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Hoople, ND Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Bought my third Outback! [hoople]

by cathmac on Thu Mar 16 05:50:15 PST 2006

Hoop, So, if I understand you correctly, you can save an additional $200.00 off of the best deal you can find on any genuine Subaru "Added Security Plan"? This would only be my second Subaru but I've had the other one for about 6 1/2 years; does that count? I wonder if SOA warranty would give me the same deal. Regarding your question about what I'm going to do. That involves a very elaborate cost / benefit analysis. I'll try not to bore you with too many details but my beloved 1997 OB Sport fell victim to a flying slab of granite and is a possible constructive total. I'd simply repair it but I have a toddler and a baby on the way and while I've always felt safe in it the thought of getting broadsided with one kid against a rear door really scares me. Now might be the time to move up to a larger car since we'd never get as much money in trade as we would in "actual market value" (ACV) on the insurance claim. If you understand auto claims you'll know I'm using the term "ACV" loosely; nevertheless it is more than "trade- in" value. It pains me to do it since I'd planned to drive the vehicle into the ground. However, I still need to come up with the difference between the amount I get from my insurance company and the cost of the new car. So I'm torn between buying a newer used one and biting the bullet and spending another $2000 on a deal like this. If I simply had the money hanging around it would be a no-brainer since the 2006 has side curtain airbags and it would have another year or so of original Mfr warranty, etc., etc., etc.; but I'll have to give it some more thought after taking a hard look at the budget. Did I mention the house needs a new roof? One other thing does make me think twice. I don't mind a 6 or 7 hour drive to and from to pick the vehicle up but in the extremely unlikely event I wind up with the rare lemon I'm a long ways away from the selling dealer. It would be ideal if I could get a Massachusetts dealer to come close to Becker's price but I suspect that's unlikely. The quoted price of approximately $21,300 is about $600.00 less than Consumer Reports (CR) $21,935 "Bottom Line Price" which is based on "real dealer invoice" and which reflects the $2,000 Rebate and an estimated $774 hold back. Essentially CR has cut out any add-ons such as advertising. As far as I can tell the only charge it seems to include is the "destination charge". I can't imagine there are many dealers able or willing to match that price. If anyone is aware of Massachusetts dealer that might be willing to come close to the $21,300 figure --perhaps a high volume dealer-- please reply to this post. In any case, I hope to make a decision in the next week or so. If only so I can get on with my life. Thanks for the feedback. Whatever I wind up doing, this has been a good learning experience. I'll be checking back to see what you wind up doing on the warranty. ~Cath

Re: Bought my third Outback! [hoople]

by cathmac on Wed Mar 15 21:20:38 PST 2006

Hoop, Refresh my memory, did you get a sedan or wagon? This is the price quote I got from Becker on an Automatic Wagon: "I do not have a low emission vehicle here so I would exchange with a northern tier dealer to get one. The price is $20,999 plus $100 for expenses to swap the car, plus $208 for the price of the (New England) emission gear plus $55 for the documentary fee, and $5 for PA tire tax." Did your price include these incidentals? Also, did you try calling Stacy Subaru on the warranty? If the quote I got is accurate you can save 40% or so which can amount to about $1,000, which is substantially more than $200. Thanks, Cath

Re: Bought my third Outback! [steve98]

by hoople on Wed Mar 15 16:31:28 PST 2006

Hey Steve: So it looks like a solid deal! I had that quote as well, but the car I got had the HOmelink/compass mirror ($119 cost addition) I pick up the car on Friday. The additional fees are $65 for temp tags and doc's, $10 PA. tire tax. I need to pay my sales tax and registration fee in New Jersey. Hey Cath: I called SOA and asked them to run the VIN for me. Came back as not titled. When she asked why I was checking I gave her the speal about "Price was too good and I wanted to get extended warrenty....yadda..yadda! SOA gave me a big pitch about how great the Subaru xtnded warrenty was, all the features and such. When I told her that I was a 3 time subaru owner (incl the 2006) and that the warrenty was a bit too high a price....she offerd to give me $200 if I send her a copy of the Bill of sale and copy of warrenty. So I again want to thank you for that heads up! This is going so well!!!! I will report back after I get out of PA with my 2006 Outback! Hoop

Re: Bought my third Outback!

by steve98 on Wed Mar 15 15:43:10 PST 2006

I went to Becker's web site and click on a 06 OB with auto and no options and got an email back stating this "The selling price for an in stock unit is $21,212 plus only tax and tags". MSRP is $26,420. States the quote is good for 3 days. I'm not ready to buy yet but seems like they are offering great pricing like hoople got. Hoople, how do you like you Outback so far? Did you have to pay any doc or processing fees at Becker??

Re: Decision to buy used 2005 instead of new "Becker" 2006 [hoople]

by cathmac on Wed Mar 22 05:03:39 PST 2006

Hoop, In light of that I'm guessing it's unlikely they'll make me a similar offer. I might give them another call today and give it a shot. We did get the car yesterday and I felt better when I looked at the all weather mats and the cargo nets that they threw in. I might check back here once in awhile to see if you've had any developments with your purchase, otherwise maybe I'll see you around on one of the other Subaru boards. Happy Driving, ~Cath

Re: Bought my third Outback! [hoople]

by cathmac on Tue Mar 14 13:43:18 PST 2006

Hoop, Thanks for the feedback. I am hoping to hear from the Central Mass dealership towards the end of the week to see if they get any good deals on used 2005 OB Wagons at auction on Thursday. If they acquire anything they could sell in the $17,000 - $18,000 range that's probably the way to go. At that point I'd be saving about $3,500 to $4,000 off of a comparable new 2006. That money is probably better put towards the new roof we need and the new windows we want for the house. If the saving is $3,000 or less a new one is more tempting. I checked Mapquest and Becker in Allentown, PA is about 6 hours from me. The closest Fitzgerald Auto Mall is Annapolis, MD, about 7 hours away. So, if Becker can meet or beat Fitzgerald's best price(including "delivery"), assuming my husband and I are willing to deal with the logistics, then that might be something to think about. But I'll need to wait and see if they respond to my request for a quote. I did check Becker's inventory. They only list MSRP and as far as I can tell they don't have any "Specials" or any sort of new car promotions with an actual list of cars. Although after poking around a bit I did find one notation regarding their car specials due to dealership construction. I guess they need the space. That notation did refer me to their specials page, but all I found there were Maintenance specials. It may be that they've thinned down their inventory to a point where they don't need to price their cars as competitively, or at least not to advertise it as prominently. I seem to recall your saying something about the salesman "holding" the price for you. Was there a time limit on the ad you saw? By the way, did you have a chance to check out Stacy Subaru's Warranty price on a 7 year / 100K, $0.00 Ded? If memory serves correctly the price I was quoted over the phone was $1,530.00 but the price he faxed me was $1,430.00. So you'd be saving approximately $400.00 off of the "Becker" warranty and you wouldn't be faced with the dilemma of whether to actually use the warranty for minor items. Just something to think about. in any case, before you are committed to the warranty I would request a copy of the actual contract and review it thoroughly, for whatever my opinion is worth. At any rate, it looks like you're in good shape now. I'm sure you are relieved. But again, keep us posted. If nothing else I'll be interested to know how smoothly your out of state buying experience goes from here. It could be instructive for me. Good luck. ~Cath