Volkswagen Jetta 2005 and earlier

blueguydotcom

My 2001 Jetta WE with moon and 6 disc changer is supposedly worth 17.2 on a trade in? Yeah, that'll happen. They claim dealer retail on it is 19,725, which is more than I paid for the car 17 months ago! LOL

fish8

When they replaced your dash clip that was broken, did they have to disassemble your entire dash? Did you ever notice dash panels misaligned or anything like that? I am picking my car up around 11 this morning and hope they replaced the dash and door panels correctly.

hamproof

What you said is not entirely true. Some states in US do not double dip on the sales tax. They take into account of the sales price minus trade in (for dealership sales, not private) and charge you tax after that. This is how every state should do it. You already paid tax on the first time and the buyer will be paying tax again on the purchase. Doesn't make sense.

vocus

I never noticed the dash panels misaligned, but the molding that runs down the door post at the top and next to the dash was a little messed up. It took them a couple of times to get that one right.

vocus

Also try http://www.cars.com. Then click on "price and research" at the top of the page. Then on "Black Book prices" about in the middle of the page. It might give you a better price.

vocus

I would have about 50-55K on my Protege now if I still had it. Never realized I drive that much..

vocus

I just got into work, and have put 215 miles on the tank of gas I am running now. The needle is still pointing between 3/8 and 1/2 full (closer to 1/2)! That's about the best fuel economy I have ever gotten since I have had this car. Almost on 25K miles as well, and will be a year old on November 3.

So if I end up getting 400 miles out of this tank, that would be an average of about 30mpg. Great for a car with automatic and a 180hp engine that I don't exactly drive light all the time.

justin

selling cars privately is great, if you have the time to waste. i don't have enough time in my days as it is - definitely no time to try to sell a car on my own. like i said before, dealer trade deals can be good, if you negotiate. and if you have a car that can be sold easily.

besides, what PRIVATE buyer would spend $20k on any used VW, when they can buy one brand new for nearly (if not the same)price? i wouldn't touch ANY used VW, but that is just me....

vocus

If you have the money to lose and trade your car in, then go right ahead. And in this area (MD/DC/VA), VWs sell like hotcakes. You know that, being in VA.

Putting ads in different places (mostly on the net) can help as well.

justin

not my scene. rather screw over a dealer than screw over a person that knows where i live....:)

98jettavr6

I bought my '98 used in August '99 with 10K miles.
Today, it has 58K miles.

vocus

That 16K miles a year, a little more than the average of 15K. I bought mine new with 119 miles on 11/3/01, and today I have 24,700 miles or so on it. I drive alot though.

donnabgood

Well I am a F&I (Fianance and Insurance) Manager at a dealership. You know the last person you see who goes over the final paperwork and the sales contract with you. Sales tax in California (and I'd be curious as to which states don't) charge sales tax on the sale price of the car. Any time you buy anything sales tax is added. If you live out of state where sales tax is less the car must be delivered to you in that state and notarized. Trust me every one pays sales tax, even military. Review your sales contract. I am sure all were charged sales tax based on the sale price of the car, not amount finanaced. I don't get what you mean by double dipping? Every time you buy something at a retail establishment sales tax is charged on the item purchased. They don't take into account if you have owned a computer, television, car phone before..they charge you sales tax on the item you are currently purchasing. By the way ever get a "free" cell phone before? Even if they charge you just a penny for the phone, they still charge you sales tax based on the retail sale price of the phone, generally 200 dollars or so, not sales tax on a penny. The only reason I got sales tax paid by my insurance company is because they were paying me for replacement value which included the sales tax I would have to pay on the "replacement" of a new car of "like" value.

fish8

Well, I got my car back. Besides being filthy inside I really can't tell if the noises are gone because it's raining here. But, I did notice a new buzzing sound coming from the light switch area. When it is dryer outside I will be able to tell whats been fixed and what hasn't.

blueguydotcom

selling cars privately is great, if you have the time to waste.

Yeah, so much time. I met with 4 people for 1/2 an hour and got a cashier's check for more than double what KBB said a trade-in was worth.

i don't have enough time in my days as it is - definitely no time to try to sell a car on my own.

Yeah, it takes so much time to take a few pics and put the car for sale on auto trader. LOL

like i said before, dealer trade deals can be good, if you negotiate. and if you have a car that can be sold easily.

Nope. Dealer trades will ALWAYS be less than what you can get privately. Funny that haggling with a dealer isn't a waste of time but selling it is...

besides, what PRIVATE buyer would spend $20k on any used VW, when they can buy one brand new for nearly (if not the same)price? i wouldn't touch ANY used VW, but that is just me....

That's just you. Look in auto trader and call people selling VWs...most sell quickly and for at least what the seller is asking.

Justin, obviously you don't mind giving away 2k on a trade in. That's cool.

hoodornament

I respect your position , but a point or two. Funny I think my dealer told me that I would only pay tax on the difference between my trade in and my sale price of new car, I have to go back and look if this was sales BS or actual. Also, when leasing, you only pay the sales tax on the agreed upon dollar amount of the term of lease, not the sale price correct? Maybe the leasing company pays the rest? Another might include Urban enterprise zones, here in NJ we have a handful of cities in which the sales tax rate is cut in half if purchasing in these zones where population density is high. Just food for thought ... thanks

hoodornament

I see Justins point, why in $%*&*$ would someone pay 20k on a used Jetta if they can buy new with low financing, a full warranty, and more equity in the car (since it hasnt depreciated as much)for the same price minus 1-2k?

vocus

Well my car is probably worth $19-20K used right now, and it's a 2002. The MSRP was $24,675 on my car. When you add leather seats, automatic tranny, sport suspension, sunroof, etc. to the car, the price adds up. This happens in new and used cars. The more stuff it has, the more you will get for it. You almost always won't make the full price of the options back when selling, but you will definitely do better that trading the car in to the dealer.

vocus

I had a 1993 Pontiac Bonneville that I inherited in 2001 when my mother passed away. The car was perfect, only 77K miles. I took it to Carmax and the dealer, both of which offered me $2500 for the car. I put an ad on AutoTrader (free, mind you, back then!) with NO picture even! Someone called about the car, I met him and he drove it with his mechanic with us. 2 days later, he called me and told me he wanted the car. He handed me $4300 cash for it.

So that's 4300-2500=1800. I made $1800 MORE because I was patient. That's a heck of alot to me.

hoodornament

I hear ya man ...

but figure, you could probably get your car brand new today for say $23k. So for that extra $3k, you are getting 25k more miles out of your warranty, a car that is worth more (03 vs 02), a car in which you will get 1-2 more years out of the tires and brakes, and a brand spankin new car that no one else has touched.
I guess though you argument is more compelling than I originally thought becuase I didnt know your car stickered for so much ..

Thanks,
HO

blueguydotcom

I see Justins point, why in $%*&*$ would someone pay 20k on a used Jetta if they can buy new with low financing, a full warranty, and more equity in the car (since it hasnt depreciated as much)for the same price minus 1-2k?

Why do people pay 42k for a 3 series BMW when they can buy the exact same car brand new through euro delivery for 37k?

Some people don't care, others are lazy, some are over-extending themselves to the point that a 20k used jetta is possible but the extra $40 a month for the 22k new one isn't.

Most importantly, people are strange.

vocus

I ended up with a loaded 1.8T GLS with every option but the trunk CD changer. What the kicker is now is that my car in 03 form is about $700 cheaper than it MSRPed for in 2002. They made the sunroof and alloy wheels standard, and kept the price the same. Plus, ESP is now available. That's what I get for buying a car on a trip to the grocery store I guess..

vocus

You have a good point there. $40 a month is alot for some people. The difference between $300 and $340 a month is a deal breaker sometimes.

hoodornament

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!! ON way to grocery store ?? I love it ....

And I hear about the $30-40 per month, good point.

Have a good weekend.
HO

justin

people are strange. and full of it

NOBODY pays $20k for a used car that could be bought for $21k. Sorry - doesn't work like that. I would never expect someone to buy my car for $19k when they could go out and work a deal for a NEW one for $20k. That is just plain silly. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE it if that would happen, but I am not kidding myself....

blueguydotcom

Your car cannot be purchased for 20k in 2003...1.8T GLS's with tiptronic and premium are 23k msrp and invoice for 21.5.

A 20k 1.8T is possible if it's stripped!

vocus

That is what I am trying to say. You can't get a loaded 1.8T with leather for $20K, not a 2003. Or even a leftover 2002 (if you could find one) for that matter.

Here's a question for ya: Someone is trying to talk me into trading wheels with them, and they have a 2001 Wolfie. How does the handling with the 16" tires compare to that of the 17s? Just curious. Thanks.

friendinthebiz

Sales tax in Illinois is based on the trade difference. If no trade is involved it is on the negotiated sale price. Since trade-ins once had tax paid on them, credit is given for the value shown on the buyers order, ie. $18,000 sale price minus $3000 Actual Cash Value of the trade equals a taxable $15,000 transaction. However our tax laws on leases are less user friendly...tax the whole sale price of the car at the inception of the lease and then tax the buy-out amount again IF you buy the car at the end of the lease. Tax and a half! By the way if we set up a delivery for out of state residents Illinois gets only a $10 "driveaway" fee and the new owner takes the bill of sale to his home state Sec. of State and pays the tax and lic. plate fees to them.

donnabgood

well leases in California are taxed per month of useage and paid monthly. (i.e. lease payment is made up of rent charge, depreciation and sales tax). When you fianance a car as in buy a car, tax is paid in full for sale price of the car and generally financed into the contract. A lease is better in that way, because you are only paying the tax during the time you drive. If at the end of your lease term you choose to purchase the car, tax is added on the residual amount/sale price. I am pretty surprised at Illionis POV on sales tax..ACV for a trade in is treated as cash and deducted from amount finanaced. It is not unheard of I suppose for a salesman to tell you he will give you less for your trade in, so that he can reduce sale price of the car thus reducing your tax bite. It has to be within reason though. He cannot say for example that your trade is worth 10,000 and he will give you a 1,000 and take 9,000 off of sticker to save you sales tax. When banks finance a loan they base the loan on wholesale KBB, or MSRP of the car. If you are buying a new 2003 Jetta with a MSRP of 23.5 they cannot say they sold it for a price of 13.5 -- it is way below invoice and would serve as a red flag that you are trying to avoid sales tax.

blueguydotcom

Here's a question for ya: Someone is trying to talk me into trading wheels with them, and they have a 2001 Wolfie. How does the handling with the 16" tires compare to that of the 17s? Just curious. Thanks.

Do not take that offer! The 16s are horrible. I've driven a 2002 with 17s and my heart aches everytime I see a 2002 or 03 because there is a marked difference. If you want to roll sideways on the sides of floppy 16s every time you corner hard, then trade. If you still care about handling, stick with your good wheels. The 16" BBS rims on the WE = dung. Trust me. My biggest mistake was getting a wolfsburg edition...no leather and horrid, cheese-ball old man wheels. If only i coulda tracked down a manual 1.8T in 2001 with leather and 17s...

fish8

Well, on my way home from work I was investigating a buzzing noise coming from the area where the light dimmer, headlamp switch and vent are located. I was feeling around that area to put pressure on the light switch and the entire plate assembly pulled away from the dash about 1 inch. Apparently, when they put my dash back together they did not properly put this part of the dash in correctly. So, I called my service advisor and I will bring it back in on Monday morning. I guess this is why it is better to live with these noises instead of having the dealer mess with pulling the dash apart. Someday I'll learn.

On a different note, I was just curious what cleaning products you all use on your cars?

anonymous02

It shouldn't even be a noticeable difference as long as the same tires (brand and model) are used. For a human to be able to detect 1/2" difference in the sidewall flex of an already stiff sidewall(ed) tire, would be superhuman skills and abilities.

I just upgraded to Toyo Spectrum 195/60R14 on our Jetta GL, and just the fact that they are NEW tires makes a big difference in ride and handling. Old tires were 195/55HR14 (or VR, I forget) in Bridgestone RE something.

While a less "performancey" type of tire, they still seem better than what was on there, and are more confident in rain. Another month, and the Dunlop snows will be going on there anyhow.

justin

right now there are a plethora of 2002 Turbo, with Tip and sunroof, for UNDER $20k. Go to any Dc area VW website and look under "new car specials"....

maybe it is a trick, i don't know. but look in today's Post at the car ads too. right there in b&w. you can get a 2002 Cabrio that MSRP at $23k for $17k. it's crazy!

the good thing is that Vocus and my car have taken their biggest hits now. so, nexy year they shouldn't decrease in value as much. the first year (or first 5 minutes actually) is always the worst as far as losing money.

blueguydotcom

right now there are a plethora of 2002 Turbo, with Tip and sunroof, for UNDER $20k. Go to any Dc area VW website and look under "new car specials"....


You said NEW VW's. Sorry but to me a 2002 on a dealer lot is anything but new. It's the 2003 MY now. A 2002 is a one year old car, regardless of the mileage or sold status. The only reason to ever buy last year's car: you're gonna hold onto it for more than a 4 years. Otherwise it's economic suicide. Then again, buying any car new is economic suicide.

donnabgood

Then again, buying any car new is economic suicide.

IMHO there is no better feeling than being able to buy a new car and getting handed the keys and driving off. I personally have always looked at it as a privelige and have always felt grateful that I am able to afford a new car..just so you know any car with less than 6000 miles is considered new. I can maybe understand having regret if the model year changed, but with the 02 and 03 Jettas the differences are so minor, that only if you are on these boards every day would you know the difference...certainly one would not be able to tell noticing it on the road. I paid 21800 for my 02 1.8T trip, leather,moonroof Jetta..I bet I can get 19 for it in 2005 when I sell it privatel with 36k miles..to me that is not economic suicide. I have driven the car for the best years of it's life for less than a grand a year..I speak from experience. I had a 92 GTI that I bought for 13.5 traded it in 3.5 years later with 40K was given 8800 by the dealer (only owed 4000 on contract) and was sold certified by VW the next weekend for 12.5..in 96 Golfs had stickered at 17 so someone thought they were getting a bargain comparing it to that price.. same thing will happen to us when Jetta prices rise steadily over the next years especially with the intro of W8..

anonymous02

"You said NEW VW's. Sorry but to me a 2002 on a dealer lot is anything but new."

But not to the rest of the world...

"..The only reason to ever buy last year's car: you're gonna hold onto it for more than a 4 years."

...And who DOESN'T do that?

"... Otherwise it's economic suicide. Then again, buying any car new is economic suicide."

So then there is no reason NOT TO do it.

justin

if it has not been titled, it is indeed brand spanking new. and a good deal at that

i totally hear what people say about buying new. the depreciation just plain stinks. that said, i prefer to start fresh and brand new. if there are scratches on the car - they are MINE. creases in leather where my butt sits - due to MY butt. etc etc. i will never buy someone elses trade in. they got rid of it for a reason. i know i don't buy cars planning on trading in a year or year and a half. i just have had to because i was buying crappy cars. i feel bad for people that ended up with my old cars....(and if my coils go bad again, this one will be GONE just like that too)

vocus

I kinda thought the same thing about the 16s. I drove a NB loaner with the same size 16s as the WE has, and noticed the difference. The tires squeal around corners that my 17s do not. Thanks for the advice.

vocus

I just checked a couple of the DC area VW dealers, and could not even find a 2002 on their site in the inventory. I do, however, have a friend at Martens who was offering $4000 off MSRP of any 2002 Jetta on the lot. There were no turbos involved though, only 2.0s and TDIs.

vocus

The headlight knob is suppose to pop out when you push it in and turn it like you are turning the lamps on. That's how you get it out. Totally normal, every new VW (from the Passat to the Golf) does that.

anonymous02

"I kinda thought the same thing about the 16s. I drove a NB loaner with the same size 16s as the WE has, and noticed the difference. The tires squeal around corners that my 17s do not. Thanks for the advice. "

Question: Are they the same brand and style of tire? Or are one a higher rated tire than the other?

vocus

No, they are not the same tire. I don't know what kinda tires were on the NB, but they are usually Goodyears. I have Michelins, supposedly the best ones out there. So that might be the difference.

The sizes are 205/55R16 vs. 225/45R17 though.

I am not going to trade the wheels anyway, I am thinking about selling the car soon. I wanna go back to school, and can't afford students loans with a high car insurance rate and note as well. Also wanna use the extra money for some home improvements, something that will actually make me money instead of cause me to lose it.

anonymous02

"No, they are not the same tire."

So then the comparison was completely off.

sean89

Hi everyone,

I have a 2002 jetta 1.8T. I’ve had the car for 7 months. This morning tried to turn my radio on and it did not turn on.. I tried to turn the radio on when the car was running and when it was off, but had no luck. The radio will not even eject the CD that is currently in the cd player. I do not have the monsoon. I heard about radio troubles with the monsoon system, but was surprised to see that even my standard radio is broken. I’ll have to call VW and take it in for repair, I guess . Has anyone had such an experience
With there Jetta radio? If so was the dealer able to fix the problem and what did they do to fix the radio. I fear that when they fix the radio they’ll have to remove it from the dash and which will somehow introduce more rattles to my car. I live in the DC area, and I hear many dealerships aren’t good at fixing car problems, does anyone know of a reliable VW dealership that can be trusted to fix my radio? Also is it true that I should expect VW to give me a loaner, or does it depend on the dealer?

Thanks in advance

fish8

It's not the knob that pulls out, it's the entire dash piece that houses the light dimmer, light turn switch and vent. When the dealer diassembled the dash, they did not properly put this section of the dash back on properly. I think you are referring to the fog lights right?

vocus

It's fuse #42 that's bad. Take it to the dealer and they will know what's wrong with it. It's a common Monsoon problem, happend to my car too.

vocus

I know they weren't the same size tire. The thing was, I was going to trade for the WE wheels (like Blueguy has) for my car (I have 17s). I looked up the WE size wheels, and found that the tire size is the same as the NB loaner I had. I remembered from driving it almost 4000 miles that tire grip in fast corners wasn't as good as my 17s are.

vocus

Oh crap, that is not right then!

No, not the fog lights. I don't have those. If you have your headlamp switch in the "off" position then you push it IN (not pull it out), it will "sink" into the dash. While holding it in, turn it like you are turning the lights on and pull it. The switch will come out. That's normal. I didn't know the entire panel was loose though. That's not normal!

anonymous02

THAT is the point.

If you put the same tires (in your size) on the wheels, I bet the difference would be negligible, if any at all.

You are comparing two different tires and different sizes, and assuming the size is what accounts for the difference in handling instead of the type of tire.

Can I sell you some canvas converse sneakers for the same price as some Nike Air running shoes, just because they are larger?

vocus

I know what you meant. I was going to trade for appearance purposes, and I realized the tires were smaller. I asked Blueguy if there was a big difference before I remembered having the driving experience for myself. Common sense would have told me that it would be different anyway. I had too many things going on this past Friday at work to think straight though.

Anyway, I am not going to trade. And you can't put 17" tires on 16" wheels, can you? If you wanted to, I am sure you could find tires with a comparable profile though.

Anyway, it's not important anymore.