 17, 2023

    Early 2000s VWs, Mercs, Porsches with the IMS bearing failure, and Audi V8s with timing chains on the REAR of the engine turned me off of German cars for life.


    I get it - they drive well - but everything else about owning a German car is painful.

  • ToolGuy This thing here is interesting.For example, I can select "Historical" and "EV stock" and "Cars" and "USA" and see how many BEVs and PHEVs were on U.S. roads from 2010 to 2023."EV stock share" is also interesting. Or perhaps you prefer "EV sales share".If you are in the U.S., whatever you do, do not select "World" in the 'Region' dropdown. It might blow your small insular mind. 😉
  • ToolGuy This podcast was pretty interesting. I listened to it this morning, and now I am commenting. Listened to the podcast, now commenting on the podcast. See how this works? LOL.
  • VoGhost If you want this to succeed, enlarge the battery and make the vehicle in Spartanburg so you buyers get the $7,500 discount.
  • Jeff Look at the the 65 and 66 Pontiacs some of the most beautiful and well made Pontiacs. 66 Olds Toronado and 67 Cadillac Eldorado were beautiful as well. Mercury had some really nice looking cars during the 60s as well. The 69 thru 72 Grand Prix were nice along with the first generation of Monte Carlo 70 thru 72. Midsize GM cars were nice as well.The 69s were still good but the cheapening started in 68. Even the 70s GMs were good but fit and finish took a dive especially the interiors with more plastics and more shared interiors.
  • Proud2BUnion I typically recommend that no matter what make or model you purchase used, just assure that is HAS a prior salvage/rebuilt title. Best "Bang for your buck"!
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