All reasonable Florida Dealers....Please Read This Post! Looking to Purchase a 2004 WRX through the Subaru VIP program!

I am convinced that South Florida would have MANY more Subarus on the road if they just had better dealers.

Having originally been in the market for an STi and as of just recently a WRX instead, I have physically and via e-mail communicated with William Lehman, Eddie Accardi, and Potamkin. In order to remain civil, all I will say is that, as far as sales go, I have not been impressed with any of them, with some being worse than others.

I did not visit/communicate with all of the South Florida dealers I mentioned, about the VIP program...just past or recent experiences with finding out about the STi and initial release of the WRX, so YMMV.

My most recent encounter was this past Monday with William Lehman where I dealt directly with Larry Shane the sales manager using my Subaru VIP authorization letter to try and purchase a 2004 WRX (for invoice because of my long affiliation with IMBA - International Mountain Bike Association through Subaru VIP Program)

I introduced myself, showed him my letter, and asked for a test drive to which I had already picked out a stock number for them. Took the test drive with a sales person and came back to discuss the only variable in the deal because of my VIP status, my trade. I couldn't have made it any easier for them.

Here's where it get's disturbing. He comes out with the traditional line of "Well what do you want for your trade to get you into the WRX today" to which I tell him I'm willing to be reasonable to make the deal go smoothly and would accept "Average" (even HE agreed my car was in "Clean" condition) Black Book value while also taking into consideration the optional equipment on the car and my low mileage.

So he looks at his Black Book, sees the value, and then first starts by pointing at a lower trim model of my car and says here's black book value on your car so I can only give you this much. (about $2000 below average for my car and trim level). After I correct him and point to my actual model (and an amount that I've already been offered by a Mazda dealer for my car) he then says "oh....well I can't give you that much because I can buy it at auction cheaper than that". "I don't know why the Mazda dealer is giving you that much."

So I say "You are telling me that you can buy my car for $2000 less than YOUR OWN admitted WHOLESALE black book value in the condition my car is in?" And he says "We need to make money on this deal and you are already getting your car for invoice, and I can't give you more on your trade". Of course I told him that was unreasonable and unacceptable and I left.

My point is this. Subaru Corporate reimburses the dealer for selling me the car at invoice (which he said is only $300-400???), they admit the car has been on the lot for a very short period of time (can you say full dealer holdback?), and especially taking part in the Subaru VIP program shouldn't mean that they have to try and make more than a reasonable profit on my trade. I suspect that this is exactly why on the VIP form it states that the dealer has to list the trade-in value seperately from the VIP discount pricing so that they can see how the customer was treated on their trade. They just wanted to greedily lowball my trade because of the fact that they had no where to go on their car.

Since Subaru VIP dealer participation is supposedly voluntary, I would expect a dealer that takes part to deal reasonably and in good faith on a trade and the experience as a whole, since that is the impression I got from Subaru corporate about what the VIP program is all about.

Sorry for the long post, but it's really discouraging and driving me to possibly follow through with a purchase of a Mazda vehicle when the Suabru VIP program seemed to be designed to do the exact opposite, and promote the Subaru brand and a "VIP" experience for affiliate members.

Before I follow through with my alternate purchase, any dealers out there in Florida willing to offer to treat me fairly on my trade in exchange for a guaranteed, no hassle VIP sale on a WRX????

Dtech

 

Update! I bought my '04 WRX! (as some of you have already seen) I just wanted to mention my dealership experience.

It was hands down the best dealership experience I've ever had, period. I bought from Delray Subaru in South Florida using the Subaru VIP program and got my 04' for maybe a few hundred dollars more than one of the leftover '03s, not to mention they gave me several hundred dollars more than I was expecting on my trade. I wasn't surprised, but was glad to truely get what my trade was worth!

The manager Peter and the sales guy Mike were both very cool and willing to deal. My car had only been at the dealer for a few days and was sitting inside the showroom when I got there. They pulled it out, I took it for a test drive to make sure it was ready to go, and the rest is history!


I would HIGHLY recommend anyone in South Florida interested in a Subaru go visit Delray Subaru, from my experience they are the best Subaru dealer in all of South Florida!



Dtech

 

Glad to hear you had a good experiance Dtech, but I think you must have been having a REALLY lucky day. From my experiences with Delray Sub. I can't say that I have been even moderately satisfied.

Too bad Mastro is so far away.

 

I just went through a vigorous showdown with all the snakes down here in miami. They din't really care about the cars, they just sell them. Potamkin was the worst of the lot, as they spoke down to me when I went in to get the car. I guess I should have dressed in armani from head to toe or something...? Anyway, these little sharks are horrible. I ended up buying through broker, and got the car at a sweet deal. A 2004 stock for 24,000 out the door. Superior auto is the name of the broker, I dealt with Ellis. Good stuff.