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!
don’t try to roll it!
– Last Updated: Dec-10-06 10:42 AM EST –
But John, I understand the Outback is a good roller! Aren't you working towards hand rolling your Volvo wagon?
Yes, our Subaru is the same color as most of the other Subaru kayakers in the region. I thought it was required if you were an ADK member ;-) It should be the most fun to drive since our Saab 900.
We are getting the car from Marshall's. I told Don that it was recommendations from fellow paddlers that brought us to consider them. Thanks again.
2% below invoice – dynamite!
I guess I’m wrong. Except… one more question. Did you have to actually show an ACA card and/or proof of membership for long enough? ;-)))
Hmmm… if I can’t get that deal in Boston, maybe it’s worth a trip to your little dealer out there in the wilds of Upstate NY.
–David.
To get the discount…
– Last Updated: Dec-10-06 6:32 PM EST –
ACA has a website where you go on and essentially clear your eligibility and specify a dealer, which produces a piece of paper saying you are good for it. We don't have said piece of paper yet - Jim will have to call ACA and get them to fax it to them tomorrow. It will have be in hand by the dealer for this deal. Our impression is that ACA faxes a copy to the dealer, usually.
This is the one glitch in ACA's system. For those like us, where we specified one dealer and decided we wanted to buy from another, Jim will have to call the ACA tomorrow and have them redirect the paper. It is possible the "other" dealership has a cert in hand right now. And the salesman said that once he did have a real headache getting a woman at Subaru to accept the redirect - he finally got it done but she really didn't like that part. ACA was not a problem.
I would suggest that anyone dong this confirm your dealer first, then do the ACA thing to avoid confusion. Also, while this deal will always get you to invoice, this particular dealer goes an extra 2% beyond the other major one around here.
Seriously - if you think you'd like these guys just call, ask if they can get what you want and come on over. They don't have the scale of inventory of some of the bigger places, but they are real easy to deal with. And they had the most gorgeous pilated woodpecker checking out trunks for bugs while were in the lot - turns out they have several of them living just behind the place.
By the way, I got the impression that the discount for an ACA member was slightly better than for some of the other organizations that are part of Subaru's VIP program.
And don’t forget for every car …
Subaru sells this way the ACA gets a $150 donation to their stewardship program, that’s a win-win.
It’s all good (on this side of the pond)
The ACA gets a donation, Subaru makes the dealership whole, paddlers get great cars at reasonable prices.
I was about to wonder if British Leyland might offer incentives to BCU members, but then checked to find out that BL is now part of Nanjing Automobile Group… oh well
Outback vrs Legacy
For sure, the 05’ outback is a bit underdamped in the back, the suspension is kind of underdamped in general for me, the Legacy should be better in this regard. An Audi All-Road has a much nicer suspension for road use, but it is also a much more expensive wagon. I need the ground clearance for my hiking pursuits on dirt roads and in winter so no regrets for me, but for on-road use and for easier kayak cartopping, the Legacy GT Wagon is a sure killer car.
Jay
P.S. I got my subaru through the VIP program from IMBA (Int. Mtn Biking Association), if you are looking at getting a membership, you might want to compare the cost of an ACA vrs IMBA, find which one is cheaper though I’m sure you have to be a member of IMBA for 6 months before using it. I don’t know about the ACA as I’m not a member of that group.