eGolfs for $10K off MSRP, another $10K off for federal and CA.

03TDICommuter

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Dec 8, 2016
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So. Cal
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I've been going back and forth deciding to jump on this or not. eGolfs are not selling well and some So California and easily N. California VW dealers are letting them go for $10K off MSRP. With federal $7500 and Calif $2500 (and SCE $1000) you can get a new 2019 eGolf for ~$14K before tax and license.

Big thread on this over on Slickdeals.

Still on the fence as to what I'm going to do.
 

bmc1980

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I've been going back and forth deciding to jump on this or not. eGolfs are not selling well and some So California and easily N. California VW dealers are letting them go for $10K off MSRP. With federal $7500 and Calif $2500 (and SCE $1000) you can get a new 2019 eGolf for ~$14K before tax and license.
Big thread on this over on Slickdeals.
Still on the fence as to what I'm going to do.
I saw many pre-owned eGolfs for sale when I was looking to get my JSW. I thought about it, but not too seriously due to the very short range. I take a lot of long road trips, often to remote locales, and couldn't justify buying a car with a range under 100 miles. Maybe as a second commuter car though.
 

compu_85

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That's not a bad price for a new around town car. If we could get that pricing in VA I'd consider it!
 

CheapBastard

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California
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I saw many pre-owned eGolfs for sale when I was looking to get my JSW. I thought about it, but not too seriously due to the very short range. I take a lot of long road trips, often to remote locales, and couldn't justify buying a car with a range under 100 miles. Maybe as a second commuter car though.

Me too and almost went with something for under $10k with around 25k on the odometer, the range would of worked ok for me but I would’ve probably kept my Passat TSI also, picking up the JSW allowed me to dump the Passat

For $14k on a brand new model, I would have pulled the trigger, I think the range is almost twice that of the 2016 I was looking at
 

kjclow

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Charlotte, NC
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That's not a bad price for a new around town car. If we could get that pricing in VA I'd consider it!
At that price, I'd consider it too. Of course, they're not available in NC, nor are all the discounts available.
 

D-Cup

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Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but...
Doesn’t California have “problem” with blackouts, particularly during the summer months when everyone is running their ACs?
If the grid/power supply issues have not been resolved, isn’t this still a concern?
And now the state of CA is offering its residents financial incentive to increase draw on that same grid?

I don’t mean to be inflammatory - I’m just asking.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
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outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yeah, they can't barely give these away... so let's decide to start making more EVs. Brilliant. :rolleyes:

Hopefully the ID stuff is vastly improved, although I doubt it will fall under the affordable category unless they too end up gathering dust on dealer lots. We'll see, but my semi-inside sources say the MSRP is going to drop some jaws, and not in a good way.

That said, if the eGolf could be had here for $14k out the door AND it had a reasonable range (it doesn't) even in extreme temps (we get both single and triple digit days here), I'd certainly consider it over just about any other EV simply because it LOOKS like a normal car. Even then, its long term durability is likely not nearly as good as what I have taken for granted. Resale values already reflect this.

But if you live in an area that grants all kinds of bonuses, and has a mild climate, and you needn't go very far, it may indeed pan out to be a pretty good value.
 

compu_85

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La Conner, WA
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... None :S
I test drove an eTron last week. Nice car, the ride put me in mind of our V10 Touareg.

It has odd torque daming unless you press the go pedal into the kickdown. It also used a *ton* of energy going down the road. That would make for frequent, long charging stops!

For $80,000 I'd expect them to at least be on part with the efficiency of a 6 year old Tesla. Interestingly, even though the MFA was set to USA units, it was showing consumption in km / kWh. I wonder if they are trying to hide that it only did 1.9 mi / Kwh on the 14 mile loop :S

-J
 

tikal

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Apr 18, 2001
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Southeast Texas
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2004 Passat Wagon (chainless + 5 MT + GDE tune)
i test drove an etron last week. Nice car, the ride put me in mind of our v10 touareg.

It has odd torque daming unless you press the go pedal into the kickdown. It also used a *ton* of energy going down the road. That would make for frequent, long charging stops!

For $80,000 i'd expect them to at least be on part with the efficiency of a 6 year old tesla. Interestingly, even though the mfa was set to usa units, it was showing consumption in km / kwh. I wonder if they are trying to hide that it only did 1.9 mi / kwh on the 14 mile loop :s

-j

"$80,000" ???
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
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South of Boston
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I keep telling my daughter she should get an electric car. Lives in downtown LA, drives about 10K a year, all of it in traffic. Access to the car pool lanes (although those are usually stopped, too), and preferred parking with a charger would make it worthwhile.

But...last Saturday she took friends down to Laguna and then back to LA. eGolf wouldn't have made that trip. Oh well. Maybe the Civic wasn't such a bad idea.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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The Audi eTron lists at about that price. Typical of cars in that class. Outrageous for one with a 200 mile range, in my opinion.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I think most people who can afford something like that do not drive very far from home anyway. At least not on a daily basis, and when they do take a trip, they fly, or they take one of their many other vehicles.

That is why there are so many low mileage Lexus LS models available used, always garaged, pristine condition, but higher mileage well worn ES models are pretty common. Some even sit outside under trees overnight.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
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Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I bet most Lexus LS models are owned by elderly folk.

Not always, rich lawyers, doctors, "executives", etc. Granted they do trend to be on the older (50+) side. The old people usually are bouncing off of things in ESs and RXs more than anything. The only "young" people Lexus is largely the IS and maybe the RC now, GS falls somewhere in the middle.

Of course, you can buy an F150 that is over $70k now, too, so.... and they sell them. A half ton pickup, with a tiny little bed, for nearly as much as a big luxo-barge, LMAO.
 

03TDICommuter

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01' NB, 5spd
I just bought one. $23,575 before TTL ($10K off MSRP and they said yes the first time) This was from Downtown LA VW.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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I assume the federal money is a tax credit, right? And the CA money: credit or rebate?

I like the guys I've met at that dealership. A few years ago we bought a Jetta there for my daughter.
 
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03TDICommuter

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Dec 8, 2016
Location
So. Cal
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01' NB, 5spd
I assume the federal money is a tax credit, right? And the CA money: credit or rebate?

I like the guys I've met at that dealership. A few years ago we bought a Jetta there for my daughter.
CA is a rebate but the funds are currently dry. I've read this has happened before and they re-funded it so keeping my fingers crossed they do it again.

The Federal is a tax credit and after last year's taxes, I definitely could use it this year.

Edison $1000, I think that's a rebate and not a credit to your bill.

Drove to my house in Ventura from downtown LA and the car performed well. Quiet other than a little droning at 70MPH from the low rolling resistance tires.

I like the adaptive cruise control, Apple Car Play, and other cool features. Instantaneous throttle response! (which my TDI used to be like but I still have a low power problem that I haven't been able to figure out).
 

casioqv

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California
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2009 Touareg TDI
I've had a 2016 e-golf for 2 years and think it's underrated, it's a great car- fast, smooth, and nearly maintenance free. We still have an MKIV TDI for the occasional longer distance trip, but it has plenty of range for nearly all of the driving we do on a daily basis... the low range isn't as much as a problem as you'd think when you an always start every trip with a full charge from home, and have very accurate remaining range estimates. With all of the rebates our lease was something like $50/month, cheaper than just the parts alone to keep my old TDI running.
 

03TDICommuter

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So. Cal
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01' NB, 5spd
I've had a 2016 e-golf for 2 years and think it's underrated, it's a great car- fast, smooth, and nearly maintenance free.
May I ask, what have the maintenance items been? Also, unlike the Bolt where the first maintenance is at 150K miles, the eGolf is every 10K (or is it every 15K?) Other than coolant change at 5 years, what other maintenance REALLY is there?
 

casioqv

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California
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May I ask, what have the maintenance items been?
Rotate the tires, check tire air pressure, and change the cabin air filter.

That doesn't include upgrading parts, just maintenance?
Hard to diesentangle since I usually do "upgrades" when things fail or break... the biggest expense on the TDI has been swapping the failed auto for a 6 speed. In any case I've spend about $1k/year on it over 5 years but it's mostly stock, no major upgrades. I tend to fix things with OEM or better parts when used or cheaper ones would do, so I'm sure one could own a similar car for less...
 
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casioqv

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California
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2009 Touareg TDI
Doesn’t California have “problem” with blackouts, particularly during the summer months when everyone is running their ACs?
If the grid/power supply issues have not been resolved, isn’t this still a concern?
And now the state of CA is offering its residents financial incentive to increase draw on that same grid?
The blackouts are in the hot part of the day, but EVs are usually scheduled to charge mostly at night. The eGolf comes with sophisticated (but horribly frustrating to use) software for timing current draw at different times.

The power utility here also offers a special EV plan, which gives you a higher than normal electricity rate during the daytime, but a much lower rate at night.
 

03TDICommuter

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So. Cal
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01' NB, 5spd
The power utility here also offers a special EV plan, which gives you a higher than normal electricity rate during the daytime, but a much lower rate at night.
We use a lot of electricity all day long. Going to a 'time of use' metering would hurt me because of the increased normal rate. I should be able to just charge at work and and if I'm short on range, I only need to charge up enough to get back to work.

Our electricity is so much more expensive here than other states.
 

jackbombay

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Diesel knows best
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the biggest expense on the TDI has been swapping the failed auto for a 6 speed.
Ah, so your expenses are high because you bought the wrong car in the first place :p

The Egolf does seem really cheap to operate though, it would work well for a lot of my driving.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
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Not sure the eGolf will save a TDI driver a lot in total cost of driving in a high electricity cost state. My calculation is that at 12,000 miles/year and $0.20/kWh for electric, the eGolf will cost $672/yer to power. A TDI at 50 MPG and $3.99/gallon for D2 (high, but probably not a bad number in SoCal) costs $957/year.

Then it starts to get fuzzy. You have to buy a charging setup for your house, so figure in that cost over the life of the car. But you may be able to charge off-peak at a lower cost. And if you can take advantage of free charging (at work, for example, or the airport) your power costs go way down. If you drive more than 12K/year the power cost difference increases, but if you drive less than that the fixed costs are higher per mile. And we won't even mention depreciation, which is pretty notoriously high for electrics.

My summary is that it may seem more economical if the electric suits your driving habits, but you're not going to get rich on the savings.

BTW, average price per kWh in Massachusetts is $0.22. Higher than a lot of CA. Thank goodness for Solar.
 
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turbobrick240

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maine
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Choosing to drive electric is about more than just the economics for most BEV owners. One of the most enticing aspects to me is the ability to produce ones own clean fuel with a home PV array. The fact that they are cheaper to fuel and maintain will play a huge role in bringing them mainstream though.
 

casioqv

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Aug 18, 2015
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California
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2009 Touareg TDI
Not sure the eGolf will save a TDI driver a lot in total cost of driving in a high electricity cost state.

I realize this conflicts with what I said above about charging mostly at night... but there are a lot of "free" public charge points at many workplaces and cities in CA. Both my work and my wife's have free charging, and recently she started charging only at work and not at home at all. Of course, those will probably go away eventually given that someone has to pay for it.
 
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