Plan B ...........

[Pushing Fifty]

I had a feeling this may happen. I was all set to purchase a 2012 Beetle as soon as I could, despite an over two-decades-long history of convincing my wife I need a different car every time I want one. I'm sure some of you can relate, right?

Anyway, I had a backup plan, and she has agreed to it, so as not to rock the boat, I've started looking for used NBs in the 12-15K price range. I already have a 2000 NB, but I want to have two Beetles! It would have been cool to have a last-gen model along with the latest, right? Well, I can get a low-mileage, 2008-2009 NB in that 12-15K range.

I have a 2007 Passat with 55k miles. KBB Trade-In value is 11,475 in good condition. I still owe 3200, but even with that outstanding lien, this means I could get into a good used NB for about $7000-$9000. My monthly payment for a 2012 would be about the same as for a used NB, but with a huge difference: about a 2 (or even 3) year shorter term!

I'm thinking positively about this idea. This would be a good time to snag a last-gen Beetle in excellent condition for future purposes of collectibility, and I'll just alternate my two Beetles at different shows and drive my wife's SUV in the winter...

Hopefully, I won't get too upset when I see that first 2012 on the road, but this does make more financial sense. What it all boils down to, really, is that my wife will be needing a new SUV in a couple of years or so, and it's nice not to be paying out $600-$700 a month for two car payments!

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

And without that 30% hit in depreciation as you drive it off the lot!

Sound financial decision! Maybe a NBC for the 2nd?

M.

[miffmole]

About that 30% depreciation...
Wonder who made this rule?
To wit, the dealer can drive a new car home as much as he pleases, take it to play golf in, get it dirty as he pleases...yet, it's still a NEW CAR! FULL PRICE!

Yet, let you buy it and take meticulous care of it, and yet, it's value is instantly 30% less.

Guess who made this rule!!!

The dealer perhaps?

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by miffmole

About that 30% depreciation...
Wonder who made this rule?
To wit, the dealer can drive a new car home as much as he pleases, take it to play golf in, get it dirty as he pleases...yet, it's still a NEW CAR! FULL PRICE!

Yet, let you buy it and take meticulous care of it, and yet, it's value is instantly 30% less.

Guess who made this rule!!!

The dealer perhaps?

Just FYI, and I spent a short time in the business, and had relatives in the business, we used to call those "Demo's" or "Demonstrators". They displayed "Dealer Tags" and were not titled. These were a perk for the Sales Staff, Body Shop and Service Managers (and yes, the Owner), but also the vehicles we typically put potential customers in to test drive as opposed to digging out a new one, having to gas it up, etc. The attempt was to have a fully loaded Demo for each Model readily available, gassed, and clean. In addition to the actual cost of the vehicles NOT being "Invoice", there were additional rebates given by the factory so these cars could be further discounted when sold. Because they were never titled, they were and are sold as "new" cars, but if you are a savvy Buyer you benefit from a more deeply discounted price, and have the benefit of the engine being broken in properly and the little "bugs" already taken care of.

"Invoice" is merely the amount the Dealer is invoiced for for the car, and the amount that is financed by him/her through the "floor planning" of his/her inventory. The Dealer then receives rebates "kick backs" on each vehicle sold based on his volume. And it can run into the thousands per vehicle today.

As a side note, Bill Heard (you must remeber him), who owned, I believe it was about 15 Chevy Dealerships nationwide, took 15% of Chevrolet's annual production. The new car inventory of his two Houston Chevy Dealerships numbered in the thousands. Pretty much every car and truck he sold was at "invoice". When he filed for bankruptcy, he owed GMAC over $1 Billion for his inventory AND the sold and delivered units that were still being reported as "in" inventory. Plus he was months behind in paying off the notes of incoming trades. (Lots of hanky-panky with his bookkeeping!)

But you can do things to help beat the intital depreciation. Buy a previous model year (the Dealer also gets another 5% rebate on all vehicles in stock, the day the new model year cars are released for sale which you can negotiate), from a high volume Dealer with whom you can negotiate a lower price, buy a Brand and a Model with a good track record, buy the RIGHT color, buy the equipment most highly in demand, even if the equipment means spending a little more, keep the car clean, waxed and perfectly maintained and repaired, and always sell it outright. Never, never trade a car that is in any type of demand. Not speaking of the ones you can't afford to repair and keep up, and that are ragged out. You're going to take a beating on them regardless. Think of it this way. The repairs you didn't want to spend the money on, are going to be deducted from the value of the car and your going to pay for them anyway on the way out of ownership, without the benefit of having had those things opersting correctly. If you can't afford to keep the car up, you can't afford to own it.

M.

[Fowvay]

link buy mine

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

This aticle will confirm/reaffirm what I said in my earlier post about model change over dealer discounting via factory rebate. Also special factory financing incentives which I didn't mention, but reduce you cost of the car at the end of the day.
Best 5 New-Car Deals for September - Yahoo! Autos

[Stlbug]

I am not covinced the 2012 beetle, is a beetle, I will have to sit in it and drive first.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by Stlbug

I am not covinced the 2012 beetle, is a beetle, I will have to sit in it and drive first.

As I've commented around here, just looks like another car now to me, too.

[Stlbug]

Good way to put it, It gots some Golf in it Gti, baby CC maybe? Kind looks like the cross firre from the rear, and hyndi tiberon from the front, beetle from the side. I don't know, we will see.