Where Your Author Spends Dollars on a Mexican Wagon

All of you have shared in my car shopping experience, which began at the end of 2019. Starting with a solicitation for recommendations back in October, the process of finding the right replacement for a 2012 Outback extended longer than planned and was punctuated with a particularly poor experience at a Volkswagen dealer.

But it was all worth it, because now I’ve got a new (used) wagon.

Your recommendations were split roughly down the middle when it came to a 2018 (and potentially SEL-trimmed) Golf Sportwagen, or a new 2019 example that had a more efficient engine but maxed out at SE trim. The model revision and consolidation was due to the model’s cancellation at the end of 2019. For the foreseeable future, the Golf will arrive in North America in four-door GTI format only. It continues on with much broader offerings elsewhere in the world.

After the dealer in Illinois didn’t want my money, I started searching within a radius of 150 miles or so for a Golf I could check out before buying. Simultaneous eyes on eBay for one in the right specification made no difference: The majority of front-drive Sportwagens were delivered with a black interior. For shame.

There was one local to me, at a Volkswagen dealer just a few miles away. A 2019 in SE trim, it had 4,000 miles, the tan interior, and was CPO. Given the search results up to that time, it was an unusual combination to see. I went to check it out in the middle of November, and discovered its basically new condition. The condition was what you’d expect with such age and mileage, apart from an interior that needed a scrub. The dealer relayed this particular example was a service loaner at their location, which filled in the blanks on the year and mileage. CarFax wasn’t much help here — it said it was “well maintained,” with one oil change.

Like every other dealer I’d talked to, this one was keen to state, “These aren’t made any more!” and encourage that good old buyer rush. Their price was $23,000, and they were willing to negotiate a full $100 off that ask, and no further. Given that price was hundreds of dollars higher than even the KBB-suggested CPO price, I walked.

A few days later the sales manager followed up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning, letting me know the wagon I looked at was a great value against some attached comparable vehicles within an 800-mile radius. There were 11 used cars on provided list, and seven of those listed at $25,000 — what dealers ask for new ones. I explained there were just too few on the used market, which caused a price distortion (he agreed). I told the manager I was content to wait for prices to rationalize.

Weeks went by, and the original salesman I spoke with in November followed up December 10th to ask how my search was going. I didn’t hesitate to point out that the overpriced one I’d looked at was still for sale.

“We’ve had it a bit longer than anticipated,” he admitted. There was reassurance of more motivation to move metal, and $22,500 was the offer from across the table. Not good enough, as the money was still above that old KBB limiter. I countered with $22,300, and was quickly informed $22,500 was as low as they could go. Sticking to my guns, I declined.

Three days later another email arrived; they’d hate to lose a customer over a couple hundred bucks. Playing around with a lower purchase price and what it did to the taxes, the tactic changed to an out-the-door total of $24,300. That broke down to $22,428, plus taxes and the doc fee. Close enough.

I picked up my new SportWagen on December 21st, and enjoyed driving around economically ever since for exactly two weeks. That’s when it went back to the dealer to fix a rattle up above my head. It’s still sitting there as of this writing. Look for an update soon, and we’ll see how wrong the build quality was from the factory.

[Images: Corey Lewis/TTAC]