So I've kinda sorta made up my mind that my next ride is a Tig...

[puma1552]

The more I look at 'em, the more I like 'em, and I've had an itch for a small SUV. Luckily the Tig is about the only one out there that actually has proportions like an SUV and looks like a small SUV, rather than some disproportionate crossover. Bought the wife a brand new '12 Beetle last month and with just under 2k miles on it now, we both love it (first VW for either of us)...and I need a new car since I took the opportunity to trade in my beloved Mustang GT for the wife since I got a good price on it and it was the peak of summer and it was giving me early warning signs of a couple spendy repairs.

Now...

I'd be looking at either a new SE (no roof/navi) likely in 2WD format (4WD would be nice here in MN but then again with all these SUVs being built on FWD platforms it more or less negates the need as opposed to a traditional RWD or 4WD platform and makes it hard to justify an extra $2k or so), or, I could probably get a good deal on a slightly used (less than 10k miles) SEL with roof and navi.

The local dealer has several 2012 SELs with 6-8k miles on them that are VW corporate fleet vehicles. The 2WD model they have is $30,800 and the 4WD models are about $33,800 (which is just getting too expensive).

So I could basically get a brand new 2WD SE with no roof/navi for $29,400 sticker, or a 8k mile corporate fleet 2WD SEL with roof/navi for $30,800. I figure either way, I should be able to get about $3k off whichever one I were to choose (I know I can on the new one, I'm assuming I could on the used SEL). I love love love the Xenons/LEDs, I really like the SEL wheels, and I love the roof. I couldn't care less about the Navi. But I could also be plenty happy with a new SE, and there just ain't nothin' like a brand new car, now that I've got one for the wife.

1) Which would you go with and why?

2) What are your thoughts on corporate fleet vehicles? Whenever I see a one year old or less car being traded in with such low miles, I'm always really suspicious that it has had a big accident and the owner said F this and just offloaded it after fixing it, given how much money you would lose trading in a car that you just bought months prior, not to mention the heaviness of a decision to buy a new car so you would expect people to do the research and make absolutely sure what they were buying is what they were planning on driving for at least a few years. Carfax doesn't tell the whole story, that and Autocheck are notoriously inaccurate. But these fleet vehicles are actually kind of intriguing since they are all sold off at the 6-8k mile mark, so I'm thinking they might be a good buy.

[markk900]

Can't help you much with the first question (go for what you want!), but a comment or two on fleet cars:

I have been lucky enough to have had a number of fleet cars over the past 10 years, and in fact I bought 2 of them from my employer once they were turned over. Most respectable fleet companies are pretty OCD about maintenance and repair, so its unlikely you'll find one that was trashed and dumped - the fleet companies won't allow it. Remember, corporate fleet vehicles are not owned by the driver, but by the employer and the leasing company.

As to low mileage, its is up to the fleet program manager when to turn in a vehicle. The ones I was in were pretty high mileage ones - I would do upwards of 40+K a year and they turned the cars over at 65K miles, or 3 years. Of course there are other programs (like executive drive programs) that turn cars over very quickly, as you have found.

Personally, I wouldn't let the fact they were fleet get in the way, unless I found out the fleet was a "rental" fleet....then I would probably stay away!

[puma1552]

Thanks, yeah I'm wondering if these would be cars that the salesmen would drive for a few months? At least when I was a kid (maybe things are different now) car salesmen always got to drive new cars, and every couple months they'd be in something new with the dealer tags on it. But I have to say I don't see many/any cars driving around on dealer tags these days like I did back then, so I don't know if things have changed.

FWIW these don't appear to be being sold as demos, they are being sold as certified pre-owned and they have been titled, so maybe they aren't salesmen cars...?

[gstrouse]

If new, you mean a 2013, then it gets tough to decide. It appears that the new 2013 SE models have auto climate control. This was one of the features that I really wanted. And in 2012, it was only available on the SEL. The other thing is that the RNS510 Radio/Nav unit, in my opinion, sucks. It's just so damn slow. And they have dropped it in the 2013. But the 2012 SEL could also be had with the Dyna Audio, which was another option that I wanted, and was only found with the RNS-510. You don't mention if the SEL you are looking at had the Nav/Dyna-Audio option or not.
There are other features on the SEL like the bi-zenon with auto tracking(they move as you turn the steering wheel). New is always nice. You will have 8K miles and the full 3year warranty on the new car. But the options on the SEL may be the ticket for you. If you want leather, then SEL.
What's important to you?

Good luck, both will be nice autos.

[TIGSEL]

SEL all the way. There are many options that come standard on SEL that will cost 1000's to retrofit afterwards. To name a few: Xenon AFS headlights, leather interior, 19" wheels, sport suspension, etc... 8k miles is nothing for these car and they were most probably driven by VW area reps. It is their practice to drive and "advertise" a new vehicle but not to exceed 10k so it can be sold with a minimum loss. Believe me these cars were not abused, they are as good as new with properly broken in engine

[blipsman]

We bought a Tiguan SEL in March... pretty much only considered the SEL because we wanted power memory seats and leather. Like you, we had decided that with FWD, we could forgo the 4Motion even here in Chicago. I've had a Jetta and a Passat that were both FWD, and both were amazingly capable in dealing with Chicago's snow, so I'm sure the Tiguan will be fine (we haven't had any snow since we bought ours).

We were thinking of leasing one (with intentions to buy out at end) to keep payments lower since my wife is back in grad school, but then we found a great deal on a 2011 certified pre-owned that had been a VW fleet vehicle in the exact colors we wanted. Ours was a company car for a VW regional exec and when we bought it, it was 11 mo. old and had 17k miles on it. Absolutely immaculate inside and out, had the premium nav we never would have paid extra for, and came with a couple hundred dollars worth of accessories like Monster mats and cargo mat. We paid $24,990 for ours -- $10k less than if we'd gone with the exact same specs on a 2012. Definitely worth considering one of those CPO SEL's.

[vw_nc_dude]

Some personal preference comes into play when choosing between SE and SEL. The SEL runs on 19 inch wheels and has a firmer suspension when compared to the SE which comes with 18 inch wheels. The firm suspension on the SEL is not what we liked, in fact, even the SE is on the border line regarding suspension for our taste. Hence, we went with an SE with sunroof and navigation. If I were you, I would take both the SE and SEL on test drives on bumpy roads and decide afterwards.

No regrets so far on our side with the SE. Well, to tell the truth, we had some initial regret with the shift pattern of the automatic transmission but that was fixed with a software update (that software update applies to all 2012 Tiguans though).

[puma1552]

Thanks guys...I might shoot for an SEL...does the base SEL have the xenons and LEDs, and a sunroof? The VW site (which is often wrong) makes it seem that you don't get the xenons and LEDs in the base SEL. If the base SEL has xenons/LEDs/roof, I'm plenty happy with that in 2WD flavor. If you look at the Trims & Specs part of the VW site, it looks like there is just one SEL trim which has all of those goodies to start with for $34,865, but when you build and price it shows 3 SEL trims, with the lowest one starting at $33,975 and the middle one at $34,995.

I don't want to settle...this is the first time I really can afford to have a lot of options in front of me and I want to get one great car I'll keep for five years with zero compromises, so I think I'll shoot for an SEL.

[blipsman]

The specs listed are 2013 but the configurator may still be for 2012 model. I'm almost 100% certain that all SEL's include bi-xenon lights & panoramic roof.

[TIGSEL]

All SEL trims come with LED/Xenons.