As you can see in the photo of the two Volkswagen Golf’s above, the model on the right is a facelift. This means that it’s a newer model with certain exterior, interior and mechanical upgrades, which makes it more desirable.
However, to the average person, the two cars probably look the same and this is due to the fact that a facelift car only features subtle differences. This means that you have to really know the cars in order to spot the differences.
If you are trying to decide between a pre and post-facelift car, below we walk you through everything you need to know.
What Is A Car Facelift?
A car facelift is a method to which manufacturer’s breathe new life into an aging model with a number of upgrades (interior, exterior and mechanical) in order to maintain its appeal.
Most car manufacturers plan facelifts to occur every three or four years after the model was initially launched. With regards to the changes made, it’ll still retain the model’s basic styling and platform but can include minor changes such as a piece of trim to major changes such as new engines, gearboxes or an entirely new infotainment system.
What Parts Are Upgraded?
In terms of the parts that are normally upgraded when a car is facelifted, they can include the following:
- New colour options
- Bumpers
- Wheels
- Exhaust design
- Headlights
- Grill
- Seats
- Trim and air vents
- Steering wheel
- Speedometer/dashboard
- Infotainment system/radio
- Engine
- ECU (Tweaked for slightly more performance)
- Gearbox (i.e. 5G to 7G)
- Chassis control and safety aids
- Faulty/recalled parts replaced
The above list are just the common parts that are updated during a facelift but there is a lot more that can be changed.
Should You Buy A Facelift Car?
As long as you have the budget to do so, we highly recommend buying a facelift car. The tweaks made are usually an improvement and when it comes to listing it on a car selling website, it’ll standout from all of the pre-facelifts.
Along with the interior, exterior and mechanical changes, any known faults will also be “ironed out”. This is a great bonus because it’ll mean you won’t have any costly repair bills to worry about in the future.
A great example of a known fault that we are very familiar with is Mercedes’s SBC braking system, which was renowned for failing after it was used a certain number of times. Unfortunately, the replacement cost is enough to write-off most models that featured it (in today’s market) and it’s a reason to avoid the pre-facelift models. In the post-facelift models of the era, the SBC system was removed and those models are worth far more on the used car market.
It’s worth pointing out that not all facelifts are an improvement because there are many examples of car’s where the pre-facelift is more desirable than the post-facelift. Therefore, researching the car thoroughly and reading owners’ opinions of the cars upon forums is highly recommended. However, with that being said, in general most car’s that have been facelifted are an improvement and they’ll usually hold their value better than a pre-facelift model.
Conclusion
Hopefully our guide to what a facelift car is and whether you should buy one has answered all of your questions. We personally always try to purchase a facelift car due to the extra features and its ability to hold its value slightly better. However, a pre-facelift car is still the same car under the skin and you can use the fact that it’s a pre-facelift when it comes to negotiating the price of a car regardless of its age.
If you require further information with regards to car facelifts, feel free to get in touch and we will try to provide our assistance where possible.
