Ex g/f (and good friend) has a 2013 Jetta TDI subject to the buyback. 71K, never a problem with the car in 4.5 years.
If she takes the buyback, she gets mid 24's. Just say 24500 for this argument.
If she keeps the car, she gets around 6K. Just say an even 6000 for this argument.
So, if she sells the car, she's essentially gotten the use of a Jetta for 4.5 (and a full 5 years if she waits until september, which is the cutoff) years for approximately $3000. The buyback is the obvious choice--there seems to be no better deal than that going.
The problem is, she loves the car. She loves the mileage. She loves the wagon style/shape. Here in Colorado, the turbo diesel really pulls up mountains. Compounding the problem is that there's not a car out there that she's really in love with, and cars in that price segment seem to be getting more and more underpowered given the EPA mileage standards. The TDI was selected for those two reasons--good mileage coupled with some juice to get up the mountain grades, and it has excelled at both.
The obvious replacements are a VW Alltrack or a Subaru Crosstrek. While the diesel VWs are great, the gas models don't exactly blow the consumer reports reliability ratings out of the water. The Crosstrek is notoriously underpowered--and she has driven one in the mountains and it lags.
Wagon/usable hatchback is non-negotiable, so that limits the choices. For some reason, she doesn't like small SUVs (to me the RAV4 is the clear choice). AWD is desired, but not a deal killer (she went from a Subaru to the VW and notes that traction difference in snow, even with snow tires, is significant)
Is it crazy to consider keeping the car given these numbers? (another option is to sell hers and buy another TDI with the proceeds)
If she takes the buyback, she gets mid 24's. Just say 24500 for this argument.
If she keeps the car, she gets around 6K. Just say an even 6000 for this argument.
So, if she sells the car, she's essentially gotten the use of a Jetta for 4.5 (and a full 5 years if she waits until september, which is the cutoff) years for approximately $3000. The buyback is the obvious choice--there seems to be no better deal than that going.
The problem is, she loves the car. She loves the mileage. She loves the wagon style/shape. Here in Colorado, the turbo diesel really pulls up mountains. Compounding the problem is that there's not a car out there that she's really in love with, and cars in that price segment seem to be getting more and more underpowered given the EPA mileage standards. The TDI was selected for those two reasons--good mileage coupled with some juice to get up the mountain grades, and it has excelled at both.
The obvious replacements are a VW Alltrack or a Subaru Crosstrek. While the diesel VWs are great, the gas models don't exactly blow the consumer reports reliability ratings out of the water. The Crosstrek is notoriously underpowered--and she has driven one in the mountains and it lags.
Wagon/usable hatchback is non-negotiable, so that limits the choices. For some reason, she doesn't like small SUVs (to me the RAV4 is the clear choice). AWD is desired, but not a deal killer (she went from a Subaru to the VW and notes that traction difference in snow, even with snow tires, is significant)
Is it crazy to consider keeping the car given these numbers? (another option is to sell hers and buy another TDI with the proceeds)