How much would this be?

I'm new here and in the beginning stages of researching a GTI. As of now, this is what I would get:

6-speed
Autobahn package
Navigation
DynAudio
Bi-Xenons
Mat kit
Karthourn wheels (not sure about these)

The price, from the VW site, is approximately $32,600.

I went to look at a GTI yesterday and the salesman wanted me to meet the manager. Because I'm military (retired), the manager told me not to even talk to the salesman about price. He said I would get the car for $100 over their cost.

He also told me that he would find the vehicle I want except for NAV and put an aftermarket NAV in it for me. He mentioned the cars they take to SEMA and a Pioneer unit as an option. I had already been looking at the Pioneer AVIC-X920BT for my Honda and would likely opt for that deck if I were to get an aftermarket one.

This all causes me to have two questions:
1. What is the difference between invoice and their cost if any? I'm automatically cautious about things like this and I have never had a dealership tell me they would do this.
2. Does the factory navigation unit integrate with the car in any way that would make an aftermarket unit less functional? For instance, the navigation unit in my 335 give me more information than just navigation and audio. It allows me to adjust car settings and other things. I'm also not sure if I would want to make a new car look aftermarket immediately. But, the Pioneer unit is approximately $1,000 which is less than the factory unit.

All thoughts are appreciated.

damm thats a rip

i got mine for 23. made the dealer sing that i would get invoce price since i was pay all cash

That whole scenario sounds very suspicious.

Why would your former occupation have anything to do with regards to dealing with the salesperson versus the sales manager.

Their cost is invoice however they have holdback money. Depending on availability, they will easily sell for $100 over invoice.

I'm not sure how an aftermarket system affects integration of the vehicle but I would much rather have a factory integrated unit. The dealership should sell you what you're asking for, not tell you what they will and will not sell you.

I got several hundred under invoice. Do a zag.com search in your area. I haven't heard great things about vegas dealers to be honest, so watch yourself.

invoice minus 2% is their cost.

jmblur said:

I got several hundred under invoice. Do a zag.com search in your area. I haven't heard great things about vegas dealers to be honest, so watch yourself.

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Where did you hear that from? They aren't any better or worse than other places. Homework is key to a good deal and that is why I came here. I haven't heard the whole "$100 dollars over cost" thing before and was wondering how much it is below invoice.

I got mine for $1000 below invoice...thats about the price Zag.com can get you.

As far as the aftermarket nav goes, go for that if you want to but make sure they give you the stock head unit. You can sell that for $500-600 and recoup some of the cost. You could do the same thing with the stock nav unit (etiher sell the RCD and buy the OEM RNS, or sell the RNS and buy an aftermarket nav).

If you get the OEM nav after buying the car, it will not be covered under the 3 year warranty.

danielj said:

That whole scenario sounds very suspicious.

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I think so too and that is one reason I posted the question.

danielj said:

Why would your former occupation have anything to do with regards to dealing with the salesperson versus the sales manager.

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Some people/businesses respect the military to the point where they will sell us something and remove their profit. But, that has yet to be seen with this manager. It is all talk until the papers are signed and I'm not running down there to make a deal until I want to.

danielj said:

I'm not sure how an aftermarket system affects integration of the vehicle but I would much rather have a factory integrated unit. The dealership should sell you what you're asking for, not tell you what they will and will not sell you.

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He didn't come across as if he wouldn't get it if I insisted. He was just saying he could put an aftermarket unit in and it would have more functionality than a factory unit. For this vehicle, I would lean more towards wanting the factory look.

One other thing. He told me he would let me test drive one for 24 hours. Business might be that bad for him. I'm not running down there for a test drive either. When the time is right....

This whole thing sounds fishy...

tomegun said:

Where did you hear that from? They aren't any better or worse than other places. Homework is key to a good deal and that is why I came here. I haven't heard the whole "$100 dollars over cost" thing before and was wondering how much it is below invoice.

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Anecdotal from this and other sites about some of the sleezy stuff some vegas dealers were pulling. Not that you don't get that elsewhere too. Nothing specific comes to mind, but there were enough complaints that it stuck out in my mind.

As for "100 over cost", he probably means "100 over invoice"... and will then add lot fees, processing fees, etc. on top of that, which is all pure profit to him.

Remember that their "cost", ie invoice, isn't really their true cost - via holdbacks, incentives, and sales volume rewards, they make plenty on cars they sell at or below invoice these days.

I got mine for several hundred under invoice INCLUDING all fees - just takes some homework. And watch out for dealer tricks like trying to add back in destination - my "best deal" from zag ($1000 under invoice) turned out to be barely under invoice after I worked out the actual invoice price of the car. I ended up going with a non-Zag dealer - they had the car I wanted, I called up and said "I'll drive down today and buy that car, pending a test drive, for XX,XXX." 10 minutes later they called back and it was a done deal.

tomegun said:

I'm new here and in the beginning stages of researching a GTI. As of now, this is what I would get:

6-speed
Autobahn package
Navigation
DynAudio
Bi-Xenons
Mat kit
Karthourn wheels (not sure about these)

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To give you a rough idea, I did the following:

6-speed manual
Autobahn package
Mat kit
17" Detroits

My drive off costs (after tax title and registration): 27,500

Since you're military I'd highly suggest you look at insuring yourself through USAA and utilizing their pre-negotiated rates. My cost for the vehicle was a few hundred dollars under invoice (well under MSRP) as well as sub-invoice pricing for all add-on upgrades. Beyond that, it's a matter of getting them to come down on their gay little unquoted "docking and transportation" fees that they try to slap you with once they sit you down at the final bargaining table.

I'd advise you to skip the nav system to be honest ... for far less money you can get a better aftermarket product, and the stock touchscreen is pretty nice by itself. The xenons are sweet ... i just didn't have the budget permission from my wife. Stock speakers are bad, i'm sure you can do better aftermarket than the dynaudios though.

msm00b said:

To give you a rough idea, I did the following:



Since you're military I'd highly suggest you look at insuring yourself through USAA and utilizing their pre-negotiated rates.

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I've been with USAA for several years. I go through them for houses, cars, insurance, banking etc.

The car buying service they offer is similar to other services and should be a higher price than this mythical price the manager was talking about.

msm00b said:

I'd advise you to skip the nav system to be honest ... for far less money you can get a better aftermarket product, and the stock touchscreen is pretty nice by itself. The xenons are sweet ... i just didn't have the budget permission from my wife. Stock speakers are bad, i'm sure you can do better aftermarket than the dynaudios though.

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If you are talking about getting a portable nav, I prefer in-dash units. I have a Garmin for my other cars and a factory unit in my 335. I much prefer the factory unit. Do you know if the factory unit in the GTI provides any car information or allows the user to change car settings?

tomegun said:

The car buying service they offer is similar to other services and should be a higher price than this mythical price the manager was talking about.

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Key word there is mythical. Unless an auto dealer is absolutely trying to clean house with inventory and hope you'll use their dealership for maintenance (where they really make the lion's share of their money), I'd be highly skeptical of any "too good to be true" deals.

If you are talking about getting a portable nav, I prefer in-dash units. I have a Garmin for my other cars and a factory unit in my 335. I much prefer the factory unit. Do you know if the factory unit in the GTI provides any car information or allows the user to change car settings?

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I'm talking about in-dash aftermarket units. The nav system offered in from VW isn't all that great, certainly not worth the price they charge.