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Subaru Forester Prices Paid and Buying Experience

2746 messages,  Last post on Nov 28, 2009 at 10:03 AM

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

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#356 of 2746 by ateixeira Jul 01, 2004 (8:46 am)
No-haggle won't necessarily be the rock-bottom price. It can't be. Other cars dealers go up and down, you might pay more or less, average is probably the same though.   The thing about the no-haggle deal is the consistency, you pay the same as anyone else. Some people just aren't in to the negotiating and dickering and would be better off.   Also, a bigger benefit IMO, is that there are no games. You set a price then they add a processing fee after the fact. Then of course they'll do you the huge favor of splitting the difference...   There are pros and cons.   -juice
#357 of 2746 by p0926 Jul 01, 2004 (10:02 am)
The point about the sales staff not being particularly knowledgeable is valid though. Any place that has "mall" in its name isn't likely to be strong in the product knowledge dept. You can't really blame them either. Fitz carries what, a half dozen different makes? That'd be hard for all but the most dedicated sales person to keep up with. Of course that's why we've got wonderful resources like Edmunds. By the time I go to the dealership, I know what vehicle I'm interested in, what options I want and how much I'm willing to pay. All that remains is the test drive.   -Frank
#358 of 2746 by ateixeira Jul 01, 2004 (10:10 am)
In their defense, my sales guy only sells Subarus. If you want an Isuzu, he refers you to someone else. Hyundai or Dodge, same thing. He only sells Subies, though.   That location has 4 brands, but Fitz has dozens of them.   I'm sure their knowledge varies individually. I probably know more than him but then to me it's a hobby (an infatuation really).   They are low pressure and he's paid based on satisfaction scores, not quotas or sales price. So the whole experience is pleasant and surprise-free.   -juice
#359 of 2746 Re: Not to criticize, but... [mfletouva #355] by alyosha73 Jul 01, 2004 (11:29 am)
Replying to: mfletouva (Jul 01, 2004 8:26 am) Well, I'll be suspicious of that statement, I suppose it is possible that you got a good deal elsewhere, but for all practical purposes you experience is probably very rare. From my experience, the dealer negotiates only within their margin. Once he reaches his minimum profit, he has to let you walk out, but cant go any lower. That price is a summ of price paid to manufacturer, overhead, and his commission. The fact is that fitzmall has very low overhead, and is willing to keep their sales high by sharing their incentives. So in fact if you were able to get lower price on your car than from Fitzmal, you either got raped on trade-in, financing, extended warranty, processing fees, advertizing fees, delaer installed options, dealer prep fee, etching, gap, debt cancellation, or you are comparing the price of the wrong model/options. Dont mean this as an offense, just experience from my car shopping. Replies to this message: edunnett (Jul 01, 2004 1:55 pm)
#360 of 2746 by ateixeira Jul 01, 2004 (11:46 am)
Not necessarily, a dealer might break even or even lose a tiny bit on one car just to meet a sales quota or internal goal. Won't happen often, though.   -juice
#361 of 2746 Re: Not to criticize, but... [alyosha73 #359] by edunnett Jul 01, 2004 (1:55 pm)
Replying to: alyosha73 (Jul 01, 2004 11:29 am) My dealer recently offered us a NEW 2003 Baja for $19,999 - it MSRP'd for $25K and change. There were no incentives that I could find via edmunds or consumer reports. The dealer holdback was LONG since spent since it sat on the lot for a full year! My guess is they accepted that they were going to take a big loss on getting rid of that car, but it didn't sell at any higher prices - what were they to do?
#362 of 2746 with all due respect - that was Baja by alyosha73 Jul 01, 2004 (9:52 pm)
not a very hot car to start with. I researched those at first, but after one test drive realized that I didnt like it - comfort, space, back seats, handling. However back to my thesis. The car must have been on the lot for more than a year, possibly 2 years ( you have to request an invoice to see the delivery date). At some point Subaru issued additional incentive - dealer cash- you wont be able to find it anywhere, but this is the only reason prices can go lower than invoice minus holdback minus rebate. Granted the final price is low, personally, I noticed with Bajas, that they didnt discount it low enough to justify buying 2003 car in 2005 model year. As a matter of fact as far as march this year I saw those on ebay from texas dealer, for almost the price it would cost to get 2004. They were just waiting and fishing for an uninformed buyer. Also, verify real invoice price, until you see with your own eyes, how much under invoice, dont trust any of the MSRP talk, MSRP could have been quoted of the 2004 car, which was a little higher than for the 2003, I am just guessing, of cause, just be on lookout for dirty tricks. Replies to this message: edunnett (Jul 02, 2004 8:43 am)
#363 of 2746 Re: with all due respect - that was Baja [alyosha73 #362] by edunnett Jul 02, 2004 (8:43 am)
Replying to: alyosha73 (Jul 01, 2004 9:52 pm) Yeah, those poor Bajas/Brats... interesting idea, thought maybe their time had finally come... Guess not. Even Consumer Reports bashed them saying the predicted reliability was below average: "uncharacteristic for a Subaru".
#364 of 2746 Well... by mfletouva Jul 02, 2004 (11:33 am)
No, actually on my Malibu I paid zero doc fees, had no trade in and financed through my own credit union!   My parents did finance their Subie with the dealer, but it was a 2.9/60 month, I don't think that qualifies as being raped. No extended warranty, no trade.   And on both these transactions, we also bought from people that were not paid on commissions, via the internet. In fact on the Malibu, I simply got an email that was the right price, made a phone call and that was that.   I bought from one of the oldest GM dealers in the nation, but from a guy who know my car even better than I did, which was shocking to me since I spent many hours researching it and drove a bunch of them.   I'm not saying my experience is typical, but frankly with traditional dealers beefing up their internet sales its getting more and more common. Many traditional dealers employ someone who is paid a flat fee to deal with their internet customers.   Again, Fitz is fine, but they simply aren't the cheapest. I agree that there is a limit to how low a dealer can go, but Fitz does not go lower than anyone else, and in some cases higher. I mean, how do you explain Fitz pricing a car at $300 over invoice when I can buy the same car on the same day for $700 under? And at the same time, Fitz is saying that's their lowest price. Ok, that's fine, but that wasn't the lowest price from somebody else.   Also, why is their overhead lower than anyone elses? In fact, I see ads for them, big money tv and radio, as much as I do the others and sometimes even more. The guy I bought my car from told him that they're easy to beat, I believe him. His question was, if they say they are giving your their lowest price, but they change it every couple 2 weeks, how are they actually giving you their lowest price?   Look I'm sure Fitz is a fine place, honest, trustworthy, and hassle-free, which is very important to some people. But if your goal is to buy a car for the best price, I don't think that's your best bet most of the time. I'm not telling people not to buy there, I'm just saying that from the sounds of it on here people shop there and nowhere else and just assume they've gotten the best price. Replies to this message: p0926 (Jul 02, 2004 6:45 pm)
#365 of 2746 Re: Well... [mfletouva #364] by p0926 Jul 02, 2004 (6:45 pm)
Replying to: mfletouva (Jul 02, 2004 11:33 am) Matt- Naturally Fitz isn't always going to be the lowest but because they're up front with their pricing and even post it on the Internet I've found them to be an excellent source for determining a target price to pay. And I do think for many folks that Fitz will have the best price. First because unless you're really into haggling it's often hard to get another dealer to go below their price, and second, because they deal in such volume, they can afford to sell cars at a lower profit (FYI: that same sales volume is why they can afford all those ads you see and hear).   -Frank

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