Anybody thinking of getting a new VW?

[Drmaseofbase]

I have 2012 tdi Passat. Long ago paid off. I drive about 15,000 miles per year to and from work and all highway. We also have a 2013 Honda Pilot which we use for the kids, trips, etc.

Anyway, I've thought about taking my buy back and "upgrading" to a luxury line (Audi, Mercedes, Volvo).

My issue is that I really love my 2012 Passat. In 4.5 years, I can't think of a single complaint I've had with this car. It feels and looks like
New.

I'm thinking of taking my buy back , and kick in a few thousand dollars to get me a 2017. The buy back ambassador in my town is also the sales manager at our local dealership and he's been very easy to deal with.

Am I crazy for just considering a new Passat?

 

[Got Haggis?]

i was under the impression the ambassador is not someone that works at the dealership at all.

i will only consider a VW if they have some loyalty incentives to stay...otherwise, lifelong VW owner jumping ship.

 

[newbeetleman]

I have 2012 tdi Passat. Long ago paid off. I drive about 15,000 miles per year to and from work and all highway. We also have a 2013 Honda Pilot which we use for the kids, trips, etc.

Anyway, I've thought about taking my buy back and "upgrading" to a luxury line (Audi, Mercedes, Volvo).

My issue is that I really love my 2012 Passat. In 4.5 years, I can't think of a single complaint I've had with this car. It feels and looks like
New.

I'm thinking of taking my buy back , and kick in a few thousand dollars to get me a 2017. The buy back ambassador in my town is also the sales manager at our local dealership and he's been very easy to deal with.

Am I crazy for just considering a new Passat?

I bought a 2010 Passat as a replacement.. Love it, and I am getting 36mpg

 

[Drmaseofbase]

You're right. He is the ambassador, but he's handling the sales end on this as well.

 

[rfortson]

I went with an Audi. The buyback allows me to "move up" to something I wouldn't normally buy.

I would have gone with a new gas Sportwagen, but the lower mileage plus the smaller tank somewhat turned me off.

 

[derekmw]

I went with an Audi. The buyback allows me to "move up" to something I wouldn't normally buy.
I would have gone with a new gas Sportwagen, but the lower mileage plus the smaller tank somewhat turned me off.

Which Audi did you get?

Also as a side point, your surfboard is mounted backwards in your sig.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Nope. Not interested in a gas VW.

 

[rfortson]

Which Audi did you get?
Also as a side point, your surfboard is mounted backwards in your sig.

A3 Sportback e-tron.

PA010150 by Russ, on Flickr

And first of all, I'm still a kook after all these years, but I've never understood that about putting the surfboard point first. I'm an engineer and it just seems natural for it to go this way. What is the rationale for fin first?

I still need to get the racks for my e-tron.

 

[derekmw]

A3 Sportback e-tron.
PA010150 by Russ, on Flickr
And first of all, I'm still a kook after all these years, but I've never understood that about putting the surfboard point first. I'm an engineer and it just seems natural for it to go this way. What is the rationale for fin first?
I still need to get the racks for my e-tron.

Nice, it looks beautiful! We thought about getting the e-tron, but we weren't very happy with the cargo space in our current A3 TDI so we're using this as a chance to get something with more room. Otherwise, we definitely would have gotten the e-tron.

Regarding the fin first - aerodynamically, it doesn't make much of a difference but safety wise, if for any reason the straps are not as tight as you thought, with vibration/bumps and wind, if it starts to slip, the rationale is that the fins stop it from completely sliding off.

I personally have a inno-rack with steel cables that rachet down so I doubt the boards would ever slip in either direction, but just in case, I still mount with fins towards the front anyway.

Supposedly there are people who have said they had loose straps and the fins were the only thing that saved them from slipping off the car - but anyone who says this, it's always someone they know said it. Never actual personal experience.

 

[the_jeep_now]

I drive 2013 Jetta TDI Premium. Bought the car last November with 16k miles. I commute 120 per day so MPG and reliability is a priority for me. I've been doing all the maintenance myself so far. I was on the fence about the buyback but after going through 80 pages thread on HPFP failures I think I made my mind to let VW have it. I love the car but potentially having up to 7k repair bill while still making payments is a huge concern. I'm at 45k miles with average MPG just under 41. I'm going to drive it till the warranty runs out. Seriously considering '17 Golf. Based on my calculations, my annual fuel bill will only go up by $150 based on 34MPG. If I can achieve better MPG, that gap will be even less.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[atomicfront]

Leaning towards Alltrack SE. If they have decent discounts when we are ready to buy a new car that is what we will buy.

 

[Airpizz6]

Nein, durchaus nicht!! Nie wieder! But I still like German cars. Next one will actually be built there.

 

[cmarcho]

Passat was the wife's car. She does not want VW any longer, so we replaced it with a Cadillac. She did like the Passat quite a lot, but didn't like the brand any more after all this mess.

 

[daesania]

Nope. no amount of convincing otherwise would make me stay vw

 

[TwinMom]

A few weeks ago I said absolutely not, but a nearby dealer has very attractively priced Passats and SportWagens, so we are considering those. Audi and Volvo are way out of our price range, as we are trying to use the buyback money to avoid a car payment. I can get a new base model SportWagen or Passat for about the same price as a low-mileage CPO Prius, and less than a new Subaru Impreza, Mazda6, or C-Max Hybrid. I am worried about long-term reliability and repair costs, though.

 

[nick1994]

Haha! No way, the VW in my list on the side has been the biggest steaming pile of garbage. Close to $6,000 in repairs so far, A/C still only works 1/2 the time (a new compressor temporarily fixed it in the past) the steering column groans and growls, and sometimes it makes the same flywheel chatter sound my 2004 had. Extended warranties are worth every penny for a VW

 

[EricVA]

I had a brand new 2001 VW Beetle (gas) that was a maintenance nightmare and seemed to be a lemon, so we got rid of it before the 24 month warranty ended and it became too expensive. I had mostly sworn off VW because of that experience, but after the reliability issues started to improve (per Consumer Reports), I bought a brand new 2010 JSW TDI and it has been a very good vehicle for me (other than leaky pano roof). I'm at nearly 110k and fear the HPFP and other impending maintenance, so I'm selling it back. The JSW was not the "lemon experience" like my Beetle, but it gets a small strike just based on the optics and unknowns related to TDI fixes, etc.

So the only VW that would appeal to me at this point is the Alltrack. I have yet to find one in my area to test drive and have heard supply is limited until 2017. If I can't find one in time, I'll go with a new Subaru wagon of some sort.

 

[dpospres]

I thought about the 17 Passat to replace my 12 Passat. Nice car for the money, but in the end I ordered an Audi......nicer and more features. Virtual Cockpit looks very cool.

 

[rfortson]

Nice, it looks beautiful! We thought about getting the e-tron, but we weren't very happy with the cargo space in our current A3 TDI so we're using this as a chance to get something with more room. Otherwise, we definitely would have gotten the e-tron.
Regarding the fin first - aerodynamically, it doesn't make much of a difference but safety wise, if for any reason the straps are not as tight as you thought, with vibration/bumps and wind, if it starts to slip, the rationale is that the fins stop it from completely sliding off.
I personally have a inno-rack with steel cables that rachet down so I doubt the boards would ever slip in either direction, but just in case, I still mount with fins towards the front anyway.
Supposedly there are people who have said they had loose straps and the fins were the only thing that saved them from slipping off the car - but anyone who says this, it's always someone they know said it. Never actual personal experience.

Yeah, seems like I've heard that, but like you, never met anyone that had a board slip out.

 

[cd_booth]

I picked up a 2016 Golf R and am very happy with it. Surprisingly I'm getting close to 30 MPG as well.

 

[TDIinMA]

I drive 2013 Jetta TDI Premium. Bought the car last November with 16k miles. I commute 120 per day so MPG and reliability is a priority for me. I've been doing all the maintenance myself so far. I was on the fence about the buyback but after going through 80 pages thread on HPFP failures I think I made my mind to let VW have it. I love the car but potentially having up to 7k repair bill while still making payments is a huge concern. I'm at 45k miles with average MPG just under 41. I'm going to drive it till the warranty runs out. Seriously considering '17 Golf. Based on my calculations, my annual fuel bill will only go up by $150 based on 34MPG. If I can achieve better MPG, that gap will be even less.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

I can tell you from experience that if your commute is mainly highway, you will easily exceed that number (unless you are driving below sea level, into the wind, and uphill both ways).

The fuel efficiency gap has been nearly closed with fuel costs and more efficient gassers.

 

[TDIinMA]

I have 2012 tdi Passat. Long ago paid off. I drive about 15,000 miles per year to and from work and all highway. We also have a 2013 Honda Pilot which we use for the kids, trips, etc.

Anyway, I've thought about taking my buy back and "upgrading" to a luxury line (Audi, Mercedes, Volvo).

My issue is that I really love my 2012 Passat. In 4.5 years, I can't think of a single complaint I've had with this car. It feels and looks like New.

I'm thinking of taking my buy back , and kick in a few thousand dollars to get me a 2017. The buy back ambassador in my town is also the sales manager at our local dealership and he's been very easy to deal with.

Am I crazy for just considering a new Passat?

No, you are not crazy.

And yes, I am considering the Alltrack but leaning hard towards the GTI.

 

[DubFamily]

If VW provides a decent incentive to stay I will do one of the following 3:

Golf R
Tiguan SEL 4Motion
GTI

If not; I will get a BMW 328d xDrive...

 

[tadawson]

No TDI, no interest . . . simple as that. If they still sell TDI, then no reason not to for me . . .

 

[Fizzyone]

i was under the impression the ambassador is not someone that works at the dealership at all.

i will only consider a VW if they have some loyalty incentives to stay...otherwise, lifelong VW owner jumping ship.

I thought so too, but found out last week that the ambassador at my local dealership is the sales manager. There will be a VW corporate representative on-site to handle the buy backs.
ETA: I also found out at the same time that another local VW dealership will not have their own VW corporate person--all of their buyback transactions will be handled at my dealership. I was surprised to learn that, thought every dealership was going to be a buyback venue.

 

[RSTX]

My wife loves her Jetta, so we will probably get a 2016 TSI or a slightly used one. We have had very good luck with our VW's. Her drive has dropped to 11 miles round trip, so a diesel is not needed anyway. I like the looks/specs of the 1.4 TSI for her as a commuter, but have not driven it yet. I am looking at either a Volt or a Leaf. I don't go more than 10 miles in a day and it is all stop and go.

 

[Sungold]

Too risky, Volkswagen can not be trusted.

 

[TDIinMA]

Too risky, Volkswagen can not be trusted.

LMAO

 

[kevin_in_idaho]

VW frauded me and my local dealer is a PITA. I'm not falling for anything they say or do. I can't wait to see how long they drag out the buyback. Every day they do, they make some good interest on that money. Judge should have given us interest after Nov. 1 to incentivize them to get on with it. This method of getting docs to them is silly. One way digital, then paper and USPS.

 

[nutfinn]

never