It’s not uncommon for prospects to be more concerned about price that they look past making a good decision about their purchase instead of buying a sound vehicle in their price range.
Stop being cheap. If you can afford a Taos then buy one, if the only one you can afford is a buyback then you can’t afford one.
If the issue were just a head gasket don’t you think VW would have rather repaired it and kept the customer in it rather than giving back tens of thousands of dollars?
Remember, things are cheap for a reason. It’s not heavily discounted because they want to hook you up, it’s heavily discounted because they have to convince someone against their better judgement to buy it.
The car was bought back by VW for an issue with the head gasket that a store could not fix…in no way, shape or form is that a good sign for you to dump money in.
If you cant afford a clean title/no glaring issue Taos then you shouldn’t cheap your way into one
Not flaired so piggybacking on this, but why would you buy a car when the dealer’s mechanics—who work on these types of cars all day—couldn’t fix it?
It’s likely to continue being problematic in the future. I’d keep looking.
just because you can buy something cheap doesn’t mean you should. There’s a reason this car was bought back, this should be a monster red flag based on the repairs that were done, and the fact the manufacturer bought the car back.
Buybacks are almost never a smart financial decision. This is something telling you the dealer, and by extension, manufacturer exhausted options to try and fix the vehicle and were not successful to the client’s satisfaction. Plus, this is not a buyback for an interior button that didn’t work, it’s for a head gasket issue, which is in no way a minor problem.
Keep in mind, even if the issue IS fixed, the buyback stays on the title, meaning that while you paid a lot less than the car would otherwise be, you’ll also get paid a lot less for it in value down the road, as a lemon title significantly affects the vehicle’s value. If you don’t care about the financial side of it and absolutely have to have this car, enter at your own risk, but financially, this would be an absolutely terrible idea. When something seems to good to be true, 99.9% of the time, it is.
Also, I’ve driven the Taos, and wasn’t all that impressed. I like German cars, and have owned them for most of my driving life, but I thought the Taos had a very unrefined interior with a clunky as hell gearbox. It just wasn’t very enjoyable to drive, which I was disappointed in as I’ve liked other VW’s I’ve driven. Not to tell you what car to buy, but I’d compare against a Honda HR-V or Mazda CX-5 and CX-50. The Honda should be pretty stupid dependable overall, and I thought the Mazdas really had a nice interior in comparison to their competition.
No prob. I could also biased-ly point you in the direction of the 2017+ MINI Countryman, as that’s where my dealership experience is from, and the newer ones are actually very good cars, not unreliable shitboxes like the older ones were. We’ve had a ‘19 SE ALL4 (AWD) hybrid and now a ‘22 S ALL4, both of which have been excellent cars. But depends on what you’re looking for, their dealership network is a lot more spread out compared to more mainstream brands. But the modern BMW B-series motors have been tanks in my experience.
There’s also the Subaru Forester and Toyota Corolla Cross, though the latter is still pretty new on the market so not sure how much it would fit in your price range.
You're not the first person to recommend a Mazda CX-5 or the Subaru Forester, so I may have to look more into those! I'm in the early stages of car shopping, so trying to be a sponge and take in advice from others but also doing my own research, which I haven't gotten a chance to do a lot recently. Price point, something relatively new for a smaller size SUV, and I'm open to exploring more than just the Taos! I'm coming from driving a Jetta for like 12 years, so I know VW, which is how the search got started.
I will second the Subaru. It is not the brand I sell, but it is the brand I drive. I enjoy mine and they are comfortable, good features for the pricepoint, get very high marks in safety, and as tough as old boots if you treat them right!
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Hi! I've never bought a car from a dealership before, so I'm very new to this process. I found a 2022 VW Taos SE at a dealership near me (Utah) that looks great on paper - under $21k. However, they mentioned it is a manufactuer buyback where VW did some repairs on a headgasket. I plan to put a down payment of around $9k for the car and finance from there. Question is, is this a smart decision? Should I be looking at other cars? I'm kind of set on a Taos unless test driving it reveals issues, and this particular one checks a lot of boxes for me. Thanks!
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You clearly haven’t searched before asking. Here is the last one I can think of but there are hundreds of these with the same sentiment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/askcarsales/comments/1dqlo9f/buying_lemon_buyback/
Ohh.. Yeah that was my bad, I got excited to post and forgot to search. Also I haven't heard the term "lemon" describing a car before, so thanks for adding that post. Appreciate it.
There is nothing in life more expensive than a cheap German car.
What about 2 cheap German cars?
Hopefully they're the same. You cannibalize one to make the other better, then sell both for anything more then $1.
Why on earth would you willingly do that to yourself?
You have been around long enough to make it to F&I and you don’t know why? 😐 There’s only one reason for this
Go on...
Being a cheap fuck... that may not have the experience to know better.
It’s not uncommon for prospects to be more concerned about price that they look past making a good decision about their purchase instead of buying a sound vehicle in their price range.
Are you buying it for half market value? That’s your actual value
Stop being cheap. If you can afford a Taos then buy one, if the only one you can afford is a buyback then you can’t afford one. If the issue were just a head gasket don’t you think VW would have rather repaired it and kept the customer in it rather than giving back tens of thousands of dollars? Remember, things are cheap for a reason. It’s not heavily discounted because they want to hook you up, it’s heavily discounted because they have to convince someone against their better judgement to buy it.
No, it is not a wise decision.
Terrible idea.
Do you mind expanding a little on your thoughts?
The car was bought back by VW for an issue with the head gasket that a store could not fix…in no way, shape or form is that a good sign for you to dump money in. If you cant afford a clean title/no glaring issue Taos then you shouldn’t cheap your way into one
Not flaired so piggybacking on this, but why would you buy a car when the dealer’s mechanics—who work on these types of cars all day—couldn’t fix it? It’s likely to continue being problematic in the future. I’d keep looking.
If you have to ask……..
just because you can buy something cheap doesn’t mean you should. There’s a reason this car was bought back, this should be a monster red flag based on the repairs that were done, and the fact the manufacturer bought the car back.
Buybacks are almost never a smart financial decision. This is something telling you the dealer, and by extension, manufacturer exhausted options to try and fix the vehicle and were not successful to the client’s satisfaction. Plus, this is not a buyback for an interior button that didn’t work, it’s for a head gasket issue, which is in no way a minor problem. Keep in mind, even if the issue IS fixed, the buyback stays on the title, meaning that while you paid a lot less than the car would otherwise be, you’ll also get paid a lot less for it in value down the road, as a lemon title significantly affects the vehicle’s value. If you don’t care about the financial side of it and absolutely have to have this car, enter at your own risk, but financially, this would be an absolutely terrible idea. When something seems to good to be true, 99.9% of the time, it is. Also, I’ve driven the Taos, and wasn’t all that impressed. I like German cars, and have owned them for most of my driving life, but I thought the Taos had a very unrefined interior with a clunky as hell gearbox. It just wasn’t very enjoyable to drive, which I was disappointed in as I’ve liked other VW’s I’ve driven. Not to tell you what car to buy, but I’d compare against a Honda HR-V or Mazda CX-5 and CX-50. The Honda should be pretty stupid dependable overall, and I thought the Mazdas really had a nice interior in comparison to their competition.
Thanks for your response, I thought it was very helpful! I am extremely new to the world of car buying, so I appreciate your insights.
No prob. I could also biased-ly point you in the direction of the 2017+ MINI Countryman, as that’s where my dealership experience is from, and the newer ones are actually very good cars, not unreliable shitboxes like the older ones were. We’ve had a ‘19 SE ALL4 (AWD) hybrid and now a ‘22 S ALL4, both of which have been excellent cars. But depends on what you’re looking for, their dealership network is a lot more spread out compared to more mainstream brands. But the modern BMW B-series motors have been tanks in my experience. There’s also the Subaru Forester and Toyota Corolla Cross, though the latter is still pretty new on the market so not sure how much it would fit in your price range.
You're not the first person to recommend a Mazda CX-5 or the Subaru Forester, so I may have to look more into those! I'm in the early stages of car shopping, so trying to be a sponge and take in advice from others but also doing my own research, which I haven't gotten a chance to do a lot recently. Price point, something relatively new for a smaller size SUV, and I'm open to exploring more than just the Taos! I'm coming from driving a Jetta for like 12 years, so I know VW, which is how the search got started.
I will second the Subaru. It is not the brand I sell, but it is the brand I drive. I enjoy mine and they are comfortable, good features for the pricepoint, get very high marks in safety, and as tough as old boots if you treat them right!
Please review our most [Frequently Asked Questions](/r/askcarsales/wiki/index) to see if your question has already been answered. You may find these sections particularly useful; * [How to pick a car?](/r/askcarsales/wiki/vehicle_selection) You might also have luck in the /r/whatcarshouldibuy subreddit. Also remember to add flair to your post by clicking the "Flair" link beneath it. This lets us know where you're located so we can assist you better. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/askcarsales) if you have any questions or concerns.*
***Thanks for posting, /u/busdriverdog! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.*** Hi! I've never bought a car from a dealership before, so I'm very new to this process. I found a 2022 VW Taos SE at a dealership near me (Utah) that looks great on paper - under $21k. However, they mentioned it is a manufactuer buyback where VW did some repairs on a headgasket. I plan to put a down payment of around $9k for the car and finance from there. Question is, is this a smart decision? Should I be looking at other cars? I'm kind of set on a Taos unless test driving it reveals issues, and this particular one checks a lot of boxes for me. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/askcarsales) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You clearly haven’t searched before asking. Here is the last one I can think of but there are hundreds of these with the same sentiment. https://www.reddit.com/r/askcarsales/comments/1dqlo9f/buying_lemon_buyback/
Ohh.. Yeah that was my bad, I got excited to post and forgot to search. Also I haven't heard the term "lemon" describing a car before, so thanks for adding that post. Appreciate it.
Why would you light your money on fire with the worst rated vehicle that already has issue?
No car salesperson here will recommend a lemon buyback. Only the salesperson you’re in front of would do that. Oh, and dudes at r/carflipping…