Category Archives: Volkswagen

The Fascination With The Disposable Electric Car

Hey Cool Car Fans,

It’s almost impossible to turn on the television or radio these days and not hear about Tesla and their electric vehicles or what I like to refer to as “the disposable car”. I have had so many debates with people about Tesla and my take on the electric car market that I figured I should write an article about why I feel the way that I do about the electric car market. Of course, people who like Tesla and electric vehicles are like people who were in love with Apple years ago. They had so much emotional passion that they refused to have any common sense that you could do the same thing with a Windows based machine that you could do with an Apple. It’s a similar “cult” following when it comes to Tesla.

WHY ARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES “DISPOSABLE”

First of all, it’s not just Tesla that makes electric cars. They are just the media darling and what people are most familiar with when it comes to electric vehicles. Here’s a picture of a 2015 VW E-Golf that is going for sale at auction that I pulled off the dealer auction website. The majority of people probably have no idea this car even exists or that it’s a fraction of the cost of a Tesla. It has a range of about 83 miles, so you can’t get very far on a battery charge with the VW, but other major brands have electric cars, including BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Chevrolet, Toyota, FIAT and others.

There are plenty of options when it comes to getting an electric car, but the reason why I call them “disposable” is the same reason that Henry Ford created the Model T and won the automotive industry back in 1908. That’s 110 years ago by the way and you can go to just about any car show or parade in the United States and see a Model T that is still running down the road. It’s been “recycled” and is not disposable because it runs on gasoline and not electricity. Contrast that with the photo of this electric car pictured with Thomas Edison that you can read about at the PBS website, Timeline: History of the Electric Car.

Electric cars are super cool when they are new and shiny and the batteries are working great, but what happens when they get older and the batteries are not charging any longer? I know that people love to get lost in the ether of their imagination on what car companies will do for them down the road, but let me bring some reality to the situation. Car manufacturers are in the business of selling and leasing new cars. They are not in the business of creating batteries for your ten year old electric vehicle as much as you want them to be it’s not going to happen.  If you go to the support page of Tesla click here and see how much a replacement set of batteries are for any of their vehicles. At the time of this post, there wasn’t a link saying, “Battery Replacement” on their site. If you do a search online you will get all kinds of information from $12,000 to $28,000 to $40,000 to replace the batteries down the road.

Which is why if you’re going to get an EV you should lease it for sure because you don’t want to be the proud owner of one of these where the batteries are depleting continually.  It’s also why I call them a “disposable car”. Let’s just look at the Tesla Roadster for example that came out in 2008, so ten years ago now. It’s hard to believe it was that long ago, so Tesla has done extremely well lasting for a decade now as an electric car company.  However, eventually the batteries wear out and just like an iPhone or iPad you have to either update the batteries or sell the car for parts. It’s inevitable. It’s not like a 1908 Model T that you can get parts for and put gas in and head down the road.

WHY ARE PEOPLE FAILING TO REALIZE THE EV BUSINESS MODEL IS THE SAME AS APPLE

The Electric Vehicle business model came right out of Silicon Valley. You know, the guys who tell you that your first iPhone doesn’t work anymore or your iPhone 5c for that matter no longer accepts the latest software update, so you need an iPhone X.

That business model is the exact same as the EV business model. What’s your 10 year old computer worth? How about your 10 year old iPhone? The answer is not much or nothing at all. They are disposable products. In the meantime, you could buy a 1958 Porsche 550A Spyder for a cool $4.5 to $5 million at Gooding and Company or the Mecum or Barrett Jackson auction since they only built 39 of them and it will actually run with a tank of gas and some spark plugs. That’s not going to happen with a Tesla or any other electric vehicle ever. They are destined for the scrap heap because they are disposable cars, just like your disposable mobile phone and computer.

Which is why I’m not a fan of electric vehicles, like so many others in this industry seem to be. I like the fact that you can buy like a sweet 1958 Chevy Impala for example and drive it down the road on a tank of gas without hoping that some company from 60 years ago is still around to offer a battery upgrade to make the car actually work.

I like vehicles that you can recycle and that are not expensive disposable products. The sucker who buys that 2008 Tesla Roadster for the last time before the batteries die is like the same guy at the bottom of a pyramid scheme.  Eventually, he’s going to lose all of his money and have a nice lawn ornament or they will put it at the entrance to a junk yard as a novelty item from years gone by.
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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy
John is an auto consultant who owns CoolCarGuy.com, a licensed car dealership in Lone Tree, CO. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

Local Car Dealerships Going The Way Of The Dinosaur

Suzuki WRXThere is a very interesting article that showed up at CNN today about how neighborhood car dealers are facing extinction.  The sub-headline to the article reads, The small, independent dealership is struggling to compete in an increasingly cutthroat auto market.”

The example takes place in Westfield, New Jersey, but the reality is that this is happening across the United States right now as market forces have created a tremendous amount of pressure on small dealerships.  They simply can’t stay in business any longer.  The combination of the fluctuation in gas prices, reduced sales and a sour economy have forced car dealers who have been in business for decades to shut their doors.

The business model of having to inventory cars, which are depreciating assets, and every month a new NADA book coming out stating the vehicles are worth less, has not been a good one lately.  If a car dealership has to inventory just 20 cars that are worth an average of $15,000 each, they have $300,000 in cash tied up in those vehicles.  They are not going up in value the longer they stay on their car lot and they have to pay hefty interest fees on $300,000, plus reconditioning, rent, fuel, employees, licensing, taxes and all the other costs associated with running a traditional business.

One of the biggest challenges though, that the article addressed is the following…

“But in late 2008 gas prices rocketed up, leaving him stuck with lots of big trucks nobody wanted. Then, in the fall, the banking system went into a skid. New Norris’s customers couldn’t get car loans and GMAC, which financed his own inventory as well as his customers’ purchases, started demanding big payments on all those unsold trucks and SUVs.”

Talk about a huge problem.  Vehicles that you own, you have to make payments on and people who want to buy your inventory can’t get financed by the banks.  That’s a sure fire trip down disaster lane.

Trucks and automobiles are way more complicated than people realize though because no two vehicles are the same. Especially when it comes to used cars which most people purchase.  There are thousands of parts and thousands of things that can go wrong with an automobile.  Don’t believe me?  I spent about $75,000 last year repairing vehicles.

I’ve seen this coming for quite sometime in the automotive industry, but it’s a disappearing business model as pointed out in the CNN article.

“A disappearing business model

In 2008, New Jersey lost about 60 car dealerships, or roughly 10% of its total dealership population, said Jim Appleton, president of New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers. “We’ll probably lose another 50 dealers this year,” he said.

Nationally, the United States lost about 900 car dealerships last year, according the National Automobile Dealers Association. About 66% percent of the dealers that closed last year were single-brand dealers.”

It will be interesting to see how the market shakes out, but I think we’re going to see fewer people willing to take the risk to open car dealerships using the old style business model.

Instead, you will see more people offering services like I do as The Cool Car Guy by helping support smaller car dealerships without the overhead of a traditional business.  Of course, you’ll have to decide at that point who you can trust and who really knows what they are doing.

I could be wrong, but I’ll continue to operate like a real estate agent for cars by working through a car dealership as an automotive consultant.  This way I can pass my expertise and knowledge on to my clients who know and trust me to save them time, money and the brain damage of having to know the in’s and out’s of a very complex industry.

John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

Cool Car Looking For A New Home – 2002 Volkswagen Passat-4 Cyl. Turbo Wagon 4D GLS

01passatHey Cool Car Fans,

I have a dealership that traded for a 2002 VW Passat Wagon.   They asked me to help them sell it , so I’m putting it up here at CoolCarGuy.com for people to find out about it.

IT’S SOLD!

It’s the FWD, GLS, Good Gas Mileage, Four-cylinder Turbo, Silver, Black Leather Interior, Power Windows, Power Locks, Moonroof.

This vehicle is great for someone with credit challenges because it books out at $11,000 retail, which is what the banks like to see compared to what it is price at.   I have clients with Passats and they love them.

Becky and I have owned four VW Passats and we never had a problem with any of them.  In fact, a Passat saved her life one time on C470 when she went into the ditch on a snowy day at 70 miles an hour, spun around and drove right out thanks to great German engineering.

I can get you financed with 40 credit unions and a number of banks to choose from through JFR & Associates.   If you are interested and want to see it today, call me at 720-771-6269 and I’ll grab it and show it to you.

Ref: Stock number 2002VWP

I’m listing it at $8,975 for a quick sale, which is NADA Clean Trade-in, NADA retail book is $11,000 because of the miles and lenders have tightened their requirements.  If you have bad credit you’re not going to call the shots with a lender right now.  This baby was just detailed and it’s ready to go!

Don’t wait on this one, people who waited on the AWD Sienna van I had listed this week missed out on getting a really great deal.  I even brought it to a guy to look at, “who had to think about it”, he thought he was going to steal it and it was sold by the next morning.  Try finding a 2004 AWD Sienna with around 42,000 miles.  You can’t exactly call up the Used Car Factory and order one in for back of retail book!  The same is true for this vehicle.

The used car market is strong, so don’t believe the headlines that the auto industry is hurting.  New car sales are in the tank, but I’m looking for eight used vehicles for clients right now and I can’t find the cars in the Denver market.

I’m having to go out of Colorado to find many vehicles for clients and most of the dealerships around town are doing the same thing and buying vehicles at out of State auctions.  The used car market has filled the gap for the new car market, the market has changed.  So, if you snooze in this market – you will lose.  People still have to drive, cars break down and have to be replaced and more people are buying used vehicles right now, but finding them can be a challenge.

Check out NADA for details on this ride.

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John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

VW Creates Virtual Joyride

VW has created a new feature on their VW GTI website that allows a person to add features to a VW GTI and then take the vehicle for a test drive. Each video is different depending on the options that are selected. It’s pretty cool how they have done it. Just go to the following link, pick your vehicle and click on the Joyride button.

Click here: VW JoyRide

Enjoy!
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John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

Must See VW GTI MK V Un-pimp Commercials Are Hilarious

This series of funny VW commercial creates a spoof on the MTV Show “Pimp My Ride” where the host of the show “pimps” the rides of wannabe pimp mobiles. As the MTV website puts it, the host of the show “pulls drivers off the road who are guilty of committing heinous vehicular style crimes and gives their wheels the ultimate pimp-over.”

In these commercials, a crazy German scientist and his strange assistant do an “un-pimp” makeover on vehicles that are pimped out. Each vehicle is replaced with a new VW German engineered racing machine – the new 2006 GTI MK V.

VW GTI MK VEven if you’ve never seen the MTV show you will get a kick out of these crazy commercials for the new GTI MK V. They are hilarious! See all the videos at YouTube or click on the graphic to see the first video.

If you’re interested, you can lease a new 2006 GTI at a great price through VW’s lease program! Below are the details that VW is offering on their website for the new 2006 GTI.

2006 GTI 2.0T with Manual Transmission

36-month lease

309

$2,459 due at signing
(plus license, tax, options and dealer fees) VW GTI MKV

Contact me about this or many other great lease deals available on GTI models that I can help you get through your local VW dealer. This is a great deal you should check out!

**US cars only. $309 first month’s payment, $1,250 down payment, $325 security deposit and $575 acquisition fee due at lease inception. Monthly payments total $11,124.00. Based on MSRP of $22,620 for a 2006 GTI 2.0T with manual transmission, excluding title, taxes, options and dealer charges. Closed-end lease offered to highest qualified customers by Volkswagen Credit through participating dealers. Supplies limited. Offer ends February 28, 2006. Lessee responsible for insurance. At lease end lessees responsible for $0.15/mile over 36,000 miles and for damage and excessive wear. Additional charges may apply at lease end. Purchase option at lease end for $12,893.40. Dealer sets actual prices. See your Volkswagen dealer for details.

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John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy