My new WRX buying experience.
 

I just bought a 2004 WRX wagon this past weekend and thought I would share my experience in dealing with the dealers.

I've been shopping around for a WRX for the past three months. I'd figured out that I wanted a silver wagon but I would take a sedan if I found one with a good price. So I began searching any dealership's inventory from subaru.com within 5 hours from me. Where I live, major cities such as Little Rock, Tulsa, Dallas/Ft Worth, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Oklahoma City including any other smaller cities were included in my search.

I first searched for only 2003 models since the discounts and interest rates were so low. I considered buying used but the cheapest used 2003 I had seen was $19,000 and was 17 hours from me. So I figured with only a $2500 to $3000 price difference and lower interest rates on new vs. used, I might as well buy new. The only 2003 silver models I could find at the dealers were 2 sedans in St Louis and 1 sedan in Fayetteville, Arkansas(my home town). I couldn't find any wagons. So naturally I headed over to my local Suby dealer to see what they could do for me. But before heading over there I emailed Deanteam and Lousz Fusz(I think that's how you spell it)Subarus in St Louis. They both quoted me around $22,200 which I thought was a fair price. Deanteam Subaru even offered me $600 below invoice on a 2004 model.

Anyways, I get to Adventure Subaru in Fayetteville, Arkansas which is the only Subaru Dealer in the area to see what they could do for me. The 2003 sedan they have had been sitting on their lot since May or June plus it had been in a hailstorm but had been fixed. So I figured they would be willing to get rid of it as fast as possible. The lowest they would go was $24000 which they bragged was only $400 above invoice and that that was a killer deal that I shouldn't pass up. :rolleyes: What's funny is that they wouldn't even bother looking at my trade and told me I should sell it myself and come back to them after I sold it. I told them what kind of deal the St Louis dealer was giving me and they just said that was hard to believe and that it was probably a scam in trying to get me to drive to St Louis and when I got there they would change the deal. Please :rolleyes: . So I call Deanteam to verify the prices in front of the salesman in Fayetteville. The Deanteam tells the salesman at Fayetteville the price but then hangs up the phone and tells me I should go to St Louis to buy and that they would find a buyer for their car at the price they want. That 2003 sedan is still on their lot today.

Well, I had to go out of town for a few weeks and my work schedule got in the way so the 2003s in St Louis sold. That's ok because I really wanted a wagon. Subaru started discounting 2004 models so I started looking at those.

I began emailing dealers about 2004 models. Riverside Subaru in Little Rock, Subaru of Dallas, and Deanteam of St louis gave me quotes of around $22,500 to $23,000 depending on installed options. Ferguson Subaru of Tulsa didn't give me quote but they did email me back just basically saying they had good selection and when could I come in. Well, last weekend I was in Tulsa for the last open track day at [URL=http://www.hallettracing.com/]Hallett Motor Racing Ciruit[/URL] so I stopped by Ferguson to see what they could do. At this point I knew exactly what I wanted for my trade and what I wanted the price of the WRX to be.

What is the deal with dealerships bragging about how they sold more cars than anyone in the state and that Subaru of America had taken all the salesmen out to eat? Do they think that the average buyer gives a rats ass about that? Almost every dealer I dealt with said something along those lines.

Anyways I go to Ferguson of Tulsa and we do the test drive and all that and we sit down to do the numbers. Basically I wanted $10,000 - $10,500 for my trade and I would pay $23,000 for the WRX. They brought me their first offer and I got a good laugh. They tell me they will give me $7500 for my trade, I could put $2000 down, and I could pay $475 a month for 72 months. I seriously laughed at them and asked if that was for the STi they had sitting in the showroom. I started to get up to leave but they insisted that they could sell me a car. blah blah blah.

I make the mistake of telling them what monthly payment I want which is around $350. So what do they do, they come up with some other scheme and offer me $350 for 72 months with $2000 down. Again I laugh and tell them there is no way I was going for that and they are way off on what I am expecting to pay. So after another 2 trys of the salesman getting up and going to the sales manager and coming back with another ridiculous offer, the sales manager himself comes out of his office. At this point I was pretty aggitated after being at the dealer for 2 hours now. The sales manager comes out and is your typical bleh salesman that wants you to think he is offering a good deal. He sits down as ask me simply what they can do to sell me the car. I tell him and he leaves and is gone for another 5 minutes or so. He comes back and says ok and ask if we have deal. What's funny is before I can even let the price sink in, both sales people stick their hands out for me to shake. I paused for a second since the last deal had been so horrendous trying to figure out how they had suddenly agreed with what I had been saying all along.

So now I have to go meet with the fincance manager. At this point I've been at the dealer for 3 hours and I had to deal with extended warranty crap and if I die for $5 extra a month my car can be paid off to my family. blah blah blah. At least the finance Manager was a very attractive woman but she really tried to sell me all that add on crap She would act like I was passing up on having sex with her whenever I said no to any of the garbage that they try to sell.

So finally it's all over and 10:00 at night. I get to drive the WRX to Outback Steakhouse to celebrate but then I had to drive the WRX back to the dealer the next morning. My 2000 Civic Si(the car I traded in which had hail damage) needed to have the Koni yellows and eibachs taken off. No way in hell I'm letting the dealer have those. So I'm putting it back to stock today and going to pick up the WRX tomorrow. It has sucked knowing that I bought a new car and not being able to drive it for a week. I will be so glad when I get it and all this will be over.

Sorry this was so long but I figured this might be of interest to someone and it was such an ordeal that I had to write it all down.:p

Sounds similar to the experience I had. The only difference is I was suckered into a bad deal unlike you.

The next day I came to my senses and canceled the deal (exercising the "cooling off period" law) and 2 days later I bought my car from another dealer who actually gave me a good deal.

I myself am looking for a 02 WRX and having a hard time with dealers.I passed up on a chance for a silver sedan for $17,500 from Weston Nissan (nice place) because i wanted a blue one.So i go to Eddie Accardi Subaru at Ft.Lauderdale,FL and they have a blue one for 22,000 and a red one for $23,000.When i tried to negotiate he refused to listen to me because although the WRX came out 2 years ago,it was still a "hot" car.So told him,why would i pay so mutch for a 02 with 37,000 mileswhen i can get a new one for the same price negotiated?.And he replyed back,"then get it!".I told him how terrible his dealer is and walk out.Toyota salesmen are alot better to deal with because they are properly trained that little money is better than none,unlike Subaru dealers who prefer to make $5,000 on a deal or nothing.Thats one of the reasons why Toyota and other car companies will sell good and Subara will continue to strugle until SOB hires profesionals to train there sales staff.

After reading this thread, I'm a little intimidated to go WRX shopping now lol.. I hope I don't run into these kinds of shady sales people. Maybe someone can help me out with this.. what's a reasonable price and financing for a 2004 WRX? I'm thinking about getting it around February 2004 with maybe a trade-in of my 94 Integra LS (valued at 2,500 blue book, bah worthless lol).

sounds like you had quite the experiance... well atleast you have your car now!

I'm surprised anyone actually read all that. :p

Picked my car up today and I can already say that I don't miss the Civic at all. I haven't even gone above 4000 rpm(break in period) and I'm loving it. The seats, the sterring wheel, the pedals, the clutch, the bulging hood scoop, and the quietness are far superior to the Honda. The exhaust sounds great for a stock car. I can't wait to get this thing to the track.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by mikeypwr [/i]
[B]After reading this thread, I'm a little intimidated to go WRX shopping now lol.. I hope I don't run into these kinds of shady sales people. Maybe someone can help me out with this.. what's a reasonable price and financing for a 2004 WRX? I'm thinking about getting it around February 2004 with maybe a trade-in of my 94 Integra LS (valued at 2,500 blue book, bah worthless lol). [/B][/QUOTE]

I was the same way. I spent so much time researching about the car because I hate dealing with dealerships. Don't pay over $23,000 for the WRX unless you get the premium package or a bunch of other options. I paid $23,000 for my 2004 wagon with the upgraded speakers, subwoofer, alarm system, and dimming mirror. I got 3.9% financing thru Subaru. Things may change by February but probably not by much. The best thing to do is get quotes from as many dealers as possible and make the dealers compete over you.

At kbb.com you can find the price the dealers pay for the car and how mutch you can get for,which usually is $500 above what the dealer payed for it.Also theres no way to avoid the $500 dealer fee and you can also negotiate the finance charges and gap insurence,although theyll tell you that you cant.

Hmm . . . find a better dealer. I did just about everything by email with a dealer. We went to the dealer in person only twice, once to check what they had in stock (we ended up ordering a car, that took 15 minutes maybe?) and once to pick it up, which took less than an hour. We only dealt with one person the whole time, and there was none of this bargaining or fighting for stuff. In signing all the paperwork, the salesman gave us one peice of paper and said something like, "this is just saying you don't want any of that extended warranty or other stuff dealers usually try to sell." :)

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by bclee [/i]
[B]Hmm . . . find a better dealer. I did just about everything by email with a dealer. We went to the dealer in person only twice, once to check what they had in stock (we ended up ordering a car, that took 15 minutes maybe?) and once to pick it up, which took less than an hour. We only dealt with one person the whole time, and there was none of this bargaining or fighting for stuff. In signing all the paperwork, the salesman gave us one peice of paper and said something like, "this is just saying you don't want any of that extended warranty or other stuff dealers usually try to sell." :) [/B][/QUOTE]

hahah WHAT! well, I'm from Fremont too so I'm assuming that you got yours somewhere relatively close. Where did you go? Santa Cruz? Redwood City? I hear a lot of good things about Santa Cruz like they're good with mods and warranty and stuff.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Bagelw [/i]
[B]
I was the same way. I spent so much time researching about the car because I hate dealing with dealerships. Don't pay over $23,000 for the WRX unless you get the premium package or a bunch of other options. I paid $23,000 for my 2004 wagon with the upgraded speakers, subwoofer, alarm system, and dimming mirror. I got 3.9% financing thru Subaru. Things may change by February but probably not by much. The best thing to do is get quotes from as many dealers as possible and make the dealers compete over you. [/B][/QUOTE]

23,000 sounds about what I'm willing to pay =) Thanks for the advice! I'm hoping that by February the price will reach like 21,000 with some negotiating and hopefully still with 3.9% or lower... think that'll happen? lol

Yes, Santa Cruz. They've been great.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by bclee [/i]
[B]Yes, Santa Cruz. They've been great. [/B][/QUOTE]

How much did you pay out the door for your WRX? And how much should I expect for a 04 Sedan?

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Bagelw [/i]
[B]I'm surprised anyone actually read all that. :p

Picked my car up today and I can already say that I don't miss the Civic at all. I haven't even gone above 4000 rpm(break in period) and I'm loving it. The seats, the sterring wheel, the pedals, the clutch, the bulging hood scoop, and the quietness are far superior to the Honda. The exhaust sounds great for a stock car. I can't wait to get this thing to the track.



I was the same way. I spent so much time researching about the car because I hate dealing with dealerships. Don't pay over $23,000 for the WRX unless you get the premium package or a bunch of other options. I paid $23,000 for my 2004 wagon with the upgraded speakers, subwoofer, alarm system, and dimming mirror. I got 3.9% financing thru Subaru. Things may change by February but probably not by much. The best thing to do is get quotes from as many dealers as possible and make the dealers compete over you. [/B][/QUOTE]

Glad I saw this. I'm in Little Rock AR and looking at a 2003 auto WRX. They are telling me it's going for 24,700 and that's the best they can do. I know that's a load of crap, but I'm running into the same problems you did. They simply don't care if you buy it or not. Did you eventually find a decent place that would work with you? Was your 23k for the 04 wagon with, or without, your trade in?

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Lethalchem [/i]
[B]Glad I saw this. I'm in Little Rock AR and looking at a 2003 auto WRX. They are telling me it's going for 24,700 and that's the best they can do. I know that's a load of crap, but I'm running into the same problems you did. They simply don't care if you buy it or not. Did you eventually find a decent place that would work with you? Was your 23k for the 04 wagon with, or without, your trade in? [/B][/QUOTE]

Funny, I just replied to your other post. :)
Anyways, have you tried Riverside Subaru in LR? They gave me a price quote over email that was under $23000 for a 2004 wagon. I also got about the same price quote from Subaru of Dallas if you are willing to drive a little ways to save money. Both of these dealers gave me those quotes before they even knew that I was trading in. The WRX I bought in Tulsa had more options that I wanted so I went with them.

I seriously think dealers give you better pricing when you inquire over the internet. In fact, I think Riverside Subaru even gave me specific salesmen to talk to when I made it into the dealer and told me to print a copy of the email and bring it with me. It's probably because they know you can look at as many dealers as you want and just go with the one with the best price.