FINALLY, I got the Subaru...
January 3, 2006
Well I finally did it yesterday, I purchased a 2001 Titanium Green (Seafoam green??) Outback Limited Edition 5spd wagon from a local dealer with 78,000 miles. This was the same dealer that I posted about a few weeks back that had an orginial sticker price of $15,900, then had a 'hidden' internet price on AutoTrader of $13,200. Initially I was holding out for the low to mid 12's for a purchase price but when the salesman got extremely pissed off at my suggestion of getting it lower as well as scoffing at my `93 explorer trade in, I walked as you know. Of course I got a bit of heckling for that for not taking it at $13,200 and being happy.
After a few weeks that same vehicle was sitting on the lot still and the dealership was advertising heavy end of year discounts. Plus I had also talked with an uncle of mine who works in sales with radio. He said wait till this week or if not, wait till the 28-30th when dealerships get antsy to move inventory. I called the dealership up yesterday morning and called their bluff by saying I was interested in the vehicle, however another dealership had another `00 Outback for $11,900. Obviously that car or dealership didn't exsist, but the salesman bit. Btw this was a different salesman than last time. The guy wanted me to come in around noontime, but I decided to hold off till around 3pm to see if the psychological affect would help me any. I figured he he knew he had an interested buyer in me that could be looking at another dealership, he'd do what he could to make a sale.
Long story short, it worked. I walked into the dealership around 3:30 yesterday, sat down with the guy and I made mention I had been in there 4 weeks prior and even test drove the car. That comment seemed to help influence things along. First thing I wanted to do was go into the service shop to get the maintanence records on the vehicle since I knew it had been serviced there for a few years. I politely in a businessman manner asked the salesman to get the records for me, and we both walked over to the service shop. Interestingly enough I think my politeness but my intent on doing these things threw him off his sales tactics. Although to give the guy credit, he was nice and polite himself, obviously out to make a sale, but no high pressure, no jerkoff like behaviors. I was fairly impressed compared to other salesmen at the dealership. The maintanence records showed that the clutch & flywheel assembly had been replaced as well as brand new brakes, all fluids changed, transmission was power flushed, new plugs, wires, etc. They had the detailed history of it in hand so that put me at east not worrying about anything major that could break on me. The service rep is also a computer client of mine.
I was greatly surprised when the salesman took my explorer over to the appraisers office where they appraised it for $2000!! That is the same vehicle that last time another salesmanager/appraiser refused to even look at it or want it. KBB valued it at $2700 and I got the $2000 appraisal with broken 4WD, barely firing cylender w/low compression (cracked valve I think), no functioning heat or AC but the body and interior was still fairly mint. With that info in hand, the salesman went to the salesmanagers desk and came back about 15 min later. Their initial asking price of $13,200 which I was told weeks back that there was no way they could go lower, was now down to $12,900 combined with the $2000 trade in brought the overall price of the vehicle down to $10,900 before tax, tags, title, and processing. After all was said and done, I paid $11,800 for it.
The interior is MINT as well as the exterior not even having so much as a scratch on it. The only issue I noticed is that the drivers side mirror has a problem barely wanting to move up and down with the electronic mirror controls. Left and Right works, but not up and down. However the passengers side mirror works great. That was the only known issue I found after looking the vehicle over top to bottom.
Dayum! good job! You aure are patient .... me I can be impulsive .... I saw this 1200 sq ft single family home in Buffalo NY for 9K on eBay .... a fix-up but gee I could put that on my credit card!!! Well I'm gonna bid and so be it ... let ya know how it goes tomorrow!
Dec 9, 2004 - Dec. 31, 2005 is how long my searching took.
If the house is near any ski slopes, can I stay for free if I help fix it up? lol
Quote:
I saw this 1200 sq ft single family home in Buffalo NY for 9K on eBay .... a fix-up but gee I could put that on my credit card!!! Well I'm gonna bid and so be it ... let ya know how it goes tomorrow!
Uh Crush, ain't Love Canal near or in Buffalo? Does the EPA accept plastic?
Awesome dude, glad you hung in there and got the deal you wanted. That should be a good car.
Craig
It shall serve me well for the mountains and going to the slopes.
Now the next question of the hour is... where to get good snowchains to have on hand for just such a blizzard.
I did a little car shopping over the past few weeks aswell. Unfortunately no deal on my end. I was looking at a new Subaru Legacy sedan but after driving it found that wihtout the Turbo (which is thristy @ 25mpg highway on premium gas) it was kind of gutless. I also didn't like the seats and found the rear seats cramped (gotta think of my fellow sliders) and the rear seat does not fold down.
After that decided on a Nissan Altima. Got offered an '05 SL which is basically a 3.5l V6 pushing 250hp with 249ftlbs torque and it was big inside for $22450. But they only offered me $5500 for my Volvo which would put me upside down. Had to walk on it. One guy offered me $3500.
I had my game down though. Went to the dealership with a blank check loan in hand so I knew exactly where I stood. I also knew what each model was going for at different dealerships and exactly what the available trim packages were.
They got p.o.'d with me though because I didn't fall for the old "are you trading anything trick" I didn't drop that bomb until I got the price right on the new car. Tha way there could be no confusion as to what they were really offering me.
Like I said I walked away but I'm in a position where I'm fine with driving the Volvo for another year or two. It was a lot of fun though.
I think fun is a word that different people define for car shopping. lol It's fun once you do have the game down and can get inside a salesmens head somewhat and cause him to get thrown off his game a bit. You are right though, know the stuff before hand, don't mention trade in until the last.
I can't say I've ever been much of a fan for the Nissan line of cars. The Outback wagon I got is the 2.5l based engine that uses regular unleaded fuel without the requirement of premium fuel that the other turbo based subaru's have.
Bawalker,
Congrats on the reliable set of wheels.
I can relate to car troubles hindering your skiing. I was headed up to Whitetail this late AM to test out my Goretex, but my car stalled backing out of the driveway. Upshot is, looks like my ignition lock has gone bad (been acting up a bit lately.) So instead of testing Goretex, I'm stuck at home waiting for the tow truck to arrive, drinking heavily, and surfing the Net.
I like the Nissans a lot. The V6 puts out the same power as the new turbo Subaru GT but it runs on regular and has decent gas mileage. You'll be fine with the 5 speed, stick makes a big difference. I also like the older body style better. In addition I didn't want a wagon but I do at east want 60/40 split seats.
Car shopping is fun if you know exactly what you want, what you expect to pay for it and exactly how the deal should work. The first place I went to the kid showing me the car made a bunch of rookie mistakes. The fact was that the kid wasn't all that money savvy so working him was easy. The sales manager who was really working the deal wasn't all that better. He tried to show me a number after we had agreed to a price on the new car that incorporated my trade the idea being that I would just look at that number and make the mistake of thinking it was low. I made him break out the components of it so I could see how he got there. Once I saw that I knew how much the trade was and that was the deal breaker. The fact is that I think sometimes people are afraid to ask questions especially about the price side. The fact is it's your money at risk so ask questions ad nauseum. The only thing you have to sign is the paperwork for buying the car so up to that point give them nothing, most importantly run the game don't let it run you. You can leave whenever you want and the dealer knows it.
You are right on the money about that. I've encountered very different salesmen, and the ones who are older seem to be more from the old school mentality. That you treat a person like crap while being superficial to them and out of their shear fear of you they smile and blindly accept any paper put infront of them. It's those same people that if you attempt to question their actions, stand up for yourself, or even want to see the figures broken down that they get angry and upset. I've almost had one sales tell me to leave the property. He never said it, but I could see it coming on the edge of his lips.
It's all about the end consumer and the rights we have. We truely do hold the power in anything when it comes to capitalism. Unfortunately that has been drowned out by the anonymous flood of peer pressure to buy just because we can.
Congratulations! I remember you talking about needing new wheels many months ago.
Happy New Year!
The Colonel
The base Legacy is a bit peppier if you put the (auto) transmission in sport mode, which raises shift points and also allows it to downshift more readily. The 5MT models are generally much more responsive. And of course, the turbo, with any transmission, is a real hot rod. But, I have an Outback XT, and the real world gas mileage hovers around 21mg which is not great.
The thing to realize about the Altima is that it is very overpowered for a FWD vehicle. Yeah, it's fast in a straight line, but the handling and driving dynamics are lousy. Now, some people don't mind or notice, but there are far better choices around that give you power *and* handling, and a far nicer interior too. Acura TSX is a great FWD sedan choice (my wife has one), and the street price is around $25K if you know how to deal.
Craig
Quote:
I did a little car shopping over the past few weeks aswell. Unfortunately no deal on my end. I was looking at a new Subaru Legacy sedan but after driving it found that wihtout the Turbo (which is thristy @ 25mpg highway on premium gas) it was kind of gutless. I also didn't like the seats and found the rear seats cramped (gotta think of my fellow sliders) and the rear seat does not fold down.
After that decided on a Nissan Altima. Got offered an '05 SL which is basically a 3.5l V6 pushing 250hp with 249ftlbs torque and it was big inside for $22450. But they only offered me $5500 for my Volvo which would put me upside down. Had to walk on it. One guy offered me $3500.
I had my game down though. Went to the dealership with a blank check loan in hand so I knew exactly where I stood. I also knew what each model was going for at different dealerships and exactly what the available trim packages were.
They got p.o.'d with me though because I didn't fall for the old "are you trading anything trick" I didn't drop that bomb until I got the price right on the new car. Tha way there could be no confusion as to what they were really offering me.
Like I said I walked away but I'm in a position where I'm fine with driving the Volvo for another year or two. It was a lot of fun though.
