Trade in value question.

[wjbski]

In February I just leased a 2012 TDi Golf, 2dr 6 speed manual. After only 2000 miles I can't stand to drive the car anymore, the seat bolsters dig into my legs and sides, the lumbar "support" is killing my back. I've had the dealership try to adjust the seats and I've spent hours messing with them trying to get them to stop causing me pain but it isn't working. There's other things I don't like about the car but the bottom line is, it causes me pain to drive it for more than 1 hour at a time. VW customer service isn't willing to do anything for me, so I'm left to figure something out on my own. My only solution is to trade it in and here's where the steaerlships want to royally screw me.

There aren't any published trade values for the car yet so the few places I've taken it for a possible trade, they want to low ball me to death. I can show them the value of a 2011 TDi Golf equipped like mine and the published "value" is more than I'm being offered. Does anyone have any ideas on how to figure out a reasonable value for this car? If I had the extra cash to make up a payoff difference I'd just sell the car outright myself but I don't have that kind of cash available right now so a trade is my only real option right now.

[2011VWTDI]

Strange seat complain...How fat are you?

[phatz314]

TDIs in good shape are in super high demand and selling for over invoice in many markets still

Try not acting so desperate, fatty

[shankys_14]

Change the seats. What are they other things that you don't like? Also being a lease I think your ****ed for a while.

[wjbski]

Strange seat complain...How fat are you?

you make the assumption that I'm fat, which is not a good assumption to make. I never had any comfort issue w/ the Recaros in my MKII GLi which I drove for years.

TDIs in good shape are in super high demand and selling for over invoice in many markets still

Try not acting so desperate, fatty

I don't think I'm acting desperate, if I were, would I be asking for opinions on a good course of action?

Change the seats. What are they other things that you don't like? Also being a lease I think your ****ed for a while.

Thanks for only mature response. The other things I'm not liking are the "feel" of the brakes, they just feel dead to me. There's already a few small rattles and squeaks coming from somewhere in the back, I don't have anything in the hatch area so it's not something that I rattling around. There are many things I like about the car, the overall economy is good, the motor feels as strong as the modded ALH I had in my old MKIV Jetta. The trans shifts very smoothly. It's nice to have a car that can be personalized w/ euro spec'd parts or many offerings from the aftermarket.

A seat change has crossed my mind, I'd need to find standard 2dr Golf seats to do it then store the original seats so I can put it back to stock at turn in time, I just don't know if it's worth the $$ and effort. I don't see myself wanting to buy this car once the lease is up, all in all this entire experience has been a complete let down.

The open end lease makes it possible to trade out of it, buy it or sell it myself. It's a matter of economics- what's the maximum amount of financial loss I can live with?

[rhodri45]

Strange seat complain...How fat are you?

lol. this guy...

Umm, change the seats and deal with it. you should know from owning a mk4 that the rattles will come, its a VW for crying out loud

imo, thats the best way to go about the problem, you can sell the extra seats when you swap back for turn in.

[Hulman100]

These are all common faults with the GTI. Ive been told the brake feel can be fixed by better brake fluid, but I have yet to try them for myself.

As for the seats, the backrest/ lumbar are infinitely adjustable, so this is the first time i have ever heard of problems like this. I would say just change em but mkII seats are probably going to require substantial modification to fit the runners on the GTI, and any aftermarket seats are going to be 'sporty' and even worse. I would suggest seeing if you like any of the seats from the other golfs, and ordering OEM parts from a vendor

[niebeendend]

If you are intent on selling/trading the car, you should try to sell it private party to someone you trust. Once an agreement is inked, you can buy out your lease from VW and transfer it to the private party. It's not easy or clean (requires a degree of trust), but it's the best way not to get screwed on trade in (though you still are going to lose a few dollars due to high depreciation in the first year).

Good luck!

[phatz314]

I don't think I'm acting desperate, if I were, would I be asking for opinions on a good course of action?

No, tons of fun, I meant when you talk to the dealer. 2 months into a lease and you want a trade in, you reek of fresh meat to any comptetent salesman. Try pretending you're just looking you gotta make him earn it for petes sake

[wjbski]

No, tons of fun, I meant when you talk to the dealer. 2 months into a lease and you want a trade in, you reek of fresh meat to any comptetent salesman. Try pretending you're just looking you gotta make him earn it for petes sake

Oh, I understand ! Believe me, I'm not looking to jump at the first deal that can come together. I just want to be armed with as much knowledge as possible so I can take the minimal financial hit that I can. I still have the possibility of swapping in base model Golf seats, I wouldn't do any ghetto ass downgrades like slapping MKII seats or after market 'racing' seats. I like knowing that I'm surrounded by air bags in case something bad happens while driving.

[shankys_14]

Maybe you can find MKV or MKVI autobahn seats those are nice.

[olaf]

car-part.com for seats.

[Aonarch]

Op i traded my CC in solely because of the seats. I spent countless hours trying different fixes. What a pos those were

6"2 190 lbs.

My point is that i understand.

[mike356]

After I bought my 2000 GTI, for the first couple of months, I hated the seats. I had the same thoughts about getting rid of the car, or changing the driver's seat.

I have a persistent pain in my lower back, and the seats were torture. I discovered that some padding at the bottom of the seat back (a wadded up hoodie) helped considerably. As time went on, either the seat adapted to me, or I adapted to the seat, or both. Whichever it was, after those first few months, I found the seats to be supremely comfortable for the remainder of the 10 years that I owned the car.

The only gripe I have with the seats in either car is the side bolsters on the seat bottom. I can't comfortably drive with a wallet in my back pocket because I typically have a lot of, uh, "stuff" in it.

Maybe you need to give it a little more time before you do something drastic.

[Squirrel Nuts]

6"2 190 lbs.

call me.

[roger2050]

call me.

lmao

[DasMkVI]

Here you go:

http://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/2012/...onal-Equipment

I would be hesitant of a seat replacement due to airbags.