Buying Advice

Hey PNW TDI owners! I'm new to this forum, and new to VW's, but I'm a long time active member of an Isuzu Vehicross forum so I'm no stranger to the enthusiast realm. One thing I've learned is to never buy a vehicle without first locating a great forum to get to know fellow owners and to listen to all of their great advice.

So I'm in the market for a new 2006 Jetta TDI and I live in the Tacoma area. I've been sending e-mails back and forth with a few dealers, in state and out, trying to locate the Jetta with all the options I want, and trying to get a great deal.

I'm just wondering what kind of buying experience you all have had with the local dealerships? Did you negotiate over the internet or at the showroom? How much did you pay over invoice? Did they charge you for other dealership fees over invoice, such as the destination charge, port fees, advertising fees, etc (and try to claim you were still paying $xxx over invoice)? Is there any dealership or salesperson you would recommend to others?

I've got the consumer report with the dealer holdback and invoice price and all that good stuff, but any additional input would be great.

I live in Bend, Oregon and ended up buying at Larson's in Tacoma for $199 over invoice. On the west coast, that was the best deal I could find. You can get a better deal in Wisconsin but that's a longgggg drive! Only trouble is, they seem to just have manuals in stock right now. After having the DSG I think it's a great trans and the mileage is the same as the stick. Sport mode is fun too.

I'd recommend Burlington KarMart up North. When I was shopping for my '03 they were the straightest shooters. Most of the deal was through e-mail and I made one phone call the day I got the car. It was a long drive up but a fun one coming home. I also saved ~$200 in taxes IIRC.

I paid "dealer" invoice. I think there was one charge in there that seemed kinda bogus. I think the grand total was very close to $1000 below MSRP.
Again, this was in 2003.

I didn't care much for Larson's but perhaps I just got a loser sales rep.

Don't get me started on Auburn.

The hardest part is going to be finding the options you desire and only those options. I tried looking for my perfect car for months but finally purchased one of three Golf TDIs on their lot. My old car was on it's last legs. I'm very happy with the car I purchased. I use the sunroof all the time.

Good Luck and welcome to the TDIClub!

-Matt

Yes, the most difficult part has been finding one in the right color, in an auto, with the right options package. I've actually found most of the dealers I've contacted have been fairly reasonable about prices, they just don't have the model I want in stock and I've been told it will be anywhere from August to October by the time I can get what I want.

So mobe, you said you paid "dealer invoice", but did you find out what the real dealer invoice was (from consumer reports or wherever), and did it match what the dealer was claiming? And did you pay the destination charge on top of that? I don't see how they can claim a price is $XXX over dealer invoice and then charge you a bunch of other fees on top of that.

Is the destination fee normally included in the invoice price or not?

kpaske said:

So mobe, you said you paid "dealer invoice", but did you find out what the real dealer invoice was (from consumer reports or wherever), and did it match what the dealer was claiming? And did you pay the destination charge on top of that? I don't see how they can claim a price is $XXX over dealer invoice and then charge you a bunch of other fees on top of that.

Is the destination fee normally included in the invoice price or not?

Click to expand...

Well, I can't remember that extra charge, I think it may have been some bogus VW advertising fee. On top of that I guess I paid sales tax and the licensing fee which KarMart did not pad. VW was having 2.9% financing at the time, saved me 1.1% over a PeopleFirst.com loan.

Here's an old post of mine from the archive:

mobe said:

Offered them $18.5K, $85.00 over the "Edmunds.com" invoice. Their invoice was $18660 and they said they would sell for that so I took it as it was within my $200 wiggle room. Saved a couple hundred on the sales tax.

Click to expand...

On getting your ideal car. Don't paint yourself into a corner. One of the things that made me so mad about Auburn was that they kept saying my car was "on the truck", and then "but come down and drive this one on the lot".

I don't think there's going to be any '07 TDIs so keep that in mind.

Have Fun shopping!

I recently purchased a '07 Passat variant from Chaplin's (talk to Matt). I traded in a '03 Golf TDI that I purchased from them. In both cases, Kar-Mart gave the best initial price and Chaplin's matched that price and then both lowered it from there. I got the Passat for dealer invoice. I went with Chaplin's because they are close to where I work, give free loaner cars, and have had no issues with service.

BTW, University was the highest by more than $3.5K.

For options and color, all of the dealers have access to the same cars and trade cars if needed. Basically, you are down to price and sevice after the sale.

Well, I've thought long and hard about what options I really need and what would be "nice to have", but the way I see it, if you plan to keep a vehicle for a long time, sometimes options make a big difference between a car you like and a car you love. Unfortunately the one option that I don't have much choice on, the auto tranny, is the one that's proving to be the hardest to locate. I would probably prefer a stick, or could at least be happy with it, but the wife doesn't know how to drive one and I really don't want her learning on the "new car". I've had all sorts of quotes, anywhere from $100 over invoice to $3000 over MSRP, but I have yet to find a dealer with the car I want available right now. Did I mention that I'm willing to drive it back from almost anywhere?

Anyhoo, for the benefit of anyone reading this thread, I've concluded that there are indeed some charges that are NOT included in the invoice price which are normally passed on to the customer, even if you get an "invoice +$xxx" type deal. These include destination charge, port prep, dealer reserve, and regional advertising fees. So for example, if you find a deal for $300 over invoice, you are still going to pay:

Invoice + $300
Options
Destination Charge
Port Prep + Dealer Reserve
Regional Advertising
Tax
Tags + Title

If anyone disagrees with this list, please let me know if you know something different!! Thanks.