just leased an SE, what did I do wrong

[turtlebud]

eGolfs seem to be in short supply in the SF Bay Area. My local dealer (Dublin) didn't have any. Hayward had 1 or 2, so I went in and leased one there. Admittedly I think I was a bit eager since I wanted to get the $69/mo lease deal and the supply seemed to be pretty limited, so I didn't haggle/bargain. I am happy with the eGolf so far, but there are a couple of things that I keep thinking about:

1. cargo net ($100) - I asked if they can just take this out and they said no. is that really true? (I think I know the answer). Is there anything I can do now? The only thing I have left is the survey that they will be sending me that I was asked to give them all 10s.

2. prepaid maintenance ($699) - was planning on getting this anyways and they said it would be more expensive if I bought it later, but there are only 3 service visits (10k, 20k, 30k) so I'm wondering if it was really worth it. Is the average service visit at VW $200+? If it's less than that, then I feel like it was not a good deal to get prepaid.

In the end, it ended up being $5300 down, $103.01/month for 36 months.
I was quoted $3k down, $69/month with additional due on signing fees ($2208).
Base payment w/ prepaid maintenance & cargo net (& first aid kit I think) was $94 + $9 sales tax.

I'm not sure I want to ask this question, but did I overlook a lot of things that I should have pushed for?

 

[FlyPenFly]

Your total lease cost appears to be around, $9,000?

 

[turtlebud]

yes, total lease cost a little over 9k

 

[FlyPenFly]

Wel nothing you can do about it now so I say just appreciate what a great car you bought and make sure to file your $2,500 rebate!

 

[bizzle]

After the rebate your lease works out to $6500, which is right in line with all the other great lease deals mentioned on the board after you include the $700 dollar maintenance plan you said you wanted, the $100 dollar cargo net, and the $100 dollar first aid kit.

My dealer told me they couldn't remove the first aid kit but I told them to keep the car and they didn't charge me for it.
(The deal was inked up, they went to pick the SE off the lot from a different dealership, came back and told me they were going to have to add an extra $1 dollar to my payments because it came with a first aid kit they didn't know about and couldn't take out, I told them I wouldn't pay $100 bucks for a $30 dollar kit and to give it to me at cost or keep the car, they told me just to take the kit and that was the end of it).
So I'm assuming they really can't remove options or they would have simply taken it out instead of throwing it in for free.

The only thing you might have done "wrong" in the price you're paying is the maintenance plan because it doesn't seem necessary. There is a lot of conflicting information on the boards but it might be that the 1st one is included, they all might be relatively pointless, and none required. You might be able to get that refunded, but you'll have to do research to determine whether it's something you actually want or not.

In terms of what you did "wrong" regarding your overall lease terms, it's generally not advised to put a large down payment on a lease. If the car is wrecked or stolen, for example, you won't ever get that money back. There is no difference in leasing between down payment amounts and monthly payments. If you had the option of zero down payment then your monthly payments would have been $250 dollars, for example.

 

[sirshan]

...not sure you did anything wrong. As mentioned above, you did put a large down, but the reward of that is you are able to is to see a low monthly.

I think in the end, we're all roughly in the same boat for when the lease it up...just difference residual balances (if you decide to buy it after the lease). I assume yours should be fairly low with a huge down.

I took the some what neutral route and put 2500 down with knowing I would get it back in the State rebate. The kept my monthly where I wanted it and the residual is decent if I chose to keep the car int he end.

Congrats and enjoy the car. I think the only thing I regretted was not doing enough research before I bought the car. Bought it on impulse and realize that for my use, I think I would have loved having a fast onboard charger. Its not horrible, but just a bit more limited than other folks when it comes to charging. For some its a none issue...for others its a deal breaker. All depends on your use.

 

[JoulesThief]

.

I think the only thing I regretted was not doing enough research before I bought the car. Bought it on impulse and realize that for my use, I think I would have loved having a fast onboard charger. Its not horrible, but just a bit more limited than other folks when it comes to charging. For some its a none issue...for others its a deal breaker. All depends on your use.

Well put. I think some will end up like you... These electric cars are new technology in terms of "filling them back up" with juice. What makes it difficult is people on a shoe string budget that want in to a new electric car, and not doing all their homework first, doing their due dilligence. Because it's all kind of new, they don't know the questions they need to ask yet.

Just as Tesla made the speed charger standard, I think at some point in time VW will make whatever standard for quick charging is at the time, available as standard also, on their e-car lineup.

IMHO, I'd rather have that particular feature and not need it, or rarely need it, than need it, or really need it, for example in case of some emergency trip, and not have it. YMMV, for me, I see it as a necessity, should be standard, not an option. Time will tell what VW does with that in the future, standard, or entry level option. I may not have all night to wait, up to 7 or 8 hours, for a full charge.

 

[forbin404]

eGolfs seem to be in short supply in the SF Bay Area. My local dealer (Dublin) didn't have any. Hayward had 1 or 2, so I went in and leased one there. Admittedly I think I was a bit eager since I wanted to get the $69/mo lease deal and the supply seemed to be pretty limited, so I didn't haggle/bargain. I am happy with the eGolf so far, but there are a couple of things that I keep thinking about:

1. cargo net ($100) - I asked if they can just take this out and they said no. is that really true? (I think I know the answer). Is there anything I can do now? The only thing I have left is the survey that they will be sending me that I was asked to give them all 10s.

2. prepaid maintenance ($699) - was planning on getting this anyways and they said it would be more expensive if I bought it later, but there are only 3 service visits (10k, 20k, 30k) so I'm wondering if it was really worth it. Is the average service visit at VW $200+? If it's less than that, then I feel like it was not a good deal to get prepaid.

In the end, it ended up being $5300 down, $103.01/month for 36 months.
I was quoted $3k down, $69/month with additional due on signing fees ($2208).
Base payment w/ prepaid maintenance & cargo net (& first aid kit I think) was $94 + $9 sales tax.

I'm not sure I want to ask this question, but did I overlook a lot of things that I should have pushed for?

What did you do wrong? Nothing. Well maybe buying the prepaid maintenance plan as that isn't required of the lease. (Unless you are intending to buy the car)

What are you going to do to charge it?

 

[turtlebud]

thanks all for the encouraging words - definitely makes me feel better about this lease, and so far, I really do love the car.

as for charging, I'm looking into a level2 charger for home. We have a freezer/fridge outlet in the garage, so I think a chargepoint unit that plugs into the wall might be sufficient. The only challenge is that the location of the outlet is towards the back of the garage and for the plug in 16A unit, the longest/only cord it comes with is 12ft, so I'll have to see if that'll reach the car.

 

[RonDawg]

as for charging, I'm looking into a level2 charger for home. We have a freezer/fridge outlet in the garage, so I think a chargepoint unit that plugs into the wall might be sufficient. The only challenge is that the location of the outlet is towards the back of the garage and for the plug in 16A unit, the longest/only cord it comes with is 12ft, so I'll have to see if that'll reach the car.

The Clipper Creek LCS-20P comes with a 22 foot cord, different plug options, and is only $395. The only hesitation is if you plan on using a charge timer, as CC units have been known to not work with the VW's timer system. But there are other 16 amp units with cords longer than 12 feet.

 

[enviroweb]

In NJ I am being offered $2349 down and $148 per month on the SE with no fast charge. Residual is 41% - around $12,000.

Two questions - 1) should I go back with $1500 upfront as an offer? 2) Does anyone actually use the quick charge option - I am thinking I won't do long trips so not worth it.

Thanks for any advice.

Richard

 

[kirby]

In NJ I am being offered $2349 down and $148 per month on the SE with no fast charge. Residual is 41% - around $12,000.

Two questions - 1) should I go back with $1500 upfront as an offer? 2) Does anyone actually use the quick charge option - I am thinking I won't do long trips so not worth it.

Thanks for any advice.

Richard

Regarding quick charge. For my usage pattern, it's not required, but makes the car more flexible/useful to me.

There are two things that come with this option
- 7.2kW vs 3.6kW charging (both Level 2 charging). If you're charging only ever overnight at home this probably isn't a big deal to you. I like the flexibility of being able to charge faster if I needed to. If you ever use plan public chargers, you might find this useful as you'll be able to charge at a ~6kW rate vs 3.6kW (public chargers tend to around 6-6.6kW of delivered power). This means you get done charging faster so you can get on your way and others can get charging

- DC fast charge. This is the "80% charge in 30min, full charge in an hour". Again, if you only ever do short trips and can charge overnight, this probably won't matter to you. I didn't think this would be useful, but it has been at least once so far. I could have made other plans to avoid 'needing' the fast charge, but it let me do a trip in the car that I otherwise would have needed to do in our other car.