Golf R Observations and Questions

[Danny]

Ah thanks Silverfox.

Some good advice there. I'm actually very impressed with the sales guy I have been talking to and want to give him every chance to sell me the car over any other dealer. He brought the price down to $59k before I even mentioned anything about a discount, so I thought if it was that easy that there would be some more in it.

I'll make some calls anyway before tuesday and see what offers I can muster up from other dealers and then go armed with a spec and a offer which hopefully can be negotiated.

I've never ordered a brand new car (only ever bought brand new cars that were in stock already or off the s/room floor) so I'm not sure whether bargaining power is higher on an ordered vehicle as opposed to one already in stock.

[SilvrFoxX]

Well you are off to a good start.. the challenge is these units are sought after so there isnt a huge amount of pressure to work hard for a sale.. your job is to make it hard by putting other dealer quotes on the table.. the pressure sell comes after you test drive.. walking into a dealership and sitting down and saying out right.. I want to know if you can beat this price and I am prepared to put a deposit today if you do it puts a lot of pressure and the game in their court.. you can just walk away and they know you will walk into another place

[Corey_R]

Danny,

Just ordered mine yesterday.. I got it for $56 but it was a 5 door, Sat Nav, ACC, MDI DSG - Delivery is March 11.. I dropped the leather, hard to justify.. I reckon you probably have another Grand or 2 in there because it is 3 dr manual but you are close to the money with all the options..

SilvrFoxX you have forgotten to take into account the differences that differing states have on taxes. Danny's discount is actually almost identical to yours % wise. So if there is a grand or two more to negotiate in Danny's deal, then there is also the same in yours....

[SilvrFoxX]

There is that.. however I believe the difference will be in the options and profitability.. for example.. more play in the electricals and less in the seats.. I also cant see why a 3 door manual with those extras comes to that price.. it should be less

[Danny]

I also cant see why a 3 door manual with those extras comes to that price.. it should be less

Thats good to hear in plain terms!

I think I've decided to go manual after a mate of mine allowed mw to really go for a burn in his V GTI and his dads R36 Pas. Much as I love the DSG and its good points, I reckon I'd miss a manual too much! Only thing now is whether or not I take the plunge and do the Dynaudio.

So could I screw down to say 55 or 56k? May that be a possibility? Whats say you guys a decent price in VIC for that specification? Thanks heaps for your help guys! So very much appreciated!

[SilvrFoxX]

Danny..

I think you are close, you have elected more options so there is going to be higher drive away cost, I really dont know what the Vic tax situation is.. $55K is very sharp pricing.. if it is dollars you are chasing you will have to work out what you are going to sacrifice before you go in.

Again I stress that the best deal will be done under the clear statement that you will sign right there and then..

Good luck, I look forward to seeing what you end up coming out with..

[Corey_R]

There is that.. however I believe the difference will be in the options and profitability.. for example.. more play in the electricals and less in the seats.

Lol... SilvrFoxX - well why you may be pondering the whys and what is', the reality is that the VW Dealer is not related to the factory. Whether or not there is a difference between the manufacturing cost of leather vs electronics is irrelevant, because the dealers purchase their cars and options at a set price from VGA, and VGA purchase them from the factory.

I also cant see why a 3 door manual with those extras comes to that price.. it should be less

I suggest you spend more time learning to understand how cars are priced then. Use the spreadsheet provided from the pricing thread and have a look at the effects options have, and taxes etc.

[SilvrFoxX]

Fair enough I will retreat to the dark corner of the forum

[Corey_R]

That's ok!

But yeah - I mean, if Danny actually walked into the dealer following your advice, he'll probably get escorted out by security. The pre-GST DEALER discount that would need to be applied to get a $55k drive away price in VIC with the options that Danny has selected is $6,350 - after taxes that's almost $9,500. It's just not at all realistic. On the car that Danny is purchasing.

In fact, the absolutely best % discounts we've ever seen on Golf R's do not have that much pre-GST dealer discount applied and come due to a higher portion of the price being in the LCT territory and the fact a corporate discount is used where VGA reimburses the dealer for a certain amount of dealer delivery costs.

[SilvrFoxX]

umm.. I never suggested he get $55K.. just less than $59K.. I also suggested that to get closer to a lower number he should be prepared to sacrifice some of the proposed options.

My overarching advice was more aligned with timing on different levels.

I am sure the spreadsheet has enough sample data to provide him with the best expectation guide for figures

[Corey_R]

The spreadsheet has 0 sample data. It's not a collection of peoples drive-away prices. It's a calculation spreadsheet which shows what the exact drive away price would be for your car and its options in your state, with links for you to calculate or locate the rego/plates/ctp etc for your state (if they're variable), and also the opportunity for you to put in the discount the dealer is offering, or drive-away price, and for it to give you a discount % off the drive away price. You can then compare it to what people have posted. Which is how I was able to say that both you and Danny's discounts offered are within 0.1% of each other.

Don't get me wrong, there is probably more to gain in both of your situations, but just not for the reasons that you mentioned above. In addition, there probably isn't too much more, because the Drive-away RRPs are only like $64k, and not $70k+ where there would be more margin and more taxes to negotiate a high % discount on.

[SilvrFoxX]

ahhh.. my bad I was unaware there was a calc spreadsheet merely a spreadsheet where folk input their negotiated price

[Mr_Bob]

If you think there's more room to negotiate, why not try another dealership?
Personally, I wouldn't be walking in saying "i have a quote for $X, can you beat it?"
All they need to do is knock off $500 and leave it at that.

If you say you already have a competitive quote, but want a second before you commit,
Then the dealer needs to be pretty sharp to get your business, as he doesn't know what he's competing with.

you might find the new dealer is just as nice, and if the difference is considerable, then go for it.
Otherwise if it's close, then stick with the guy you started with, at least you've confirmed that the price is good.

[Danny]

Okay, so I got me another quote this time with corporate discount (as a member of master builders) $57,400 ON road with 3 dr man, nav, sunrooof, leather, mdi, bluetooth. Again asked this dealer about ACC and also the dynaudio and they all seem adamant that it is not worth it. Thanks heaps for your replies guys. Appreciated.

-Dan

[Corey_R]

Cool... so that quote is really about the same amount as your other one, just with the "rebate" to the dealer (and thus you) from VGA for the dealer delivery.

As for ACC and Dynaudio - do NOT take the dealers word for it. I've found that most people, including several sales people, simply do not understand what ACC is and what it does. Many think that ACC set to "normal" is the same as a car not fitted with ACC - this is rubbish. The ACC measures the suspension 1000 times per second, and then based on 3 profiles (sport, normal, comfort), dynamically adjusts the dampers to keep the car in an optimal travel position. This includes greatly reducing body roll in hard cornering. If you plan to spend $5k on aftermarket suspension and sway bars, then fine... but if you aren't, the ACC is a bargain, and also less of a compromise in ride quality than an aftermarket setup.

As for the Dynaudio, as with any audio topic, it's very subjective and the only right opinion is yours. Listen to both systems with a few of your CDs and make the decision for yourself. For the $1000 difference that the Dynaudio costs in combination with the Sat Nav, I'm of the opinion that there is no way you could install an aftermarket system which comes close to its quality for the price. So if sound quality is important to you, then it may be worth it for you.