Buyers of e-Golf. Did you pay MSRP full price?

[czar]

$29,600 in CT for LE before state and fed rebates if it's helpful for anyone.

 

[Stretch2727]

Any recent East Coast purchases on an SEL? Trying to get an idea what people have paid.

We want to purchase as the car will get pretty low mileage and we tend to keep cars for 10-12 years.

 

[RonDawg]

We want to purchase as the car will get pretty low mileage and we tend to keep cars for 10-12 years.

It may still be better to lease initially, then purchase the car at lease end should you decide to keep it. A few advantages of this:

• You will get the $7500 Federal tax credit immediately regardless of your actual tax situation. If you purchase, you have to wait until next tax season to claim it, and depending on your tax circumstances you may not be able to get the whole thing back.
• On some leases, VW is slicing as much as $6k off MSRP BEFORE Federal tax credit is figured in. I don't know if they will similarly discount the car on purchases.
• Depreciation on most mass-market EVs is absolutely HORRIBLE. My 2012 Leaf, leased 30 months ago with an MSRP of around $35k is now worth just under $10k. I don't expect the eGolf to retain its value any better. If you should decide later on that the eGolf is not for you, or something comes on the market that you like a lot better, you are facing similar depreciation unless world events cause EVs to become worth their weight in gold. If you leased, you can say "Auf Wiedersehen" to the eGolf at lease end if you don't want to keep it.

 

[Stretch2727]

We want to purchase as the car will get pretty low mileage and we tend to keep cars for 10-12 years.

It may still be better to lease initially, then purchase the car at lease end should you decide to keep it. A few advantages of this:

• You will get the $7500 Federal tax credit immediately regardless of your actual tax situation. If you purchase, you have to wait until next tax season to claim it, and depending on your tax circumstances you may not be able to get the whole thing back.
• On some leases, VW is slicing as much as $6k off MSRP BEFORE Federal tax credit is figured in. I don't know if they will similarly discount the car on purchases.
• Depreciation on most mass-market EVs is absolutely HORRIBLE. My 2012 Leaf, leased 30 months ago with an MSRP of around $35k is now worth just under $10k. I don't expect the eGolf to retain its value any better. If you should decide later on that the eGolf is not for you, or something comes on the market that you like a lot better, you are facing similar depreciation unless world events cause EVs to become worth their weight in gold. If you leased, you can say "Auf Wiedersehen" to the eGolf at lease end if you don't want to keep it.

You are probably correct. The lease to purchase is probably a better way to go..... I had a Ford Focus Electric and had the same experience. The residual was $21K but it is now for sale retail for $16K after I turned it in. Gives me the option in 3 years to decide what to do.

I was just wondering if anyone had gotten a better deal on a purchase. The Focus rebate is actually better for a purchase right now. As VW seems to hide their incentives from the end customers it is hard to tell if they would give a better deal on a purchase.

 

[vetaldj]

Mine sale price was $30K for SEL before all rebates. I did lease back on April.

I did lease with intention to buy it out. After all calculation it turned to be better then buy it outright, mostly because of $7500 credit that applies to lease right away (I did calculated that the most I can get with filling tax return will be $5500, so leasing was best option for me).

I did use PenFed Auto buying program to get price, then negotiated with all dealers around by email, so far it's the best program to get initial starting point. I did buy 2 cars for great price with it.

 

[phr00t]

I purchased my eGolf, particularly because I think I got a really good deal.

New 2015 Premium SEL, for $26,700 "out the door" (including taxes, fees & trade in). I got $2000 for my trade in, so the SEL Premium was $28,700. Also got 0% financing for 72 months. My monthly payments will be about $363 (I paid $500 in a deposit upfront). Looking forward to getting the federal ($7500) & state ($2500) tax rebates, bringing my "out of pocket" cost to $16,700.

Saw many posts in here saying it is better to lease than buy... but with this deal, I think buying was a much better deal. Now to just make the battery last as much as possible -- don't expect range problems in the foreseeable future with my driving habits (and we have a backup ICE car).

 

[JoulesThief]

I bought my 2015 SEL Premium, with $2000 VV owner loyalty package, no trade in, no finance, straight deal, for about $27,700, Out The Door, about $25,190 before taxes and registration. This was on October 6th, 2015. Vw is offering dealers a lot of incentives right now. No trade in, no financing, bought outright, lien free. Which is probably what helped me so much on price, that and owning 3 TDI's. Perhaps my blood is VW blue? :shock:

Then there's the CA rebate for $2500, Fed tax rebate for $7500, and LA DWP offers another 500 to 750 for the install.

Now if I could just fix the radio always resetting to 88.7 when it first gets turned on every morning, and the HVAC to remain in the setting where I left it when turning the vehicle on every morning. Is that a reflash update, along with Car-net, at the dealership?,

 

[RedDreadMorgan]

I bought my 2015 SEL Premium, with $2000 Vw owner loyalty package, no trade in, no finance, straight deal, for about $27,700, Out The Door, about $25,190 before taxes and registration. This was on October 6th, 2015. Vw is offering dealers a lot of incentives right now.

Holy cow, best I've seen in my search is 30k before the loyalty or other incentives. Who is giving these away for 25k?

Local dealer really wants me to take their 2015 SEL, They knocked off 6k (30,540), then with the lease, they can knock off the 7500 federal, and 2000 loyalty. Lease offer is around $325, but it can drop depending on how much I want to dump in up front.

For a 2016 SEL so far, its MSRP or maybe a little under as the starting point, one dealer was able to get the lease a smidgen under 390 for 36/10k.

Still on the fence about all this.

 

[JoulesThief]

My thought process is simple.... The 5.5 ", or the 8" navigation /infotainment system is slow as molasses and sucks, period. That's the biggest change I see in the 2016's over the 2015's, both worthless pieces of hardware I rarely if ever use, since 1. the car has such short range, it's useless, and 2 I already have Google Maps on my S6, so the Samsung is a much better piece of equipment that I own already.

I like keeping $$$$ in my pocket, so jumping on a good 2015 SEL deal was what made the decision easier for me, more than enough savings to buy my Next Big Thing smart phone in a year or two.

 

[JoulesThief]

Norm Reeves VW in Irvine, CA is sitting on a ton of new 2015 E-Golf SELs. I'd call them on the phone, give them your email address, tell them you are shopping hard, and intend to buy within the next week.

I never trade in my old car, that's an invitation as good as dropping the bar of soap in a men's bathhouse, it's fine if you enjoy that kind of action, but I don't.

 

[no2gas]

I ended up getting a 2015 SEL for $21800 including tax, title and registration after trading in my 2007 VW GTI with 128,000 miles. This is in Massachusetts. After the $2500 state and %7500 fed rebate, should $11,800.

 

[JoulesThief]

I ended up getting a 2015 SEL for $21800 including tax, title and registration after trading in my 2007 VW GTI with 128,000 miles. This is in Massachusetts. After the $2500 state and %7500 fed rebate, should $11,800.

Your numbers are useless for comparison purposes, without knowing what you received for trade in value for your old car. Apples to oranges, as no one else has a 2007 VW GTI to trade in with 128k miles on it.

 

[no2gas]

The trade in value was $4500 for comparison purposes. It got a little hectic towards the end of the negotiation. I was offered $21500 OTD with 0%, but they didn't tell me that they included the $7500 fed rebate in that. I hate it when dealers include the rebates in the final price, just a way to cheat the uninformed consumer. In the end they beat the offer I had from another dealer by $550 when I was walking out...but without the 0% financing.

 

[JoulesThief]

The trade in value was $4500 for comparison purposes. It got a little hectic towards the end of the negotiation. I was offered $21500 OTD with 0%, but they didn't tell me that they included the $7500 fed rebate in that. I hate it when dealers include the rebates in the final price, just a way to cheat the uninformed consumer. In the end they beat the offer I had from another dealer by $550 when I was walking out...but without the 0% financing.

You negate that by always asking for an Out The Door Price, with a line item by line item break down of taxes, fees, registration fees, etc. and by always asking for a price before taxes and registration and any other fees, demanding that there be no hidden fees.

Don't show up in person, get your offers via email, print them out, ask for the same thing, identical, from every dealership. Print all your offers out, compare, and go from there.

You can't go there in person and show your emotions, it's just business, nothing personal. The dealership will treat you like a whore treats a trick, all sweet to you up front, but once they got your signature and your money, you're down the road, they don't owe you nothing.

 

[no2gas]

I did have the out of the door price in email, but the guy handling my sale wasn't the one who sent the quote. I did have dealer an hour away willing to beat the price, but since I had a trade-in involved it was hard to compare apples to apples. I've always been able to walk out of the dealership in less than half an hour since I have the emailed price, but a dysfunctional dealership and having a trade in involved made this transaction very time consuming and painful. These are the final numbers now that I looked at the paper work,

Price with loyalty $24,100
Trade: $4000

Final OTD price: 21,808.34

There are definitely deals to be had if you negotiate hard, these things are not really flying off the shelf atleast in the Northeast and should be even harder with winter approaching.

 

[JoulesThief]

I did have the out of the door price in email, but the guy handling my sale wasn't the one who sent the quote. I did have dealer an hour away willing to beat the price, but since I had a trade-in involved it was hard to compare apples to apples. I've always been able to walk out of the dealership in less than half an hour since I have the emailed price, but a dysfunctional dealership and having a trade in involved made this transaction very time consuming and painful. These are the final numbers now that I looked at the paper work,

Price with loyalty $24,100
Trade: $4000

Final OTD price: 21,808.34

There are definitely deals to be had if you negotiate hard, these things are not really flying off the shelf atleast in the Northeast and should be even harder with winter approaching.

Wow, congrats, I think they gave you more like $5000 for your trade in, I paid 25,200 for mine, no trade in, with owner loyalty, Oct 6th, 2015 SEL, like you. YOU DID AWESOME!
15,200
I will get the $7500 Fed tax credit, and CA offers a $2500 EV rebate, so when all is said and done, I will be out $15,200, plus tax on 27200 at 7.5% and registration, tags, and plate at about 400. About 27,700 OTD, $17,700 out of pocket, eventually, once 2015 1040 is filed.

 

[Bmwtech]

Hey gang, e-golf newbie here.
I just negotiated a price of $26,450 to buy a 2016 e-Golf SE.
Supposed to get back $2,500 state, and $7,500 Fed tax credit.
I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow in San Jose.
I've never owned or leased a new car before.
I see on this board that a vast majority seem to be leasers.
I'd appreciate some input here. Since I intend to buy the car:
$26,450 x .0875 (sales tax) =
$28,764 - $10,000 (eventually) =
$18,764 / 0%/72 months financing =
$260/month
I can charge the car free at work
I'm currently spending ~$260/month in gas.
If insurance is the same as my other car was, am I essentially
getting this car free at the end of 72 months?
Would a lease still be better?
I'm not a numbers guy, thanks for your input and understanding.

 

[dublectric]

$26,450 x .0875 (sales tax) =
$28,764 - $10,000 (eventually) =
$18,764 / 0%/72 months financing =
$260/month
I can charge the car free at work
I'm currently spending ~$260/month in gas.

Hello -

Welcome to the eGolf forums! I see two possible difficulties with your scenario, but if you've got them covered then IMO it sounds like a good deal

First, will the dealer be willing to front the $10k in credits, and allow you to finance just the $18k amount post-credits? I ask because my understanding is that at least when buying (not leasing) the $7500 federal credit would be on *your* taxes, so the dealer won't be able to see that. (When leasing, the $7500 would be sent to the dealer so they are free to reduce vehicle price by that amount if they choose.) I'm not sure how the state credit works in CA, but I assume that that also can only be sent to you (not the dealer). So I'm skeptical that the dealer would be able to front you the credits when purchasing (not leasing) - but if they are then that's awesome...

Second, it sounds like you'd like to charge exclusively at work in order to get free "fuel". Sounds like a good plan! The question: is your round-trip commute to work less than the car's range? And if you drive anywhere on your days off from work, will the total you travel between work charges be less than the range? If not, then you'll be charging elsewhere as well, so potentially your $260 in fuel savings may be at least a little less than that unless you can find free chargers in your travels away from work as well. I suppose I should also ask if you're confident that your free work charging will continue to be available for the forseeable future.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

 

[Bmwtech]

$26,450 x .0875 (sales tax) =
$28,764 - $10,000 (eventually) =
$18,764 / 0%/72 months financing =
$260/month
I can charge the car free at work
I'm currently spending ~$260/month in gas.

Hello -

Welcome to the eGolf forums! I see two possible difficulties with your scenario, but if you've got them covered then IMO it sounds like a good deal

First, will the dealer be willing to front the $10k in credits, and allow you to finance just the $18k amount post-credits? I ask because my understanding is that at least when buying (not leasing) the $7500 federal credit would be on *your* taxes, so the dealer won't be able to see that. (When leasing, the $7500 would be sent to the dealer so they are free to reduce vehicle price by that amount if they choose.) I'm not sure how the state credit works in CA, but I assume that that also can only be sent to you (not the dealer). So I'm skeptical that the dealer would be able to front you the credits when purchasing (not leasing) - but if they are then that's awesome...

Second, it sounds like you'd like to charge exclusively at work in order to get free "fuel". Sounds like a good plan! The question: is your round-trip commute to work less than the car's range? And if you drive anywhere on your days off from work, will the total you travel between work charges be less than the range? If not, then you'll be charging elsewhere as well, so potentially your $260 in fuel savings may be at least a little less than that unless you can find free chargers in your travels away from work as well. I suppose I should also ask if you're confident that your free work charging will continue to be available for the forseeable future.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Thank you so much for your input!
I indend to pay down the $10k up front and recoup later.
The free charging *should* last 'forever' Hahaha, like all good things, right?!

 

[JoulesThief]

$26,450 x .0875 (sales tax) =
$28,764 - $10,000 (eventually) =
$18,764 / 0%/72 months financing =
$260/month
I can charge the car free at work
I'm currently spending ~$260/month in gas.

Hello -

Welcome to the eGolf forums! I see two possible difficulties with your scenario, but if you've got them covered then IMO it sounds like a good deal

First, will the dealer be willing to front the $10k in credits, and allow you to finance just the $18k amount post-credits? I ask because my understanding is that at least when buying (not leasing) the $7500 federal credit would be on *your* taxes, so the dealer won't be able to see that. (When leasing, the $7500 would be sent to the dealer so they are free to reduce vehicle price by that amount if they choose.) I'm not sure how the state credit works in CA, but I assume that that also can only be sent to you (not the dealer). So I'm skeptical that the dealer would be able to front you the credits when purchasing (not leasing) - but if they are then that's awesome...

Second, it sounds like you'd like to charge exclusively at work in order to get free "fuel". Sounds like a good plan! The question: is your round-trip commute to work less than the car's range? And if you drive anywhere on your days off from work, will the total you travel between work charges be less than the range? If not, then you'll be charging elsewhere as well, so potentially your $260 in fuel savings may be at least a little less than that unless you can find free chargers in your travels away from work as well. I suppose I should also ask if you're confident that your free work charging will continue to be available for the forseeable future.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Thank you so much for your input!
I indend to pay down the $10k up front and recoup later.
The free charging *should* last 'forever' Hahaha, like all good things, right?!

As long as he is a BMW tech, or VW tech, or Audi tech or Nissan tech, then, yep, the free charging should last forever. Until they start making you pay for it, which will be sooner or later.

Are you sure you'll be happy with the 3.6kwh charger package on that SE, versus the ability to charge at both 7.2KWH and Level 3 charge to 80% in 20 minutes, possibly over 90% in 30 minutes with the SAE CCDC Combo Charger?

You could probably find a 2015 SEL for the same or less money, with 7.2kwh charger and LED driver and DRL headlights included.