Hi everyone, I'm glad to see that there's such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable group of people for TDIs.
I come seeking advice. My situation:
I just graduated college, took a job offer, and am moving near the Philadelphia region (most likely West Chester). I've always been a fan of VWs, and diesel cars in general. Since the job I took is in the consulting field, which usually requires frequent road travel, I'm considering the Jetta TDI as a first car specifically because of its ability to cover long distances with good mileage and longevity. I'll be starting June 21st, and more than likely moving before June 14th, so my time frame for buying is two weeks or less.
In my area of New Jersey, though, there don't seem to be a whole lot of used TDIs at all, and the ones that are around are high miles and at least a decade old. Today, after a week of watching craigslist and other auto ad sites, I saw a beige '04 GLS TDI 5-speed wagon go up, and my father and I checked it out tonight. It has 54k on the odometer, and they're asking book value for it, which is $14,200. It felt okay on a test drive, but I'd only previously driven one other Jetta TDI - the newer generation. In comparison to the latest-gen Jetta that my dad leased while I was in high school, it felt a little bit cramped and slightly dated.
I'm not sure what the standard features are on the GLS, but this one has heated leather seats, sunroof, and alloy wheels.
It has a couple of minor dents on the driver-side door, and apparently either the door panel or the front quarter panel was replaced at some point due to a parking lot collision (though no airbag deployment, as carfax would indicate).
The salesman gave the fact that it was bought and serviced at the same dealer for 6 years as a selling point, but I'm not sure this is particularly significant, since there doesn't seem to have been much other than scheduled maintenance and the repair done to it.
Financing is guessed to be around 6%, and I can put about 30% down (I can probably pay down a lot of it in a year).
The other option I'm exploring is simply buying a new base TDI. The initial investment is more, but it seems like the cost of ownership over the 7 or so years I would plan on owning it might not be that much higher. The only issue with that is that I would have to buy it today or tomorrow morning to get the $1300 tax credit, if that still applies. My friend says that I could realistically talk the price down to about $22k even. With all the headaches of working out used car issues and pricing, it's looking more and more attractive.
The third and worst-case scenario would be that the other car sells tomorrow or this weekend after deciding not to go with the new TDI, at which point I would likely be considering taking a lease on a Honda and just eating any mileage allowance overages.
I'd be grateful for any advice you guys might have.
Thanks a lot in advance.
- Tony
I come seeking advice. My situation:
I just graduated college, took a job offer, and am moving near the Philadelphia region (most likely West Chester). I've always been a fan of VWs, and diesel cars in general. Since the job I took is in the consulting field, which usually requires frequent road travel, I'm considering the Jetta TDI as a first car specifically because of its ability to cover long distances with good mileage and longevity. I'll be starting June 21st, and more than likely moving before June 14th, so my time frame for buying is two weeks or less.
In my area of New Jersey, though, there don't seem to be a whole lot of used TDIs at all, and the ones that are around are high miles and at least a decade old. Today, after a week of watching craigslist and other auto ad sites, I saw a beige '04 GLS TDI 5-speed wagon go up, and my father and I checked it out tonight. It has 54k on the odometer, and they're asking book value for it, which is $14,200. It felt okay on a test drive, but I'd only previously driven one other Jetta TDI - the newer generation. In comparison to the latest-gen Jetta that my dad leased while I was in high school, it felt a little bit cramped and slightly dated.
I'm not sure what the standard features are on the GLS, but this one has heated leather seats, sunroof, and alloy wheels.
It has a couple of minor dents on the driver-side door, and apparently either the door panel or the front quarter panel was replaced at some point due to a parking lot collision (though no airbag deployment, as carfax would indicate).
The salesman gave the fact that it was bought and serviced at the same dealer for 6 years as a selling point, but I'm not sure this is particularly significant, since there doesn't seem to have been much other than scheduled maintenance and the repair done to it.
Financing is guessed to be around 6%, and I can put about 30% down (I can probably pay down a lot of it in a year).
The other option I'm exploring is simply buying a new base TDI. The initial investment is more, but it seems like the cost of ownership over the 7 or so years I would plan on owning it might not be that much higher. The only issue with that is that I would have to buy it today or tomorrow morning to get the $1300 tax credit, if that still applies. My friend says that I could realistically talk the price down to about $22k even. With all the headaches of working out used car issues and pricing, it's looking more and more attractive.
The third and worst-case scenario would be that the other car sells tomorrow or this weekend after deciding not to go with the new TDI, at which point I would likely be considering taking a lease on a Honda and just eating any mileage allowance overages.
I'd be grateful for any advice you guys might have.
Thanks a lot in advance.
- Tony