2019 eGolf Prices Paid

[jeffy1021]

I was planning to buy out my leased 2016 in January at around 12k, but that doesn't seem wise when I can get a 2019 se for 24k before rebates!

 

[egolfEr]

Yes, I was in exactly the same boat, it was cheaper to buy new than my 2016 lease. 2019 is better in every way, range, features, seats, updates to the rear, better lights. The only downside is that my 2016 70% of the parts were from Germany, 2019 30% of the parts are from China. 2016 just felt more solid.

 

[Sparklebeard]

Yes, I was in exactly the same boat, it was cheaper to buy new than my 2016 lease. 2019 is better in every way, range, features, seats, updates to the rear, better lights. The only downside is that my 2016 70% of the parts were from Germany, 2019 30% of the parts are from China. 2016 just felt more solid.

2019 and 2016 feel pretty equally solid to me. I would personally hesitate on judging the components based on which factory they came out of with no real evidence of quality differences otherwise. Your smartphone is made with almost entirely parts from China, too.

 

[egolfEr]

Thanks for educating us all, had no idea everything is made in China and not the 'merica. Thanks for that.

With that said, check the sticker that came with your '16 vs '19 eGolf, both manufactured in Wolfsburg. But the parts have change considerably. Even the L1 charger has been downgraded from a ClipperCreek to the new one. This is all a part of the cost cutting. VW is losing money on each car they sell for sure. You are able to get an eGolf for $23k becasue they have to meet the 9 state ZEV requirements in order to keep selling ICE. Other manufacturers think instead of buying a loss car they just buy the credits. Fiat is paying tesla $2B to buy their credits.

i have had 0 errors on my '16. In 4 weeks, I have had a few already on the '19. The build quality to me personally has decreased. Slightly more wind noise, more rattles drving down the road, things dont feel as crisp. I drive my '16 and '19 back to back so the changes are very aparent to me.

 

[Sparklebeard]

Thanks for educating us all, had no idea everything is made in China and not the 'merica. Thanks for that.

With that said, check the sticker that came with your '16 vs '19 eGolf, both manufactured in Wolfsburg. But the parts have change considerably. Even the L1 charger has been downgraded from a ClipperCreek to the new one. This is all a part of the cost cutting. VW is losing money on each car they sell for sure. You are able to get an eGolf for $23k becasue they have to meet the 9 state ZEV requirements in order to keep selling ICE. Other manufacturers think instead of buying a loss car they just buy the credits. Fiat is paying tesla $2B to buy their credits.

i have had 0 errors on my '16. In 4 weeks, I have had a few already on the '19. The build quality to me personally has decreased. Slightly more wind noise, more rattles drving down the road, things dont feel as crisp. I drive my '16 and '19 back to back so the changes are very aparent to me.

I'd bring it into the dealership to get it check out, personally. What have they said about it when you brought it to them? Particularly about the errors? My own experience has not matched yours; hopefully yours is the outlier and not mine!

 

[ElectricTerrapin]

Thanks for educating us all, had no idea everything is made in China and not the 'merica. Thanks for that.

With that said, check the sticker that came with your '16 vs '19 eGolf, both manufactured in Wolfsburg. But the parts have change considerably. Even the L1 charger has been downgraded from a ClipperCreek to the new one. This is all a part of the cost cutting. VW is losing money on each car they sell for sure. You are able to get an eGolf for $23k becasue they have to meet the 9 state ZEV requirements in order to keep selling ICE. Other manufacturers think instead of buying a loss car they just buy the credits. Fiat is paying tesla $2B to buy their credits.

i have had 0 errors on my '16. In 4 weeks, I have had a few already on the '19. The build quality to me personally has decreased. Slightly more wind noise, more rattles drving down the road, things dont feel as crisp. I drive my '16 and '19 back to back so the changes are very aparent to me.

We had 0 errors on our '16 SEL, and 0 error on our '19 SEL. Of course, our '19 is with us for only 4 weeks. But based on those 4 weeks, the subjective build quality is identical. The '19 is a bit zippier. No rattles or more wind noise when compared to the '16.

It's probably human to blame it on parts 'made in China.' But that's a bit simplistic. VW is a multi-national firm and they produce and source globally. We had a Jetta (99.5) that was assembled in Mexico - that car was a mess. (We still kept it for 19 years.) The biggest problem on that car was the engine that continuously leaked motor oil. That engine was imported from Wolfsburg, Germany. I'm sure there were a lot of people blaming the Mexican assembly line for the faulty piston rings...

egolfEr, can you share with us what problems your '19 has?

 

[egolfEr]

Please read my previous post about cost cutting...that doesn't always imply a degradation in quality but in my case I am seening some signs. Nothing conclusive, just yet, and hopefully nothing at all. People have reported problems with the new level 1 charger that comes with the vehicle.

I have had 2 erros thus far. During driving, we received some kind of electrical error that flashed, and went away. A similar error, showed up again while starting the car. We have not seen it since then. If it happens again, I will try to take a photo, and probably take it into the dealership.

 

[bravo0123]

Thanks for educating us all, had no idea everything is made in China and not the 'merica. Thanks for that.

With that said, check the sticker that came with your '16 vs '19 eGolf, both manufactured in Wolfsburg. But the parts have change considerably. Even the L1 charger has been downgraded from a ClipperCreek to the new one. This is all a part of the cost cutting. VW is losing money on each car they sell for sure. You are able to get an eGolf for $23k becasue they have to meet the 9 state ZEV requirements in order to keep selling ICE. Other manufacturers think instead of buying a loss car they just buy the credits. Fiat is paying tesla $2B to buy their credits.

i have had 0 errors on my '16. In 4 weeks, I have had a few already on the '19. The build quality to me personally has decreased. Slightly more wind noise, more rattles drving down the road, things dont feel as crisp. I drive my '16 and '19 back to back so the changes are very aparent to me.

I had wind noise with my 2015. I took it back and they adjusted the door, problem solved. I actually didn't even drive the 2019 before I bought it. Hm. I guess I will find out.

 

[egolfEr]

My '16 also had more of a whirlling sound on regen...the '19 that noise is not there. The '16 motors were made in Germay....'19 made in China. So in this area for me, there was actually an improvement.

 

[jeffy1021]

I was planning to buy out my leased 2016 in January at around 12k, but that doesn't seem wise when I can get a 2019 se for 24k before rebates!

I ended up "trading in" my 2016 SE w/DCFC for a 2019 w/DAP today at VW Oakland. Basically they just added on my remaining lease payments to the price of the car. Discount was 10k off, it was relatively painless.

 

[furiouschads]

industry observation on VW dealers in DC suburbs (VA).

https://www.reddit.com/r/askcarsales/comments/c8cem6/moving_to_virginia_hows_car_sales/

 

[Eurogeek]

Just purchased an egolf in the Carlsbad area. The deals on these cars are absurd.

Got $10,750 off the purchase price. Google “slickdeals Egolf” for information on this deal. The comments on that page are relevant.

 

[eGolfJoe]

I bought a 2019 today, $23,575 before TTL. This was in Los Angeles on an SE from Downtown LA VW.
Took me a week of internal fighting over whether to buy one to replace my 03' Jetta TDI or not. I'm going to miss that car with the 50MPG, low RPM grunt of the diesel, 700 miles per tank and the huge trunk. This eGolf will NOT save me money even though work has free chargers (compared to me buying diesel instead). Sure like having a new car though.

Now time to figure out which level 2 charger to buy.

Oh, on the freeway drive home there was droning coming from the rear at 65-70mph. Hoping it's just the new low rolling resistance tires and it'll go away soon.

 

[Spektre]

I bought a 2019 today, $23,575 before TTL. This was in Los Angeles on an SE from Downtown LA VW.
Took me a week of internal fighting over whether to buy one to replace my 03' Jetta TDI or not. I'm going to miss that car with the 50MPG, low RPM grunt of the diesel, 700 miles per tank and the huge trunk. This eGolf will NOT save me money even though work has free chargers (compared to me buying diesel instead). Sure like having a new car though.

Now time to figure out which level 2 charger to buy.

Oh, on the freeway drive home there was droning coming from the rear at 65-70mph. Hoping it's just the new low rolling resistance tires and it'll go away soon.

Congrats on you new car and welcome to the club! You should be quite happy with the low rpm grunt of the eGolf, considering all the torque is available instantly with an electric motor.

Why do you think the eGolf won't save you money over the TDI, especially if you're charging free at work? I understand if you're talking about having a car payment when you didn't have one before, but everything I've read about TCO on EVs pegs them considerably lower than ICE vehicles.

I own a 40A OpenEVSE deluxe charger that I bought back in 2016 and the Chargepoint home 40A charger - I would recommend both/either to anyone.

Hopefully the droning was just the tires. I've also found that I hear more noise from the back wheels in the hatchback (Golf) body than I do in the sedan (Jetta), but that could be my imagination. Did you have the back seats down or the hatch deck/cover off?

 

[JoulesThief]

I bought a 2019 today, $23,575 before TTL. This was in Los Angeles on an SE from Downtown LA VW.
Took me a week of internal fighting over whether to buy one to replace my 03' Jetta TDI or not. I'm going to miss that car with the 50MPG, low RPM grunt of the diesel, 700 miles per tank and the huge trunk. This eGolf will NOT save me money even though work has free chargers (compared to me buying diesel instead). Sure like having a new car though.

Now time to figure out which level 2 charger to buy.

Oh, on the freeway drive home there was droning coming from the rear at 65-70mph. Hoping it's just the new low rolling resistance tires and it'll go away soon.

Coming from a TDI, you're in for range shock from your e-Golf.

If you want more range from your e-Golf, I really do suggest ( and I live in the Valley), that you slow it down to 55 or 60 mph in the e-Golf, if you don't want to drain that tiny 3 to 4 gallon of diesel fuel equivalent "tank" of energy quickly and need to extend your range between recharges. 40 to 45 in town, with BLVD lights and stop signs, is where the e-Golf kills it on e-MPGs. On the freeway is where it really sucks, figuratively, the electrons out of your fuel tank battery. It's a completely different beast in usage compared to a TDI, you've new operating parameters you need to adapt to , plan with, and learn to deal with. Long Time TDI owner here, e-Golfs lose range fast on freeways going much over 60 mph, exponentially.

Much more planning on where to top off on electrons is required with an e-Golf vs a TDI. Remember, where you charge is a charging station, not a parking spot. Learn to show some consideration for your fellow BEV drivers, they might need a charge too, from a public EVSE, don't hound dog an EVSE spot, move off it before your time is up, so someone else can recharge.

 

[Sparklebeard]

slow it down to 55 or 60 mph in the e-Golf

Since when does traffic get up to 55 on a Los Angeles freeway :mrgreen:

In seriousness though, this is the main advice I'd give to any EV owner. Range and speed have an inverse relationship, stick to the speed limit if you want to make a long trip. Fortunately the 36kWh models seem to move that "Goldilocks zone" speed up a bit to around 60-65mph, which makes all the difference for comfort driving around the city.

 

[egolfEr]

I have been pleasantly getting on average 4.4mi/kw and around 150ish miles of range with the new battery. Even driving 70mph on the freeway.

For most people this 150mile range is more than good enough I would say 98%.

 

[JoulesThief]

slow it down to 55 or 60 mph in the e-Golf

Since when does traffic get up to 55 on a Los Angeles freeway :mrgreen:

In seriousness though, this is the main advice I'd give to any EV owner. Range and speed have an inverse relationship, stick to the speed limit if you want to make a long trip. Fortunately the 36kWh models seem to move that "Goldilocks zone" speed up a bit to around 60-65mph, which makes all the difference for comfort driving around the city.

As they say, timing is everything.... I avoid going anywhere the rest of the herd mentality folks do during rush hour traffic times. So, the freeways are usually wide open when I am on them, since I'm retired and the word "work" is now a dirty 4 letter word in my vocabulary. I more than paid my dues in that stew known as numbered freeways here in L.A.

 

[eGolfJoe]

Did you have the back seats down or the hatch deck/cover off?

Seats were not down and the deck cover was in place.

Drove to work today (Ventura to Goleta) and didn't hear the noise at all. Maybe it was freeway groove noise, not sure.
Work chargers are at least 6KW, nicely charged it up almost fully today but somehow put it into scheduled charging mode after showing a co-worker the car at breaktime. Luckily I caught it 1.5 hours before I had to leave for the day so I was able to get that much more time into the pack.

 

[eGolfJoe]

Coming from a TDI, you're in for range shock from your e-Golf.

Oh I know, hence why I was going back and forth on whether to buy one or not. Also going to miss bombing down the freeway doing 85-90 like it was nothing.

If you want more range from your e-Golf, I really do suggest ( and I live in the Valley), that you slow it down to 55 or 60 mph in the e-Golf

I kept the cruise control at 70. It was a nice compromise to not be the slowest car on the commute and also returned 4.2 KW/mi on the way to work and 4.4KW/mi on the way home (with the AC running).


Anyone else beside me think it's looks kludgey under the hood? Looks a bit like a homebrew EV car. (FWIW the 2019 doesn't have a plastic VW emblem cover under the hood) And the menagerie of coolant hoses going everywhere!

Since when does traffic get up to 55 on a Los Angeles freeway

There are moments Usually Saturday morning on the way to San Gabriel for dim sum it's 85-90 the whole way.

Had an unpleasant surprise when I added the eGolf to our insurance. $1K more per year to insure this eGolf over my Jetta. $500 more than the wife's now 1 year old 2018 Mazda 3 which we bought new.