I ordered one of these a few weeks ago. But I'm trying to figure out whether I can get any real use out of it.

So, I need y'all's advice...

I don't own a Subaru, nor do I have plans to buy one (unless the STi is being given away! ). Nothing against them, just not planning on any new cars in the foreseable future.

So, what can I use the Subaru Bucks for? I'm building a race car (Mazda Miata). Are there dealers who would honor Subaru Bucks for Hawk pads? Or brake fluid? Or engine oil? Tires? Anything that I could use on a Miata?

Can I make a financial case for using this card?

Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

AFAIK, you can use Subaru bucks only for Subaru parts/service/new car. If you don't own a Subaru there is really no point in getting this card.

Even if you do own a Subaru, the bucks are not very usefull because they come in coupons of 100$ and you can not split a coupon. That is if you want to pay for an oil change with such coupon, it will either have to cost 100$ or you loose the difference. In other words, if you want coupons to work, you should either save them for 15,000/30,000/etc miles maintenance or invest them in the new car or just keep them for expensive emergency repairs (they expire after 5 years though).

I used my coupons when I bought my new WRX. I had about 650$ in coupons because there was really nothing else I could spend them on (my old Outback did not need any maintenace that would cost more than 100$ :-).

Another consideration against the card is the customer service at Chase Manhattan. Apparantly according to the agreement if a coupon gets lost in the mail the bank is not responsible. This is what happened to me in February and I still can not get the bank to reissue the coupon even though the cust rep promised me that it would be reissued - they just sent me a letter afterwards that it was against their policy. It makes the bank unaccountable for not sending you any coupons at all - they can always say that they sent it and it was lost or something. It's a pity Subaru changed banks last summer, I really liked MBNA.

I am seriously considering getting rid of this card now, I am pretty sure there are better cash back programs than this one.

Hope this helps.

 

thanks for the info. I guess I'll call them and cancel it. Even if I knew that I could go in and buy up a $100 worth of motor oil, I would've done that. But oh well.....

Thanks.