My 2018 Tiguan S and Carvana experiences (long post):
MSRP 25,865
Selling price 20,212 (including any incentives)
MF 0.0071 with MSDs x 7
24 mos / 12,000 miles
Residual @ 24m = 65%
TDAS was pretty much 1st month plus DMV = $640 + 7x MSDs = $1750 = $2390
Base payment 196.50 + tax
Quotes timeline
Leased the car June, 2018
Sept, 2018 - payoff 21000; Vroom offer 19000; did not check others
Feb, 2019 - payoff ???; Carvana offer 17100; did not check others
Apr, 2019 - payoff 19470; forgot to record offers
May, 2019 - payoff 19200; Vroom offer 17500 , Shift 17000
Aug, 2019 - payoff 18550; Vroom offer 17750, Carvana 17430, Shift 18400 *
Nov, 2019 - payoff 17950; Vroom offer 16500, Carvana 15900, Shift 18000
May, 2020 - payoff 16,800; Vroom offer 14000 then 14500, Carvana 14300, Autonation 15000
Early June, 2020 - payoff 16,600; Vroom offer 16390, Carvana 14300, Autonation 15000
Late June, 2020 - payoff 16,600; Shift 15,300, Carvana 17050 , Autonation 15800
Mid-July, 2020 - payoff 16,400**; Carvana offer 18,800 YOWZA!
VW’s payoff quote to Carvana was 17,400, a full $1000 more than if I wanted to buy it.
Nevertheless, cash to me = $1400
(We only put 11,000 miles on the car due to kids in school, then Covid)
*Was unable to get Shift to do the deal because they could not get a payoff quote from
VW- I tried hard, they were not that helpful
** I extended the lease (for a 20% discount from VW), so residual is now less than it was @ lease inception; also paid CA DMV renewal in mid-June
Carvana purchase timeline
July 15- Initial quote with Carvana
July 22- Accepted offer (dragging feet on purpose)
July 26- payoff quote requested; ended up calling Carvana to do 3-way w/ VW; on hold for hours, hung up
July 27- Called Carvana back, “wait time >30 min” BUT they gave me a call-back option this time, and about 90 min later, I received a call. Very professional, they called VW, got the payoff, and we were done.
July 31- got email for additional docs requested (DL, etc); a few hrs later, got email asking for pickup date
Aug 1- scheduled pickup date online for 8-13 (last day, per the online form; dragging feet on purpose)
Aug 11- Called Carvana to change pickup date, “wait time >30 min” again; used call-back option again, and about 2h later, I received a call. Very professional again. They let me change pickup date to 8-15 (still dragging feet on purpose)
Aug 15- Carvana texted me in the AM that pickup appt would be 30-45 min delayed. Agent did arrive at new expected time, wearing a mask and sporting a sanitizer spray bottle. Asked me to start the car, sprayed all 4 door handles, did a walk-around and an in-car inspection. Took photos, handed me several docs to sign, gave me the $1400 check, and put one of the 2 keys in a lock box that he hung from the window. He said someone would be by to pick the car up within an hour. I left for a few hrs and when I got back, it was gone.
Carvana Experience Summary:
5-Stars *****
Notes:
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I thought the deal in 2018 was great for a 24m/12K lease with essentially 1st month + DMV + MDSs due at signing.
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Although I paid DMV fees in June, I got 2 more months of use of the car plus I avoided the dispo fee to VW, so that was a little bit of cash to my favor.
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The agent made no mention of the scratch in the front valence (see my pic upthread). That would likely have been at least a $250 charge by VW at lease return.
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All that stuff above, plus a check for $1400.
Conservatively, my cost to rent this car for 26 months was $196.50 x 26 = $5109 minus $1400 = $3709 + tax , or $142.65/mo plus tax, or 34c/mile. Not bad for a VW lease
By the way, it was a great SUV. German handling, good looks, nice interior materials, lots of space, plus 3rd row seating. Would lease again.
I am happy I found LH. Reading all the threads here got me 2 great lease deals in 2018/2019, and told me about the nice Carvana experiences that were possible. I also got a friend a nice lease on a Lexus by reading this, and cash back from Carvana on her Toyota just before she was about to return that lease.