That high-end luxury vehicles that trade on being new and shiny take massive depreciation hits as soon as they roll off the lot is a lasting truth in the car business. At least one VW buyer is finding that out the hard way, having just watched their 1st Edition 4Motion ID.Buzz sell at auction for more than $11,000 under MSRP with just 398 miles on it.
At least.
After teasing a modern Bus for nearly two decades (the ID.Buzz was introduced as a concept at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, and was the fourth Type 2 Bus- or Bulli-inspired concept from VW since 2001), Volkswagen had high hopes for the all electric minivan. Unfortunately price-gouging dealer markups and a drastic over-estimation of the van’s lasting cultural impact more than twenty years after the launch of the first-generation New Beetle and a hefty $70,000+ price tag conspired against its mainstream success.
The good news, if there’s any to be had, is that early “flippers” are getting badly burned – and, while there’s no indication that the owner of this particular ID.Buzz was hoping to get an early example of a hot car from a dealer and flip it for a profit, their experience could and should serve as a warning to others.
The van, itself
The van was listed on BringaTrailer.com (all photos, above, are from the listing), and sold last week for $61,500. The included window sticker, which is typically considered a “must-have” for car collectors, shows initial delivery to Fremont Volkswagen of Casper, Wyoming, and lists all the features and equipment that brings the final sticker price to a staggering $72,385.
For that price, VW saw fit to throw in a set of woven floor mats. But, in fairness, the reality of this could have been much, much worse for the original buyer.
$35,000 dealer markup
Back in December, Hot Cars ran a story about Volkswagen of San Bernadino marking up a nearly identical 1st Edition ID.Buzz from its $72,668 sticker to a jaw-dropping $107,668 – fully $35,000 of dealership price-gouging markup, despite calls from VW corporate pleading with its dealer body to not do that.
“McKenna Volkswagen Cerritos has another 1st Edition listed for $97,815. That’s still $25,000 added on top of the MSRP for no reason,” wrote Amanda Clein, back in December. “No matter where you look, the electric bus is marked up at a bunch of dealerships. King Volkswagen in Maryland has one 1st Edition available. This one is finished in a cool orange color but is still being subject to a $10,000 markup”
No word yet on whether this particular van gets the three year Electrify America charging deal, or whether the rear seat still has the original, “pre-recall” rear seating configuration, but at least this much is certain: if you participated in a cynical, ID.Buzz-shaped cash grab in recent months, it probably cost you big time.
May the ghost of Woodstocks past forgive you for even trying.
SOURCE | MORE IMAGES: BringaTrailer.com, via Carscoops.
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