Volkswagen is in an interesting spot right now. It invested heavily to get some EVs on the board, but they haven’t been making huge waves just yet. In particular, the ID.4 has faced some real headwinds in the sales department. With stock sitting around, it’s putting serious downward pressure on prices.
You need only read the statistics at CarEdge to get a handle on the situation. Right now, there are 4,395 ID.4s on sale across the country, but only 890 have sold in the last 45 days. That leaves Volkswagen dealers with a full 220 days of supply. A figure closer to 45 to 65 days of supply is usually much preferable, indicating that cars are flowing in and flowing out at a more sustainable rate.
The reality is that these days, the ID.4 just isn’t moving units in the way Volkswagen might have hoped, and last year’s stop-sale order didn’t help things in the slightest. What this means is that there are deals for the taking. How does $17,000 off sound? Let’s dive in.
The cheapest example I found was a 2024 Volkswagen ID.4 Standard over at McDonald Volkswagen in Colorado. It’s currently listed for just $23,932—a full $17,524 under sticker price of $41,456. That’s right around Nissan Sentra prices! For that money, you’re getting a rear-wheel-drive example with 201 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque, and 206 miles of range from its 62 kWh battery. Colorado, of course, is the most generous state in the nation when it comes to EV incentives, but it’s not just Coloradoans who can score a good deal.
It’s no surprise this one’s a little cheaper—given that 2025 models have been out for a long time now. The Standard trim isn’t even a thing anymore! Other dealers still have a few kicking around, though. Southern Team Volkswagen in Virginia has a similar example for $26,975, and Luther Burnsville Volkswagen in Minnesota has one for $30,041. Not quite as cheap, but that’s over $14,000 and $11,000 under sticker, respectively. Not a bad amount of cash on the hood!
Fiesta Volkswagen in New Mexico has a slightly fancier S model from 2024, with the same power and range, for $36,916—$10,500 under sticker. You get a panoramic glass roof, power rear liftgate, and larger 20″ wheels for your extra money, amongst some other tasty fruit. Meanwhile, Emich Volkswagen of Colorado has a rare 2025 example also with the smaller 62 kWh battery for just $38,135—a discount of $9,041 versus MSRP.
“But Lewin!” you cry. “I don’t want those! I want a better one!” Fear not. Deals can still be had on the models with the larger 82 kWh battery. Luther Westside Volkswagen in Minneapolis has a 2024 ID.4 AWD Pro S for $40,531, a full $15,500 under MSRP. The bigger battery offers longer range—263 miles—and the AWD model gets dual motors with a combined output of 335 horsepower. Volkswagen of West Islip in New York has a similar deal on a 2025 AWD Pro at just under $10,000 off, too.
Meanwhile, if you just want the longest possible range, you can buy a 2025 ID.4 Pro from Southwest Volkswagen in Texas. It combines the single-motor 201 hp drivetrain with the 82 kWh battery for 291 miles of range on the EPA cycle. At $37,509, it’s $9,752 under sticker, which is pretty tasty.
The problem for Volkswagen is that sales for the ID.4 have been pinging up and down all over the place. With just 17,021 units sold, 2024 sales were down 55% compared to 2023. Much of the blame was placed on the stop-sale order, with Volkswagen having to recall almost 100,000 cars for issues with the door handles. With the matter rectified, sales were able to begin again, and the ID.4 blasted out of the blocks with big sales in January with the aid of crazy $149 lease deals. It was suddenly the third-best selling EV in America, with almost 5,000 units sold! However, by the end of Q1, sales sat at 7,663 units. While this was up 24.3% over 2024, it showed that sales slowed in February and March, a trend which appears to have continued.
In any case, these things are cheap now. There could be a change of heart amongst the broader American population. They might start flocking to a five-year-old electric SUV that isn’t particularly attractive and has the worst power window controls known to man. Somehow, though, I’d say that’s an outside chance—particularly since there are still 2024 models kicking around the lots.
What does it all mean? Well, if you’re shopping for an ID.4 this week, don’t accept any guff. These things aren’t flying off the shelves, so you’ve got plenty of bargaining power when it comes time to deal.
Image credits: cars.com via screenshot
I know i am in the minority but I bought a 22 AWD pro and I love the car. Its quick, has a very tight turning radius and has worked out great for me. A lot of the “issues” with the car I dont notice or car about, perhaps since i was going from a 2012 BMW 328 all the tech seems better to me. but off the top of my head:
Non ID4 specific compliant – the key fob that VW adopted for its cars is super dumb in that its too easy to press the panic button, and for atleast the ID4 the panic alarm will go off when driving the car. I fixed this by getting a fob cover that prevents that button from being pressed but yikes.
In general though, i love the car, would recommend it to anyone interested in switching to an EV and also with all the politics of tesla i can thank god I dont have any of that baggage connected to my car purchase.
A problem with the VW id.4, as expressed in a conversation with my partner, as we discussed the EVs we have driven, joined in progress:
“The VW was okay, I guess.”
“Which VW?”
“The id.4.”
“I don’t remember that one, did we test drive it?”
“Yeah, we did, you were there.”
“What was it?”
“A kind of SUV thing, it wasn’t great.”
“And we drove it?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, we thought it was kind of boring.”
“I don’t remember anything about this.”
Two window switches for four windows = will never buy on principle. Not sure if comment history is searchable on here but if so, it should be clear I am dying on this hill.
You mean all two of them? You have the choice between a bland jelly bean crossover thing and a van that has horrible range and costs 50% more than it should, not to mention both are are the lower end of range competitively.
That van feels/looks like it will a huge money-loser.
I saw the Buzz today for the first time. Two tone white and orange. Two things immediately struck me:
1) It was huge, a massive brick of a car. Truly enormous.
2) It was hideously ugly with NONE of the charm of the original micro-bus / transporter.
If there were “reasons” why they had to build something so different from the original. So much larger, taller, wider, longer and massively heavy I’m sure, then they shouldn’t have done it.
This thing is going to flop hard.
I’d like to see the market research that told VW they could sell an EV with a 206 mile for $41,000 and find buyers. With their historic reputation for making expensive to fix junk.
This blunder is EXACTLY the same as diesel-gate. Bad decisions based on a faulty analysis. I can’t wait to see what a flaming pile of garbage the Scout brand turns out to be.
It’s actually crazy, right? After the insane amount of money VW poured into EV development post-Dieselgate, and this is the kinda shit they came up with? One wonders if they maybe started too early, or weren’t paying attention to what other companies were doing, but they really did a poor job.
Most likely they spec’d out the ID4 back in the late 2010s when 200 miles was par for the course (and main competitors would be the the Bolt or Leaf) without any consideration that companies would be regularly crossing the 300 mile mark easily by the time the first ID4 refresh came around.
Assuming that 206 drops to ~150ish in the winter, some commuters would have to charge this every time they got out of the car. If you don’t have chargers available at work, this thing could really be a pain to live with.
That’s quite good deal. The SW these days is pretty good and as package the car is not bad.
Í’ve got Skoda Enyaq AWD which I guess is the version of ID4 that you guys would have wanted. It’s got all the interior bits that people have been complaining about and a bit classier looks inside and out. It’s 2 years old, and apart from range with studded winter tyres, it’s rather good car.
Actually two of my colleagues with Model 3 are planning on getting it or ID4 next. Partially due you-know-who in the top, partially because Tesla still is a bit lacking as a vehicle and the interior usability is a bit so-so. Also one of them crashed his Model 3 in carwash when the car decided to break. And it was even in correct mode. And last autumn the screen went out and he had to have it towed to service to get it working back again,
I wish the US had a budget brand like Skoda or SEAT – VW operates like it’s a premium brand in the US but has no cheaper cars to give them more volume.
Agreed, but even at the same price, I think some of the Skodas are better looking than the “prestige” brand. Of course they are unobtanium here in the States.
Price vise they aren’t really cheaper model per model, Skoda’s mission is more like more convenience for the money, and perhaps a tad more conservative. Like they have bigger trunks and more kit. And power trains atleast used to be few years late to VW, so they often had less teething problems.
McDonald was advertising $79 id.4 leases. Meanwhile the Ayria is being advertised for $59 leases and the leaf $19.
How much would it cost to change those window controls?
How much would it cost to convert the screen controls to safer-to-drive knobs?
How much would it cost to change the door handles to mechanical and not solely dependent on electricity?
Is there an aftermarket for these preferred upgrades?
Also, this just in: the car was overpriced in the first place. It is not a “deal” if I am buying it at a price above what I think it’s worth.
From a tooling perspective, that would range from “probably not that much” – the window controls, since I’m assuming they could just grab something from a parts bin – to “probably pretty expensive” – adding buttons, since that involves designing and tooling up a ton of new parts, and changing the door handles to fully mechanical, since that would mean re-engineering the door.
There is also unlikely to be anything aftermarket to fix that, since that would be replacing a ton of hardware and software.
There’s not likely to be much of an aftermarket for a non-enthusiast vehicle sold in low volume.
Unless you think you can do this yourself, possibly including modifying the vehicle’s software or at least figuring out how to interface physical controls with the car’s systems then I don’t think it’s an option.
If there were an off-the-shelf solution from a Euro model we probably would have read about it here in a ‘some geniuses’ piece.
A good friend of mine works for an Audi store here in Texas and he tells me they are not moving very many Q4s or Q6s either. I have not asked him but I am sure they can probably get killer lease deals on them with how long they have been sitting.
Texas is probably the worst state in the Union in which to try selling EVs. At least as an only vehicle. I-10 from one border of the state to the other is about 860 miles.
My ’01 Jetta TDI could easily do that in less than two tanks. So, one refueling pit stop. OTOH, it was not really happy five over the 80-mph speed limit out west. Or even 5 over 75 mph on numerous two-lane, no barrier roads closer to home.
And, yes, it gets hot in Texas. And most commercial truck tires are only speed-rated for 70. But most do at least 5 over as well and they have the same limit as those of us on only two or four wheels. And there are a lot of peeled original treads or recaps. I never rode a motorcycle in TX. Boring scenery around me, crazy drivers, uncomfortable heat/humidity numbers.
Given VW’s horrific interior design right now I wouldn’t drive one of these if you gave it to me for free. My blood pressure would be through the roof every time I had to use one of their stupid touch controls.
I might donate it to Karz 4 Kidz to get the tax deduction though. They deserve each other. 😛
It will be interesting to see what happens to these with the tariff situation. I’m not seeing any insanely subsidized leases currently, which is generally the best/only way to get these new. Maybe when every other car runs out, people will pay $40 – $50K for these?
I got a one year old used one (2024) with the S trim for $27,000 with no government subsidies and 2.99 dealer financing and it has been pretty good. It seems way quicker than the 200 HP indicates due to the instantaneous torque and no computer glitches for me.
“It’s currently listed for just $23,932—a full $17,524 under sticker price of $41,456. That’s right around Nissan Sentra prices!”
You’re better off with the Sentra. Or any ICE commuter car in that price-point. The frustrating thing I see around here is the fire sale on certain unwanted EVs kills dealer incentives on otherwise heavily discounted new cars that people actually want.
You can probably get a better lease deal on a Prologue than you can with a Civic Hybrid. But you’re worse off for it.
What about down in Oz, Lewin? Do you guys ever get deals like this?
Definitely wouldn’t buy any of these, leases are the way to go..
Also wouldn’t buy a VW EV from this generation as they were a hot mess. Applying the same logic as 50,000 monkeys typing on a typewriter to create the works of Shakespear, to car software development was a horrible strategy.
There aren’t any listed at under 40k in my region. My thought has always been if I really wanted something like this, I would go used right? A decent two year old ID.4 is available nearby for 27k with 26k miles on it. Hey that actually seems like a solid deal!
But then I flip through the pictures, and the dealer shows the instrument cluster reading at 62% battery with 101 miles of range. For a car that supposedly is supposed to get around 250 miles of range when new. The car reads that it’s 40F out, certainly nowhere near the sort of insane cold we get for half the year. I obviously don’t know what the particulars are for what this car will actually get for range, but it’s own instrument cluster appears to be telling me that this thing gets 160 or so miles of range on a decent day. Which is terrible for a 2 year old car? Maybe the heat is blasting? Still…
Between that, the terrible UI and the interior also being loaded with acres of piano black (what happened to you VW?) this car might not be a good deal at any price.
Edit: Genuinely wondering what the deal is with the range, maybe some owners or people with anecdotal experience can chime in.
I don’t have any real experience with VW EV’s, but the range estimate is referred to the Guess-O-Meter on the Bolt for good reason. It doesn’t take a lot for it to go all over the place. Drive up a large hill, it drops to 100 miles rapidly. Go back down, and it’s up over 300 miles.
It could also be a case of it sitting on a dealer lot, turning it on with people sitting in it and such, especially if running the heat. If like the Bolt it mostly takes into account the very recent conditions, if there were a few people who went out to look, sat in it with the heat on, and hardly drove it, that could easily explain it showing way lower range than it should, if it is basing its guess off that sort of use of mostly just sitting around and not really moving. Only way to know would be to go drive it around a decent bit if possible in a normal use case for yourself, and track the miles / kWh usage, and do some basic math.
My biggest issue with the ID.4 is the 19″ wheels with different tire sizes front and rear, forget that. Last fall, I was at a DC charger for a bit with an ID.4, and was surprised to see that it was charging no faster than my Bolt, so there are certainly other potential issues.
Good point. I’m sort of shocked the dealer would represent the range in such a poor way, but well, maybe I’m not that shocked.
The price of new EVs is totally a non-starter for me, but some of these used deals interest me. But man, the risk seems really, really high.
Different sized tires front and rear for a run of the mill crossover is very dumb.
I know new cars are expensive and all that, but a 2024 VW ID.4 with an MSRP of $56k seems beyond insane. Even with the $15k off, it’s still too much for what you’re getting IMHO.
They are only really moving them with the crazy insensitive. It’s creating an interesting economy though because you are getting people that would normally just buy a cheap used car get a cheap BEV lease deal. The people that buy new cars every 5 to 7 years are not convinced yet.
I can see why that 2024 model is still on the lot. It’s in CO after all, and when there are about a thousand EVs for sale with all wheel drive and almost double the power, a RWD shitbox of an ID.4 is going to be a tough one to sell, especially now that it’s over a year old sitting on the lot. I happen to live in the metro area where McDonald VW is, and I did actually consider getting an ID.4 when the lease deals were better (back in February of this year). The problem is that I drove a Hyundai Ioniq5 and those are much better cars with real hard buttons for controls and a GOOD infotainment system and much better battery range for similar prices with a lease.
I passed on the ID.4. I also hate the jellybean design language. This is coming from a guy that is a VW/Audi/Porsche fan and I’ve owned a dozen of them over the years. I want an ID Buzz but that thing is outlandishly priced and HUGE – and still has the craptacular UI of the rest of the ID line.
The Ioniq still uses capacitive buttons for too many functions, though it is absolutely better than the ID.4. And more comfortable, too.
The only thing that the ID.4 can compete on is price because the specs are not compelling. Competing on price is a bad place to be.
ID.4 is overall a bigger car than the Ioniq5, more cargo capacity. I believe it’s roomier for passengers too. Has a rear windshield wiper.
For $40K, I’d just get a Mach-E
The ID.4 exists in such a weird space. It is a perfectly average electric car that suits many, many people who don’t care about cars. On the other hand, VW screwed up the usability of the interior so badly that it is almost impressive.
Yeah. I really wanted one until I sat in it and realized just how frustrating all the little things added up to be.
This. A friend who looked at one during the crazy lease deal called the interior “spitefully designed”, as though VW set out to design and interior as irritating as possible.
If they hadn’t broken what didn’t need to be fixed (the normal VW controls with hard buttons, normal infotainment), then yeah, it would have been a perfectly decent normal car. But they fucked it up big time.
It’s sad from a company that was top-notch in ergonomics for SOOO long. You could complain about reliability, high prices, all valid…but their driving experience and switchgear were almost always among the best in the mainstream classes.
That’s called turning your back on core competencies, whether it was intentional or not.
My brother-in-law has one. He wanted an EV and had a few in mind, at 6’5 the VW was the one he was most comfortable in. The fact that they were offering free charging for 3 years sealed the deal.
He bought his though, I can’t imagine how much depreciation has hit it already. The funny thing is that when he bought it, there was a wait list. it took him over 6 months to get it, and he didn’t even get the one he ordered, just one the dealer got for stock and offered to him.
It drives nice enough, though I have no other EV experience to compare it too. The instant acceleration and torque are amazing, I had never experienced response like that, and I love that about EV’s.
maybe they would sell better if they were the slightest bit interesting, but the ID4 is the plain toast of the EV menu
I’m hoping the ID.Buzz has a similar price reduction someday. They want way too pretty of a penny for them. I have seen a few of them around however.
VW of North America is incredibly wishy washy these days:
“The ID.7 is coming! Ah, never mind, no it isn’t.”
“The ID.Buzz is coming! …probably. Just a sec… Okay here it is!”
The new 2025 Tiguan isn’t even on the website yet and it’s almost halfway into 2025..
VWoA does feel like you’re trying to convince them you are interested in one of their products. The new Tiguan is actually there, but buried as coming soon at the bottom of the models menu. 2025 GTI info…where?
Ah! They must have just added the page for the new Tiguan. My wife will likely need a new car soon and the new Tiguan is a strong contender. I’ve been checking their website regularly for information on it’s arrival or really anything about the NA model, but there was nothing posted until just now.
I was just in a friend’s (they got a great lease deal) and they really like it. It fits 4, and even though they street park it in a big city, it works for them. For the record, I also liked it!
The ID.4 is a decent, quirky car and I recommend them to anyone EV curious. Especially after VW gets access to the Supercharger network. I tried to buy one but my delivery date kept getting pushed out. I think my delivery date was delayed by 8 months when I cancelled and bought a different EV. If you use Android Auto or Apple Car Play, the infotainment experience becomes tolerable.
I’m not surprised sales have dropped. That lease deal they had a few months ago was amazing. There is no way the sales momentum could continue once it ended. A few guys I work with were trying to find an ID.4 locally that qualified, but all the VW dealers near us gave up on selling EVs.
Yeah our ID4 is our first EV. The lease deals were really good so it made sense to snag one. As a former IBEW electrician I got to brush up my skills by installing a 240 ev rated 14-50 outlet for the level 2 charger ours came with.
4 coffee breaks for a 4 hour install is a skill we all learn.
‘muricans’ hate for unions (who relieved all of them from industrial slavery by literally spilling their blood) is almost as strong as their hate of education and healthcare.
Always impressive to see, and a reminder of the Carlin quote on how most people are dumber than average.
A tongue in cheek joke about Union electricians is all that was. I work with several different ones a few times a year, they honestly work a lot harder than the non-union guys I’ve met. Thankfully most blue collar guys take the jokes on the nose and give em right back.
I really wish it were illegal to advertise prices NET of a rebate that isn’t coming from the manufacturer. If you want to sub-head it as “And as little as $XXX after eligible federal/state rebate” but to include taxpayer money in the advertising of a private company seems like it’s pushing it.
I wish it was spelled out better in the article, because I had to go looking for it, but I don’t believe these are eligible for any federal incentives at least.
I know it gets tricky with state incentives (we don’t have those) as well as Fed eligibility….plus the really weird one, which is where the rebates can now be claimed at point of sale AND some models that aren’t eligible for rebate can still claim the rebate through a lease deal.
This shell game has driven me pretty crazy.
Yeah, the fact that they advertise it as “lease price” for the Colorado one suggests some of the discounts are probably a result of the lease rebate. But I don’t really know how else they would advertise it, since manufacturers/financers/dealers are not required to pass that rebate on to the customer. They are actually getting the tax incentive for using an EV for commercial purposes and passing that incentive along to the customer.
In short, I don’t think this is deceptive. The fact that they spell out both the $10,500 lease incentive and the $5000 bonus cash is fair, at least as long as a customer can take both on the same transaction.
True enough. I think my mental process was always that a manufacturer shouldn’t be able to take credit for a portion of the transaction that’s really between the taxpayer and the IRS. Feels like overstepping, but they’re in business to sell cars.
It’s only something I started seeing recently, I guess that’s why it jumped out at me.
On a purchase, since the taxpayer actually has to qualify, that would make sense. For a lease, the customer isn’t actually claiming the tax rebate. As you mentioned, the fact that the dealer can provide the purchase rebate at point of sale further muddies the waters, since a customer who meets the tax rebate qualifications is getting price of X and not having to wait until tax time.
What really frustrates me are the used car dealers including the used EV credit on their pricing without even listing it as such. I found a car down in Salt Lake that I was going to go buy, but when I found out the listed price was after the rebate, I was annoyed enough that I didn’t care that it was still fairly reasonable.
For some reason, used car dealers in UT seem to be particularly shady advertising prices with the EV credit baked in and not disclosing it.
I leased one in January. It’s been a good car so far. I was a bit worried about the range but it’s really a non issue since we just use it around town and occasionally trips into the Bay Area. The infotainment sucks and those window switches were designed by Satan. We went VW because my wife is German haha.
That’s funny because we DIDN’T go with VW because my wife is German. She despises VW. Porsche? Mercedes? BMW? Sure, but never VW. In her mind, VW stands for the cheapest, lowest-quality products available on the automotive market.
What’s even funnier is her dad was in upper management at Daimler and her brother-in-law is a PM at AMG.
😀 I meant no offense, by the way., Everyone has their own opinion about cars and such. I hope you enjoy the ID.4. I went all-EV a couple years ago and I love our Polestar 2 and Nissan Ariya.
Non taken! We’ve had 3 VWs in the last 10 years and they’ve all been great experiences. No problems with any of them at all. My E90 BMW was a good car too and definitely was a level above VW.
Everytime I’m in Germany we borrow whatever Mercedes EV her dad is driving at the time, I’m never impressed with them. They all tend to be ugly as shit, crammed to the gills with features that only make using the car harder, and the build quality just isn’t there.
You married a smart lady.
Finally priced where it probably should be, but I’m wondering how real that discount actually is as I’m betting qualifying for both those massive incentives is unlikely. Regardless, it’s just about the worst EV in this category if it weren’t for the bz4x. Comparing this to anything kinda similar like a Model Y, Ionic 5, Equinox EV, Mach-E, etc it has pretty horrible range that drops by more than anyone else in the cold, meh performance, meh looks, horrible infotainment, meh packaging, bad charging. It was OK 5 years ago when it came out and it hass just fallen from there as pretty much every other manufacturer has come out with something better since then or done a better job updating their existing stuff. It’s a bottom of the barrel EV, VW should be ashamed.