People have preferences. LH is all about the best deal you can get but there’s nothing wrong with trying to get the best deal on a Golf R if that’s the car you want, irrespective of comps “worth” more.
And nothing wrong with shunning the private sale of your 8-9k current ride if you hate to sell cars privately.
BUT, time and again you will see here that putting money down on a lease is simply bad practice because anything short of running through the lease entirely without a pull ahead, I.e. lease swap, accident totaling the car, etc and you lose that 8k.
Time is money as you said, why not sell it with Carvana, Vroom etc? Then pocket the 8k or invest it, and negotiate your lease without the trade in.
I contacted every dealer in MD with a R in stock and nobody agreed to let me test drive it. All of them already had deposits posted. How do people decide to buy/lease them without a test drive?
Thank you for the response! I’d say this forum so far has been pretty fair between understanding preferences and getting a good deal. I agree putting the $8,000 down seems like a throw away and is a bad practice. It’s a risk. A risk I feel relatively comfortable taking given my current situation. That being said, I’m really considering just putting more down and financing after all this discussion. At least I’d be tying my money up in a depreciating asset, instead of spending it all in one shot.
I have a quote from Carvana for $7,900. I will certainly use them if I decide to do the lease and keep the money in an account to draw down on.
I was lucky enough to test-drive an '18 leftover in January. I loved it. But the residual was bad on a leftover and I wasn’t crazy about the color so I passed. Other than that, I’ve heard others have rented Golf Rs or asked people on VW forums to test drive their MK7.5s. Beyond that, I would never buy a car I didn’t test-drive first. I think if you’re deep in a serious negotiation with an available Golf R that doesn’t have a deposit, a dealer would likely let you put a couple miles on it. Good luck!
It sounds like you already have your mind made up from the beginning. You’re probably not going to get the responses that you want from this forum as it’s not a good deal. Just get it and enjoy it if you know it’ll make you happy at the end.
Well the original intention of this thread was to determine if the dealer’s numbers were accurate and it looks like through our conversation they were not and something was definitely wrong. So I’m really glad I came here for advice and clarification on lease terms and taxes. I looked up reviews of the dealer and it turns out that others have also found hidden and inexplicable fees in their deals with them. So it’s good to know I wasn’t alone.
I understand though that these topics tend to invite people’s opinions on what they prefer to what I may prefer. It’s only human, and I’m glad we’ve fostered that discussion. It’s given me a lot of perspective and I may change my approach. So I really appreciate everyone’s input!
After our discussion, I think it’s definitely a better idea, financially speaking, to finance. If I’m true to my 10% of gross income budget for car expenses, the effective lease rate ($675) puts me just beyond my budget when you add insurance and gas. Financing, though a higher monthly payment, keeps me within that budget and doesn’t fool me down the road.
I agree with the general consensus that this is not a great car to lease, but that you should drive what you want. I think financing the R is a smart decision, especially with the 6 year bumper to bumper warranty from VW.
Keep the forum updated with the final deal and a photo!!!
