Traded in 2016 SE, say hello to 2019 SEL

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Joined
Nov 2, 2015
Messages
675
Location
Santa Cruz, CA
Pulled the trigger last week and decided it was time to say goodbye to the 2016 SE, and trade up to a 2019 SEL. Here it is after first wash & wax

2019eGolfSEL.jpg
 
Thought I'd post the deal from Sunnyvale VW for anyone interested:

Sale price: $30,925
Trade in #1: 2016 SE (no fast charger, 38k miles) $9500
Trade in #2: 2009 Subaru Outback (125k miles, bad cat converter and overdue for tune-up) $2300
Sales tax: $2868.43
Document fee: $85
DMV Fees: $416
Loan: 60 months @ 5.9%. Not a huge problem though as I'm planning to pay it off within 6 months. The tax return will payoff the i3 next year.

Rebates:

2020 Federal Tax credit: $7500
CA state rebate: $2000
Monterey/Santa Cruz/San Benito County rebate: $1000
PG&E customer rebate: $800
Total rebates: $11,300

This wasn't quite the blockbuster deal I got on the 2016 SE and 2018 i3s, but all things considered it was fair. I am currently able to max out rebates and this may not be the case next year, so it was a good time to buy. My fiance is the primary driver and she's able to drive from Santa Clara up to San Mateo (25 miles) then down to Santa Cruz (50 miles) and still have well over half battery and 60 miles range remaining when she gets here. With the 2016 SE, that drive would require a charging stop especially in cold weather. We both have L2 charging at work, but they're always full in the morning, primary hogged by Tesla and Plug-in hybrid drivers.

My one mistake was thinking that trade-ins would reduce sales tax. Had I know that wasn't the case, I would have taken a couple weeks to sell the 2016 SE on the open market. It had red stickers and would have gotten $10.5k at worst I'm sure.
 
Congrats! Always nice to see another eGolf in SC (though I realize it was a swap old for now). Looks like you made a good deal all things considered.
 
msvphoto said:
Congrats! Always nice to see another eGolf in SC (though I realize it was a swap old for now).

Been trying to keep an eye out for you! There was a silver 2015 LE on Grant street for a while but they also traded up to a newer one in Urano Grey. The LEs are easy to spot due to the unique wheels and that's the only one I've ever seen in town
 
johnnylingo said:
Rebates:

2020 Federal Tax credit: $7500
CA state rebate: $2000
Monterey/Santa Cruz/San Benito County rebate: $1000
PG&E customer rebate: $800
Total rebates: $11,300

Since you already had one or more EVs and I assume you've already received some of these rebates how difficult was it to get them again? (I'm considering doing the exact same thing as you but got the $7500 fed credit in 2019, as well as the CA rebate and the PG&E $800 rebate.)
 
zanzabar said:
Since you already had one or more EVs and I assume you've already received some of these rebates how difficult was it to get them again?

The PG&E and Santa Cruz/Monterey/San Benito rebates are simply one per car, and I got the checks less than 3 weeks after submitting applications. I won't be able to claim the $7500 fed tax credit until 2021, but I think the only limit there is 2 cars per year per person. You just enter the car's weight, battery size, and VIN in TurboTax or H&R block and it's good to go.

State rebate is where it gets tricky. They are now limiting 1 per person, but will allow 2 if the first one was done prior to December 3rd, 2019. My fiance is on the sales paperwork for both cars and the both rebates were done in her name since I'm slightly over the income limit. I'm assuming the next one would have to be in my name, but that gets complicated because we're slightly over the limit as a couple, but under it once 401k contributions are taken off. It's never been clear to me which number the state looks at.

Anyway, we're now good on EVs until late 2022 at least, so I'm not too concerned about it. Who knows, the state rebate could be gone by then.
 
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