The Volkswagen ID.3 is the German firm’s flagship electric model, as is the Golf for the thermal versions. After an early career weighed down by software problems, the ID.3 finally seems to have found its stride. The brand is currently offering an interesting offer starting at €229/month. But is it really that interesting?
Last year, in France, no less than 162,000 electric cars were sold, an increase of 45.6% compared to 2020. The year 2022 should be even more successful for electric cars, with more and more vehicles on the market and an ecological bonus still in the game, even if the scale is set to change.
The podium of electric cars sold in France last year was made up of the Peugeot e-208 in third position with 17,858 registrations, behind the Renault Zoé (23,573) and the Tesla Model 3 (24,911).
The Volkswagen ID.3 occupies the eighth position of the best-selling connected cars in France last year. The beginnings of the German compact were quite complicated, with in particular many software problems. Problems now partially solved. If you are tempted to buy an EV and this ID.3 catches your eye, Volkswagen has a rather interesting financing offer.
Your sales advisor has surely already praised the financing he offers, and in particular in LLD or LOA: long-term rental and rental with option to buy. To differentiate the two, it’s simple, you “rent” the car in both cases for a period of time defined when signing the rental contract.
The difference between these two rental offers comes at the end of the contract, after 3, 4 or 5 years. With the LOA (rental with option to buy), you will have the choice between exercising the option to buy (previously defined when signing the contract) or returning the vehicle. The LLD (long-term rental) does not include a purchase option at the end of the contract. In other words, you return the car.
This financing makes it possible to display certain models at monthly rates which are psychologically more accessible. Looking more closely at these offers, several conditions must be met. What sometimes leave empty-handed when the rent displayed and posted on the Internet and on all communication channels doubles if you do not meet all the conditions.
This is why, within this section, we offer you a breakdown of the offers of the moment. We are going to take a closer look at the conditions to be met and whether, economically speaking, this financing can be suitable for the use you will have of the vehicle.
And today, after having deciphered the offer of the Škoda Enyaq iV available from €299/month, that of the Kia EV6 from €297/month, the MG ZS EV at €99/month, the Peugeot e -208 to 149 €/month, from the Renault Mégane E-Tech at 248 €/month, we will be interested in the Volkswagen ID.3 at 229 €/month.
What model of Volkswagen ID.3 is offered at the price of €229/month?
For this sum, you will be entitled to the only ID.3 model currently available in the catalog at the time of writing these lines. Volkswagen drastically reduced its range in France, simply leaving the most successful version. It is an ID.3 Pro Performance Active with a 58 kWh battery and a 204 horsepower electric motor. The Active finish includes, as standard, the few items of equipment listed below:
Upholstery in fabric, Art Velours and imitation leather;
Heated leather front seats and steering wheel;
10″ central screen with “Discover Pro” Navigation System;
Inductive charger and wireless “App-Connect”;
Adaptive and predictive cruise control (ACC);
ID.Light with voice control;
“Park Pilot” front and rear parking assistance system;
Tinted rear windows.
The base color to benefit from the offer is very dull since it is a two-tone “Gris Lunar Noir Uni” shade. If you want to add one or two options (including colors), you get out of the offer immediately and the monthly payments go up.
What are the conditions to be eligible for the Volkswagen ID.3 LLD offer?
This is a long-term rental offer over 36 months and 30,000 kilometers maximum. The site indicates that the offer at 229 € / month is subject to a contribution of 12,500 euros. This contribution does not include the deduction of the maximum ecological bonus of 6,000 euros eligible until June 30, 2022. The bonus is deducted from the contribution. Thus, it will fall to 6500 euros.
To this there is also the conversion bonus of 2500 euros for the scrapping of an old vehicle. As a result, the first rent therefore falls to 4000 euros. With your LLD, Volkswagen includes the mandatory three-year warranty extension.
How much will the Volkswagen ID.3 LLD offer cost you?
Over three years of rental, with contribution, your Volkswagen ID.3 will cost you 12,244 euros without maintenance, but with the warranty extension over the duration of the rental. Volkswagen displays its ID.3 from 44,680 euros on its site, ecological bonus of 6000 euros not deducted. This ultimately gives us a car displayed at the list price of 38,680 euros.
The German firm includes, as a base, a discount of 1,500 euros acquired from the start for the recovery of an old vehicle, which brings the price down to 37,180 euros, not counting the conversion premium of 2,500 euros, for a final invoice amounting to 34,680 euros.
Starting from this price, you will therefore pay, over three years, 35.3% of the price of your car. This is low overall and corresponds to the depreciation of a new car after approximately three years of use. As the offer is not an LOA, there is no option to buy back the vehicle. It must be returned at the end of the rental.
Beware of the cost of repairs, which are always expensive at the time of return. We advise you to do it before at a bodybuilder, it will cost you less than at a dealership. If you take a vehicle back to your dealer after your LLD, he will also be a little less careful about the costs of repairs.
What are the advantages of the Volkswagen ID.3 LLD offer?
Thanks to a rather high residual value, the monthly payments are quite low for a car displayed at nearly 45,000 euros. With 204 horsepower under the hood and a 58 kWh battery providing up to 415 km of autonomy, the ID.3 is a rather versatile electric compact, but which will always suffer from a charging network that is not yet dense enough for long journeys.
The contribution is well absorbed by government aid, which drastically reduces the first bill and monthly payments. As stated above, at 229 € / month, it’s rather a good deal, knowing that a Tesla Model 3, its main competitor, starts at monthly payments around 100 euros more expensive. However, the benefits are not necessarily the same.
What are the disadvantages of the Renault Mégane E-Tech LLD offer?
The Volkswagen ID.3 is a car released a bit in a hurry and suffered from many small problems in its beginnings, in particular concerning the software. Today, most of these concerns are resolved, but the fact remains that there are some defects that cannot be corrected as simply as with an update. Among the main complaints, there are the ergonomics and the finishes inside, clearly not at the level of what we had used the brand.
The disadvantage of this offer is that it is subject to the scrapping of an old vehicle to be eligible for the conversion bonus of 2500 euros. Customers who do not have an old vehicle to return will therefore not be affected by this offer.
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