Buying a new car... specifically... - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Agamemnon · 05-29-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Table 5

who cares if the automatic is .2 second or whatever faster to 100k. Nothing will ever beat the fun of driving a stick.

Thats pretty much where I'm at. I'm not buying the thing to race it.

Ironhorse · 05-29-2006, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

Thats pretty much where I'm at. I'm not buying the thing to race it.

But it IS a GTI...

:P

Eagle Eye · 05-29-2006, 10:30 AM

If you are looking at buying a new car and are looking to get the best price, go to CarCostCanada.com. You can browse all vehicles available, plus you can pay $40 to see what the dealers invoice prices are and any incentives that are available for that car (could be public or it could a dealer incentive to sell the car). Plus you can usually deal with the Fleet managers over the phone or in person.

Me and my wife just bought a van and we saved over $5000 (we actually got $1500 less than invoice cause there was a special $2000 dealer incentive to sell our model)

I-Hate-Hulse · 05-29-2006, 12:29 PM

Nice ride, that's exactly how I'd spec out one for me (red, moonroof, leather)!

Detail your specs and fax it out to all the dealers in Western Canada. See what comes back. A friend of mine did this with a Passat, ended up getting one in Vancouver. Even with a flight out to get it, it was still cheaper.

Fozzie_DeBear · 05-29-2006, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Looger

the only real advice i have, is the more dealerships you deal with, the better. out of town if you have to.

that car is in high demand so it may not matter as much... and cars that aren't on the lot, unfortunately, rarely go for MSRP.

you can always factory order for 6+ months, if the waiting lists aren't too long, or check in with the cross-border brokers.

I have heard about this factory order option, how does it work? How much can you save with it?

Agamemnon · 05-29-2006, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

I have heard about this factory order option, how does it work? How much can you save with it?

I think you just go to www.vw.ca and price it out. The price they quote you is what you pay, and you'll get it in 2-6 months.

I kind of wanted mine this summer...

I'll fax all the dealerships with my specs and get quotes, that seems like the best way to go.

Ironhorse · 05-29-2006, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotze

On factory orders: I don't think you save anything, you just get exactly what you want though. But I could be wrong

That's right, you get the exact spec that you want. Price will be MSRP, since the dealer isn't in a hurry to get rid of their stock. I ordered my MINI (took 2 months), but with them you pay the same price (MSRP) either way, and there are sooo many options to choose from. I don't know how VW's pricing model works.

teamchachi · 05-29-2006, 01:27 PM

Unfortunately, you're in a very poor bargaining position when it comes to dealing with the VW dealers. Lots of demand and supply is short on the GTI.

I bought a Mazda 3 GT (hatch) a few months ago and it was basically the same thing. They can't get enough of them from Mazda, so there is basically no deal to be had. The price on the sticker is essentially the price that you pay. I did get them down about $1000, but they wouldn't really have cared if I just walked away since they can just sell it to somebody else.

If your heart is set on the new GTI, you're going to pay sticker (or higher!). Pick the dealer that you're comfortable with and write them a check.

Agamemnon · 05-29-2006, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teamchachi

Unfortunately, you're in a very poor bargaining position when it comes to dealing with the VW dealers. Lots of demand and supply is short on the GTI.

If your heart is set on the new GTI, you're going to pay sticker (or higher!). Pick the dealer that you're comfortable with and write them a check.

I figure I'll just email/fax all of them, tell them that I'm emailing/faxing all of them, and just say whoever returns me the best price I'll go with? From what I've heard I'm not really anticipating anything off the sticker price... but I figure it IS worth it to one VW salesman to knock off $500-$1000 to get the commission himself over the other dealerships. If none of them do, then I'll just buy from the last guy I go to/responds to me.

greyshep · 05-29-2006, 01:44 PM

I am not 100% sure how it works for VW vehicles, but have you done any investigation into buying one in the US and bringing it back across the border?

I just saved $5000 on a new travel trailer that was $21,000 here in Calgary for the exact same thing. Picked it up in Great Falls on the May long weekend and brought it home.

No hassles at the border. Dont let the "what about the duty" naysayers scare you. Its bunk.

With NAFTA, there should be no duty on any vehicle that is new or even up to 15 years old.

Its worth checking it out at least.

habernac · 05-29-2006, 02:08 PM

there are definitely deals south of the border. My Dad bought a car down there this year, saved over $20,000 after GST, etc. It depends on teh model (and I think you might be SOL on VW's, he checked on Audi and with the exchange, the prices were identical. Only certain makes are much cheaper down there.)

White Doors · 05-29-2006, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

Hmmm... Chevy Impala or VW GTI...

I think I'm happy with my choice. Believe it or not, a V8 is not a selling feature to me in the least.

32k for a Golf GTI with all the options. I believe a base GTI is 28k, no idea what a base Golf starts at... considerably less I'd imagine.

fair enough, but it does go to 4 cly only when you aren't tramping on it.
power and fuel economy? droool...
Of course, I'll stick with my Saturn for now.

I-Hate-Hulse · 05-29-2006, 02:54 PM

http://www.riv.ca/english/html/how_to_import.html

All you need to know about importing vehicles back to Canada from the US.

Might be worth it for those manufacturers who haven't taken in account the recent appreciation in the Canadian Dollar into their pricing. A Toyota RAV4 can be had for a lot less down south.

White Doors · 05-29-2006, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

I hear ya. I'm old-school though, and would love a stick. Plus thats the one option I figure I can easily do without, considering the $1500 or so it costs. I've driven a stick for years, and my Dad's first car was a red '86 GTI stick, I'm actually sort of being nostalgic in buying the (far) newer version, with the same/similar options.

I guess I just like the stick

For sure, you always want a stick for a 4cyl. Much more fun and you can get come power out of it for passing

greyshep · 05-29-2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotze

Did you have to pay GST though? I did on our piece of **** Escort (Ford of course).

Yes you have to pay the GST, just like you would here. Except I was paying GST on $16,000 vs. $21,000. Its all the same. Just submit your bill of sale and pay the gst on the cdn converted amount.

Easy as pie.

ken0042 · 05-29-2006, 03:51 PM

Are there not other issues, like daytime running lights, etc to bring a car into Canada? Also, would it bother you that your spedometer is in miles and not kilometres. (at least the big numbers.)

greyshep · 05-29-2006, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

Are there not other issues, like daytime running lights, etc to bring a car into Canada? Also, would it bother you that your spedometer is in miles and not kilometres. (at least the big numbers.)

The daytime running lights thing is not an issue anymore. I believe the US adopted that finally.

I think if the savings were significant I could handle looking at the smaller numbers to find out how fast I am going in KM's.

Bill Bumface · 05-29-2006, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by White Doors

For sure, you always want a stick for a 4cyl. Much more fun and you can get come power out of it for passing

Read what a DSG is first. I agree about the fun factor though. Personally, I hate paddle shifters. Very akward mid corner, and I hate having my hand position on the steering wheel dictated.

Bill Bumface · 05-29-2006, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greyshep

The daytime running lights thing is not an issue anymore. I believe the US adopted that finally.

I think if the savings were significant I could handle looking at the smaller numbers to find out how fast I am going in KM's.

You can just buy guage overlays in Km/h. Some cars, like the pontiac G6 have guages that actually change between mph and km/h. They still have a needle guage, but the numbers on the back are an electronic image that can be changed.

Ironhorse · 05-29-2006, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Read what a DSG is first. I agree about the fun factor though. Personally, I hate paddle shifters. Very akward mid corner, and I hate having my hand position on the steering wheel dictated.

It should be possible to also use the gear selector lever to sequentially select gears. I don't think you only have paddles.