It seems (and I'm only judging from the posts I've read on this and other boards) that the demand and thus the price for STis is much higher on the west coast than in the mid-west or east coast. If that's the case you can save a hell of a lot of money and buy the car somewhere in the Northeast US where most dealers seem to have the car for invoice or near there and then either 1) fly out there and drive it back (and beak the car in) or 2) have it shipped cross country. You can get flights for cheap, but if you don't have a few days to drive it back shipping costs something like $600 and that's a hell of a lot less than the difference in price from invoice to MSRP.

Also that's the price they quoted you, negotiate!!! Dealers I first spoke with wanted MSRP and I beat them down to about $300 over invoice pretty easily. That's because STis are starting to sit on lots out over in the east coast. I still haven't bought yet due to some insurance company BS and the fact that the longer I wait the better the price gets since winter in the east coast is horrible for car dealers.

Check some of the other posts on this board and some others, I think either here or on www.imprezawrxsti.com some people talked about a Cali dealer that was selling for something kinda close to invoice.

 

yea
go far, drive it back
break in takes 1000 mi fyi
=)

 

No dealer will sell it at there invoice.
Unless you know the owner.

MSRP you can possibly get.
Do your home work and check with a credit union or your bank
FIRST to see if you can get a loan.
Unless your paying cash and owe nothing on your trade, your a step ahead of average Joe.

Most dealers won't give you a break when paying cash.
Try and ask anyway.
Don't be rude to the salesman and be prepared to walk if you think your getting it in the ****.
The wholesale cost is around $27000 and some change for the STI. (distributer cost)

MSRP is $30000. Most dealers will tag on another $1000-$4000
on top of MSRP.

When you ask for "invoce" price you are asking for a car at the DEALERS COST.(Whole sale).
If you want to know what the dealer payed for a car that you want just see your bank.

One more thing, eat before you go and buy the car the dealers will try to where you out.

Good luck!

 

Anti-Hero,

You are a little misinformed about invoices. Dealers sell at invoice all the time, and even below invoice frequently. They still make money because of holdbacks. That's a certain percentage of the car's invoice or MSRP that the manufacturer gives to the dealer as a kickback. Most car companies have holdbacks of around 3% of the base MSRP as is the case with Subaru. See http://www.edmunds.com/advice/incent...ack/index.html
for more info.

Invoice on the base STi is $28,580. add in the $550 destination charge and you are now at $29130.

MSRP on the STi is $30,995 with the $550 destination charge is it $31545.

Anyone who pays more than MSRP for the car at this stage is a moron. The car has been out a few months so it's not as "hot" as it used to be, there is plenty of competition (Evo, 350z, S2000, Neon SRT4, etc) and it's Winter. Now Winter out in Cali is much different than out here, but it still has got to be death for car dealers. And you can always buy the car for a lot less elsewhere in the US and have it shipped back to Cali for $600, or you can fly out and pick it up so by the time you pull it into your driveway it's broken in and ready to rock.

Whenever I go to negotiate a car I always focus on the car price first. I don't tell them how I'm going to be paying for it even though they want to know that right away. I work down on the price of the car and then I see what the F&I people offer for the loan rate. Of course I've already spoken with my bank and gotten pre-approved so I can go with them if the dealer's F&I people try to screw me over.

 

Very true on the holdbacks.
I guess your timing has to be right
and when the product is not moving fast enough.
Freakin dealers got some slick moves though.

Don't get burned folks!

 

Amen to that. While there are a lot of good dealers and sales people there are also a ton of snakes. And maybe it's just me but from what I've seen so far a lot of the Suby salesguys are snakes, especially in this area.

This is definately a good time of the year to be buying though. I went out to a meeting and came back and I had a ton of emails and messages from dealers in this area looking to sell.