Hi, I'm in So Cal
Now a days, I'm in shopping STi.
I finally concluded that STi is better choice for me than normal WRX.
(I used to have S2000)

The dealers around here So cal (I went to Timmons, Renick, Irvine, and SouthCoast),
two of them said because '06 STi is uglier than '05, '05 started to sell better and some dealers charge even mark up. So, they'll go no less than MSRP.

However, it sounded stupid to me. How on earth the model in the close-end sale can get more than MSRP? If it's true, I may go with their so called the uglier '06 STi with better performance and equipment.

Through my research here in the I-Club and other web, I concluded $30,700 with Short throw option will be a rational deal to me. (Am I too unrealistic?)

Do you have any suggestion in good deal in good dealership? Or do I have to go with carsdirect.com with $31,900? If you have any suggestion or any referrals, please let me know...

 

These things you've heard are just based on opinions and experiences with other dealers. Each one's experiences differ, so the best thing you can do is go out there and shop around. Do your work in terms of buying cars, it didn't matter whether if it's an STi or a civic... do your homework. Going here wouldn't get you the best results... trust me, it doesn't always work. Your best effort of finding the right deal and place is always the best policy!!

In terms of WRX vs. WRX STi, I thought STi was the one for me, but not practical in terms of ownership cost (gas that cost an arm and a leg, sky rocketing insurance and the car itself). However you came up with "STi is the one for me" is totally your choice!


Oh and never go to the dealerships with the marked up STi's... you can always find one that don't do that or can even eliminate it.

Good luck!!!

 

Thanks Me&05WRX! I'll keep that in mind!

 

I'm not an STI owner, so I can't speak from personal experience, but working at a dealership and all, I know a lot of people who have them and drive them. The previous points are very good, and if you look around a little, you'll quickly see there's an alarming # of used STI's floating around which generally fall into one of 2 groups

1) the 45 year old guy who buys it as a daily driver thinking it's a cheap M3 or S4, and can't stand it because it's too raw

2) the twentysomething who does the "math" and can "afford" it, until gas is $2.60 a gallon and he needs new tires after 10 K miles, and is paying $400 per month in insurance.

Which leads me, rather verbosely to my actual point, which has nothing to do with above, but rather is, it's so easy to get a well cared for used '04 or '05 in the low-mid 20's ($24-25) that it almost doesn't make sense to buy new.

 

Luvikes29. Thanks for your advice. That is a very useful information.
I'll look for them , too. mid 20's is very attractive price range, because used ones that I have been looking was arond late 20's....

Thanks again.

 

to the original question... no. in cali you can do better than msrp. maybe...and just maybe there may be truth behind what they say- and maybe it will help us guys with 04/05 STi's and bring our market value up---

for the past year here in hawaii- our dealership was buying the "older" body style 4runners(toyota) from cali, texas and nevada...simply because they were cheaper there(to buy and ship) here the 4runners were going at full retail at the auctions...simply because of the fact that people here hated the new body style

the same may/may not be the same for the used STis.... try and see if you can get an account(or find somone) with access to www.manheim.com. that's how we do our market research on what we "should" be paying for used cars.

i have several buddies who live in your area who paid a little under msrp for an 05.(months ago) seeing that you used to have an S2000 i'm sure you know the wonderful world of car insurance...now gas may be a shocker since S2k have surprisingly decent gas mileage....

try clicking on our reviews section --> here
you will find some pretty informative reviews in your local dealerships

aloha from the summit of *-^-Mauna Kea-^-*

 

Thanks gdogg for your detailed information. It helped a lot!!!!

 

Email several dealers and ask them for the best price they can give you. Work out a good price before you ever go to the dealer and you can be in and out in 30 minutes or so! I bought my 03 WRX wagon from Thousand Oaks two years ago, and my 05 STi from Barber in Ventura two months ago this way. I was ready to buy from 1000 oaks until I got an email from Barber offering to throw in a few options for the agreed price, and yes, you should be able to get your price of $30,700 with out too much hassle.

 

Thanks wrxfrme! I think it is the time for implementing your strategy!!!

 

emailing dealers is definitely a new and different way of doing business. dealers who do not oblige to your requests may be stuck in old school methods of selling. understand that you may get several calls w/no pricing information.

another avenue is to log on to www.costco.com (if you have membership). typically costco members buy cars at a portion above invoice. plus costco keeps tabs on their contracted dealers...making sure their clients are treated well by the dealer.

dealerships willing to play ball with you on your grounds are definitely ones to do business with. keep in mind that it's not wise for dealers to "give" prices out as it may just cause people to buy from another store...

costco doen't even "allow" their customers to use the program as a "shopping" service...but rather a buying service.



aloha from the summit of *-^-Mauna Kea-^-*

 

I've been a strong advocate of e-mailing dealers to get the price and it worked great for me when we bought our CR-V a couple of years ago. Unfortunately for the STi this didn't seem to work - maybe because this is such a low volume car. Every dealer I contacted came back to me with MSRP (a few even higher!).

Once the 06's are here in numbers I think you may have better luck getting them to budge. Some people are having a pretty strong reaction to the styling change after seeing pics on the web but that happened last time as well. Once they see it in person I think a lot of folks will be fine with it. The dealers have no way of predicting what will happen but they will be happy to speculate if they can use it to get you to pay more for an older model (and take the big depreciation hit that goes along with it). If you haven't already go and take a look in person - to me it does look much better in person. I think that possibly a bigger factor that may hurt '06 STi sales will be the new WRX. With the new engine and brakes this car should be significantly closer to the STi than last years model.

In your case you could try a buying program like Costco but you won't get close to invoice pricing. These things are no hassle so it can save time. The best program I've seen is the VIP program which gets you to invoice. The only catch is that you need to be a member of the affiliated organization (in my case IMBA) for at least 6 months before buying the car (http://www.imba.com/tcc/subaru.html). This is what I did for my '06 and it was totally painless. There was no way I could have got that deal this early in the model year on my own. If you do go for an '05 try buying at the end of the month (this really is a factor) and try to take advantage of the special financing SOA is offering because that can save you a lot if you are financing. Also make sure you get a fair deal if you are trading in.

Good luck!

 

Hi everyone,

I am a soon to be owner of a brand new factory ordered 2006 wrx wagon and I would like to tell everyone who are in the market for a wrx that they could definitely buy below, sometimes way below invoice. Just recently, I was given a quote in writing of $22,373 for a 2006 wrx wagon (manual). The invoice for the 2006 is $22,747. The way to get such a good deal is to fax a letter to 10-15 dealerships in your region, stating that you would like to do business with any dealerhsip willing to sell for invocie or less. I received about 5 replies, 2 were below invoice, and the rest were a couple of hundred dollars above. Considering that this is for the 2006 model which has not hit any dealerships yet, this is an incredible price. Remember, any car can be had at a good price (invoice or below), even the "hot" item cars like the STI and wrx.

 

go to Big Valley Subaru in Van Nuys

I got my 05 for 31400 with SS, alarm, sub/amp, floor mats, wheel locks, mirror, armrest extension, and dealer added tint

they had a bare model for 29,700 as well