2015 vs 2016 SEL

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jul 16, 2019
Messages
11
Location
Fontana California
Hello everyone

I am new to this forum and will be new to the EV world

Currently i am looking to purchase a used e-golf this weekend. Looking at:

2015 SEL White w/Black interior & 18,217 miles $15,000 OTD
or
2016 SEL Night blue/Black interior & 18,079 miles $16,500 OTD

My question to all... Is it worth just forking up the extra $1,500 and go with the 2016. monthly payment difference is $40 (im leaning to the 2016)

I will be using this car only to commute from and to work.

Just wanted to get everyone's thoughts on this.
 
2016, Hands down. 2015 has no way of changing charging settings in the car (max / min SoC, delayed charging, pre-conditioning car's interior prior to departure) - you must use Car-Net web or phone app (which don't always work) to perform this simple task, which, in my opinion, is so MUCH easier to setup in the car. Also, I don't know if VW charges for Car-net service for the 2015 - maybe 2015 owners can chime in.
 
Depends on how much premium you are willing to pay for a 2016 over a 2015 SEL. I am certain if the discount was deep enough, you'd jump on a 2015 SEL to keep the payments down and some spare cash in your pocket, for the lack of a few features, you may or may not hardly ever use.

Everyone's missions and needs are different, are you willing to pay for it, or keep the payments down? Your call.

I live in So CA, there's no way I'd buy a blue car. First it's always hot, and second, it never stays looking clean, and third, dark colors show every single ding, dent, chips and swirls in the body and paint. I'll never again buy a dark colored car, royal PIA to keep it clean and nice looking. YMMV, this is all IMHO, I did a lot of stupid things when I was younger, with choices in cars, that looking back in hindsight, I ask myself what the hell was I thinking back then? Dark cars in hot areas of the country, where it's dirty or dusty all the time, was not one of my better choices. Since then, I've owned almost all white or light colored cars, and never once regretted it.
 
2016 has CarPlay/android Auto, battery management control onboard, and has the cute blue accent lights in the interior. extra year of battery warranty too.

battery management and CarPlay would be worth it to me, but perhaps not to you.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone.

The dark color does make me think twice. They dealer just called last night and they are willing to drop it to $16K for the 2016 SEL.

decisions decisions....

Will post a picture of the car i decide to go with.

Again thanks for your help. Points well taken
 
Sparklebeard said:
2016 has CarPlay/android Auto, battery management control onboard, and has the cute blue accent lights in the interior. extra year of battery warranty too.

battery management and CarPlay would be worth it to me, but perhaps not to you.

Extra year of battery warranty?! 2015s have 8 years/100k miles/70% capacity warranty just like every other eGolf in the USA.

The only thing I would personally consider worth the extra $1500 between 2015 and 2016 SELs in question is the onboard battery management control (and maybe color, darker colors can be more time consuming to keep looking good with black being the worst). We're not talking about a car that goes on long road trips so for me Android Auto or CarPlay are a meh. Accent lights are always nice, but not sure what financial value I would put on it. $1500 savings buys you a CarNet subscription for a long time with cash left over. For me, that is the only real difference to me between a 2015 and 2016. The 2016 may have slightly more value if you really must have CarPlay or Android Auto.

If you buy from a VW dealer you might still be able to get CarNet free for a while. We were given 90 days free for the full plan and it reverted to the free EV Only plan that hasn't expired yet (but that was back in 2017).

I would for sure take a 2015 SEL over a 2016 SE.

Also, if considering a 2015 be aware there was an issue with the charging module hardware/firmware in the 2015 where it was erratic and incompatible with Clipper Creek EVSEs when using the charge timer. I am not sure how you would handle that out of warranty so something to be concerned with if buying used. There are threads here with service tickets with part numbers (the module needs to be replaced and firmware loaded so a dealer only fix that you don't even want to think about out of warranty). The forum threads were how we found out about it and had it fixed under warranty a few weeks after purchase. Has worked great with our Clipper Creek ever since. I am not sure what other EVSEs were affected, but it was due to some deviation from standards on VW's part so the problem may not be limited to Clipper Creek.
 
I just received another call from a dealership with a 2016 SEL Black on Black.

The car has 27K miles on it and they are letting it go for $16K out the door.

I feel like the 9k difference in mileage is worth paying an extra $500 for the 2016 SEL Night Blue w/Black.

Does everyone agree or is it just me?
 
msvphoto said:
Extra year of battery warranty?! 2015s have 8 years/100k miles/70% capacity warranty just like every other eGolf in the USA.

My mistake, wording was not good there!

I should have said, there would be longer balance remaining of the original 8 year battery warranty on the newer car. As a new car it's the same, but the 8 year clock would have started on the 2015 earlier than the clock started on the 2016. In hindsight, saying "a year" made it really confusing.
 
carmoyomazam said:
I just received another call from a dealership with a 2016 SEL Black on Black.

The car has 27K miles on it and they are letting it go for $16K out the door.

I feel like the 9k difference in mileage is worth paying an extra $500 for the 2016 SEL Night Blue w/Black.

Does everyone agree or is it just me?

I would agree with you.

The mileage probably isn't a DRASTIC factor (I bought my 16 with 19k on it and it now has 28k on it, and I'm not sure if you could really tell the difference), but the fewer miles you have on it the more warranty you have left.

The black is a BEAUTIFUL looking car, but my experience is that it's a nightmare to keep the paintwork looking good, between what feels like inches of pollen that seems to fall every couple of hours and the remarkable ability of black cars to show swirls!

Metallic dark blue is probably a bit easier in that regard!

Edit: cctop's advice is better than this. If range is a concern and you're not 100% set on the SEL, a 2019 SE might end up costing less depending on your situation
 
For not much more money -- and possibly less -- you could get a new 2019 with a longer range than the 2016.

People on this board have reported getting a 2019 for under $25k. You will get the $7500 Federal rebate, and if you're in California you may be eligible for a $2500 rebate depending on your income as well as a rebate from your utility company.
 
cctop said:
For not much more money -- and possibly less -- you could get a new 2019 with a longer range than the 2016.

People on this board have reported getting a 2019 for under $25k. You will get the $7500 Federal rebate, and if you're in California you may be eligible for a $2500 rebate depending on your income as well as a rebate from your utility company.

You only get the $7500 TAX CREDIT, it's not a rebate, if you pay enough in federal income tax in the year in which you buy the e-Golf. The tax credit is not guaranteed, if you didn't earn enough to pay in enough in federal taxes to get the full credit.
 
I was hoping to stay as close to $200 a month on a car payment.

I will look around and see what's the best out the door price i can get on one.

Will keep everyone posted
 
Morning everyone

I ended up going with the 2016 SEL

Got my payment to $245 a month through my credit union. Being that it was a certified car i have 2 yrs / 24,000 miles working on it as well. Because i will only be driving this car to work i don't see putting 24K miles on it before the 2yrs.

Did almost have a melt down last night when i tried removing the charge from the car but remembered reading something on this forum about making sure to unlock the car so the charger would release. I could only image those that don't know about that. Must be scary

Thanks to all for the advise. I really considered the 2015 until i started reading and got your advise. Will most definitely be on here for future advise.

Now time to modify a bit

- Wind deflector
- Wheels and Tires (Future)
- Tint

Pretty much all you can do to it. Suggestions welcomed
 
carmoyomazam said:
Morning everyone

I ended up going with the 2016 SEL

Got my payment to $245 a month through my credit union. Being that it was a certified car i have 2 yrs / 24,000 miles working on it as well. Because i will only be driving this car to work i don't see putting 24K miles on it before the 2yrs.

Did almost have a melt down last night when i tried removing the charge from the car but remembered reading something on this forum about making sure to unlock the car so the charger would release. I could only image those that don't know about that. Must be scary

Thanks to all for the advise. I really considered the 2015 until i started reading and got your advise. Will most definitely be on here for future advise.

Now time to modify a bit

- Wind deflector
- Wheels and Tires (Future)
- Tint

Pretty much all you can do to it. Suggestions welcomed

Most important suggestion...

Read the owner's manual, immediately, several times, then sit down with the owners manual inside the car and go through all the things you are reading, so you completely know how to operate your new to you German e-Golf. It's not at all like Japanese or Korean cars.
 
carmoyomazam said:
Morning everyone

I ended up going with the 2016 SEL

Got my payment to $245 a month through my credit union. Being that it was a certified car i have 2 yrs / 24,000 miles working on it as well. Because i will only be driving this car to work i don't see putting 24K miles on it before the 2yrs.

Did almost have a melt down last night when i tried removing the charge from the car but remembered reading something on this forum about making sure to unlock the car so the charger would release. I could only image those that don't know about that. Must be scary

Thanks to all for the advise. I really considered the 2015 until i started reading and got your advise. Will most definitely be on here for future advise.

Now time to modify a bit

- Wind deflector
- Wheels and Tires (Future)
- Tint

Pretty much all you can do to it. Suggestions welcomed

This forum doesn't seem to have a bunch of guys into modifiying their cars. Most people here run their cars stock, but that being said, your car is a Mk 7 Golf, so anything you can do to a Mk 7, you can do to your e-golf. Have a look around at some ICE Golf conversions for inspiration, there are very few differences between an ICE Golf and E-golf, beyond the powertrain.
 
Back
Top