Should I keep my DD?

Hi all, it is kinda a what car thread. So, my DD is an '08 4door GTI with DSG (build date 09/07) with about 37kmiles. I bought it a couple of years ago from a buddy of mine (its first owner) with less than 20kmiles for $14.5k. I know it'll need a big 40kmiles service (one dealer quoted me $1,100 for it) and it'll need two new tires soon.

It's been paid for and I am thinking that since it has a pretty low mileage with complete service record since new I think I can get around $12kish in the DC market. Looking at the article on the latest GRM about how losing less than $2.5k per year is a pretty good deal, my question is should I sell it while I can still get a decent amount for it and before the new Mk7 GTI comes out and further depresses the price of a Mk5 GTI? Or should I just keep it and run it to the ground? If I sell it I want to replace it with something that has lower depreciation rate and since I need access to the rear seat to put my kid in car seat (i.e. no more coupe), I am thinking a fairly new Clubman or Clubman S will fit the bill nicely or if not an '11 or '12 GTI directly from an Owner?

What do you guys think? What's the more financially responsible way to go? Oh btw, I have an NA Miata for my fun car.

Best car you have is the one that's paid off. I say let it ride til it starts costing you more per month than a car payment. The longer you sock that cash away, the more likely you are to be able to get into a new ride without a payment.

ea_sport wrote: I know it'll need a big 40kmiles service (one dealer quoted me $1,100 for it) and it'll need two new tires soon. It's been paid for and I am thinking that since it has a pretty low mileage with complete service record........ I am thinking a fairly new Clubman or Clubman S will fit the bill nicely or if not an '11 or '12 GTI directly from an Owner?

1. Can you do some of this service yourself to save money?

2. It's paid for with low miles. Run it forever.......

3. Are these new Mini Coopers $30,000 cars? Run your GTI forever........

If a VW requires $1,100 after 40k miles I would not be looking at another VW!

Its always better to keep the paid off cars. Treat them well and 95they'll treat you well. All but one of my cars are paid off and its getting very close to time to finish her off. I have no problem rolling in the 98 Zx2 DD.

I could see the dealer charging $1,100 for an oil change, air filter, cabin air filter, and probably a bunch of stuff like throttle body cleaning and lug nut polishing.

That is really really high for the 40k mile service. If you can't do the service yourself it should be more in the $600-$800 range. If you can do it yourself you could get out the door for more like $200.

Definitely keep the car. It is strange to see myself typing that last sentence after my own fiasco with my last VW.

All great advice here. Keep it. No car debt is the best way to be. I see a lot of car companies with service intervals that cost that much, You or you and a buddy can always do them for a fraction of the cost at the dealer. As long as its been done they HAVE to honor it under the warranty by law. If your car is still under warranty of course. say you end up after trade with an 18k loan. thats about 350 bucks a month at low interest rates that you could be putting toward college for the kids or retirement or a new firearm or whatever! Heck even pay down some of your other debt with it. Think what you could do with the cash you outlay for your debt every month if you kept it instead of your creditors. Now thats some play money! :)

I was curious what this VW 40k service included and found this schedule.
https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/display/tech/Maintenance+Schedule+-+2008+-+Jetta,+Jetta+SportWagen,+Rabbit,+GTI,+R32

Other than a lot of checking and oil change, it calls for changing the brake fluid and changing the DSG trans fluid and filter. $1k still seems high.

My guess:
$50 = Oil change
$300 = 3 hours of checking things
$300 = tran fluid change for 1 hour and some really expensive fluid and filter
$300 = brake fluid change and expensive fluid

mndsm wrote: Best car you have is the one that's paid off. I say let it ride til it starts costing you more per month than a car payment. The longer you sock that cash away, the more likely you are to be able to get into a new ride without a payment.

False. The best car is the one that is paid off and is still cheap to own. My cars are paid off, but I can tell you there is still a huge disparity in cost of ownership.

Sell VW. Buy something cheaper, that may/may not get better mileage, will be cheaper to insure, cheaper to maintain, and depreciate less.

$1,100 for a 40K mile service?

I think you need to find another mechanic and/or do some of that work yourself. Example: flushing radiator coolant is stupid easy to do and costs you about $20 and about an hour of time.

Agreed. $1100 is just insane. I spent less than that to do a timing belt on my TDI, and that included all of the specialized tools required. That said, in 293K miles, my car has never been to a dealer for anything. Ever.

Seriously, late model VW's have some of the best online DIY info (plus Bentley) available. While it's fun to make fun of the VWVortex, the truth is there is a lot of good info there.

Ian F wrote: Seriously, late model VW's have some of the best online DIY info (plus Bentley) available. While it's fun to make fun of the VWVortex, the truth is there is a lot of good info there.

Bently offers a lot of DIY advice? How many Bently owners are swapping their own ball joints? That's funny, and cool.

I think hes talking about a Bently manual.. (think haynes, but better)

pinchvalve wrote: Bently offers a lot of DIY advice? How many Bently owners are swapping their own ball joints? That's funny, and cool.

WTF are you talking about?

And actually yes - Bentley (the service manual folks) do have DIY forums:

http://tech.bentleypublishers.com/category.jspa?categoryName=volkswagen

I will disagree with the general keep it vibe on the thread. Not that you should take on a car loan ( paid mine off this morning, yay!) but I think you could get into a cooler car with less depreciation, upkeep, and insurance than what you have now. There's a lot of well and good truly awesome $10k cars out there that aren't what you have in your driveway right now. Life is too short to drive cars that you don't love.

I think that this thread is less about smart financial moves and more about "I want a new car and I think I can justify it financially." Which is fine, just be honest with us and (even more difficult) be honest with yourself. As others have said, the best car is a paid off car. This would be where I would normally end my advice. In this case, we're talking about a VW. Dump that shizz before any number of electrical items and plastic doohickeys crap out on you and get into something that will last.

Winston wrote: In this case, we're talking about a VW. Dump that shizz before any number of electrical items and plastic doohickeys crap out on you and get into something that will last.

And I would argue few cars of the vintage he's looking at will be any better - especially the MINI he's considering.

But otherwise, I agree - if you just want a new car, go for it.

Yeah, I certainly don't agree with getting rid of one VW for another. Don't really know much about the MINI except that ours was a lemon but others have done well with theirs. My advice was really intended to be "dump the VW even if you have to walk everywhere."

mazdeuce wrote: you could get into a cooler car with less depreciation, upkeep, and insurance than what you have now. There's a lot of well and good truly awesome $10k cars out there that aren't what you have in your driveway right now. Life is too short to drive cars that you don't love.

Thanks for all the input guys...I fully agree that the best car is the one that is paid off, I am not itching to get a new-er car, and I actually love driving my GTI and its practicality. The crux of my hesitation in keeping it is because as of now I haven't lost too much in terms of depreciation but if I keep it longer the depreciation curve may accelerate especially once the Mk7 comes out plus it's out of warranty so any electrical problems will be paid out of pocket. For example, I just paid $375ish to change a leaky AC pressure sensor and recharge the AC, with dye, just in case the leaky AC pressure sensor wasn't actually the problem. If I can I love to do DIY but I use my DIY time and energy for my '96 Miata (I still need to install the Spec Miata coilover and new brakes and rotors I bought..dang).

Mazdeuce's comment was exactly what I had in mind since if I sell my GTI I only plan to replace it with something that wont' cost much more than what I can get using the proceed from my GTI sales BUT have lower depreciation rate hence the Mini Clubman choice.

On that note, I guess I need to know what the alternatives are (i.e. compared to my '08 GTI, what cars are as fun, as practical, more reliable, depreciates less, has 3-4 doors and priced around $15 to $20k max? If the answer to those questions is not as enticing as my '08 GTI then I guess I am better off keeping it, financially and subjectively. This is all because of Per's column "The Perfect Deal"..dang I should stop reading GRM

You're talking about depreciation as if your vehicle is an investment.

A vehicle is never an investment.