used sportwagen or new impreza

Hi,
I went to test drive a used 2013 sportwagen tdi manual (with sunroof) with almost 31k miles on it being sold by a private seller.
They are asking 22k obo, I offered 17k, they responded with the lowest being 20,500 (they said they still owe 23k on their loan) and it was phrased in a way that makes me think maybe they'd go lower?
Does anyone have advice on what I should do?
I could also buy a new Impreza Hatchback bare bones manual (no cruise control, no leather seats, no roof rack). for $18,100.
Not sure what the better deal is, or what to do.
The owners of the VW have to take it in for its 30k maintenance and are getting a few things fixed (two new tires, slight rust on one of the door exterior parts, and a small rock had gotten caught in the window part of the door, so it scratched the tint).
I imagine I will get the remaining of the 60k/5 yr powertrain warranty.
Thanks!

What should you do? I have no idea. For something like this, maybe you should make a chart of plusses and minuses for each car, list all the factors you can think of, weight them accordingly, and score each one. Then add up the totals.

You will need answers to questions like:

1) What kind of driving do I do most of the time?
2) how important is a sunroof?
3) do I need awd/4wd?
4) how important is the manufacturer's warranty?
5) can I do maintenance work (do you have a place to do that?) myself?
6) if only the dealer touches my car, how are the local dealers?
7) what kind of financing is available?
8) even if 98% of my driving is of ______ type, is there a critical trip I will take each winter/summer/spring/fall that requires feature ______ on the car?
9) how does the car handle?
10) how well does the car carry all ___ people I will have riding along?
11) can the other drivers of the car shift gears properly?
12) do I like the styling of the car?

etc,etc,etc.

I can't decide for you what will be best. Only you can do that.

Cheers,

PH

You are very right. I will make a list, although it might not be straightforward!
I might write a bit of it here in case anyone wants to weigh in...

We have a baby, and might have another one, so family is something we have in mind, so therefore safety and space.
Leather seats and roof rack appeal to me, as does cruise control.
I don't need a sunroof or tinted windows, but I can see the benefit of them (tinted for kids/heat and sunroof for pleasure/space).
Mainly it is value, reliability, safety, more economical, longevity, more green.

Subaru - the new and longer factory warranty appeal to me, the AWD would be nice, but not totally necessary.
VW- the size, features, and diesel (fuel economy and engine longevity), appeal to me.

Decisions! Either way it will be nice to have a newer car! We'll keep our 1993 Corolla Wagon until it is unsafe to drive.

Thank you for your time and experience!!

I would go JSW but I'm biased. I like subaru but since i joined the TDI world I just can not seem to look back at gassers. First off, the JSW is comfy, solidly built, super efficient (I get 600+ miles per tank easily) it handles sooo well in stock form. The TDI's do hold value longer than the same car in gas version. I LOVE the torque, and I tow trailers with out any hiccup. This is my second TDI, I have owned a 2006 sedan and my 2012 sportwagen tdi. I think AWD is over rated, I have 2 sets of rims, in the winter I put snow tires on and my JSW feels just as sure footed in the snow as my toyota tacoma 4x4 I used to own. Go with what you really like...but to me there is no comparison until Subaru puts diesels in their cars...

dand2 said:

...
I think AWD is over rated, I have 2 sets of rims, in the winter I put snow tires on and my JSW feels just as sure footed in the snow as my toyota tacoma 4x4 I used to own. Go with what you really like...but to me there is no comparison until Subaru puts diesels in their cars...

Click to expand...

In winter, the limiting factor for me is typically the car in front of me... I don't understand how having AWD on my car would make the car in front of me move faster.