[brotharon]

Hi,



I dont currently own a Veloster N or any other variety. I am interested in purchasing one in the next couple months. I will update with what I settled on once I find one.



I am basically looking for a weekend driver (maybe occasionally to work just to jazz up the commute) and something that I can take to autocross and car meets. Previously I have had a 2004 VW GTI, 2008 Mazdaspeed 3, 2012 VW Golf R, 2014 Focus ST, 2016 Fiesta ST, 2018 Focus RS for these duties. The RS was my most recent fun car, but it got all full of water in Imelda (a tropical storm that hit us here in Houston this last summer). It is too bad, because it was a fun car, but it also was brutal to drive on the streets with the very overdampened suspension.

Honestly, my favorite of all of my cars was the Fiesta ST (or maybe the GTI since it was the first hot hatch I owned). I am excited by what I am hearing about the Veloster N and how people keep comparing it to the Fiesta ST.

Anyway, I dont want to bore you all with a wall of text. I will be more active once I have negotiated a deal on a Veloster. I am probably waiting until after Christmas (but before New Years) to work out this deal. There are still a few 2019s hanging out on lots, and maybe I can score a deal on one (has to have the performance pack), otherwise I will be negotiating on a 2020.

 

[azycray]

Well i can say that i use my N for all that and more it is just fun to drive . It has that "superman thing" it can be a mild mannered economy car , a quick to pass and accelerate when ever needed , and a weekend trip to the events of my choice . With all the what if's in between . and did i say it's just fun to drive. It is the best of all worlds for me the best money i have spent for a car in 20+ years. drive on for a day and you will see the possibilities

 

[zerobane]

Good vid on some of the cars you mentioned with a fairly lengthy review (they have another one with rest of the hatches)

Like azy mentioned; great car for the weekend drive + commute; will not disappoint. I was on fence with golf r vs VN vs type r. Focus was a no go for me; hated the seats and overall driving position. Long torso; felt like i was sitting too high.

Found mine on cargurus last week with 6k miles for 24k; took a couple months to find one with performance package. Still had to drive 200miles to get it.

 

[RedVN]

Focus RS is probably the best choice but it's gone by way of the DoDo! It can sorely trounce all three. You can pick up a 2018 model fairly reasonably, at around $32K used with low mileage. The VN is the obvious next choice for the money. A new VN/PP can be had at 34K out the door TT & L.

 

[MaxV]

Get em before they are the car everyone who can drive a manual wants one. Negotiate with multiple dealers. Get a picture of the numbers on the sales sheet before you walk out the door. Don’t buy it the first time you drive. These dealers expected people to pound down the doors to snap the up. That has not been the case. They sell a lot of Velosters at 16k. Much harder to move it at 2X the price. Use that information and get the upper hand.
I hit up three dealers. Small dealership out of town had two identical 2020 NPPs... they delivered it to me at work last week around 30k out the door. I feel good!

 

[joegrant413]

Price shopping helps the negotiation. So does leaving out a trade-in, and having a pre-approved loan. KISS so they are just negotiating on a straightforward product, and they know they are competing with each other.

 

[RedVN]

Not really, you can price shop and attempt to utilize it in an effort to get the dealer to lower his price but it doesn't work all the time. In fact very infrequently. The fair market value on the sticker, can be adjusted at anytime by the dealer and doesn't represent the actual value.

Doing a straight deal without a trade can help some. You have to know where the actual discounts are. Dealers Invoice; is where you need to always start and needs to be your first question. This is not however what the dealer actually paid for the VN from Hyundai. Hold back money which can amount to $300-$500 is available for negotiating. Hyundai discounts, Loyalty, Veterans or First Responders, Allstate, current dealership discounts and negotiable items beyond the car itself.

Tell them to stuff their dealer prep and freight. They have to get the car there anyway to sell it. The dealer prep doesn't amount to what they charge for; checking the fluids, removing the shipping plastic coverings and washing the car. Most of the cars are shipped on a multi car carrier, so they're attempting to make some additional money on the freight as well.

Any dealer packaging and add-ons are negotiable also. You just need to educate yourself and know where your flexibility is. Never buy sight unseen and never buy on the same day. If you decide do a trade-in with the purchase of the new car, be aware. The dealer will ask you what the payoff is nearly the first or second question. You don't want to provide it up front until you've worked on the deal for the new car. They are two separate transactions but the dealer will insist they are synonymous. They aren't!! They will attempt to give you less than payoff if financed and no more than payoff. You're better off selling the your trade-in outright. They have appraiser they call, who get a kickback on the trade deal. So it's to there advantage to utilize one of there appraiser.

It's like going to Las Vegas and attempting to win. Everything is setup for their benefit not yours.

 

[brotharon]

Yeah, it is just part of the fun of the carbuying experience. I have gone to two dealerships and test drove the Veloster N. Really good car, a lot of features and fun for the money. Certainly not as fast out of the box as the Focus RS, but it has a lot of features that the RS was missing and should have been there for the price point.



The first dealership was a horrible experience, which is why I went to the second one. The second dealership was very friendly and good to deal with as well as being pretty low pressure. They have called me every day since I came in, but I keep telling them that I am still shopping and will make a decision when I am ready.



As for trade ins...I dont do those. I have had good luck with selling my own cars or consigning them locally in the past, and generally have come out a few thousand ahead vs what I have been quoted for trade in...I think that there was one exception where we were able to trade in my wife's Range Rover for more than I could have sold it for, but that was with some promotional deal at the Jag dealership and I am sure that they made it up somewhere on the back end.



TLDR (again): I have test driven the N twice. It is a very good car. I am currently looking at 3 cars before making my decision and those are the Veloster N (obviously), the VW GTI (not nearly as fun as the N), and the Honda Civic Type R (i still find it ugly, and no dealerships want to let me test drive one...keep claiming I need to put a deposit down). Veloster N is looking really good, and I look forward to see what deals are looking like toward the end of December.