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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Volkswagen Passat Prices Paid and Buying Experience
3257 messages, Last post on Aug 20, 2008 at 8:59 PM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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I finally did it. After months of reading and researching, I took the plunge. To make a long story short, I went through four dealerships before I found one that would give me a reasonable quote via e-mail or telephone. I paid $20,679 for a 2001 Passat GLS 1.8T. It is silver with cloth interior. I also added an in-dash CD player. The total price after taxes ($620.37), tags, title ($56) and documentation fee ($169) was $21,524.37. My wife has put over 500 miles on the car in four days. She loves it! FYI, I was pleased with the experience at Bob King VW in Wilmington, NC. |
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| Shannon - thanks for posting details of your deal. Did your Passat include the luxury package (sunroof, rear window shade, alloy wheels)? My local VW dealer says that it's difficult to get any Passat that doesn't have the luxury package. Also, I assume you got the standard transmission? | |
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Hello Shannon, I am in the triangle area and I am curious what other dealers you tried and what made your experience so good at the dealer in wilmington. Thank you. |
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| The only option I have on the Passat is the CD player. I did not get the luxury package (the car does not have a sunroof, rear window hade, or alloy wheels). Yes, I have standard transmission. Three out of the four dealerships I spoke with had at least one Passat with this configuration. | |
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Hey, Snurple. Sorry about the confusion. Let me see if this clears it up. Vehicle A is 25K. You want x discount, but only get y discount. Vehicle B is 26K. You get y+1000 discount. The fact that the car was a $1000 more expensive to start, yet discounted more, makes this more attractive to you? I should get on the phone with VW, and tell them to raise prices! Jason P.S. Sounds like you got a nice car. In some areas, (including mine) there are very few Passats available without the luxury package. |
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You seem to be fixated on only one aspect of the transaction, the "discount." You're missing the big picture. Here's a real world example: Car A: MSRP = 31K Car B: MSRP = 36K Car A dealers think they can hold to MSRP, Car B dealers offer generous discounts. Car A can be had for 31K (or more), Car B for 32K (or less). These two vehicles are not in the same class, and yet in this case they can be compared along price lines. Given the fact that nearly every car can be had for under MSRP, Car A is overpriced--and is forced to compete with Car B, a superior vehicle in the next class up. This is one scenario, Passat vs. Saab 9-5, but the same principles apply in other comparisons, even if the numbers are a bit lower. The Passat is not worth MSRP. No car is--competition ensures this. Given VW's position in the marketplace (good, but not that good), they can't jack up their prices or they will lose customers in droves. Again, this is why VW is only raising the MSRP on the 2001.5s by a few hundred bucks. If they were to raise the price further, people would begin to cast a wider net and include even more competitive models. If VW dealers try to hold to MSRP on the new Passat, they will run into this same problem--they will lose customers to the competition. |
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On Saturday, December 16, I e-mailed three dealerships requesting quotes on a 2001 Volkswagen Passat GLS Sedan and a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS. I stated that I'd already driven both vehicles and would only visit the dealership if we agreed on a price ahead of time. The dealerships I e-mailed were National VW in Jacksonville, Joe Pecheles VW in Greenville, and Southern States VW in Raleigh. Monday morning, Southern States called. The sales rep called me from his cell phone while on the lot. He started to read every sticker on each Jetta and Passat on the lot. I told him to e-mail me quotes on what I specifically requested. He said he didn't know how to use e-mail and that he would fax me the quote. I never heard from him again. As of Monday afternoon, I had not heard from the other dealerships. I faxed a copy of the e-mail to National VW, Joe Pecheles, and Bob King VW in Wilmington. National VW immediately called, but to make a long story short, said that could not give me a quote unless I physically visited the lot. The call was quite humorous. Bob King VW called to verify my request. Within ten minutes the rep e-mailed a reasonable quote on both vehicles. After two e-mail exchanges, we reached a deal. I told the guy to have the car ready for me by noon the next day. The guy was very professional and didn't give me a bunch of b.s. On Tuesday, I picked up the car and was in and out of the dealership within thirty minutes. I dealt with Jay Gertz. BTW, Joe Pecheles called three days later. The Bob King VW quote on the Jetta GLS with CD player was $17,247 (tornado red or black). I feel I got a good deal at $20,679 on the Passat considering: MSRP $21,975 plus $335 for in-dash CD ($22,310) Edmunds TMV $20,512 (12/7/00) + 525 dest. + CD If you need more info., let me know. |
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A little over a week ago, I bought a Passat Wagon GAS V6 with automatic transmission. I'm pleased with the car, and I negotiated a good price. Thanks to all who answered my sometimes ignorant questions over the past several weeks. For the benefit of potential passat buyers, here are some things I learned: 1. At least in the Wash. DC area (though I suspect elsewhere, too), the 2001 Passat wagons are disappearing. Dealers say that they don't expect new shipments until March and they're referring to the 2001.5, which probably will sell much closer to MSRP at first. 2. My dealer was unwilling to swap a '01 wagon for another one that had the interior color I initially wanted. People who want to buy an '01 at a decent price may not be able to get exactly what they want. 3. Salesmen at up-scale dealerships may not engage in high-pressure tactics, but they may be just as dishonest as sales people at less tony establishments. I was naive to think otherwise. My salesman told me during negotiations that VW doesn't pay holdbacks. When I showed him evidence to the contrary (specifically re Passats), he made the irrelevant point that his compensation is based on sales price above invoice. 4. Like the Edmunds buyer's guide says, carefully inspect your car at delivery. I found a tiny crack in the rear windshield. The dealership said they'd replace the windshield, but I question the care with which they detailed the car prior to my driving it off the lot (it was dark at the time). If I were a cynic, I'd say that they knew about the crack and hoped I wouldn't find it. |
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| I'm going shopping for a loaded GLX w/w/o 4 motion when I get up this a.m. (it's already 2:00 a.m. here). The local (45 miles away) dealer has 3 GLX's in stock, 1 sedan, 1 sedan 4motion, 1 wagon 4motion. Will dealer be anxious to sell being only 3 business days till 2001? I'm hoping to get anyone of these cars for 28-29k. Is this a reasonable starting point? | |
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Snurple, I see your point a little better now, but I still don't wholly agree with it. The 36K car might be able to take 4 grand off because of higher profit margins, but does that neccesarily make it a better unit? Personally, I've driven a couple of "higher end cars", and I don't see the quality difference warranted by the price difference. Well, the Mercedes, and the Beamer were pretty nice.  But as far as Saab, Volvo, Acura, Infiniti, etc... I'm not seeing the higher quality levels people talk about. Tell me, how would you feel if the entire car industry were Saturn-ized (my dream situation)? No negotiation, just select your car by your budget and specifications wanted. I think the American people would breathe a collective sigh of relief! Jason |
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