Find Volkswagen Dealers in New Richmond, Ohio

Hi Car-Man and everyone else. This is going to be long-winded, so I apologize in advance. Yesterday I signed a lease on a 2012 Jetta and I want to get some opinions on how I went about it. First off, I have been driving a 2003 Jetta GL 2.0 since 2006. I moved out to San Diego from Upstate NY and the drive killed the previous car (a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus LXi) I had been driving - I coasted into the VW dealership and basically had to bend over on the financing - I owed $3k on the previous car and could only put $500 down. Fast forward 5 years and the car was basically on its last legs. It had over 110K miles on it (two cross-country trips and 4 road trips to Vegas on top of dating a girl who lived 2 hours away for about 5 months) - the tires were bald, the brakes were shot, the check engine light popped on a few days before and unleashed a hellstorm of noises that hadn't been there before, and I easily needed a couple thousand in repairs - I was not a conscientious, mature, responsible car owner until it was already too late and neglected the scheduled maintenance on the car. I was (and probably still am...let me know at the end of the story) an idiot with a capital "STUPID!" Yet because of the original loan terms I still owed $4000 on it. Things were bad, and I did not feel safe driving it so I decided that instead of spending the cash on the repairs I would look into taking a portion of that money and going the lease route on a new Jetta; rather than being tethered to a potential hazard. Here's the thing - I went to the dealer where I originally bought the first car, I signed the lease with VW Credit for 36 months and 36K miles, and after I signed and got home - my optimism of "Yeah, I can do that." in regard to the miles went to, "Oh, Holy CRAP there is no way in hell I can do that!" However, I fully intend to buy this car at the end of the lease. I got the car because it's the one that I wanted and the one that I can see working for me long-term - I researched my options, test drove several from different manufactures, and I just loves me a Jetta. I went with the lease because it got me out from under, what was essentially, 7+ years of negative equity with previous cars and gives me an opportunity to rebuild a bit and save up for a good down payment when the lease matures. I did my research, negotiated well, and got a sale price under the Invoice number and a residual that gave me a decent monthly payment, but - even with the miles that I will be carrying (50-55K) - is under the private seller and trade-in price on similar models at the 3-4 year range. I have the same car payment, same insurance payment, but a brand new car and better gas mileage on my Jetta SE now. However, that mileage contract is making me anxious and obsessive. In reality, I will probably drive 15K-17K a year which chalks up quite a bit of a fee at the end, but if I plan on buying the car when the lease matures do I even need to worry about that number? Can I just drive how I normally drive? I just want to make sure that if I buy, I'm bullet-proof and that if I'm not, I take steps early in this process to minimize the wallet damage. I figure that with the situation I was in, I was going to eat it no matter what - there is no need to tell me about how stupid I was and how I should have read things better, etc. Already covered by my own self-punishing ways. I just want to make sure that as long as I'm eating it, I'm at least getting some nourishment in the force-feeding. Thanks for reading and for any comments or suggestions you can offer.

My GF wanted to lease a new CC this weekend and asked the I go with her to fulfill my manly responsibility of negotiation. Needless to say, I traditionally purchase my cars outright and had no idea of what I was doing. I only hope I didn't put her in too bad of a position. I did do some homework beforehand but think I got a little spun around when we were actually working through the deal with the salesperson. I have a feeling I left about a grand on the table but am not positive. Deal Specifics: 2012 CC Sport w/DSG. MSRP of $30,400 + $400 for dealer add ons that we didn't want (but it was the only iron grey metallic they had and she had to have that color). 36 month/15,000 mile lease Residual: $16,400 (about 53%-54% of sticker, so seems in line with expectations) Upfront: $2,000 including first month's payment and NJ sales tax (7% of payments). I specifically told the salesperson we would be willing to pay acquisition/document fees, title & registration, and NJ taxes upfront but did not want to pay down any portion of the cap cost related to actual vehicle depreciation. This is where I think we got screwed - I can't help but feel that he bumped up the upfront amount on the sly. Monthly Payment: $331/month. Using the numbers above and the MF for April, I get a total cap cost of about $29,800. I assumed that the selling price was about $27,400 based on what the salesperson told me, but I've been trying to reconcile back to the real selling price by backing out taxes & fees, etc. and can't seem to make it work. I don't have the contract since my GF has the paperwork but I'm assuming that the dealer specific and state fees total about $500 or so (not including acquisition from VW credit). Would anyone mind providing some input? I realize that this is purely an academic exercise to massage my ego, but I really would like to have some peace of mind about how much I left on the table. Oh, well, at least I know at the end of the day that my GF got a car she loves at a price that she's comfortable with.

Oh come on now. I saw that you wrote 'me personally' or something to that effect in the post in question. And I realize we aren't behind podiums at a live debate, but the purpose of writing your opinions is for some sort of consideration by others. Otherwise they need not be written; if the only intended audience is you, what is all the typing for? Notice how I'm not challenging the several people who also wrote that they haven't had a car with HIDs but agree with you that they don't need them, and that they are sometimes blinded by vehicles which presumably have them. You may dislike them and that's fine. But they are not a maintenance or repair concern. :)

Hi Bobby, Sounds like he's playing dumb when he said that he didn't know what you meant by upfront cost. They're simply monies due at lease signing. He also didn't tell you how he arrived at the adjusted cap. G = S + A C = G - D G = Gross cap S = Selling price A = Amounts Financed (What is being financed, if anything? The 625 acq fee?) C = Adjusted Cap D = Cap cost reduction (i.e., downpayment- I'm assuming 2,600) S = 25,736.50 A = 699.99 (doc fee- I presume that this is being financed from your data sheet) G = 26,436.49 D = 2,600.00 (I assume this is the NET trade value) C = 23,836.49 According to your data sheet, the 2,600 is listed as the "total initial payment". What on earth does that mean? Is it being used as a down payment or; is it used to help pay the costs due at lease signing? The data sheet doesn't provide even a remote clue. Also, according to the data sheet, there are only two possibilities for the adjusted cap and they are bolded above and neither of them match 25,540. The 26,436.49 would equate to the adjusted cap IF the 2,600 wasn't used as a cap reduction. Otherwise, the adjusted cap is 23,836.49. Can you see that this is pure garbage? Could it be that only a portion of the 2,600 is used as a cap reduction? If so, then the balance would be applied to the upfront charges. But, again, I'm guessing! A good data sheet leaves absolutely no questions unanswered. It's thorough and provides an accurate accounting of all dollars. This data sheet is useless and can be used for toilet paper. But, it's not your fault. Okay, so if we add your new information to our list... 4. PRICE: 25736.50 6. TERM: 36 7. # ADVANCE PYMT: 1 8. RATE: .00041 10. M.S.R.P.: 30000.00 11. RESIDUAL: .47 12. ALLOW MI/YR: 15000 13. EST MI/YR: 15000 14. CENTS/MILE BEGIN: .15 15. CENTS/MILE END: .25 17. ACQ FEE: 625.00 18. ACQ UPFRONT Y/N: Y 19. TRADE #1: 2600.00 23. REGISTERED STATE: FL 26. DOC FEE: 699.99 27. DOC UPFRONT Y/N: N 32. GAP UPFRONT Y/N: N 33. SEC DEPOSIT: 0.00 TOT INIT PMT: 2600 ADJ RESIDUAL: 14100.00 GOVT FEES: 279.50 TAXES: 865.78 STATUS: S MO. PMT: 345.31 The base payment is 326 The adjusted cap is 25540 The sales tax rate is 7% Let's see, we get... P = 0.00041 x (25,540 + 14,100) + (25,540 - 14,100)/36 = 334.03 NOT 326 or 345.31 So, now the payment is way off. It appears that the dealer is giving you inconsistent data as there is no way on God's green earth that the payment is 326 or 345.31 given the above data. By the way, I'm betting that the base payment is $326.20 not $326.00. Always insist on exact data; not estimates or ball park! The taxes appear to be calculated as follows... 0.07 x 36 x 326.20 + 0.07 x 625 = 865.78 If so, it appears that FL taxes the total of the taxable payments (like OH, NJ, NY) and not the payment streams as received. This needs to be confirmed with the Florida Dept. of Revenue... http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/ Frankly, I wouldn't deal with these people as they seem to be grossly incompetent or dishonest. Rather than argue with them, I suggest you create a one-page lease proposal with all pertinent information and FAX/email it to another dealer. If you like, I can send you samples if you email me at diffeq@zoominternet.net John

I just looked at your deal again. Does your "just over $400" include tax, and if so, what is your tax rate - I'm at 9.25%. Thanks again, and oh - how do you like that new car????