CALI01 sorry to go O/T but where do you get the Lojack system from? Is this dealer installed or can you get it from their website? This sounds like a very good investment and peace of mind. Thanks

 

Just wanted to know what they charged for the main Lojac unit.

 

Thanks mysubaruimp...I was going that direction...

Rafferty Subaru is one of the largest on the East Coast...
They were remodeling so their STI allocations were held in the interum....Even though I was third or so on the list I received mine first (1st in line was for black)....

Owner told them to mark up (9 sold at MSRP) $5K for any future sales....??

They are suppose to receive 2 per month from here on out...
Allocated 4 or 5 on the first go around because of the high sales...

3500 this year I was told??

Lo Jack was more piece of mind....I asked myself would I ever put myself in a situation where car theft is high since this is a third car....Theft can happen anywhere..Chester to the Main Line...

$895 for the standard Lo Jack.....$250 for the early warning system...all are one time fees...possible Insurance deduction too...

The bank financed it anyway....

What easy mods to do??
Are the gauges easy too install? (3 gauge style replacing the clock module)

First thing that I will do is create an intercooler screen.
I have some nice aluminum screen that I may mod into a "filter"....I will post some images if this solution works & may even sell them cheap......we'll see...

 

Never pay retail for negotiable goods. You are throwing your money away paying 5 over.

 

Valentine is best radar detector. I swear by mine.

 

Thanks amdmaxx!

The problem is I want to tint my windows.

I've researched that this can affect the radars' signal?


Anyway I will go with the Valentine.


Thx

 

Hey all, I've been watching the boards since I had my STi on order. I got roughly the second or third one in CA. I live in SF/Bay Area and was on lists from Seattle to San Bernardino (SB being the only one with a deposit of $500.00 put down). I picked mine up last week in San Bernardino, flew from Oakland to Ontario, picked it up with no hassle, stayed overnight in LA with my boyfriend and came back to SF the next day. It's exaclty what I wanted, black with gold. I paid a $3,000 markup and didn't mind a bit. My previous car?: a 2001 BMW M3 Coupe retailing at $54,000 and it was a p.o.s that I sued BMW for and had bought back. I was lucky and just happy to have a car, as I turned the Beemer in the same day the salesman from Subaru called. I received two other calls directly thereafter, one guy in Seattle had one at MSRP but not the color I wanted and I would have had to deal with out of state financing, the other one from a dealer in Walnut Creek with a $5,000 markup on a silver one which will be the most common and mundane color. Otherwise Bay Area dealers had markups of $5K-$7K, people are paying it and the lists are not dwindling quickly enough to get one anytime soon. If I wanted MSRP in CA I would easily be waiting until next year. In California you pay markup. I'm sure there's a tiny little dealer somewhere, that someone found to get the car at MSRP, good for them. I'm perfectly happy with paying over MSRP for a great car. Now, about that sound system...

 

Ok, I don't want to start a radar detector sub-war on this post, but the Valentine is not the best radat detector on the market. I also fell victim to the advertising and magazine tests with the Valentine, then I was referred to a very informative website: http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleID=10

Here is an excerpt:

"The Trust Issue: Other Sources
Okay, but what about magazines that test detectors? They do of course, accept advertising dollars from the manufacturers. Are they impartial? Perhaps, but not necessarily. The world's largest auto enthusiast magazine, for example, employs a senior editor who, during much of his 30-year tenure there, has been on the payroll of one of the manufacturers. At the same time that he's been either personally conducting or heavily influencing the magazine's detector tests, he's also been writing puff pieces about his second employer, promoting their products in print and moonlighting as a technical writer and "consultant" for them. He's also conducted intelligence-gathering projects on behalf of this manufacturer, using his stature at the magazine and often assisted by the magazine's staff to gather dirt on journalists who don't find his employer's detector quite as wonderful as he does.

Perhaps it's only coincidental, but this particular manufacturer has won every high-end test the magazine has conducted during those years, a feat unmatched in the history of consumer electronics. That success may also be partly due to the way the magazine stacks the deck. When conducting comparison tests of vehicles, they adhere to rigid price guidelines; if a potential contender exceeds the upper dollar limit by a percentage point or two, it doesn't make the cut. But in their detector tests, the favored $400 model is routinely pitted against competitors costing far less--many street-priced below $150--the ethical equivalent of asking a Mazda Miata to square off against a Porsche Turbo. This same magazine was pilloried by the Wall Street Journal some years back for its staffers' incestuous relationship with other manufacturers. Although they swear they've cleaned up their act, apparently the reforms have been somewhat less than comprehensive.

Bottom line: before mindlessly accepting as gospel whatever you read, in print or on the 'Net, ask some questions about those who generated the words. Not all will stand up to scrutiny."



I sold my Valentine after buying a Passport 8500 from Best Buy and I can tell you that the 8500 destroys the V1, particularly with KA band- which is the most common radar frequency in my area anyway. The Valentine does have a significant advantage with x band, so you will get a much stronger range with bank alarms

Anyway, just my (and many others) opinion, do your own research and make up your own mind on the issue.

http://www.radartest.com is a good site and seemed to have lots of information.

Bel makes a great unit for less money than both the V1 and 8500, here is their review of the 4 best detectors. http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleid=1064

 

Hey for all those that do not want to pay the mark up the answer is simple
DON'T
it is a free country and supply and demand is what it is.
And don't pay the cover charge at the club just wait outside till 1:45 then they will let you in.

What is happiness worth.

 

That's not the best analogy. A cover charge at a club is likened more to MSRP then a surcharge. I dont think anyone was arguing about this being a free country. The thought was more that it is silly to pay 5k+ over for a car when you are losing that money and even a little more) as soon as you drive off the lot. This is especially true when all the dealers are not charging the mark-up. Because of this you are even less likely to see any of the 5k ever again as it wont be translated in the price to the next buyer.

 

I don't think the issue is, does the car hold its value, but is it right for a dealer to charge more that the MSRP. Who pays MSRP anyways, for ANYTHING! I don't! You buy a watch, you don't pay MSRP(retail) you buy a computer you don't pay MSRP (retail), you buy clothes do you pay MSRP(retail), ($60.00 for a white dress shirt, come-on get real!) To pay MSRP for the STI is bad enough, but over MSRP the is just dealer GREED!