Which Passat to buy. Advice wanted

[ashdays]

Dear VW'ians,

I am in the process of buying a VW Passat 130 TDI Highline Sedan. I looked at three Passat's today. I want to run the details of the cars past you hoping you could help me make a decision.


1) Passat. Built Jan 2014. Demo Car. 500 kms done so far. Price – $43700. VW finance available at 6.9%. Standard factory fittings. Drive away price.


2) Passat. Built June 2013. Used Car. 9100 kms done so far. Price – $33990. VW finance available at 7.9%. Standard factory fittings. Stamp duty payable.


3) Passat. Built May 2012. Used Car. 23700 kms done so far. Price – $31990. VW finance available at 7.9%. Drive Assist Package, BiXenon lights, daytime LED lights come fitted. Stamp duty payable


I haven't begun negotiating price or finance percentage yet. Once I decide on the car to buy (with your help of course), I will begin negotiating. Are there any extras I can ask them to throw in?


Thank you for your advice.

[Darks RS]

The 12 won't be a 130, as I've got a 12.5and it's a 125.

The 13 and 14, it's a 10k difference... Can you live with a 6 month older car.. For that cash I could! Besides there's always negotiations!

If you go the 12 don't pay that sort of price, thats highway robbery for a sedan. A dealer here in the ACT had a similar car that they wanted 33k and in the end it was advertised (and sold) for under 27.

Me personally, the 13 with hard bargaining or if option oriented then the 12 with extra hard bargaining

[Eaglehawk]

I'd go Option 2 as well...

[ashdays]

Thank you Darks & Eaglehawk for your advice. If I went with option 2, what would be considered a fair price for that car?

[ashdays]

Thank you all for your opinions.
Right now I am leaning towards the second car (Built June 2013. Used Car. 9100 kms done so far. Price – $33990. VW finance available at 7.9%. Standard factory fittings. Stamp duty payable at 3% of purchase price)

When I go in for bargaining, I would like some options added to it like 5 year dealer warranty which begins after the factory warranty runs out, window tints, floor mats, roof & bike racks & possibly a wheel upgrade to 18" alloys.

I haven't asked the dealer about the 18" alloys yet, I have enquired for the other options and have been quoted $1595 for the premium 5 year dealer warranty, $695 for window tints, $1000 for roof and bike racks.

All up,& without the 18" wheel upgrade, this would bring the car to $37000.How much could I bargain the car for?

[Eaglehawk]

I wouldn't negotiate with the dealer with any of those options (except for the warranty). You'll be a walking cashbox if you start asking for any of those options to be put on the car. Best do your own research after you purchase the vehicle at a price you're happy with. Then get those options from cheaper places. (eBay, trusted tinter in your area etc)

Just my 2 cents.

[Amalgam]

Thank you all for your opinions.
Right now I am leaning towards the second car (Built June 2013. Used Car. 9100 kms done so far. Price – $33990. VW finance available at 7.9%. Standard factory fittings. Stamp duty payable at 3% of purchase price)

When I go in for bargaining, I would like some options added to it like 5 year dealer warranty which begins after the factory warranty runs out, window tints, floor mats, roof & bike racks & possibly a wheel upgrade to 18" alloys.

I haven't asked the dealer about the 18" alloys yet, I have enquired for the other options and have been quoted $1595 for the premium 5 year dealer warranty, $695 for window tints, $1000 for roof and bike racks.

All up,& without the 18" wheel upgrade, this would bring the car to $37000.How much could I bargain the car for?

What exactly is the dealer warranty?? Is it the VW branded, Allianz extended warranty? If so it is a 2 year extension of the VW new car warranty to a total of 5 years. I would stay well clear of any "dealers" warranty and other non VW/Allianz warranties. Most are not worth the paper they are written on.

Dealer accessories is where the profit is. Window tinting looks like double what you would pay if you did it privately after purchase and you should be able to able to buy roof racks from EU resellers of the interwebs.

My basic negotiating policy is to haggle hard for the base car and accessorise privately.

BTW Are you sure that you want to pass on the bixenon?? I would suggest you test drive both cars on a dimly lit street at night before making a decision. There are many discussion threads on retrofitting bixenons....

[Passat R36]

BiXenon with LED DRL are hard to come by. The normal halogen of the B7 looks awful to me.

Dont bother with the options from the dealer.

[brad]

When I go in for bargaining, I would like some options added to it like 5 year dealer warranty which begins after the factory warranty runs out, window tints, floor mats, roof & bike racks & possibly a wheel upgrade to 18" alloys.

I haven't asked the dealer about the 18" alloys yet, I have enquired for the other options and have been quoted $1595 for the premium 5 year dealer warranty, $695 for window tints, $1000 for roof and bike racks.

Crazy to buy on finance IMO but that's a personal thing regarding depreciating assets. I assume you can claim your interest?

Dealer extended warranty - not worth the paper it's written on & locks you into a specific dealer (usually). Why not get the VW extended warranty or self-insure?

$695 for tint? There are plenty of places in Sydney that will do a quality job, with premium materials & a lifetime guarantee for $300-$400. Try Rob at Hunters Hill Window Tinting - he has a mobile service.

$1k for roof - bike racks? Shop around as the dealer will fit whatever they can get their hands on as they probably have no idea about what is good & what is rubbish. Have you had roof mounted before? They scare the daylights out of me. Consider towbar mount roll-on racks.

Personally, I'd go with Option 3 as it has bi-xenon lights. I'd aim for $25,500 with a tops of $26500.

[JB's Dub]

From my history working at a dealer, i'd go option 2 with the factory/alianz warranty. The warranty can only be added if the car is still under factory warranty and will be accepted at any VW dealer you go to.

As the others have said, source your own tint and accessories, you will save a fortune. Option 3 would be good if it were a lot cheaper, Yes, xennons are awesome, but for 2k more you get a younger car with the more powerful engine.

[Jakeys]

Thank you all for your opinions.
Right now I am leaning towards the second car (Built June 2013. Used Car. 9100 kms done so far. Price – $33990. VW finance available at 7.9%. Standard factory fittings. Stamp duty payable at 3% of purchase price)

When I go in for bargaining, I would like some options added to it like 5 year dealer warranty which begins after the factory warranty runs out, window tints, floor mats, roof & bike racks & possibly a wheel upgrade to 18" alloys.

I haven't asked the dealer about the 18" alloys yet, I have enquired for the other options and have been quoted $1595 for the premium 5 year dealer warranty, $695 for window tints, $1000 for roof and bike racks.

All up,& without the 18" wheel upgrade, this would bring the car to $37000.How much could I bargain the car for?

Well for starters, window tint at $695 is criminal unless it's made of gold. Do not pay that much for tint, there is nothing special whatsoever about window tint, it's the same stuff any place uses except it's probably going to be put on by an apprentice under the pump. If you are paying more than $300-400 you are being ripped off for tint no matter how they sell it, pure and simple.

Avoid dealer warranty because it's a rip off, lot of hidden conditions and caveats with them, don't fall for the sales pitch unless it's actual factory VW warranty being extended.

Rest of the upgrades I don't have much to say on other than I would recommend bixenon, halogen is crap especially these days when xenon is becoming mostly standard equipment.

[Darks RS]

It's quite hard to get a car with these!!! I ended up settling on one without but it did have the sports pack and park assist 2.

The halogen aren't that bad, I've been testing mine out and I'm quite happy with it as is.

BiXenon with LED DRL are hard to come by. The normal halogen of the B7 looks awful to me.

Dont bother with the options from the dealer.

[ashdays]

I have been reading all your opinions earnestly.

A lot of you recommend accessorising the car privately & that is what I will do.

Thanks Brad for passing Rob @hunters hill's info. I will look him up when the time comes.

The dealer called me today stating that he had buyers interested in both the 2nd & 3rd Passats today, but because he thinks that I am a good guy, he is willing to reduce a grand on the listed price whichever car I pick. Me being a good guy, told him politely to stick it & not call me unless he is offering atleast 10% below the listed price. He didn't seem too happy!

[Jakeys]

The dealer called me today stating that he had buyers interested in both the 2nd & 3rd Passats today, but because he thinks that I am a good guy, he is willing to reduce a grand on the listed price whichever car I pick. Me being a good guy, told him politely to stick it & not call me unless he is offering atleast 10% below the listed price. He didn't seem too happy!

I was about to get very cross with you until you told him to stick it haha, that is a bloody classic line that nobody in their right mind should fall for. They tried that crap on my old car, offered way low on it for trade in, called me next day and magically they had some other dealer they supposedly wholesale to (They are just a regular retail dealer) interested in it for over $1000 over what they offered me, and of course they would pass that full saving onto me. Wow, how lucky am I! Doubly so because it was still my car and it was in my driveway so how could they possibly be getting offers for it, not a single piece of paper or dollar having changed hands?

Told them thanks but no thanks, turned around and sold it privately for double what they were magically offering, and didn't buy the car they were selling as it too was overpriced. Couldn't be happier.

[Darks RS]

Dude, it's a week before Christmas....

Not many people are buying >$30k cars for ****s and giggles.

If you don't have a trade, then there is no reason for a dealer not to listen to reasonable offers... Just remind him your looking to buy this week and it's coming close to the end of the month.

I'm in the process of upgrading my Rok and the only dealer who gave me a decent trade and a decent price on the car will get my business. One dealer has magically found 3k in my trade and 2k in another car in 2days, despite me asking for his best and final price on Friday...

Push hard!!!

Oh and don't fall for the line we're not making any money out of the deal...sure sure, your giving it away

BiXenon with LED DRL are hard to come by. The normal halogen of the B7 looks awful to me.

Dont bother with the options from the dealer.

I have been reading all your opinions earnestly.

A lot of you recommend accessorising the car privately & that is what I will do.

Thanks Brad for passing Rob @hunters hill's info. I will look him up when the time comes.

The dealer called me today stating that he had buyers interested in both the 2nd & 3rd Passats today, but because he thinks that I am a good guy, he is willing to reduce a grand on the listed price whichever car I pick. Me being a good guy, told him politely to stick it & not call me unless he is offering atleast 10% below the listed price. He didn't seem too happy!