Four Questions To Ask Before Buying A VW

When you’ve been out looking for a car in the past, chances are you haven’t really planned the whole process. It’s most likely that you’ll have decided that you need a new car and have set yourself a rough budget and then visited several dealerships and maybe have test driven a few cars.

However, if plan and prepare for car shopping just a little, the whole process can be simplified, shortened and can result in you paying less for the car.

Therefore, if you’re planning on buying a new car in the coming weeks (for example, a new VW using cash or using VW finance), there are five questions that you should ask a dealer.

1. Are there any special promotions on? – You could spend more time than you would ideally want to dedicate to each car but some models have specials that offer extras for free which are cheaper than buying a base model and then adding extras. In any event, it is always good to ask if they currently have any promotions on and this way you’ll get to know if there are any particular deals that could be of interest immediately.

2. Can you take it for a test drive? – You might not think anyone would need reminding of this question, but there are plenty of people who buy a car without actually taking it for a test drive
3. Do they have an older version of the model you’re looking at? – If you’re looking at a 2010 VW Golf and its price is a little higher than you would like to pay, the dealer might have access to some 2009 VW stock that is priced much cheaper. Rather than stretch yourself, ask the salesperson if they have any other VW Golfs in stock that are an earlier edition or it could be an ex-demonstration.

4. What VW finance options do they have available? – The old days of getting a better deal by buying with cash are long gone. Many dealers are able to give discounts on a new car if you are buying with finance. Therefore, if you are looking for the VW of your dreams be sure to ask the dealer what VW finance options they have available. Whilst you might have the cash to pay for the car in full buying the car on a VW finance agreement might work out a more beneficial for you. However, before taking out any finance you should always be sure that you have compared like with like across all finance deals and you have done the sums correctly.

There are only two situations where using VW finance to buy a VW Golf might be better than buying with cash. Firstly, if the dealer is prepared to give you a discount on the car purchase price that is greater than the interest you might pay over the finance period. A second situation is where car leasing is an option for you. If you’re someone who likes to obtain a new car every few years then leasing is definitely an option for you. Using our example above, if you lease the VW you can have a car for 3 – 4 years and may end up only paying 50% of what you would have had you bought the car with cash.

However, before entering in to any car finance agreement always be sure that you have compared all of the deals on a like for like basis (same contract period, same mileage etc) and be sure that it is correct for you and that you fully understand the contract.