Went to the dealer this weekend...

[Papachristou]

Of course, they only had one diesel (DSG). Anyway, we get a brand new salesman who knows only slightly more than a kindergardener. He was nice nonetheless. I was very impressed with the DSG, the downshifts and engine braking were very nice and unexpected. The car itself seems well built. We looked at camry and sonata hybrids too and the passat definitely has the nicest interior and exterior for the money although the sonata does have a few features the SE doesnt.

The TDI was smooth, quite and pulled quite nicely. Of course, most of you already know these things. It was noticeably quieter than my old jetta TDI. Anyway, we were after a stickshift though so i told the salesman of our intentions, we give him all the info for our trade in. My wife is an insurance adjustor so we knew what we should be offered for it. The manager came in and said "well, im not going to go back and forth with you, im just going to give you my "best deal", we cant discount TDIs because of demand so MSRP + for the passat and ill give you $11k for your 05 audi s4 cabriolet (mint, 50k miles) LMFAO! i asked him if his dealership conducted drug testing? he looked confused and said no.... i told him they should start. I had talked to a dealer about 4 hours away on friday and they would discount the TDI i wanted $1k and give me $16-$17k for my trade sight unseen. So he should at least be able to match that offer. i know we all have to make money but come on!

Anyway, that changed their tune, We didnt drive her car in so we are going back this saturday to hopefully finalize the deal. They have a stickshift at a sister dealership they are going to bring over for us, if not they have one arriving next month. i love dealerships such funny people.

 

[STL TDI]

Not an uncommon story unfortunately. In my experience, there are too many well-run dealerships that treat you right up-front to even think of dealing with a clown posse like you describe, even if they come down to earth after a while. I give my business to dealers that are reasonable up-front. I've seen good dealers turn shifty just by the hiring of a sales manager that thinks they have to run a floor like that, but they certainly lose my business for good when that happens.

 

[Papachristou]

unforunately, this is the only game in town. Ive tried to buy three VWs or audis from them and each time, ended up going somewhere else. I would just prefer not to make a long drive to get the car. i feel sorry for how many customers get taken, as soon as i told him what our car was really worth, he came right up to what i asked for. Thats $6000 they could have stolen from me!

 

[edsiajb]

One thing that I always keep in mind is that I can get a plane ticket for $250 or less to just about anywhere.

Dealer loyalty means nothing to me as dealerships close, move, get sold, change names, etc. It's happened to me with several cars I've purchased in the past 10 years (including my TDI Jetta).

Two years ago when purchasing a new vehicle for my wife, I had to go out-of-state to even find a dealership (Honda) that would speak anything besides "monthly payment". If I walk in a dealership and hear "monthly payment", I turn around and leave!

 

[Niner]

I've been looking myself, and I've resigned myself to having to drive or fly a long ways to get what I want. There are a few dealerships that have the car I want, but in the worst color around, black. It's impossible to keep a black paint job clean in the desert wind, with all the dust, and it will burn you if parked outside in the summer heat here in PHX. Black is fine for a Model T Ford or a Limo... but that's about it.

 

[Papachristou]

lmao, yeah, ive found two black stickshifts. almost made the deal on one and thought, you know, id rather wait five months for silver gray or white than have to try to keep a black car clean for the next 5-10 years haha

 

[abctdi]

We looked at camry and sonata hybrids too and the passat definitely has the nicest interior and exterior for the money although the sonata does have a few features the SE doesnt.

Why the hybrids? Did you feel you had to match mpg?
Has anyone run a $/mile comparison?
I drove a family's regular sonata yesterday and it has averaged about 30 mpg over like 5000+ miles according to it's gage. It sounds bad, but when regular gas costs much less than diesel, is it reallly?
Hybrid tech/batteries don't appeal much to me...

 

[Papachristou]

not necessarily, but they had them at the auto show a few weeks ago. I initially felt the camry hybrid at $27500 was a good value but it has cloth interior, hubcaps and standard radio. The passat tdi at $26k has alloys, leatherette, steering wheel controls, more trunk space, more interior room and drives 100x better. TDI is the obvious choice for both efficiency, quality and fun.

MPG is a big selling point, wife will drive about 30 miles each way per day. Her current car gets 18-20mpg on the hwy! yikes!!!!

Ive been on a big green kick since energy efficiency is a big part of my job, plus we received several nissan leaf's at enterprise recently. i drive them for fun when i can. technology on those is DEFINITELY not ready yet but gotta start somewhere. that also got me looking at hybrids.

Well, if the passat averages 40mpg which is very doable considering we are going after a stickshift and motortrend got 37mpg on their test with the DSG and flogging it, i think the TDI is worth it. That is a 25% increase in economy over the sonota. Plus ive spoiled her with german cars (now made in the US ) they seem to have a quality, fun factor and seem to hold up better in accidents than their foreign counterparts. a 10 year old passat TDI will be worth a lot more than a 10 year old sonata or a ten year old camry hybrid.

 

[edsiajb]

..... It sounds bad, but when regular gas costs much less than diesel, is it reallly?...

I try to keep in mind that diesel is averaging about 10% more per gallon than regular gasoline, while my diesel vehicles average about 30% better mileage than their gasoline counterparts.
Too, I believe we are probably about a year away from significantly higher fuel prices.

 

[Papachristou]

yes, i figured about 16% higher fuel cost in memphis right now. But she already has to buy premium so the actually increase is only 7-8% i think for her situation. Like you said, i see at least 25% better mileage over a comparable gasser car. We do a lot of camping trips in spring and fall. MPGs are significantly better on those trips.

i want to be way ahead of the curve though. I too see fuel prices rising dramatically. if and when that happens, the TDIs will be harder/more expensive to purchase and her car will be worth a lot less and or harder to sell. Hopefully, we will have this wrapped up next week.

 

[MyAvocation]

we are probably about a year away from significantly higher fuel prices

Amen to that. Last year OPEC was happy with $70/brl, last month they said $100. $4+/gal is coming and I would not wait until then to pile into a high MPG cars. M$RP+++ will be the new norm.

 

[abctdi]

Me too, but it's closer to 20% in my town right now.
http://www.albuquerquegasprices.com/index.aspx?s=Y&fuel=D&area=All Areas&tme_limit=4
Figure in special oil, fuel additives and various vw design screw ups lately and I'm not so sure anymore.
Don't get me wrong, I've been tdi-ing for 13 years now, but...

 

[Papachristou]

Amen to that. Last year OPEC was happy with $70/brl, last month they said $100. $4+/gal is coming and I would not wait until then to pile into a high MPG cars. M$RP+++ will be the new norm.

yes, every dealer i talked to told me it was MSRP or MSRP + but they all were willing to come down at least $1000 when pushed however if fuel went to $4+, i think they would have lines of people wanting the TDIs.

always puzzles me why europe is 50-60% diesel and USA is .05%, we may be up to 1% this year though.

 

[abctdi]

I thought much of europe is diesel friendly with much lower cost than rug and higher emmissions allowed, unlike here.

 

[Papachristou]

yes, diesel was cheaper by about .3 euro per liter when i was in greece last summer. Gasoline was $1.5-1.8 euro per liter at the time.

they do have different emissions rules too but i dont know the specifics well enough to speak competently about them.

 

[axnels2]

Just a suggestion: try your negotiations at the end of the month. I tried that strategy number of times and every time when I went to the same dealership again they would give me significantly larger discounts on the cars they had in stock.

 

[Papachristou]

Just a suggestion: try your negotiations at the end of the month. I tried that strategy number of times and every time when I went to the same dealership again they would give me significantly larger discounts on the cars they had in stock.

great point. i bought my last work truck and my bike like that. definitely helps!

 

[truman]

Just a suggestion: try your negotiations at the end of the month. I tried that strategy number of times and every time when I went to the same dealership again they would give me significantly larger discounts on the cars they had in stock.

February is a short month w/ crappy weather which helps also.

 

[Niner]

I had a crappy experience with a dealer in Lakewood, CO today. Claimed an additional $400 in "fees" to me, but when I called him on it, and asked for line item by line item of the breakdown, his "team" didn't even back pedal or blink an eye. They are still $800 over where they need to be to be competitive, and the time spent negotiating was a waste, when 2 dealers here had no problems with giving me a good price at 3 to $400 under invoice, and no fishy extra "fees". Weather has been cold and crappy near Denver, can't imagine too many people going out to look at cars in that kind of weather with icy roads.

 

[tomo366]

yes, diesel was cheaper by about .3 euro per liter when i was in greece last summer. Gasoline was $1.5-1.8 euro per liter at the time.

they do have different emissions rules too but I dont know the specifics well enough to speak competently about them.

Here is my suggestion to you.....and a plane ticket was suggested.

Call Chris at VW of Langhorne I have bought 2 cars from him and taken the train and and was picked up at the Train Station and this same story is all over tdiclub! he is the TOP TDI salesman in the nation and is a straight up no bull salesman! and if he cant get you the car you want no one can.....
Chris Farnham
CFarnham@VWofLAnghorne.com
215-741-4100
http://vwoflanghorne.com

 

[yamaguy]

One thing that I always keep in mind is that I can get a plane ticket for $250 or less to just about anywhere.

Dealer loyalty means nothing to me as dealerships close, move, get sold, change names, etc. It's happened to me with several cars I've purchased in the past 10 years (including my TDI Jetta).

Two years ago when purchasing a new vehicle for my wife, I had to go out-of-state to even find a dealership (Honda) that would speak anything besides "monthly payment". If I walk in a dealership and hear "monthly payment", I turn around and leave!

I am so glad that I am not the only one that thinks that way!!! My partner at work bought a new Durrango 2 months ago and all he would talk about was monthly payment, when i would ask him about total cost he didn't even know!!!!! I was like

 

[edsiajb]

I am so glad that I am not the only one that thinks that way!!! My partner at work bought a new Durrango 2 months ago and all he would talk about was monthly payment, when i would ask him about total cost he didn't even know!!!!! I was like

Yep!

And just yesterday, I found a semi-local VW dealer that wouldn't give me a price on a new TDI Passat without knowing my credit score! My reply: "I'm very proud of my credit score, and you'll NEVER know what it is!"

 

[BlackLab]

We have a dealership about 4 miles from our house. They told my wife she had to bring her husband with her to negotiate. Big mistake on their part. She does not take much crap. Then they tried to switch cars on her. Told her they could not order the car. She finally walked out and bought the car over the phone at a dealership 30 miles from our house. We still do not have the car but we wanted Red so we wait.

 

[STL TDI]

I have to say that these stories are shocking for 2012. I would think the internet would make pricing so widely known and provide access to so many straight shooting dealers that a dealer who behaves poorly couldn't keep the doors open. Sad, really.

 

[Skymedic]

I am in the market for a Passat TDI SEL. Who is the best no BS, get the deal done dealership in the mid-atlantic region? I am in the Annapolis, MD area. I have no time for salemen and their antics to make more on a deal. I want a "best price" locked in so I can give em my 500 bucks and wait for my car.

Is a buying service, like USAA, worth a shot?

 

[tomo366]

I am in the market for a Passat TDI SEL. Who is the best no BS, get the deal done dealership in the mid-atlantic region? I am in the Annapolis, MD area. I have no time for salemen and their antics to make more on a deal. I want a "best price" locked in so I can give em my 500 bucks and wait for my car.

Is a buying service, like USAA, worth a shot?

I offered this advice above....

Call Chris at VW of Langhorne I have bought 2 cars from him and taken the train and and was picked up at the Train Station and this same story is all over tdiclub! he is the TOP TDI salesman in the nation and is a straight up no bull salesman! and if he cant get you the car you want no one can.....
Chris Farnham
CFarnham@VWofLAnghorne.com
215-741-4100
http://vwoflanghorne.com
__________________

 

[TomB]

I offered this advice above....

Call Chris at VW of Langhorne I have bought 2 cars from him and taken the train and and was picked up at the Train Station and this same story is all over tdiclub! he is the TOP TDI salesman in the nation and is a straight up no bull salesman! and if he cant get you the car you want no one can.....
Chris Farnham
CFarnham@VWofLAnghorne.com
215-741-4100
http://vwoflanghorne.com
__________________

Like everyone knows that Langhorne is in PA outside Philly??? I know because I grew up there.

 

[Niner]

Went out of state today, after the run around from dealers. Found Kearny Mesa Volkswagen... in San Diego, well worth the drive, $24,900 on a MSRP of $26,765 for a Passat SE TDI 6 speed manual. Ask to speak with Tim, he took good care of me. They are selling out of them fast this month.

 

[tdiatlast]

I am in the market for a Passat TDI SEL. Who is the best no BS, get the deal done dealership in the mid-atlantic region? I am in the Annapolis, MD area. I have no time for salemen and their antics to make more on a deal. I want a "best price" locked in so I can give em my 500 bucks and wait for my car.

Is a buying service, like USAA, worth a shot?

PM sent

 

[Papachristou]

Ive heard nothing but good things about this Chris at VW of Langhorne, PA. Ive also seen some of his posts and he seems very knowledgeable and willing to work with you in a reasonable manner.

If i had time for a 17 hour drive and wasnt trading a car in, i would probably call him up. However it is hard to negotiate your trade unless you are there. If i am there, then all my cards are on the table. If you are ready to buy, call Chris up.