2004 Volkswagen R32 for sale by owner - San Francisco, CA - craigslist (2024)

Up for sale is my 2004 Tornado Red R32 with leatherette/cloth inserts. Yes, the rare one. One of only 150 produced. Located in San Francisco. I’m the second owner. I’ve been back and forth on selling it. As much as I love the car and want to hold onto it, the reality is I haven’t had the time to spend on it, or drive it, that I’d like. My wife and I work from home and have another daily that gets all the miles, so this has been kept in a garage I rent for it…I take it out a handful of times a year to drive up in the Headlands or down the coast. Ultimately I’m ready to downsize and let someone else take the reins. I hope whoever does end up with the car will enjoy it and appreciate it as much as I have over the last 18 years. I’m not lying when I say every time I started the car, and every mile I’ve driven in it, has put a smile on my face.

Please see bottom of listing for links to photos and cold start/driving videos.

The important details:

157,830 miles.
Majority of miles were highway, accumulated the first few years when I had to commute regionally (think: 5 hour highway drive to a customer site) for my job between 2006-2009. Since then it’s been a slow accumulation, especially the last 7 or so years where I’ve been working from home and had different daily driver.
No accidents.
Clean title.
Never smoked in. No kids or pets. Interior is pretty damn good given the mileage, no sagging headliner, minimal wear on driver bolster, non cracked dash, etc.
Tires: Michelin Pilot Super Sports, only a couple of thousand miles on them.
Wheels: Kosei K1-RS 17x8. Common question: “Do you still have the Aristos?” I do not. Long since gone.
Drivetrain is stock.
Suspension was refreshed professionally with Bilstein PSS coilovers by Volkswagen of Oakland at 138k miles (along with ball joints, bushings, rear lower control arms, etc).
The car had clear coat issues, as is common with tornado red, and was resprayed late 2000’s but is showing clear coat peeling again above rear driver side window (see photos). The hood is showing signs of clear coat bubbling (not peeling just yet).
Given the car was back east until 2011 (I moved to California then, but the car wasn’t registered in California until 2012), it has minor spots of rust: front right quarter panel has some rust in the usual spot (I replaced the drivers side with a clean/rust free California quarter from a parted out TR R32 a couple of years ago…in certain lights you can see the red doesn’t quite match…my ultimate plan was to respray the car again, so I was really looking for rust free quarters to work with and was okay with that shade difference until then). One small rust bubble on hood. One small bubble on right rear wheel well. Drivers door has some rust on lip—going back to comment on fender…I have a tornado red door from the same parted out R32 that I’ll include if purchaser wants it, and I’ll happily deliver to purchaser if they are in the Bay Area. Rear hatch is rust free (I replaced it in 2011 with a Tornado Red California hatch that came off a parted out SoCal R32 after the owner blew up the engine, in this case the reds matched perfectly). Photos of all of this is in the Google Drive link below, including the spare door.
Common question: Chains replaced? No. A pretty well known Bay Area master Audi/VW tech (and former OG R32 owner) checked them a few years ago via VCDS (about a thousand miles since) and confirmed things were well within tolerance.
CarFax shows 27k at time of purchase, while my registering it in Michigan shows 21k, the 21k is correct.
Couple of things to note: the parking brake is sticky. The front hood strut needs to be replaced. There is a crack in the windshield in the bottom passenger side (embarrassingly I accidentally let go of the wiper mid-wiper blade change and it cracked it…) but since that happened in 2014 it hasn’t spread and is really out of the way. The door switch in the drivers door that, upon opening of the door, keeps the doors from auto-re-locking, and primes the fuel pump, stopped working some years ago. I've lived with it, it's not a big deal, and had planned to replace it when I replaced the door.
With the purchase you will receive with the car:

All maintenance records from my ownership (it’s a whole binders worth).
Haldex filter wrench.
Both .:R Monster Mats and original carpet mats.
Owners manual (pen/poster/keychain didn’t come with car when I purchased it)
One FOB and valet key.
Car has always passed smog without issue, most recently in July 2023. I’ll get a smog check for any serious California buyer prior to purchase. Car is registered through July 2025. For prospective California purchasers, if you would like the black plate, I’m happy to transfer it over to you. If you aren’t interested, I’ll retain possession. Either way, I’ll have the necessary form filled out at time of purchase.

Asking $15k and open to reasonable offers. Preference is cash (transact at my bank, Wells Fargo) or bank certified funds (you have cashiers check made with me present at your bank). I’m located in the Outer Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco.

CarFax and photos can be seen at the following link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ED9nUNLbi1pJdQBbYeu_-8PnFdGF53GB?usp=sharing

Cold start video:
https://youtu.be/LbWvPM1UWjA

Driving video (apologies for the GoPro mount making noises):
https://youtu.be/QsCD5mWRbr0

If you are interested or have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. Thanks!