Dont know what to do :/

[Hayley :)]

hello I'm about to buy my first car and the only i want is a beetle. last night I found a beautiful beetle on craigslist and just fell in love! Its a 2002 special edition double yellow beetle. yellow is my favorite color and after seeing this i just had to have it. however...... on craigslist it was posted for $5300 which is perfect........ but when I went to the dealership today the price was over double that $10999. I just don't understand how it could be so different. And i'm so upset this is like my dream car but i just don't think a 2002 is worth $11000. HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK ITS WORTH?????? should I go back to the dealer and try to talk them down??? should I say something about there misleading post on craigslist????

[dnyed]

Do NOT pay the higher price!


While the Double Yellow Color Concept is a limited edition, it's not a $10k+ ten year old car.


Hold out for a different one. Do not let that place take advantage of your desire!

[dnyed]

Oh, can you link the ad?

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

As a basis for comparison, here is what is probably one of the nicest, most well kept, '02 Yellow CCs in the country. 61k miles. "Sting". Stephan, just sold it. He was asking $7500.
FS : 2002 1.8T Double Yellow Color Concept (named Sting)

Check out his picture thread on Sting

M.

[dnyed]

He sold Sting today.

[Hayley :)]

here is the link for the car on craigslist. you can also get to the dealership website from the craigslist page. but the dealership page does not say a price it just says to call. there are no pictures of the inside of the car but when I went and looked at it today it wasnt perfect but it look decent.

2002 Volkswagen New Beetle

[dnyed]

They have $5300 in the title. If they want to charge you twice that when you go in, that is false advertising.

The price in the title is fair. And, find out if the timing belt and water pump have been replaced. If they have not, it is way overdue.

If you can get them to sell it to you for a fair price, then try to get it. It is a fun car, and has a lot of cool features.


Good luck, my dear.

[Hayley :)]

thank you I haven't talked to anyone at the dealership yet I just saw the 10999 price and left but I plan on going back on tuesday and saying something about the craigslist add. I really hope I can get it for the 5300 but if there not willing to go down then I'll just have to find a new beetle.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by Hayley :)

on craigslist it was posted for $5300 which is perfect........ but when I went to the dealership today the price was over double that $10999. I just don't understand how it could be so different.

Originally Posted by Hayley :)

thank you I haven't talked to anyone at the dealership yet I just saw the 10999 price and left but I plan on going back on tuesday and saying something about the craigslist add. I really hope I can get it for the 5300 but if there not willing to go down then I'll just have to find a new beetle.

Seems you 've kinda' put the cart in fron t of the horse. You haven't even spoken with them, you are just assuming they are not selling the car for $5300 as advertised. You're young and you're nieve. The kind of person these people prey on. "Pay on Lot" Dealers. Yes, they will probably sell you this car for $5300 or $5500, CASH, as stated. These guys cater to a captive audience. Those with no credit, yes, but more generally those with bad or horrible credit. Not a scam, and no false advertising, typically. If you want the car, and you want their "in house" financing, you pay the inflated price. They operate just on the fringe of the laws. You are the exception they see, not the rule. You are paying cash right? Not lookng for their financing right? Or have your own financing lined up through your bank or credit union, right? When they say cash, they don't necessarily mean green backs, just a transaction that doesn't involve any carrying of the note on their part. They really don't care whether they get green backs from you, or a draft from your bank.

Usually to facilitate easy recovery of the vehicle when a payment is missed, it's sold on a rent to own basis, as opposed to a real sale, with real financing. The "down payment" is usually the first week or first month rent. That way when a payment is missed, there is no reposession process to go through. It's rented, you have failed to pay the rent, and unless you return it, it is considered, legally, as stolen. There is little tolerance for missed payments. The total of rent payments far in excess of what the legal allowable interest rates would be on a true "purchase". The profitability is in the repeated down payments, and rent payments collected. They also appear to cater to the military, very enforceable, easy, recovery of the vehicle. If, in fact, you do have decent credit, they also have the ability to write in house financing, and do. This helps them stay within the boundaries of the laws, when it comes to advertising.

Sometimes, these cars are "sold", over and over. I noticed a Carfax is not included in their advertising, but you can get it if you want to pay for it. And a lot of vehicles offered don't have the full VIN given, so you CAN'T run a Carfax or the such. If you run a title check on this vehicle, you will probably find it's been a while since the last sale, or title was held. Look at the pictures that float through there website Home Page. This car is in them. They may be experience a high cost of maintenance to keep this particular car in their "rental" fleet and want it gone, hence the "low", "cash" price. This is a perfect car for this kind of lot, the kind of vehicle sommeone with misplaced priorities, more about the ride than their financial abilities, wants, and doesn't care about much else. The reason their credit is so bad to begin with.

These type of places, that have there own mechanics and body shops, buy these cars at auction, in either bad, rough, condition, not running, storm damage, etc, do a quick once over to get them presentable and on the lot. With all the flooding up the East Coast from recent storms, a lot of storm damaged cars will be showing up on these lots. These lots don't cater to the normal consumer. It's a captive, financially strapped, audience with little money and little knowledge to do much of anything about anything once the "papers" are signed.

Walk in with $5300 CASH, you will probably drive off with Bug of your dreams, but don't bank on having much, they may only have a couple thousand invested in the car to begin with. This won't be you're one owner, well maintained, low mileage vehicle you will encounter on the Used Car Lot of a new car Dealer, or reputable used car Dealer.

For my money, I'd move on.

You might also want to read the follow-up comments on "Sting"s thread -
FS : 2002 1.8T Double Yellow Color Concept (named Sting)

After reading your comments there, I'm trying to save you from yourself, Darlin'! (lol)

MORAV