In my previous post, I wrote about choosing a new car and I settled on the 2010 VW GTI. Since I’m the kind of person who keeps a car for a long time, I felt like it made sense to buy a new car rather than keep sinking money into my old car or get a used car that I’d have for less than 5 years.
I really love this car. It drives great and it thrills me just a little bit to drive it. I cannot wait for the crappy weather to stop and some dry roads and sunny days to come out. I’ve got a sunroof, satellite radio (which I might not keep, it’s a 6 month trial), heated seats, and 4-doors for a possible baby seat in the future.
Problem is, I have no idea how to buy a new car. My boyfriend has worked at a dealership before and he reminded me not overlook the details. I’m so glad he was there. As much as the GTI is fully-laden (since it’s an upgraded Golf), there were still small things that concerned him, like the premium wheels and maintenance features.
I kept a list of the things I wanted the car to have from all the possible specs. The dealer had to transfer the car from another dealership, and though I picked it up at night, we went over the car with a flashlight in the dark. We saw every single scratch, swirl, and chip. Good thing too because the car had a really big divot in the paint on the driver’s side. After a quick consultation with someone in boyfriend’s family who was a GM for a dealership, we asked the dealer to fix the chip, which they owe us for work. I plan to take the car in for my full tags and have the work done then.
I joined a GTI enthusiasts website so I could learn about all the features and maintenance items. I am nervous about the long term issues the car might have since this model had lots of problems 2 generations ago. Because of this, I did opt for two extras when buying the car, I got gap insurance for and a 6-year/100K mile extended warranty.
I opted for 66 month financing at 2.9% APR for about $29K which is a $480 a month. Insurance on the car is about the same as my previous car’s insurance.
Do I love this car? I do! Do I love the payments? Of course I don’t!
Do I have a lot of fun? I do! This car is pretty awesome. I’m very satisfied with the car so far.
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Here’s the classic 5-minute Ignite talk on how to buy a new car, by my friend Rob Gruhl. A little late for you, but perhaps helpful to your readers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH651baH7-c
Wow. I just bought a used ‘09 GTI with 9k miles, with all of the same options as yours. I paid $20,995, put $10k down and have a $288 payment even with my astronomically high 10.5% interest rate. They threw in the “certified pre-loved” warranty which takes the factory warranty up to 60k miles, and is sold & serviced by Volkswagen, not a third party.
Great car, isn’t it?