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Subaru Forester Prices Paid and Buying Experience

3509 messages,  Last post on May 17, 2013 at 2:32 PM

You are in the Prices Paid - Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Forester, Wagon, SUV

Messages Page 334 of 351

#3330 of 3509 Re: I have spent too much money repairing my subaru [marianneo] by aatherton

Dec 21, 2011 (7:29 am)

Replying to: marianneo (Dec 19, 2011 7:45 pm)
"I have paid twice in last year for head gasket replacement. Then my engine became cracked. There is something wrong with these engines."
 
The naturally-aspirated (non-turbo) engines up to 2011 were of an open cylinder deck design that stressed the head gaskets. The problem peaked in 2003, was band-aided with improved gaskets and the required addition of a sealant to fresh coolant every 30,000 miles. That almost ended the occurrence of head gasket leaks in recent years.
 
After the warranty was up, Subaru often paid part of the cost of head gasket repairs, particularly for an original owner who had the car serviced and repaired at a dealer.
 
Your second head gasket failure within a year was likely due to a poor repair of the first head gasket failure. It was probably not done by a dealer.
 
The first time, the coolant could have gone low enough to cause overheating, which warped the heads. If the heads were not removed, checked and milled flat, the warpage would cause the new head gaskets to leak soon.
 
Evidently enough coolant was lost the second time that severe overheating happened again and cracked a head.
 
Forester owners must use the Subaru Conditioner (sealant), change coolant every 30K, and watch for signs of leaks such as low coolant, bubbles in the coolant, or moisture around the heads. Coolant must not be allowed to go low and cause destructive overheating.
 
The design of the engine was completely changed in 2011 so that head gaskets are not stressed and leaks cannot occur for the same reason as before.

#3331 of 3509 2012 2.5X Premium by bearcrkrd

Dec 22, 2011 (12:18 pm)

I bought Wednesday, 12/21. Seattle area. 2012 Forrester 2.5X Premium AT, PZEV, Ice Silver Metallic. All-Weather Package, Auto Dim Mirror/Compass W/Homelink, Cargo Tray, All Weather Floor Mats, and Luggage Compartment Cover.
$24,796. Doc Fee $150. Wa State License fee $211.50. And the BIG ONE; Wa State Sales Tax = $2,430.01!!!
I had a trade in, but I called a family member during the middle of the deal, and they really, really, wanted my '08 Civic LX. It had 93,000 miles already, but was in absolute tip-top condition. Super little car. Dealer was offering KBB. I sold to the family for less, on payments, with a handshake (phoneshake?), and ate the $600 sales tax savings the trade would have brought.
So I certainly didn't steal it, and the State of Washington will still claim the end is near, but I sure as heck contributed my part.
I got a couple books I read in the bathroom about day hiking around here. Now I can get off the pot and get to the trailhead. Wouldn't do that with the Civic, sprung too tight, didn't want to ruin it anyway. Maybe when I was younger. We used to take our full size domestics on logging roads all the time, way up into the hills, but that was 30-35 years ago!

#3332 of 3509 Re: 2012 2.5X Premium [bearcrkrd] by bwenus

Dec 22, 2011 (1:02 pm)

Replying to: bearcrkrd (Dec 22, 2011 12:18 pm)
Congrats bearcrkrd for the new car! I am in WA too. Did you buy from Mike Scraff? Good experience?

#3333 of 3509 Re: 2012 2.5X Premium [bwenus] by bearcrkrd

Dec 22, 2011 (10:39 pm)

Replying to: bwenus (Dec 22, 2011 1:02 pm)
Yes I did. No hassle at all, just pick the color you want, and take a quick test drive. It's just a question of do you want to spend the money at this time or not. Very painless. If you go all out and solicit multiple dealers over a period of time, from multiple web sites, etc., you may be able to do better. I just thought there wasn't enough daylight to go for a scenic drive in the Civic on my day off, so stopped by Scarff. I should have purchased the 2011 year end close out. Would have save almost $3,000. I drove the same car I just ended up buying, but thought the seat comfort was terrible. It was fine two days ago. Must have exercised, ate right, and rested this time around. Live and learn.

#3334 of 3509 Re: . [momo31] by hiker89

Dec 23, 2011 (10:24 am)

Replying to: momo31 (Aug 04, 2011 8:07 am)
I don't know how you all get your below invoice prices quoted but I'm not able to. I'm shopping for 2012 Subaru Forester in Asheville,NC. I want a basic automatic 25X PZEV but with alloy wheels package and with a popular package (only because I need to have an auto dimming mirror). MSRP price came to 23,691. The best price I got is from a dealer about 60 miles away and it is $100 ABOVE the invoice price of $22,109. I don't have any trade-in. In your opinion, is it possible to negotiate? I would prefer to buy a car in Asheville but how do I negotiate? I don't mind paying a decent price but don't want to overpay

#3335 of 3509 Re: . [hiker89] by dalon

Dec 23, 2011 (5:09 pm)

Replying to: hiker89 (Dec 23, 2011 10:24 am)
Get car quotes from truecar.com. It will give you nice quotes below invoice that only certain dealerships will honor. Then, if those dealerships are far away, maybe call one closer to your hometown to see if they would match or come close to matching the farther dealership. That's what I did and I got mine about 700 below invoice. I could've probably gotten it to 900 but my salesguy was very nice and I wanted him to get some commission, although it probably wasn't much.
 
That's the only thing you can use. No rebates, no manufacturer to dealer discount for Foresters, so you gotta get creative. The Foresters come standard with an option package that increases the price like $500 more than you see in the quotes. My salesperson gave me the flexibility of basically discounting the options that I didn't care for on my car, even though those options would still be on my car no matter what. Using that, I got it discounted another $275. Not sure if your salesperson will be willing to do that but give it a shot.

#3336 of 3509 Re: . [dalon] by xwesx

Dec 23, 2011 (7:50 pm)

Replying to: dalon (Dec 23, 2011 5:09 pm)
Also, if you really want to get the best price on your car, make sure you're willing to travel to get it, taking into consideration the cost of that travel. Otherwise, all you're really doing is bluffing on the price, and the local dealer(s) may just call your bluff. If that happens, you're left with either buying the car at a price higher than you'd prefer, or not buying the car at all.
 
Depending on the market, the local dealer(s) might just tell you to take a hike, but that seems unlikely in an area like North Carolina where a myriad of dealerships are within a day's drive in (nearly) any direction.

#3337 of 3509 Re: . [xwesx] by hiker89

Dec 25, 2011 (7:58 am)

Replying to: xwesx (Dec 23, 2011 7:50 pm)
Thank you both. I got three quotes from truecar.com and they all are above the invoice price. Well, I guess I have to pay more than I would pay in other areas of the country. On the other hand a tax on cars in NC is 3%.

#3338 of 3509 2012 Forester 2.5x Premium - Cincinnati by niftydan

Dec 26, 2011 (3:45 pm)

Purchase Date: 23/DEC/2011
 
Car: 2012 Forester 2.5x Premium w/ AWP
Color: Sage Green
Options: All weather floor mats, Auto-dimming mirror w/ compass, trunk and side cargo nets, wheel locks, cargo tray, splash guards, and bumper cover.
 
Dealer: Beechmont Subaru
New Car Price: $23,500 (took Subaru's 36 month 0% loan)
Trade-in: $1000
Other: $150 Doc Fee + ~$60 Tags/Licensing + tax (6.5%)
 
Highly recommend this dealer. We called and told them what we wanted to pay for the premium with AWP, but explained that we didn't want to pay for any of the dealer's extras. They agreed to our price and didn't charge us for any of the options. On top of that, they offered us $1000 for our old car. We went down that day and were in and out of the dealer in an hour.

#3339 of 3509 Price Paid 2012 by tkay2

Dec 27, 2011 (2:19 pm)

2012 Forester Limited w/nav options dimming mirror compass, Cargo net (wow) all weather floor mats (they are cool) luggage cover ( i thought they were standard) puddle lights, rear bumper cover, remote starter and rear camera...$ 29500 out the door..also negotiated 2 year 24000 free scheduled maintenance...

Messages Page 334 of 351

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