2019 SE Upgrade for $2500

[tbier]

With the 2019 models hitting dealers this month, there is more nationwide inventory than I've need in over two years right now. Wanted to share my experience with the e-Golf community.

There wasn't much in the way of advertised prices below MSRP other than King in MD which rolls the $7,500 federal rebate, recent grad, military, etc. in the advertised price. There is a dealer in Portland showing SEs at $2K off and VW Olympia had $3k off. I'm in Portland so I was happy to see the only real discount in my area.

I ended up trading in my 2017 SE (with CCS) with 17,700 miles on it for a 2019 SE with the drivers assistance package. I was able to get $5k off MSRP on the 2019. After my trade in the difference was $10k with TTL which will result in only $2500 to upgrade. Got the same color, so other than adding the drivers assist its the exact same car with a rolled back odometer and another 14 months on the warranty.

If I was in CA or OR where there is a state refund of $2500 it would have been a wash (less in OR as there's no tax).

 

[manybees]

Sounds like you worked a pretty good deal. Congrats.

Here in the Boston area, there seems to be pretty good stock for the 2019 MY as well as a few 2018 MY cars in stock. I'm seeing $3000-5000 "dealer discounts" off MSRP being advertised for a 2019 SEL Premium by Boston area dealers. Take off the $7500 fed tax credit, and a Massachusetts MOR-EV rebate of $1500 and the price for a fully loaded 2019 SEL Premium is down to around $25000. A savvy negotiator could probably get the price down even further than that. And if you had a decent trade, even further.

But $2500 to upgrade is pretty sweet...

 

[johnnylingo]

That's pretty nice. There don't seem to be similar discounts here in the Bay Area; I'd suspect because demand is decent due to the expiring of white/green HOV stickers last month. It'll be interesting to see if prices drop as the year rolls on. I really think they will, based on this is the e-Golf's last model year and we're quickly getting to the point where any battery under 50 kWh is obsolete.

Heck, if I can get a 2019 SE for a $27k sales price, it would basically cost me nothing ($15k trade + $7500 fed + $2500 state + $1500 county + $500 utility)...but personally I'd more likely to spend a bit more on a Bolt, Leaf e-Plus, or Hyundai Kona

 

[srue]

I did a similar upgrade. Last year I traded in my '16 SE (without CCS) for our '17 SE (with CCS) for $1000 after incentives. $26k out the door, $15k for trade-in, $7.5k federal credit, $2.5k Oregon rebate. It felt pretty good. The range upgrade is quite nice. Now we've got to hold on to the car for 2 years by the rules of the incentives. Hopefully there are some models left on dealer lots next year so I can get a similar deal, if possible.

 

[Sptgolf]

That's a pretty good deal to upgrade to a 2019. I'm also getting quotes to replace my 2016 SE lease in so cal. I've got a few e-golf se quotes and 5k off msrp seems doable. Leaf's aren't being discounted much at all around here. I also got a few Bolt LT quotes (no options), and they are about 4k more out the door than the e-golf, which isn't bad for a car with a much higher msrp. But, the last 2 march incentives for Chevy have been Asian conquest deals with 2500 to 3000 off if you owned or lease a toyota, etc. So, I may just wait for that and see if they do it again. If so, it will make the Bolt a really good deal. I drove the Bolt and I liked it. Acceleration was good, handling ok, seats were fine for me, but the brakes seemed really soft compared to the e-golf. I heard it takes some getting used to. 238 range would be a great improvement.

 

[2016golfse]

That's a pretty good deal to upgrade to a 2019. I'm also getting quotes to replace my 2016 SE lease in so cal. I've got a few e-golf se quotes and 5k off msrp seems doable. Leaf's aren't being discounted much at all around here. I also got a few Bolt LT quotes (no options), and they are about 4k more out the door than the e-golf, which isn't bad for a car with a much higher msrp. But, the last 2 march incentives for Chevy have been Asian conquest deals with 2500 to 3000 off if you owned or lease a toyota, etc. So, I may just wait for that and see if they do it again. If so, it will make the Bolt a really good deal. I drove the Bolt and I liked it. Acceleration was good, handling ok, seats were fine for me, but the brakes seemed really soft compared to the e-golf. I heard it takes some getting used to. 238 range would be a great improvement.

Note that Chevy's federal tax credit will be reduced to $3750 effective 4/1/19.

 

[johnnylingo]

Nissan may hit their limit sometime this year too. Leaf sales have slowed a bit, but the 200+ mile e-Plus trims will be hitting dealers this month and they may get a sales boost, who knows. Really seems like the Model 3 is going to be the hottest seller by far this year though.

 

[RonDawg]

Nissan may hit their limit sometime this year too. Leaf sales have slowed a bit, but the 200+ mile e-Plus trims will be hitting dealers this month and they may get a sales boost, who knows.

Not unless they drop their prices. At $36,550, a base Leaf+ costs over $1500 more than a base Model 3, with only slightly more range, and definitely (far) less desirability.

https://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/releases/maker-of-the-world-s-best-selling-electric-vehicle-announces-pricing-for-the-new-longer-range-nissan-leaf-plus

 

[johnnylingo]

a base Leaf+ costs over $1500 more than a base Model 3, with only slightly more range, and definitely (far) less desirability.

But remember, that's offset by a $3,750 tax credit difference in Nissan's favor, which is going to expand to $5,625 starting July 1st as Tesla will hit its next phase-out. I wish the US Government would redo this stupid system since it's confusing to consumers, but obviously that's a pipedream given Trump's fury at Tesla and GM.

I agree the Leaf is still lacking the coolness of the Model 3, and I'd also have reservations about investing long term in anything with a CHAdeMO interface at this point as CCS/SAE seems it will be the overwhelming standard for new DCFC stations being built. But, when GM hits their first tax credit phase-out next month, the Leaf Plus will then have a cost advantage over the Bolt.

Personally, I'm still very intrigued by the Hyundai Kona. Looks like a few have started popping up in the showrooms of some SoCal dealers. Nothing up here yet though. For now, I'm just glad I got my i3 last year. Thanks to the PG&E $10k cap reduction, the pricing ultimately was similar to a Model 3 and it's an equally fun and cool car for sure.