From TDI to Tesla

[The_Mike]

VW is buying back my 2011 Golf TDI in two weeks' time. We purchased our S60D with an eye on the proceeds.

What I don't understand here is the concept of "dragging out" anyone's acceptance of the VW buyback offer. The way I see it, each day you drive is one more chance of getting in an accident with the car, and getting an <$10k insurance payout compared to a ~$19k buyback. Or a costly repair which would be necessary to complete in order to be in compliance with VW's stipulation that the car must drive in under its own power.

Dump that car as soon as possible!

 

[EV-lutioin]

My 2014 TDI Jetta Wagon is scheduled for sell back 1/5/17, my local dealer offers 3 sell back appt per week and this was the earliest date that I was available.

Wait, did you say 3 sell back appointments per week? Jeez, at that rate it will take years to buy back all the TDI's! In my town there are many hundreds (thousands?) of eligible TDI's and only one VW dealer.

 

[EV-lutioin]

VW is buying back my 2011 Golf TDI in two weeks' time. We purchased our S60D with an eye on the proceeds.

What I don't understand here is the concept of "dragging out" anyone's acceptance of the VW buyback offer. The way I see it, each day you drive is one more chance of getting in an accident with the car, and getting an <$10k insurance payout compared to a ~$19k buyback. Or a costly repair which would be necessary to complete in order to be in compliance with VW's stipulation that the car must drive in under its own power.

Dump that car as soon as possible!

Yes, I want to, and I filled out the paperwork months ago yet I have heard nothing but crickets from VW, Chirp, chirp, chrip.....

 

[RangerRick]

My buyback date is the 14th, so I'll let you know soon...

In the meantime, I bought a 2013 Civic to hold me over. I knew it wouldn't be as nice, but didn't realize how many small fit & finish things were nicer in the Jetta over a cheaper car like a Civic.

It's fine, but nothing special. On the bright side, I'll sell it within a couple of years with only a couple grand depreciation, and my Jetta was just starting to need some not-insignificant work done, so I'll come out ahead. I'll also appreciate the Model 3 that much more.

Wait, did you say 3 sell back appointments per week? Jeez, at that rate it will take years to buy back all the TDI's! In my town there are many hundreds (thousands?) of eligible TDI's and only one VW dealer.

My local dealer appeared to have 3-4 a day. May just depend on the dealerships and the expected load.

 

[zdre]

I am waiting until Model3 arrives to sell the 2011 TDI Golf to VW. We reserved at store opening on March 31st. Hopefully Model3 is not delayed too much.

 

[jsmall0210]

I'm scheduled to turn in my 2010 JSW TDI on Dec 19. I'm currently driving my wife's old camry hybrid, waiting for the M3. We needed a station wagon type vehicle, so got a 2017 Prius V. It's surprisingly nice and drives much better than the regular Prius.

 

[diamond.g]

Have yet to receive my offer from VW, but got a 2014 Volt yesterday. Seems nice so far. Headlights don't seem to be as bright as my Golf though.

 

[The_Mike]

VW bought mine back on Monday. Very happy.

 

[EV-lutioin]

I'm scheduled to turn in my 2010 JSW TDI on Dec 19. I'm currently driving my wife's old camry hybrid, waiting for the M3. We needed a station wagon type vehicle, so got a 2017 Prius V. It's surprisingly nice and drives much better than the regular Prius.

"Camry Hybrid" ... hang in there.

 

[diamond.g]

Got my offer, signed returned!! Feb 9th is the soonest I can give the car back at my dealership

On the other hand driving the Volt has been interesting. Low end pick up and go is the same, but highway cruising is worse in efficiency than the TDI though that could be mostly weather related...

 

[RangerRick]

Guess I forgot to report back here. Brought it in, took almost no time. They started it up and checked the mileage and I got the email about the direct deposit that day. The money was in my account within the next couple.

The Civic is not as nice, but it'll do in the meantime. But it's winter now and oh boy I miss my heated seats.

 

[Warden182]

I ended up turning in my 2015 TDI Audi A3 on 12/30, after buying a gently used 2016 Civic EX-L for about 1/2 of what Audi gave me. I had originally planned on trying to hold off on the buyback until Sep '18 when my M3 might be available, but I was just too worried about the risk of totaling it. Doing the math, I realized I would get only about $22K from insurance if it was totaled, compared to the $39K Audi/VW was offering.

Really like the Civic. Not sure what I'm going to do when it's my turn for my M3 reservation. I wish I could wave a magic wand and somehow get a Model X for ~$65K to replace my wife's 2013 Acura RDX and keep the Civic. But that seems pretty unrealistic. So we'll see...I'm confident that if I do decide to still get the M3, I won't take more than a 2k hit in depreciation. But it still seems pretty wasteful.

 

[EV-lutioin]

I ended up turning in my 2015 TDI Audi A3 on 12/30, after buying a gently used 2016 Civic EX-L for about 1/2 of what Audi gave me. I had originally planned on trying to hold off on the buyback until Sep '18 when my M3 might be available, but I was just too worried about the risk of totaling it. Doing the math, I realized I would get only about $22K from insurance if it was totaled, compared to the $39K Audi/VW was offering.

Really like the Civic. Not sure what I'm going to do when it's my turn for my M3 reservation. I wish I could wave a magic wand and somehow get a Model X for ~$65K to replace my wife's 2013 Acura RDX and keep the Civic. But that seems pretty unrealistic. So we'll see...I'm confident that if I do decide to still get the M3, I won't take more than a 2k hit in depreciation. But it still seems pretty wasteful.

Interestingly, the new Civic delivers similar mileage as the TDI's. However, at this point, I am so pumped on EV's that any sort of milage, no matter how good, seems like a compromise I don't want to make. It's hard to go back after you have tasted the future.

 

[Volare3]

Well the wife has decided that she wants to replace the '12 Jetta with a new '15 Passat TDI. Picking it up Monday. I think this will effectively put the nail in the coffin of the future Model 3 for her. It was already pretty iffy whether the 3 would offer sufficient space to at least equal a Jetta, but there's no way it will compare to the Passat in volume. Still I will keep the 3 deposit for now. Perhaps I'll be able to convert it into a Tesla pickup truck deposit.

 

[Saghost]

Well the wife has decided that she wants to replace the '12 Jetta with a new '15 Passat TDI. Picking it up Monday. I think this will effectively put the nail in the coffin of the future Model 3 for her. It was already pretty iffy whether the 3 would offer sufficient space to at least equal a Jetta, but there's no way it will compare to the Passat in volume. Still I will keep the 3 deposit for now. Perhaps I'll be able to convert it into a Tesla pickup truck deposit.

That's an interesting assertion, considering that Passats and A4s are in the same size class (at some points in the past built on exactly the same platform I believe,) and the A4 and BMW 3 series are Tesla's reference targets for the Model 3.

We'll have to see how much space there is, but I'll be surprised if it isn't at least close to the same, and not at all surprised if the Tesla is slightly larger inside.

 

[Volare3]

2015 Passat Dimensions: 192″ L x 72″ W x 59″ H Trunk 15.9 cu/ft.
2012 Jetta Dimensions: 182″ L x 70″ W x 57″ H Trunk 15.7 cu/ft

Will be interesting to see how much TARDIS mode the Model 3 can conjure.

 

[Saghost]

2015 Passat Dimensions: 192″ L x 72″ W x 59″ H Trunk 15.9 cu/ft.
2012 Jetta Dimensions: 182″ L x 70″ W x 57″ H Trunk 15.7 cu/ft

Will be interesting to see how much TARDIS mode the Model 3 can conjure.

And the current A4 is 186" long (x 73"W x 56"H)

I'm kinda surprised the Passat is larger - I had thought that when they split the two apart a couple generations back it was to make the Audi bigger than the VW (and the Audi kept a longitudinal engine vs the VW's transverse, wasn't it?)

It looks like the Passat now splits the difference between the A4 and A6 (194x74x58) though it's closer to the A6 than the A4.