Shopping for a wagon
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Shopping for a wagon
I'm just starting to look for a WRX wagon, with purchase likely after the summer. One resource I'm checking out is the edmunds.com website which lets you build the car by options, then shows you the target price you can expect to pay. Has anyone used the edmunds source, and how close does it come to the reality of final cost? Any good words or bad things to say about dealers in the South Jersey/Philadelphia metro area? Thanks!! Bob
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I bought a wagon 18 months ago. I priced the wagon at Edmunds, priced the options, and then shopped for the options online to see what the lowest cost was for the options without installation. I then built the car I wanted and sent the specifications to 5 or 6 regional dealers to get a price quote and I also got a quote for a car without any options. I then went to the (only) dealer in my area (who has a good reputation), looked at cars, picked one out that had the options I wanted, and showed the salesman the estimates for the car from the competition had in stock and the cheapest cost for the options. I said that they needed to come close to the lowest cost "stripped' car other dealers had in stock plus the options at the unistalled price or I'd buy elsewhere. I got a price at the low end of the spectrum and cheaper than the other quotes and if I bought the options online and installed them myself. I'm sure I could have done a little better if there was more competition Eastern Iowa as there was no point in dealer shopping.
As an interesting note, the first time I looked a drove my beater van and dressed in torn clothing after changing the oil in my jeep. After looking around for a while finally a used car guy came to talk to me. The next time I came to actually test drive I had my six year old daughter (and the beater van) and put a kids car seat in the WRX. (I kept looking at and drove their cheapest used Outbacks too, kinda like maybe I'll buy a low profit car instead). When I told the saleman I think maybe I'd buy the WRX, I'm sure he thought "in your dreams looser" but he kept it to himself (he is a nice guy, I'm just sure he thought -no one who could get financing would drive a van like mine). After agreeing to the price, and writing a check for the car, you could have heard a pin drop on the showroom floor when the finance guy announced in the showroom while looking at the sales staff (I'm sure to teach his new car staff a little lesson in ignoring customers who look poor) that the car was paid for and I could drive the car home after it was washed. Poor used car salesman..he had sold a new WRX and invaded the territory of the high and mighty and was getting looks (and I'm sure comments) that would kill!
As an interesting note, the first time I looked a drove my beater van and dressed in torn clothing after changing the oil in my jeep. After looking around for a while finally a used car guy came to talk to me. The next time I came to actually test drive I had my six year old daughter (and the beater van) and put a kids car seat in the WRX. (I kept looking at and drove their cheapest used Outbacks too, kinda like maybe I'll buy a low profit car instead). When I told the saleman I think maybe I'd buy the WRX, I'm sure he thought "in your dreams looser" but he kept it to himself (he is a nice guy, I'm just sure he thought -no one who could get financing would drive a van like mine). After agreeing to the price, and writing a check for the car, you could have heard a pin drop on the showroom floor when the finance guy announced in the showroom while looking at the sales staff (I'm sure to teach his new car staff a little lesson in ignoring customers who look poor) that the car was paid for and I could drive the car home after it was washed. Poor used car salesman..he had sold a new WRX and invaded the territory of the high and mighty and was getting looks (and I'm sure comments) that would kill!
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,256
From: Blue-faced in a red state
Car Info: 04 Silver WRX Wagon
that is a funny story... i had a friend who went into a porsche dealership in palo alto wearing sweatpants. there was another couple looking at this gem of a car and the salesmen tells them, "this particular car is very hard to come by. if you dont buy someone else will." they looked at my friend and thought, "yeah, right!"
as soon as they leave my friend, who had already driven the car, asks for his salesmen. as the couple was leaving, they turn around and see my friend walking into the managers office. the husband, now not so cocky, goes back inside and says, "let's try to work out a deal." much to his chagrin, my friend had tied the car up. he drove off the lot while they were still there!!!
ok, so back to Subies
Edmunds is a good place to start... also try kbb.com You can get an 04 for under invoice. Your best bet is to email different dealerships first. You dont even need to step into their shops before getting close to a number that you can agree on.
Good luck! btw, from experience I would get the armrest extension / dimming mirror / cargo net and, if you want to drive for pleasure, the short-throw shifter
as soon as they leave my friend, who had already driven the car, asks for his salesmen. as the couple was leaving, they turn around and see my friend walking into the managers office. the husband, now not so cocky, goes back inside and says, "let's try to work out a deal." much to his chagrin, my friend had tied the car up. he drove off the lot while they were still there!!!
ok, so back to Subies
Edmunds is a good place to start... also try kbb.com You can get an 04 for under invoice. Your best bet is to email different dealerships first. You dont even need to step into their shops before getting close to a number that you can agree on.
Good luck! btw, from experience I would get the armrest extension / dimming mirror / cargo net and, if you want to drive for pleasure, the short-throw shifter
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Thanks for the reply
John, I forgot about the dress-down experience at dealers. I remember years ago I couldn't get anyone to speak with me if I appeared to have no money to spend.
Let me ask you a question: Did you request a price quote using the Edmunds system or via Subaru.com? I suppose you could go either way, but if you used Edmunds, the dealer would know you were checking out the dealer cost vs. list.
I'm not looking at a lot of options anyway....maybe the air filtration and some bumper protection, floor mats, and ordinary stuff. I need to see the floor mats and cargo area protection from Subaru, there's plenty of aftermarket that's really good and probably in the same price range.
I'll toss one out for anyone: I was going to settle for stock alloy wheels and shop at Tire Rack for 17" alloys and summer performance tires. Trouble is the RE92 Bridgestones which come on stock alloys get real bad reviews for snow and rain. Anyone work a deal with Subaru for Blizzaks or a credit for tires (I'm sure someone always goes into a dealer and asks for oem tires and wants the RE92s)?
Let me ask you a question: Did you request a price quote using the Edmunds system or via Subaru.com? I suppose you could go either way, but if you used Edmunds, the dealer would know you were checking out the dealer cost vs. list.
I'm not looking at a lot of options anyway....maybe the air filtration and some bumper protection, floor mats, and ordinary stuff. I need to see the floor mats and cargo area protection from Subaru, there's plenty of aftermarket that's really good and probably in the same price range.
I'll toss one out for anyone: I was going to settle for stock alloy wheels and shop at Tire Rack for 17" alloys and summer performance tires. Trouble is the RE92 Bridgestones which come on stock alloys get real bad reviews for snow and rain. Anyone work a deal with Subaru for Blizzaks or a credit for tires (I'm sure someone always goes into a dealer and asks for oem tires and wants the RE92s)?
Originally Posted by rjheiss
I'm just starting to look for a WRX wagon, with purchase likely after the summer. One resource I'm checking out is the edmunds.com website which lets you build the car by options, then shows you the target price you can expect to pay. Has anyone used the edmunds source, and how close does it come to the reality of final cost? Any good words or bad things to say about dealers in the South Jersey/Philadelphia metro area? Thanks!! Bob
One thing to consider is that the MY05s are coming out - if you can live without the new changes (mostly small appearance changes + new stereo/climate controls) I bet you can get a great deal on an 04
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From: rightBehindYou, HI
Car Info: 1973 Huevo Ranchero
i was raised on subaru wagons, i bought one, i sell them now.
i highly recommend getting one. 04's are essentially the same as the 05 with the exception of warranty changes and cosmetics. if you are all about saving money and cosmetics/warranty is not that big of a deal 4 you then go 04. either you can't go wrong with a wrx wagon. i agree that www.kbb.com is a good place to research. in hawaii we don't really like edmunds because they tend to be inaccurate.(at least thats what the banks here tend to think) aside from pricing the insurance institute for highway safety is a good resource for vehicle ratings.
good luck and aloha
greg@kaneohesubaru.com
i highly recommend getting one. 04's are essentially the same as the 05 with the exception of warranty changes and cosmetics. if you are all about saving money and cosmetics/warranty is not that big of a deal 4 you then go 04. either you can't go wrong with a wrx wagon. i agree that www.kbb.com is a good place to research. in hawaii we don't really like edmunds because they tend to be inaccurate.(at least thats what the banks here tend to think) aside from pricing the insurance institute for highway safety is a good resource for vehicle ratings.
good luck and aloha
greg@kaneohesubaru.com
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I used edmunds and I let the dealer know who I had quotes from and what they were (no point in playing a guessing game). We are about to buy an outback using the same method, we will see how it goes (exept the dealer allready knows our credit score).
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From: Sacramento CA
Car Info: 02 Impreza WRX sedan
Origami posted by Lurk
Would you be interested in buying a highly modded '02 Wagon? With relatively low miles. 21xxx ish.
Would you be interested in buying a highly modded '02 Wagon? With relatively low miles. 21xxx ish.
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I just started the thread:
https://www.i-club.com/forums/suby-shopping-maintenance-warranty-92/price-paid-your-04-wrx-60850/
and just bought my new '04 WRX Wagon today for an out the door price for $22,890 (this includes tax and license). Features include air filtration, roof rack and cargo mat - about $220 over base price.
I'm pretty sure this was one of the lowest deals I could get in my area (bay area). As other people mentioned, the internet sales managers gave me a _much_ lower quote than a salesperson gave on the spot or over the phone. All the Subaru dealerships have the same format website and they all can be accessed through Subaru's main site: www.subaru.com. On each site there's an option to check their inventory and ask for a quote. I went to about 10+ different dealer's sites and asked for a quote for a baseline '04 WRX and most of them gave me a quote between $20,500-$23,500 - which was significantly lower than what i was told in person. I also verified these prices with www.edmunds.com, www.kbb.com and other people on this site (see my other post).
Since I didn't trust the dealership that gave me the $20,500 price + T/L (Stevens Creek Subaru - bunch of scumbags over there), I used their "out the door price" to negotiate with other dealers in the area. A lot of other dealerships didn't even want to compete with that quote and even told me to take it.
In the end, I ended up negotiating the whole deal over the phone with the general sales manager of another dealership (which i actually trusted). I made him give me a complete quote over the phone ("out the door" price inluding Tax, License, etc) and made sure he emailed it to me - incase he tries to jerk me around when I got to the lot. No hassle, no haggle, no bargaining, no pain.
Anyways, that's my experience, good luck with your purchase.
https://www.i-club.com/forums/suby-shopping-maintenance-warranty-92/price-paid-your-04-wrx-60850/
and just bought my new '04 WRX Wagon today for an out the door price for $22,890 (this includes tax and license). Features include air filtration, roof rack and cargo mat - about $220 over base price.
I'm pretty sure this was one of the lowest deals I could get in my area (bay area). As other people mentioned, the internet sales managers gave me a _much_ lower quote than a salesperson gave on the spot or over the phone. All the Subaru dealerships have the same format website and they all can be accessed through Subaru's main site: www.subaru.com. On each site there's an option to check their inventory and ask for a quote. I went to about 10+ different dealer's sites and asked for a quote for a baseline '04 WRX and most of them gave me a quote between $20,500-$23,500 - which was significantly lower than what i was told in person. I also verified these prices with www.edmunds.com, www.kbb.com and other people on this site (see my other post).
Since I didn't trust the dealership that gave me the $20,500 price + T/L (Stevens Creek Subaru - bunch of scumbags over there), I used their "out the door price" to negotiate with other dealers in the area. A lot of other dealerships didn't even want to compete with that quote and even told me to take it.
In the end, I ended up negotiating the whole deal over the phone with the general sales manager of another dealership (which i actually trusted). I made him give me a complete quote over the phone ("out the door" price inluding Tax, License, etc) and made sure he emailed it to me - incase he tries to jerk me around when I got to the lot. No hassle, no haggle, no bargaining, no pain.
Anyways, that's my experience, good luck with your purchase.
Last edited by rez420; May 27, 2004 at 07:06 PM.
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