Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stever

Wowser, nice deal. Congrats!

kyfdx

robr2 said:

I'm a chronic shopper but I finally bit the bullet today after looking at used S60's, Mazda6's, and ILX's. Waiting for me later this week is a new 2015 Passat LE that was $6,000 off of MSRP with the $2,000 loyalty bonus. Silver over Black (the combination I said I didn't want unless the deal was unbelievable). It's a brand new car for $19,100.

Saw one of those in the showroom, yesterday... White with cream interior.. A lot of car for $25K MSRP... At $19K, it's just stupid..

andre1969

robr2 said:

I'm a chronic shopper but I finally bit the bullet today after looking at used S60's, Mazda6's, and ILX's. Waiting for me later this week is a new 2015 Passat LE that was $6,000 off of MSRP with the $2,000 loyalty bonus. Silver over Black (the combination I said I didn't want unless the deal was unbelievable). It's a brand new car for $19,100.

Wait...Passats are that inexpensive?! Hmm, maybe I should look into them a bit more. I've liked them ever since riding in my friend's "2001.5" model. I know the most recent version has taken some flack for being a bit too "Americanized", but that only made it more appealing to me.

Make sure you post pics when you get it!

nyccarguy

@robr2 - mazel Tov & congrats on the Passat Punch!  It is a really nice car in its own right, but it is a steal at under $20K.  I happen to like VW's Reflex Silver.  I liked the Passat A LOT.  I took a very lengthy test drive of a 2015 Passat TDI SEL last summer.  The interior is very well finished.  The car is smooth & comfortable without being wallowy & floaty.  I really liked the Passat's understated looks, torquey diesel motor, & spacious interior.  It also has a massive trunk.  I hope you have as much luck with your new 2015 as you've had with your current Passat!

andre1969

ab348 said:

I never liked that model of the Impala. The exterior design in particular did not appeal to me. I had one for a week as a rental in Seattle back in '04. "Competent" is the best thing I could say about it. It wasn't awful. Of course I can understand the attraction of an older car with low miles and in good condition for a reasonable price as well, and how that may make one's choice different from what you would select in a perfect world.

You're actually giving it more credit than I would. I'd call the Impala more "mediocre" or "tolerable" at best. I remember looking at them back in late 1999 when I bought my Intrepid, and wasn't all that impressed. Not a fan of the interior materials, the high beltline, tight back seat, or exterior style. But, it was adequate enough to tolerate.

I actually liked the Malibu better at the time, mainly because it made better use of its interior space. The Malibu felt like it would be a better fit for four tall/big people ,whereas the Impala was a better choice for 5/6 shorter people.

I think you're onto something though, where I'm finding the attraction in the condition and the low miles, and that makes a car that I would have ignored otherwise suddenly attractive. And, I guess there's also the fact that, if it's the LS, it'll have the 3.8, which was a pretty good engine. FWIW, I don't think the 3.4 in the cheaper models was all that bad, although it had the plastic intake issue (something some years of 3.8 had as well).

My cousin's Impala, while not a first choice, still might make for a good "beater". The Park Ave is starting to worry me a bit. Every once in awhile it shorts out and the trip computer loses its memory...trip mileage, distance to empty, etc. And when it does that little spike, the fuel gauge goes all the way around and gets stuck on the wrong side of the little peg that's supposed to keep it from going below "E". Imidazol97 taught me a magnet trick to get the gauge back around, but it's done it enough I gave up on it! The paint's also getting a little thin here and there, and there's some rust forming at the bottom of one of the back doors. My house mate borrowed it the other day, and he said that there was smoke coming from the passenger seat...so either one of the power assists or the heated part of it may be on the fritz. I haven't been able to get it to repeat that stunt, though. Oh, and the Park Ave does need new shocks and struts.

On Friday night, my friend with the 2009 Grand Marquis came over to hang out, and I tried to put a bug in his ear saying "You really want a new car, don't you?" in the hopes of talking him into going and buying a new car so I could buy his Grand Marquis off of him. But, he didn't fall for it!

robr2

Right now many VW dealers here in Boston are doing $4K off of Passat LE's as the 16's are rolling in. I also had the $2K loyalty incentive - that is supposed to expire today. With the whole dieselgate issue, VW is tossing lots of cash on the hood to clear the inventory. I expect that 2016's might have heavy cash as well by the middle of winter.

The dealer I bought from has about 60 TDI's sitting in stock that are losing value everyday. It will be interesting to see what VW does when they come up with a fix.

berri

Andre, your just hanging on that Impala because of the relationship, but its probably better for both of you to just turn it down (you've already got a bunch of cars or something like that maybe).

Robr, I figured they'd start dealing on those until the lots thin out a bit, so you were probably smart to grab it now.

berri

Sandman, I'd strongly advise not going over your boss' head, it will come back to bite you, almost guaranteed. I know you're frustrated, but all I expect that will come out of it is less hours or a phase out. He won't trust you again.

suydam

Sandman, so are you now happy with your VW? I hope so!

Sandman6472

I have driven a few at work with this engine and a good combination but don't get one thing. Same engine is in my 2015 Golf and the other half's 2015 A3 and it seems to drive the best in the A3 according to my research. The Passat is a larger vehicle so not sure how it's all gonna work out. I find a big difference between the two and swear the A3 drives a bit smoother at least to my right leg. Am sure the larger Passat would also drive a bit slower due to it's size but again, would have to do a back to back to back to really find out.
Regardless, love the sound of the engine at full throttle...these being our first German vehicles, we like them a lot. Noticed on Saturday that my rear view mirror is rectangular while the A3's is ovalish...haven't had much drive time in it to be honest and my Golf has a couple thousand less on the clock to date. Wouldn't mind taking over her vehicle at some point as not sure she's going to keep it as long as I think she should. Another unfinished conversation.


The Sandman

iluvmysephia1

Ahh, Sandy, it's these "unfinished conversations" that keep our automotive love affairs going. I'm currently flushed over the 2016 Scion iM and it's not going away. Good thing with this deal is the manual trannied iM is $18,550, or right in that city ballpark. Mountain States Scion in Colorado seems to offer these iM's right where Scion advertises their price ta be, which is....heartwarming.

On another note, a spanking brand new 2015 VW Passat, also for $19,000 and change? A stick Passat in silver sort of warms my tummy a tad, carnuts! More on these hot subjects later.

corvette

robr2 said:

I'm a chronic shopper but I finally bit the bullet today after looking at used S60's, Mazda6's, and ILX's. Waiting for me later this week is a new 2015 Passat LE that was $6,000 off of MSRP with the $2,000 loyalty bonus. Silver over Black (the combination I said I didn't want unless the deal was unbelievable). It's a brand new car for $19,100.

Congrats! We're at 27 punches for the year. Did nobody buy anything in October? You guys are a bunch of slackers!

corvette

andre1969 said:

Every once in awhile it shorts out and the trip computer loses its memory...trip mileage, distance to empty, etc. And when it does that little spike, the fuel gauge goes all the way around and gets stuck on the wrong side of the little peg that's supposed to keep it from going below "E".

Are the battery and connections to the battery good? Had this same issue on my late grandfather's Park Avenue Ultra. Ran the battery down moving the power seats back and forth while cleaning it out. It could be a voltage problem.

roadburner

robr2 said:

I'm a chronic shopper but I finally bit the bullet today after looking at used S60's, Mazda6's, and ILX's. Waiting for me later this week is a new 2015 Passat LE that was $6,000 off of MSRP with the $2,000 loyalty bonus. Silver over Black (the combination I said I didn't want unless the deal was unbelievable). It's a brand new car for $19,100.

Nice!!!

stever

iluvmysephia1 said:

Good thing with this deal is the manual trannied iM is $18,550, or right in that city ballpark. Mountain States Scion in Colorado seems to offer these iM's right where Scion advertises their price ta be, which is....heartwarming

Scions have "Pure Price" so I doubt that you'd find any dealer advertising a different number. What they give you for your trade is highly negotiable however.

iluvmysephia1

Hold on...one's got to get the loyalty rebate I'll bet ta pop the price under $20,000 on those '15 VW Passats. I just remember Dad's 1966 VW Fastback in baby blue and IIRC 4-speed stick. I've never driven a Bug but those Fastback's - wow! Great handling in turns! One remembers these things.

Twas the small rig Dad taught me how ta drive stick in.

28firefighter

Congrats @robr2 ! That is a lot of car for the money. 

iluvmysephia1

Stever-yep, and of the 1 Kansas Scion dealer I've checked on in Wichita, and the one Oklahoma one I've popped in on online, they're both asking about a grand more, or more, than the Scion manufacturer Pure Price. 

Naughty dealers. But, ta take a 400-500 hundred mile trip west in to Colorado and take a peek at Mountain States Scion's website, and, lo and behold, I see Scion Pure Pricing. Just ta keep things interesting, eh?

Stay where you're at, you fool. Do it! Do it! Bouncy, happy little elf loving to cause chaos on one shoulder. The other little guy has a serious look, with one eyebrow sorta cocked upwards, saying "What are you smoking, man?"

jpp75

@robr2 Congrats on the new Passat, that's a great deal and a lot of car for the money!

stickguy

Rob, since you worry about range, also a good choice. Based on what we get in the Jettas, on a highway run I think you can easily do the 35ish EPA #. with the 18 gallon tank, I think 500 miles is doable. Have gotten well over 400 on the Jetta, and that is only 14 gallons!

robr2

Thanks all. It is a a great deal. The hardest part was waiting all day to find out what color I was getting. The dealer offered to do a swap and I asked for anything but black or silver and any interior other than black. They weren't able to find anything else so silver over black it is.

As my wife said "it's simply the old Passat but with a trunk."

On my test drive loop, the trip mpg was indicating 36 mpg. My current Passat would probably probably indicate in the 26 mpg range. And the new 1.8T runs on regular. I'll experiment with each grade over the course of a month each and see if it makes any difference,

suydam

I also bought a car on the lot at a great deal that wasn't the color I wanted -- carbon black. However, I did like the interior which is grey. Actually the longer I have owned it I have come to really like the color. Hope you'll have the same experience!

stickguy

Rob, don't bother. It just calls for RUG, and runs great (and pulls the MPG) on RUG. quick, too!

rayainsw

robr2 -
Congrats on the Passat.
I had one, for a while, over 15 years ago.
- Ray
8 cylinder - so not the best MPG......

au1994

@Robr...congrats. That is a heck of a lot of car for not a lot of money. Silver and black look great together, although I try to avoid back interior here in the Atlanta area.

andre1969

berri said:

Andre, your just hanging on that Impala because of the relationship, but its probably better for both of you to just turn it down (you've already got a bunch of cars or something like that maybe).

That's really good advice...harkens back to the old "don't do business with friends/relatives" sort of thing. Even with the best of intentions, if something goes south, it can ruin things. I'm leaning strongly towards passing on this Impala.

As for the "don't do business with friends" thing, that's how my friend with the Grand Marquis feels. Back in 2012, he traded his '04 Crown Vic on the Grand Marquis, and CarMax gave him a whopping $300 in trade. The '04 had something like 232,000 miles on it and the front and rear bumper fascias were peeling, and the a/c had some issue where it would turn off at random, and then come back on a few minutes later. But it still felt like it had plenty of life left in it. When I found out he only got $300 for it, I told him hell, I would've given him that for it...more even! But, he said he wouldn't have sold it to me, because he'd feel bad about it if something went wrong. I told him for $300, I wouldn't care. But, he'd still feel bad. And, I guess I could see his point. For instance, something totally off the wall could happen, such as the car stalling out on the interstate, and then me getting rear-ended by an 18 wheeler and having a fiery demise...

fintail

Congrats on the Passat. When the price is right, color becomes less important - that's how I am in my current car too. I don't really mind the silver, but I had other preferences. Savings makes up for it.

andre1969

fintail said:

Congrats on the Passat. When the price is right, color becomes less important - that's how I am in my current car too. I don't really mind the silver, but I had other preferences. Savings makes up for it.

That's how I was with my old 2000 Intrepid. I didn't really want silver, but in order to get me to take it, they threw in a 12-disc CD changer. Nothing like yesterday's high-tech!

I'm not a huge fan of white, either, as I had a white '68 Dart from 1992-2009, and my stepdad bought mainly white cars. But, I ended up with a white '12 Ram. Just couldn't beat the price. If I ever get another truck though, I'm going to shoot for one of the more eye-catching blues, or the more muted reds. I'd really love green, but on the Ram at least, it's so rare I think I'd have to custom order it.

henryn

Congrats on the Passat! It is really hard to pass up those deals right now. For my part of the country, TrueCar is showing $18,305 with the $2,000 owner loyalty and $500 American Express incentive.

I went down 2 weeks ago to investigate an ad for $16.1k, but that of course was not true, just a come on. This is still a hell of a nice deal under $20k, I think anyone in the market who can qualify for the owner loyalty would be wise to give this one serious consideration.

nyccarguy

Got some good news today.  The owner of the garage where I park my car took a look at the damage and said he would pay to get it fixed.  I'll shell out the money to get the car fixed & just take it off the monthly rent.  My body guy is on his way over here to take a look within the hour.

stever

That's a nice solution.

robr2

henryn said:

Congrats on the Passat! It is really hard to pass up those deals right now. For my part of the country, TrueCar is showing $18,305 with the $2,000 owner loyalty and $500 American Express incentive.

I went down 2 weeks ago to investigate an ad for $16.1k, but that of course was not true, just a come on. This is still a hell of a nice deal under $20k, I think anyone in the market who can qualify for the owner loyalty would be wise to give this one serious consideration.

Loyalty ended yesterday. Looks like some sign and drive offers today on 2016. I'm guessing the dealers did a great job clearing out the 2015 models.

My understanding is the VW needed October to refocus production on gas models. I have a feeling that they will rebound nicely over the next couple of months.

kyfdx

robr2 said:

henryn said:

Congrats on the Passat! It is really hard to pass up those deals right now. For my part of the country, TrueCar is showing $18,305 with the $2,000 owner loyalty and $500 American Express incentive.

I went down 2 weeks ago to investigate an ad for $16.1k, but that of course was not true, just a come on. This is still a hell of a nice deal under $20k, I think anyone in the market who can qualify for the owner loyalty would be wise to give this one serious consideration.

Loyalty ended yesterday. Looks like some sign and drive offers today on 2016. I'm guessing the dealers did a great job clearing out the 2015 models.

My understanding is the VW needed October to refocus production on gas models. I have a feeling that they will rebound nicely over the next couple of months.

Loyalty on Passats dropped to $1000 for November, so you made a grand by jumping in!

28firefighter

@kyfdx The new incentives aren't posted online yet, it seems. Do you know what they are for the GTI?

sda

sandman_6472 said:

Was hired for 25, first office worked me 35, before got to present office asked if I could do 30...sure, 2nd day there, told 24 for most of us. I don't want or need their benefits since I am an ex-government employee and get it through them. We shall see what happens here but do not really want to do Uber as there are crazies out there, hate to use my vehicle and my health problems really make 24/week the sweet spot as am on a couple then off a couple. The family thinks I need to stay with the 24 and call it a day...turned 61 yesterday and want to work until 65 and re-retire. Holding off using retirement accounts until I can also get some s s but the post office pension and s s have some issues getting along it seems.
Just want to work and make some extra funds and then move some place quiet and relax until I die!!!

The Sandman

Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoyed!

Michaell

28firefighter said:

@kyfdx The new incentives aren't posted online yet, it seems. Do you know what they are for the GTI?

Not yet ... either later today or tomorrow if we're lucky.

qbrozen

You guys got me thinking "hey, November is here!"
So what are the hot deals?

I do like my sister's Encore. Per the Buick site, there is a deal for 24mos/20k miles for $175 due at signing and $175/mo. That's cheap. I can't seem to get more details, though. There is a footnote symbol with no footnote to view. According to the wording, there seems to be some competitive lease cash involved, but I have no idea how much.

stickguy

I never wanted white. But love it on our Jetta. So who knows.

My local VW dealer is almost out of 2015 passats. So that ship probably sailed. Not that I was in market. Just need another scandal 2 years from now!

Brad, free is good. And more incentive to run it into the ground. Not sure how old your 1st born is, but maybe keep it for a learner car?

corvette

Not sure how quickly VW will rebound. EPA is alleging cheat devices on the V6 TDI as well, which VW is denying. If true, any EPA fine probably just got multiplied. 

qbrozen

VW battle is far from over. I'm still quite wary to touch them. It would need to be an unbelievable deal, preferably a lease. Of course, warranty work would still be a concern for me.

carnaught

qbrozen said:

You guys got me thinking "hey, November is here!"
So what are the hot deals?

I do like my sister's Encore. Per the Buick site, there is a deal for 24mos/20k miles for $175 due at signing and $175/mo. That's cheap. I can't seem to get more details, though. There is a footnote symbol with no footnote to view. According to the wording, there seems to be some competitive lease cash involved, but I have no idea how much.

The lease deal is for the base Encore with 10k miles per year, with tax and fees extra. It is probably similar to my lease where you have to prove you had another lease recently that you turned in, what they call "lease conquest", to get the deal. Mine has more "bells and whistles" than base, but keep in mind, you can deal on their lease terms. I've found it to be a comfortable small CUV, plus utilitarian and fun.

carnaught

Rob, congrats on the "punch". I really liked the 2011 Passat CC I had, and it was very reliable, and satisfying to drive.

Sandy, Happy B-day!

berri

So now the EPA has caught VW/Audi in the bigger diesels. I also read that VW may have cheated on EPA mileage numbers as well as emissions. I wonder if next will be conventional engine models? If so, I'd then expect to see more companies caught down the road because German or not, that would be pretty bold to do just on your own.

cdnpinhead

In for a penny, in for a pound.

stever

Some of the 800,000 VWs involved in the emissions (CO2) problem involve a gas engine. Sounds like most of this particular batch of problem cars are in Europe.

28firefighter

stever said:

Some of the 800,000 VWs involved in the emissions (CO2) problem involve a gas engine. Sounds like most of this particular batch of problem cars are in Europe.

It appears it's related to a 1.4L gasser that has some kind of cylinder deactivation technology. 

stever

Big mess. Now that Porsche is implicated, the newest guy, Matthias Mueller, may have to go too, per the pundits.

js06gv

My former boss's daughter has been driving for just under a year and totaled her '12 Jetta the other day. Nobody hurt but a little embarrassed as she pulled out in front of a neighbor's Acadia. He paid 12K-ish for it last year and got almost exactly what he paid from insurance. He knows to consult with me on car-buying but was in a hurry and picked up a replacement '14 Jetta with 9K miles for 13,300. Not a bad deal - don't know trim level, assume base or one up from that - but he was a little bummed when I told him I've seen some local dealers with new base '15 Jettas for 14.5K due to VWs current troubles. I know that's the one with the undesirable engine, but still a good deal. He's not a car guy, but thinks the '14 has better pickup than the '12. Said neither is a turbo. I can't remember if base engines changed from '12 to '14? I know the body style did.

au1994

Wow. If I would have totaled my car at 17 the only thing I would have received from my parents was a new pair of Nike's.

Michaell

My lease isn't up for another year (in fact, the anniversary date is this coming Sunday).

However, I did express an interest on-line about the Mazda CX-3 so I got an offer of a $25 gift card if I took a test drive. Had the time, so I went to the dealer.

Test drove an AWD Touring with Tech package - MSRP of $25,500. This package offers a sunroof, Bose sound system and a Sirius/XM subscription for 4 months.

The color was Ceramic Metallic, which is a very light grey that turns to white when the sun goes down. The test drive was all surface streets, which is OK since 95% of my driving is done in town.

Impressions - this is a very well put together vehicle. At first glance, it doesn't really seem all that different in size from my Elantra - perhaps a bit taller, in keeping with the AWD. Easy to get into and out of, which is important as I do this many times a night when I'm delivering. Comfortable seats - these were a combination of pleather on the bolsters and cloth in the middle. Standard push button start in the Touring trim - again, another feature I'm really hoping to get with the next car. Large analog speedometer, and the tach is digitally displayed, along with the fuel level and other dashboard readouts (MPG, etc.).

Ubiquitous iPad like display sticking out of the dash. While I don't like the design feature, I found that I wasn't distracted by it as much as I would have thought. There is an i-Drive type controller on the console, but I didn't really play with it during the test drive.

Like most Mazdas, this was tuned to the sporty side. The ride wasn't harsh, but probably firmer than the Elantra. The power output of the two engines are almost identical (148HP from 1.8L on the Hyundai, 146HP from 2.0L on the Mazda), so acceleration seemed pretty similar. The Mazda offers a "sport" mode for the transmission, which I doubt I'll use. MPG on the Mazda is 27/32, which is not bad, given that the Hyundai is 27/37 and doesn't have AWD. I've been averaging about 28MPG in two years with the Elantra, so I would expect about the same.

Inside dimensions seem to be a bit smaller than the Elantra, but that's OK - it's almost always just me, or me and pizza, or me and my golf clubs. With the seats folded down, there seemed to be enough room for the clubs.

The Touring comes standard with 16" wheels and tires, which I prefer (the GT trim level has 18's, which I suspect would make the ride more harsh).

All in all, a very nice and competent vehicle. If only it weren't so expensive to lease (the best numbers this month are for 33 months - .00012 MF and 54% residual, which still works out to about $300/mo before tax)