Thanks
Thanks for the help on how to do this. Jim printed out the certificate last night. It sounds like this’ll get us out of the dealership a lot easier than we may otherwise. The analogy of slamming a door our head in the door is apt - one of the reasons that we take our cars to their death is that any alternative approach means that we have to mess around with car dealerships more often.
As to Volvo vs Subaru - interesting to hear from an owner of both. We are coming from a Mercury Sable wagon, and the one thing that we are not looking forward to is the likely loss of space in the Subaru. But we just couldn’t justify the higher cost for the Volvo wagon, for the two times a year that we’ll load the car to the gills.
car deal -not a deal
In spring of 2005 I bought an Outback wagon using the ACA deal. I hate haggling over cars with sharky sales reps. Well after I ordered the color I wanted my husband walked into a different dealer and in five seconds beat the ACA price without mentioning it to the dealer. So I paid a little more than I could have by just buying it normally. The reason I did it was I was told Subaru’s were so hot that dealers were getting sticker and there were no discounts. Well that wasn’t the case here in Michigan. In the end, I’m happy since the dealer in Ann Arbor (Dunning) has proven to be great and treat women with respect. We also found that the Subaru ACA deal is offered to skiers, bikers, birders etc. Love my wagon!
Second Edmunds.com
autobytel.com and other sites on the web.
There is no shortage of information about dealer invoice prices, holdbacks and incentives available these days.
These sites also do a nice job of explaining car sales tactics, and how to counter them.
However the best thing is to simply go in armed with knowledge.
Sit down, and say “Look, I know you paid this much for the car, and are guaranteed to make this much from the manufacturer.” That pretty much leaves no more room for their tactics, so the process is really pretty painless.
Trade-in
When I got my Forester two years ago, I did my homework and came up with a figure that I was willing to pay over and above the value of my trade-in. It doesn’t help to get a low figure for the new car and then get offered a correspondingly low amount for your trade. Fortunately, I never had to reveal that number to the dealer, because the offer they made was even more than the blue book said my trade-in was worth.
Good luck with your new car purchase. I love my Subie, and one of my friends says she’d take my car over her Volvo anyday.
Sue
Celia/Jim
It really isn’t painless. The dealers will try to keep you in the showroom for 5 hours to get an extra $100 bucks from you. Do your homework. Know what the invocie price is with every option. Try to figure out what the dealer holdback will be and shoot for a price a few hundred lower than invoice. Most important - be prepared to walk out of the showroom. Your time is valuable, too. If they don’t want to deal, then leave. I would go to Marshall’s last, armed with other offers. They seem to be a notch above the other dealers in the area.
Good luck!
~wetzool
P.S. We’re probably going to get another used Volvo wagon this spring, so I can have the old one for boat hauling to save milage (and gas $) on the truck.
Rolls Royce Lifetime
Does anyone else remember when you got a lifetime guarantee when you bought a new Rolls Royce and they would fly a mechanic to you if necessary?
Rolls used to advertise that it was actually cheaper to buy a new Rols Royce than any other car because of this – especially if you bought the car when you were young.
Of course, that was years ago and far away…
Sales
After reading this thread I called a friend of mine that sells Subaru’s. He said the ACA or IMBA etc, discount can certainly be beat, but be prepared to work hard for it (generally speaking). The discount basically cuts to the chase and gets a good low price that the dealer is happy with (usually invoice or $100 over) and the buyer knows ahead of time. His dealership offers free oil changes and car washes along with every new car.
One of the busiest times of the year for auto dealers is the week between Christmas and New Years as all the businesses need tax write offs and will be making capital expenditures such as company cars before the end of the year. The significance of that to you is that dealership inventorys will be lower. You said you are buying this weekend, don’t delay too long if you don’t find what you want.
Once you buy the car, google “wet okole” seat covers; excellent protection during kayak shuttles and after mountain biking. Not cheap, so ask Santa!
Interesting. Additional save in Canada?
Interesting thread. When this was discussed before wasn’t there a post about saving even more by buying in Canada? Would be great for you northern border dewellers if there was.
:^)
Mick
Hi Celia
If you need more space and you like Volvo, there are deals to be had. I researched it and found Volvo had a deal on their base XC 70. The car retailed for almost thirty six and we got about six plus off. We paid about twenty nine and some change. The local Volvo dealership didn’t tell me about the deal. Over the course of the previous month researching the car my wife wanted, I found a dealer further south who had the car wanted and offered me the deal. I don’t know why the local dealer didn’t share this with me. I think the Volvo is prettier, does have more room (especially in the luggage area) and snob appeal, if that’s important. But, it was not near the car my XT was in every other way.
Good luck.
Franklin
I tried selling
car for a while . . . that really sucks. Anyway they will give you the discount only off the sticker price. Then will not budge for there. Most of the time you can bet a better deal by just dickering down the price without mentioning the discount.
Let’s think this through…
– Last Updated: Dec-09-06 9:05 AM EST –
How much of a discount is Subaru going to give for a $35-40 membership? Let's be serious -- $0.00. If it were a real discount, then people would be joining the ACA in droves, even with a waiting period.
So I think it is widely recognized that this is strictly a promotional program. Subaru pays the ACA something (any ACA powers-that-be out there know how much?) and the ACA promotes Subaru to their members via a pseudo-discount. I won't comment on the integrity of such an arrangement, of lack thereof. But I guess nobody really gets hurt, so how bad could it be. Let's just not fool ourselves.
The only question in my mind -- is it worthwhile mentioning the discount to dealers, pseudo though it is, so they report back to Subaru that the ACA promotion got them a customer. That way, Subaru is motivated to keep paying ACA, and that could help keep dues down and services up (or pad someone's salary at ACA HQ ;-).
--David.
Comment on Integrity?
“I won’t comment on the integrity of such an arrangement, of lack thereof.”
David,
I think you just did!
~wetzool
If it saves haggling
– Last Updated: Dec-10-06 9:12 AM EST –
Neither Celia nor I enjoy haggling, and we are not good at finagling the best deal.
So, if the ACA discount gets us to a price at or near the best likely negotiated price, we are happy and consider it a worthwhile service :-)
Hi wilsoj2
Do your haggling on the internet. It is very sterile and not personal. You can negociate with multiple dealerships without leaving the house…once you’ve decided the car and options you want.
Try it out and see!
Good luck in getting just the right car and the best price possible.
Franklin
I agree
Hi, Jim:
I don’t like haggling either, though I’ve forced myself to get a bit better at it over the years. So I definitely understand your position. You might beat a dealer down a couple hundred dollars below invoice if you’re good at it (I got $100), but that’s not huge money. And to do it, you might have to visit several dealers and delay your purchase. Heck, it could cost you $20 just in gas, not to mention the value of your time. Some people like to make a sport of it, but not me. So I agree with your approach.
However, it’s the mere existence of the ACA discount that gets you the at-invoice pricing. Just saying you know about it should get any reasonably alert dealer to offer you that deal, whether you are an ACA member or not.
So in effect, the ACA deal is a quick and painless haggling technique. But it would also probably work just to say that a bunch of your “friends” (us here on paddling.net, of course) got theirs at invoice.
Anyway… Mazel Tov in advance on joining the Ancient and Honorable Order of Subaru Kayakers!
–David.
Chose one
I spent much time in the web the last few days checking equipment inventories and prices from various dealers.
With a file folder full of printouts we set out to hit the two Subaru dealers with whom we felt would be best bets.
One was a large dealership with an excellent web presence and from whom I had received numerous price quotes.
The other was a small dealership from whom a number of fellow paddlers had purchased their Subarus.
At the smaller dealership as soon as we mentioned ACA the salesman said that it would get us 2% below invoice. He was clear about procedures and had dealt with it often.
At the larger dealership the salesman had no idea of what we spoke, and after much scrambling said it would get us a car at invoice. Unlike the other salesman he wouldn’t quote us any actual price saying we would have to sit down with a sales manager to work it out.
We went for lunch a returned to the smaller dealership and selected a car.
Thanks everyone.
Congratulations!
I know you will enjoy the car!
Franklin
Now, please …
don’t try to roll it! Not even in the pool this winter. 
And most important, what color? Will we be able to distinguish yours from the other CD Suburu Kayakers?
Unfortunately…
– Last Updated: Dec-10-06 9:43 AM EST –
It'll be another Willow Green one. We took a good look at the other colors, but in the end willow or gold were the best combos of exterior that wouldn't need to be washed just before every trip to take out the senior citizens and had an interior that was a good match for coffee with cream in it. This green was on the lot and had a nice sounding engine with a tranny that felt tight as a drum, the gold would have had to be pulled in from another lot.
I suppose we'll have to put something on the roof so that when we end an evening paddle we won't find that we put our boats on someone else's green wagon.
My only complaint after taking a demo down the road was that the toggle arrangement to adjust the side mirrors is a lot fussier than what we have in the Sable. But love the driver's seat - been since my old '87 Subaru GL that we've had a lumbar support.
By the way, heard that you were getting hand rolls in the GT Thursday night at the pool. I figure that's this winter's pool work, and a couple more of us have that as a goal for the sessions in Troy. We could really have fun with this if we can all pull it off in the long boats by spring... it'd certainly make an egg roll easier.
and hamburgers were a nickel!