Thinking about buying 2015 Egolf SEL

[cyb593]

Hey all,

I am new to the forum and thinking about purchasing a 2015 VW e-golf SEL that is in my are in Georgia. It only has 24k miles, they are asking $16,600 and it is CPO. Would this be a good deal? The downside to this vehicle is it has an accident even though it wasn't a motor vehicle accident. The car fax labels it as an accident but it looks like someone broke into the vehicle as i still saw marks from where someone was trying to pry the door open and they ended up breaking some of the passenger side door parts which have been replaced. The dealership has stated they fixed almost all the blemishes as it had a good amount of them between the break in and dings and scratches. I was going to look at it again as i have been thinking about trading in our 2013 nissan leaf s. Is there anything specific i should look for or ask for in negotiation?

Any help would be great. Hope to join the community.

Thanks,

Bryan

 

[miimura]

For that price, you should be able to get one that does not have those defects.

Personally, if I was buying one to drive for ~ 5 years or more and I could live with the 24kWh battery, I would get a 2016 for the AppConnect support. The 2015 infotainment is pretty bad. The resolution is really poor and the NAV is not worth using. It also uses the VW proprietary interface connector, not USB. During the time that we had ours, a software update disabled the iPod functionality, so Bluetooth was the only way to play content from the phone. We also got VW to send us a Lightning cable for free because our car had problems with the phone and CarNet interfaces when new that required it to stay in the shop for 4 days. The parts dept. price for that cable is ridiculous.

 

[johnnylingo]

I'd agree with the above points, although given your market (Georgia) getting a 2016 may be an uphill challenge. The first thing to ask is if you really need the features of the SEL. If not, there's better value in a 2016 SE

FWIW it's fairly rare to see 2016s on the used market right now but that should change in the coming months as leases expire

 

[cyb593]

Yeah these vehicles are pretty hard to find local. I will look around as i know caravan has a 2016 SEL. What is the difference in the 2016 SEL and SE? The one on carvana is $21,900 w/ 21k miles and is black which in Georgia would be brutal in the heat.

I was going to haggle hardcore over the 2015 SEL to try and get it super low but being a rarer car might not be able to move them to much. Is there a number i should reach for to make it worth my while since they do have the above issues? I am lucky to find a certified dealer here in Atlanta as it is a CPO.

Would love to get a 2017 with the more battery range however that would be a year or 2 away from me now.

Also i am seeing alot of mixed information about the carnet app and site. If i read correctly the charging timers and certain EV controls are not in the 2015 most likely due to the crappy information center you described. I definitely wouldn't pay any amount for that app to work so are there still free settings with the app and within the website for the ev specific functions? Has the site and app gotten any better since 2015?

Bryan

 

[johnnylingo]

What is the difference in the 2016 SEL and SE?

I've got a spreadsheet on my e-Golf Space:

https://spaces.hightail.com/space/yZm8Z

Main difference is the SEL came with a 7.2 kW and DCFC charger standard, whereas the SE had it as a $1500 option. SEL had LED headlights, heat pump, buttons on steering wheel, navigation, and parking sensors. Along with other cosmetics.

Also i am seeing alot of mixed information about the carnet app and site. Has the site and app gotten any better since 2015?

The onboard timer settings aren't real great on the 2016s either. It's the main reason I just decided to get a ChargePoint home system so I could control everything via the charger, not the car.

The app hit a rough period in late 2016 as it got redesigned and transferred to VW, resulting in losing some features like remote door unlock. Overall I'm pretty happy with the app right now; in fact in many ways it works better than the BMW one. But it wouldn't be worth $10/month to me. The one time I really wanted to use CarNet was blowing a flat, but that occurred in an area with no cell service so I was SOL anyway.