New York Volkswagen Car Dealers

Hey everyone, Being young, going into car dealerships can be very intimidating for a young 24 year old woman like myself. They see a young woman and think she must be stupid. This past weekend I signed a lease for the Jetta SE with Convenience and Sunroof for $222 a month $1700 down including all fees. Here is how I got my deal. First, I browsed online through leasetrader.com. I then contacted the company with the lowest price on the website ($199/month $1700 down) and had them send me the deal via email so all the terms were spelled out. The company advertising the deal was a third party leasing company in NY. I went to their office, and they delivered the car a day later. You sign the lease papers and pay the down payment by check/credit card when they hand you the keys. After I received the car, I wanted to go over the lease paperwork. Turns out neither of the men who delivered the car could help me understand the lease (and they worked in the office signing deals ALL day). I called VW Credit and even they had trouble answering my questions. Pretty aggravating that VW could not help me understand their OWN lease agreement. I've leased before and never had such a problem. I don't sign ANYTHING unless I thoroughly understand every aspect of the agreement. Something was very shady about it — in the end, I did not sign the deal with them. The leasing company got very nasty with me, and that was even more of a reason not to go with them. I then printed out the deal they originally sent to me, and brought it to a few VW dealerships but no one was willing to match the deal. The lowest each dealership would go was around $265 a month. I went through 3 dealerships before I inked the deal. I can't stand salesmen, they are essentially middlemen, and most of them are just plain stupid. I went straight to the manager, and said look "I want this Jetta for $199 a month with $1700 down." I told him my uncle was a returning customer (total white lie) and he came back with $240 a month. I said $220 and you have a deal, and he countered my offer at $222. Not to mention, he went over EVERY detail on the lease until I understood everything. My advice for anyone shopping, is don't go through a third party leasing company. They are helpful in the sense of starting the negotiating process, but I recommend going through a local dealership. Lastly, go straight to the manager. He initially said at $240 he'd be losing so much money he couldn't go a penny less — that was obviously BS. THEY WANT YOUR BUSINESS. You are in control. Once your hand over the reigns they've got you. Good luck!

Agreed that an idle shut-off would help mpg in NYC! Is that feature on the 2011 TDIs? You asked "if Prius's were so good, why did it take the NYC taxi community app 10 years to start to implement the brand as Taxi's?" Answer: the sluggishness of bureaucracy combined with our general resistance to the new. All things considered, I'm impressed that the city under Bloomberg started pushing for hybrid taxis as early as 2005 and that a third of all yellow cabs are now hybrids. (The courts haven't decided that 33% is the limit, only that the city cannot require all taxis be hybrid, which would mean setting a mandate in conflict with the Fed's.) Drivers and owners didn't get with the program until The Great Fuel Price Spike of'08, and now that we seem headed there again, Prius-driving cabbies are smiling "I told you so!" at their unconverted brethren. BTW, I'm sure you noticed that the only diesel on that Wiki-list of "approved taxi models" was in fact the '09 Jetta TDI, but only twice have I actually spotted one dressed up as a yellow cab! The city has been on a quest to come up with a new, iconic taxi model to replace the disappearing Crown Vic and the late, lamented Checkers cabs, but I've been disappointed so far in the bug-eyed results. I think they should take a cue from London and go with a retro look, a design that references the Checkers models, something along the lines of the American-made Standard Taxi that was part of the Taxi 07 exhibit at the 2007 NY Auto Show. http://autoshow.autos.msn.com/autoshow/NewYork2007/photogallery.aspx?cp-document- id=4679493 Interesting to note that the very first motorized vehicles used as taxis in NYC were electric, especially given all the talk (110+ yrs. later) about the "taxi of the future" being an EV. Even VW is belatedly joining the party, though of course NOT in America.... http://www.plugincars.com/vw-shows-plug-taxi-concept-london-reportedly-close-app- roving-production-106583.html Happy Persian New Year!

I just read them off the 09 Jetta TDI new car sticker. Power and such, the Camry Hybrid REMAINS the real competition. I think really what you probably want is a idle shut off diesel as they already have in the European market. I am sure you have been to Europe. Most taxi's are diesels!!?? I really think that if stop and go is the real meat and potatoes, you have to remember that NYC taxis were primarily V-8 Crown Vics. What did they get on a good day? 15 mpg? It also makes you wonder, if Prius's were so good, why did it take the NYC taxi community app 10 years to start to implement the brand as Taxi's? I have read in passing we are talking less than NYC taxis of 13,700 units. NY coruts have stopped the implementation of hbrids beyond 33%? How many "TAXI's?

I'm sure you're correct about all your figures, but I'm just reporting my own experience, and even that sliding EPA city estimate of 24 to 34 would still leave me and my Jetta on the outside looking in. Perhaps the EPA should add another category especially for NY -- how about EXTREME City? :) (BTW, I don't think anyone would accuse me of being an aggressive driver, and if something were wrong with my particular car, why would it get such good mileage --up to 50 when I'm really trying-- on the highway?) I don't agree that the '09 Jetta's real competition is the Camry. That might be true of the new, roomier 2011 Jetta, but my brother has a Camry, so it's easy for me to compare -- his car feels like a leviathan on the road, and mine more like a little darter! In any case, Chidrive is considering buying a Golf TDI, for which a Prius is a better comparison. And I stand by my original assertion: that for someone interested in buying an "affordable" car for mainly CITY driving, and for whom MPG is the #1 priority, hybrid/electric is a better option (maybe 75% better even by your figures) than diesel.

Well, I was able to finally finalize the deal today. 2011 Lux Limited White on Black. 36 months/10k miles year. $1,890 due at signing and $399/month. NYS tax, doc fees, etc included. Definitely got a great deal and was absolutely pleased with the service that I got from my dealer. What an amazing car!!