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What to Offer -Used 17 Autobahn

Flippy

Flippy

Ready to race!
Location
Los Angeles, CA
They've had it listed for a 32 days. If it were me, I'd start at $22,500. Actually, if it were me, I'd have them throw out a number first. If it's too high for your liking, let them know you are also shopping a couple other vehicles around the $22.5 range and while you like their car the best, price is going to be the ultimate deciding factor.

I've been looking at possibly picking up a new car and even the cars that I thought were priced well to begin with seemed to still be able to be had for at least $1000 less than their online price. Virginia could be different though.
 
cb1111

cb1111

Newbie
Location
Virginia, USA
There are several theories on how to negotiate the price of a car. A few caveats first - dealers generally don't need to negotiate on used cars much and trying to price a used car is difficult anyway. If this car were at a VW dealership, then it would command a higher price than it would at a BMW dealership.


Dealers set expectations high "This is $xxx (plus the $799 doc fee)" so you need to set their expectations "Hi, I'm interested in this car and I have $20k to spend. What can you do?"


This resets the dealer's expectations. Sure, they won't sell you the car for that price, but their counter will be far closer to their bottom line price.


After their counter, you can say "Yeah, I really like the car and I'd love to drive it home, but I only have $20k to spend, why don't you see what you can do?"


They'll most likely come back with a more reasonable offer. At that point, say "that's a very reasonable offer if it includes all of your fees, but is still over my budget of $20k. I'll have to check with my bank to see what I can do." Get in your car and check your emails before driving off.


Decide if the price is OK and then go back (the next day) with a certified check for that amount and another check for tax and tags and any other government fees.
 
C

Cherbhy

New member
Location
Philadelphia
Car(s)
‘17 GTI Autobahn
Da Jesus said:
They've had it listed for a 32 days. If it were me, I'd start at $22,500. Actually, if it were me, I'd have them throw out a number first. If it's too high for your liking, let them know you are also shopping a couple other vehicles around the $22.5 range and while you like their car the best, price is going to be the ultimate deciding factor.

I've been looking at possibly picking up a new car and even the cars that I thought were priced well to begin with seemed to still be able to be had for at least $1000 less than their online price. Virginia could be different though.
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I offered 22,500. They said the following. Not sure what to do with this, I think it’s actually kind of true/fair..

“I'm looking at our pricing tools, and we're 3% below what we should be asking for our car already according to the market. There's cars with mileage within 1000 miles of mine that are $1400 more expensive (I'm searching within a 500 mile radius). I understand you're looking for a good deal, but we've already priced it aggressively up front. I'm willing to work with you on this, but we're talking about moving a couple hundred dollars, not a couple thousand.”
 
Flippy

Flippy

Ready to race!
Location
Los Angeles, CA
That's actually a measured and thoughtful response back to your offer and gives you a good idea of what you have to work with. I did notice there wasn't a whole lot of inventory in your area so you don't have a ton of leverage in that regard.

I say go check out the car, if you haven't already, and if you like it go from there. Edmunds shows dealer retail on that car as 24,659, so the asking price isn't bad. If you want to play the waiting game to see if they lower the price after it sits on their lot for more time you could take that chance, but you run the chance of it selling. RIght now though, you're probably looking at $24,300 to $24,000 at best (my best guess).

Also, I am by no means a pro at this so take my advice with a gain of salt. I'm just a dude shopping cars at the moment and sharing from my experiences from the past month.
 
C

CosmosMpower

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
Walk away, buy a similar car from a private party. 22 or 24K is a lot. I paid a lot less than that for my 16 Autobahn with DCC/LP/PP with 40k miles.
 
jimlloyd40

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Cherbhy said:
Is $24,000 a reasonable price for this vehicle? As a reminder, it’s a 2017 Autobahn with 13000 miles.
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It's a reasonable price but pretty much full retail. If you have the financing lined up just make an offer and tell them you'll bring a certified check. They have had the car for 32 days.
 
cb1111

cb1111

Newbie
Location
Virginia, USA
Strange Mud said:
Derail

Cosmo has a nice garage

Mud
Click to expand...
Cosmo says he has a nice garage...


On another note, these "what should I pay" threads always boil down to two parts - whatever the dealer wants (or what you paid) is far too much and I got a far better deal - because internet.
 
iwannagofast

iwannagofast

Not a Newbie
Location
Severn, MD
Car(s)
'17 GTI
I bought my used 2017 Autobahn DSG September of last year. It was from a private seller who initially listed it for $27.5 and we landed and agreed on $25.5. The car had 11.5k miles on it and came with a set of 5 BBS CH-R wheels with summer tires and the stock wheels had Blizzak winter tires on it. Regardless of what other cars there are for sale, what is the KBB price? That should be another negotiating tool. It lists the car between $20.8k and $25.5k with the fair purchase price of $23.3k. I would come back with this. It was the main reason why my seller was willing to come down to $25.5k (the MSRP was $37K, ouch).

Also, when my cousin purchased his used 2017 Autobahn about 6 months before me, he told the dealer (Ourisman in Rockville MD) exactly what he wanted and they wouldn't budge. They gave the same reasons that you listed above. He went and test drove it and said I will buy this right now at the price I want. They refused to come down $700, so we left. They called him back the next day and accepted his offer as long as he came down that day to buy it, he then made them throw in an extra $50 for gas for wasting his time before he agreed to come down (we lived an hour away). I shit you not, that actually happened.
 
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C

Cherbhy

New member
Location
Philadelphia
Car(s)
‘17 GTI Autobahn
ssjneko1 said:
I bought my used 2017 Autobahn DSG September of last year. It was from a private seller who initially listed it for $27.5 and we landed and agreed on $25.5. The car had 11.5k miles on it and came with a set of 5 BBS CH-R wheels with summer tires and the stock wheels had Blizzak winter tires on it. Regardless of what other cars there are for sale, what is the KBB price? That should be another negotiating tool. It lists the car between $20.8k and $25.5k with the fair purchase price of $23.3k. I would come back with this. It was the main reason why my seller was willing to come down to $25.5k (the MSRP was $37K, ouch).

Also, when my cousin purchased his used 2017 Autobahn about 6 months before me, he told the dealer exactly what he wanted and they wouldn't budge. They gave the same reasons that you listed above. He went and test drove it and said I will buy this right now at the price I want. They refused to come down $700, so we left. They called him back the next day and accepted his offer as long as he came down that day to buy it, he then made them throw in an extra $50 for gas for wasting his time before he agreed to come down (we lived an hour away). I shit you not, that actually happened.
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Thank you this is really helpful. The KBB range for this car is $22,835-$27,842, so they’re actually below the median at present. Love that your cousin made them pay for his gas to get out there lol.

Are you still loving the car?
 
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