Those of you who questioned my sanity when I got the VW back in June were right. But huzzah! VW and VW credit are out of my life! And I actually liked the car.
I traded in the Jetta yesterday. I loved the engine, adored the gas mileage and trunk space, was lukewarm about the transmission, and
hated the finance company. I have been financing cars since 2009. I have never missed a payment. Ever. VW Credit drove me nuts. They reported a higher payment than my contract to my mortgage loan officer, which goofed up a house transaction. Then they deleted my payment history. And later my statement history. Then they said I was past due. How can one be past due from VW's own autopay? Transferring registration from one state to another was a nightmare. I had been pondering trading out of the damn thing for at least two months.
Then I got an alert from Transunion last week that my credit report changed. VW reported my payment as $454. Contract was signed for 389 Then they tried this "the contract payment amount doesnt matter, it's the base payment that matters" nonsense. But the document they sent listing my payment history that had been deleted only had one payment for the base payment (from the base payment clause which is never supposed to change) of 361. Why couldn't they bill me the base payment I agreed to if that was the most important number on the contract? "Not our fault. You can talk to customer care if you want." A formal complaint was filed - against the dealer. It was about all I could do. I told the nice gentleman at Customer care that I wanted the dealer to explain just what in the hell was going on because VW credit refused to do so. Dealer was supposed to contact me by the end of the day Tuesday. Like clockwork I got calls from corporate at 5pm asking if the dealer had called me to discuss how they could resolve the issue and any questions I had, because they could get it sorted out. Today, corporate called. "I'm just checking to see if the dealer contacted you to try and fix the issues you're having." "Sorry, sir. They have made no attempt whatsoever. I am going to do whatever I can to get VW Credit out of my life."
I had found a listing for a 2014 Mazda 3. It had high miles, but the price was right. And with an 820 FICO, I didn't really care. They worked with me on my trade. The bank wanted more than I was comfortable with putting down. But.. a new vehicle gave more wiggle room. Just as long as it was no more than 389 and I was owning the thing and not leasing.
They got the numbers to work.
Behold. My new steed. Name tentative. (toss-up between Ziva and Tirzah) Ziva Zoom Zoom or Ziva the Zippy have a ring to them. 2017 Mazda 3 sport 5 door. I could have saved $15 a month for a white sedan with steelies.
This car is a revelation to drive. The gearbox is magic. The engine sings.
Zoom Zoom baby.