New Manual SEL GSW Owner

Every since having a MkIV GTI VR6, I've always had a soft spot for VWs. Being a Volvo enthusiast at heart, it's been about a decade or so since I've had my own VW, but have had plenty in the family. Last year I found an SEL wagon for my friend and drove it from PA to TX with him. Ever since I couldn't help thinking what a great daily driver the car makes.



Fast forward to the present when I've sold one of our V8 Volvos (the S80) and found this equally hard to find TDI. It took a lot of searching to find exactly what I wanted, but I couldn't be happier with it. I'm very picky and needed to have a manual SEL with lighting and driver's assistance packages. After a few dealers laughed at me saying I would never find one, this popped up a few hours from my house!




Here's the Volvo fleet too in case anyone's interested:



So far the difference between ~20MPG on premium gas to ~45MPG on diesel has me elated. Everything else I love about the car is just a bonus on top of that.



I'll be looking into tint, snow tires and some other OEM+ additions (homelink dimming mirror and VCDS mainly), but otherwise will be looking forward to driving the car as is and learning more about TDIs in general.

That car is a winner. Nice find. Great color too. Those cars were about $25k and hard to find when I was considering them. Has the market softened at all?

Nice looking car. I too found what I was looking for about 3 hrs from me. 15 Golf TDI SEL LP DAP in the color I was after. Mine came with two new snow tires on the front which I'm really not going to need. Enjoy the new ride

KITEWAGON said:

That car is a winner. Nice find. Great color too. Those cars were about $25k and hard to find when I was considering them. Has the market softened at all?

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Only ever so slightly. haha This had 45K and I got it for $20K.

BMAN said:

Nice look car. I too found what I was looking for about 3 hrs from me. 15 Golf TDI SEL LP DAP in the color I was after. Mine came with two new snow tires on the front which I'm really not going to need. Enjoy the new ride

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I almost pulled the trigger on a Golf, but there just something about a manual wagon I can't say no to. I've got family in Annapolis and the DC area. Snow tires are a plus, but I agree they're definitely not necessary down there.

I almost pulled the trigger on a Golf, but there just something about a manual wagon I can't say no to. I've got family in Annapolis and the DC area. Snow tires are a plus, but I agree they're definitely not necessary down there.

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I have something else to drive in bad weather. The LP/DAP was something I was after and it was hard to find both. I found mine in Western MD at a Jeep/Dodge dealership.

ESmith813 said:

I'm very picky and needed to have a manual SEL with lighting and driver's assistance packages. After a few dealers laughed at me saying I would never find one, this popped up a few hours from my house!

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Nice find! Wish mine was a stick!

Welcome! Nice find and color!

Is this the one from Whappenger's Falls? GSWs look so good in dark blue (and red!)

Awesome colors inside and out, great features...I'm jelly!

Happy wife and all that but I do wish mine was manual.

Nice car man!

Love the two tone SEL seats ! Congrats !

Nice car, they are awesome. Don't crash it! They aren't makeing anymore because VW is stupid!

Seriously, my 2015 GSW SE 6MT is one of my favorite cars that I have ever owned.

Sadly, they stopped making them because of the emission scandal. I'm sure the EV cars will fill the gap.

Anyways, enjoy the car. I plan I driving my into the ground.

That’s an awesome find. There was a red SEL manual and a red SE manual in the Denver area, but I cared more about color than transmission and bought a gray SE with DSG.


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There were ample MT Gen 1, but I preferred the MK7 for many reasons


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Jetter_Sprinta said:

Is this the one from Whappenger's Falls? GSWs look so good in dark blue (and red!)

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Yes it was! This is actually the third TDI wagon that myself or friends or family bought from them. They seem to cater to the enthusiasts a bit more than other VW dealers that I've experienced.

sapgar said:

That’s an awesome find. There was a red SEL manual and a red SE manual in the Denver area, but I cared more about color than transmission and bought a gray SE with DSG.


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I came very close to buying the red Denver one and shipping it. It's missing the DAP, but red was my second choice. They told me to bark up another tree when I tried to negotiate at all. Two days later they randomly dropped the price to BELOW what I was asking for and never contacted me. All worked out for me in the end, since the one I bought was cheaper, closer and my first choice anyway.

ESmith813 said:

Two days later they randomly dropped the price to BELOW what I was asking for and never contacted me. All worked out for me in the end, since the one I bought was cheaper, closer and my first choice anyway.

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I've seen that happen so many times. They aren't willing to swallow their pride and admit that you are the one setting the market until after you leave. And then they don't have the spine to call you back.

ESmith813 said:

Yes it was! This is actually the third TDI wagon that myself or friends or family bought from them. They seem to cater to the enthusiasts a bit more than other VW dealers that I've experienced.







I came very close to buying the red Denver one and shipping it. It's missing the DAP, but red was my second choice. They told me to bark up another tree when I tried to negotiate at all. Two days later they randomly dropped the price to BELOW what I was asking for and never contacted me. All worked out for me in the end, since the one I bought was cheaper, closer and my first choice anyway.

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Having purchased a few from Emich VW I negotiated directly with the owner. I didn’t really get any special treatment on the TDI. I could only get DH for free. Yes, they stuck to their guns on pricing vs time in inventory. I got a fair price based on my research, but I didn’t get a great deal. I did get a squeaky clean car with the specs I had to have (heated seats, pano, condition and color)... so be it.



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My other family car is a 2016 TSI S wagon in Night Blue.


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sapgar said:

Having purchased a few from Emich VW I negotiated directly with the owner. I didn’t really get any special treatment on the TDI. I could only get DH for free. Yes, they stuck to their guns on pricing vs time in inventory. I got a fair price based on my research, but I didn’t get a great deal. I did get a squeaky clean car with the specs I had to have (heated seats, pano, condition and color)... so be it.



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Any manual TDI wagon is a nice purchase! I considered most of their asking prices minus the DH fee a pretty good deal, especially considering the condition and mileage. Mine had some previous front end damage, and honestly I can see a sliiiiight shade difference between the fender and the hood on the driver's side. I'm crazy picky when it comes to stuff like that, and it still wasn't bad enough for me to walk away though.

Ha, I looked at that one too. They had a white manual Golf Sportwagen SEL with lighting that I wanted and they didn't even want to talk about price, listed at 24k I think. They lowered the price less than a week after they wouldn't even consider an offer and then it sold before I heard back from my sales man. They do have a pretty good selection of cars though.

In the end oh well, I ended up with a manual Golf SEL with lighting and DAP.

Bumping my thread after years of happy ownership. I just listed this for sale over in the Classifieds.

I very recently bought a 2015 GSW SEL TDI 6-speed manual with the lighting package. Still on my first tank of fuel so unsure what the mpg will be. What’s the driver assist package do?