liupj

Howdy folks! Long time stalker, short term poster here.

I've recently acquired a job up in Redmond, and will be relocating there in January. I'm going to purchase an 06' STi (Say what you will, I like it).

Anyhow, long story short, any information on good and bad dealership experiences? Any preferred salesmen I should speak to? I know my price ceiling and limits, and how to bargain. I'd rather save myself the trouble of hitting 4 dealerships when I can hit only 2 and know I can get a good deal.

Thx!

jprob50

I have purchased two cars in the Seattle area. The first one was a new 2002 WRX that i got from Carter Subaru. Whatever you do don't go there! I have too many reasons to list here. The second was a 2005 STI that I bought from Eastside Subaru. They were great. After buying the second car, I called Carter and told them why I didn't buy the car from them. They really didn't seem to care at all. The other place that I would go to is Subaru dealer in Bellevue. I have been in there a couple of times and they were very helpful and pleasant. Good luck to you.

liupj

Awesome! I was planning to hit Eastside and Chaplin anyhow! (Chaplin's the Bellevue one).

Thanks for the info! I'll stray from Carter then.

Flanders

iTrader: (6)

I bought mine years ago from Carter. Not sure I liked the epxerience very much but that's far for you anyway. I used to troll University Subaru but no one ever helped me there so they didn't get any money from me. I'd stick to the east side.

bonkers

I wouldn't touch Eastside Subaru with a barge pole myself. Not after the idiot of a salesman tried to railroad me into buying an automatic Outback Sport when I repeatedly told him I wanted a stick.

I've heard plenty of negative stories from other folks too.

liupj

Chaplin then..?

david2z4

stay away for Renton Subaru too. I would say the best thing is to shop on the locations webpage, see what they have. check the options and deside what you want then contact them by phone or email and set up the price and all details and dont let them convince you to come in till you have agreed on a price. You will get the best deal if you do it this way because you keep all the advantage. Once your in the showroom they clamp down and normally dont budge. Also they can then use your body language agains you. You should be able to get a deal from $200-500 over invoice. Just go into the dealer to inspect the car and sign the papers. And what ever you do, dont sign or remove the car from the lot if you see things that need to be fixed, like broken trim, scratches or they will say they happened after you left. My dealer, Auburn, scrached up the rear side window removing the sticker then refused to fix it becouse I had left the lot with the car and the blamed me for it. Also some rubber wheel well trim had a gouge out of it before I picked it up and they also blamed it on me.

liupj

Damn David.

Is there NO good Subaru dealership in the PNW area!?

The Chaplin Subaru has the car color I want, but not quite the options. Beh. Going over email takes forever, however.

CovTownSTI

I had great luck at chaplins, great service too! Talk to Ray in the internet dept.

-Joe

liupj

Thanks for all the information! Definitely worth while, I'm hoping I can get a fully loaded 06 STi for a bit over invoice .

I appreciate the warm welcome for a newbie like myself.

bonkers

Believe it or not, I went all the way out to Koenig Subaru in Port Angeles. It was a fair old drive but they had the last blue 03 WRX wagon in the area and I wanted it. Still, I was prepared to walk away if they messed me around - they didn't.

liupj

I'm hearing good things about Ray @ Chaplins, and Joe Spitz @ Carter. Both come really highly recommended from NASIOC. Supposedly the Carter service dept is a 50/50 chance with good service.

I spoke with Joe @ Carter and another guy @ Chaplins. Both offered ~32.5k for a fully loaded white on gold wheels. Just FYI. I'm wondering why these models are selling so close to invoice loaded?!

bonkers

I never actually went to Carter's when I was buying, though a friend of mine bought a Legacy second hand from them and was happy.

The one time I went to Chaplins, the sales guy totally ignored me. Granted I wasn't exactly looking smart - I'd just been kayaking - but then this is the Eastside and Microsoft money comes in all shapes and dress-styles...

liupj

Interesting perspective. Especially I look like a little ricer asian kid that just turned 21 (I'm almost 22!).

I don't want to pull the "I work for MS" card.

REX2ning

I had pretty good luck at Carter Subaru when I bought my 02' WRX there about 4 days ago. I talked to Noel there who really didnt say much the entire time I drove the car, which I liked. The bargining was pretty easy. I told them the price I wanted it for and they came close enough for me to buy. Financing took forever though, while I was waiting I was able to call my bank and get my own instead. Once that was taken care of it was a smooth deal.

Later,
Tim