Fair price for Passat?

[akboss]

Me and my wife are likely going to see a 2006 VW Passat later this week or over the weekend. The car looks to be in good shape, loaded with sunroof, climate control, xenon lights, etc. It has 115,000 Kms, 2.0T engine with 6-speed tiptronic auto, very clean in photos, and they are asking $13,995. It has been on the trader website for a few weeks so I think they have had it for a while. The dealership is about an hour away from where I live, but it is where I work, so easy to get to. Here's my questions:

1) We have a VW shop in my hometown about an hour away. Would it be inappropriate to ask to test-drive the car to my garage and have it looked at, even if the car will be driven about 100-125 Kms?

2) When during the deal do I ask about price, and/or the long test drive? I know we should also be looking at other cars, maybe suggesting this while I'm looking at the car will get up the dealer's competitive spirit on pricing...

3) If the car checks out at a garage and looks like we want to go through with it, how much should I ask to drop the price, or should I just ask for his 'best price'?

[MagicRat]

Good price for the make, model and year, but the mileage is a bit high for the money imo. They should knock off about $2k, imo.
As for the long drive.... I have never heard of any dealer letting a customer go on such a trip. IMO they will not be happy, even if they do allow it. Even if they let you go, it will affect their negotiations. Imo they will not be as flexible.

[Ray paulsen]

akboss, why don't you phone the dealer to obtain the vin # and email it to me, I promise to be on the best of behavior with a reply without sarcasm, lol

RE - Q - # 1,,, It's not an inappropriate request, some dealers will play ball to that extend while others will not.

RE - Q - # 2,,, Test drive the car locally, if vehicle still of interest sit down with salesperson and propose your conditions, as for your idea getting the dealer's competitive spirit on pricing by mention your shopping other cars, sure go ahead, 99% of other shoppers make the same statement.

Re - Q - # 3,,, I don't have access in front of me from the location I am typing at this moment to give you a proper answer, but will later in the day if you are interested.

[akboss]

Ray, I like your suggestion about test driving locally first to get a feel for the car, then sit down for more serious negotiations if everything is as expected and checks out. This way we can look at a few different models and keep our options open. I fired over a quick email to the dealership and they said the extended test drive is fine, they 'want their customer to be extremely satisfied with their experience' - how about that for a line! But hey, if they're OK with that, it makes me more interested to buy from them.

I work with a guy who bought a Mazda3 after he cracked up his other car, loved it on the test drive, but the seats killed his back on his long commute. He ended up trading the car in on a used CUV after about 4 months, taking a pretty major loss on the car. Had he taken a 1-hour test drive, he would have been better able to spot the issues.

The 2006 I was looking at has the 2.0T engine, which is apparently quite a gem, but they also have a 2005 TDI model for the same price. I have heard in some reviews that the older B5 design (2002-2005) felt like a higher quality vehicle, more like an Audi than the newest gen car. Surely the B6 looks better, but just looking at the seats alone, the B5 looks to be more aggressively bolstered and supportive of 'excited driving' than the flat Buick-esque seats in the newest car. Will be good to drive them side-by-side, I wouldn't mind getting 35 mpg in a Passat TDI.

[akboss]

I just found out the car is from Quebec, and at below market value, I'm beginning to feel the deal is a fraud. But the car is perfect - I went to see it today. There seems to be some rough looking paint near the front chrome fender which raises some red alerts, so along with the fact that it is from Quebec, and a 2006 with 110,000 Kms, well it just doesn't feel right.

On the other hand he is selling it with Carproof verification, which doesn't tell you EVERYTHING, but it is supposed to go some lengths to prevent odometer fraud. I'm so confused! I have talked to a co-worker that says stay away, but I'm thinking if I'm saving so much money, what's the worst that could happen? The car still only has 110,000 Kms, that isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things.

[MagicRat]

I seem to recall the Quebec's transport ministry does not update their records with the MTO, so Quebec is a favorite source of shady cars, like salvaged/rebuilt cars, clean titles from wrecked cars to place on stolen cars from Ontario, etc.

Bad paint is a guarenteed giveaway for body work...... if its on both sides, the body work repair was extensive. Fresh extensive body work on a car now for sale screams of a salvage rebuild. The repair might have been done will, but, $13k is not much to be asking if the repairs were extensive, so corners may have been cut. Stay away, imo.