Symbiont's SWP BRZ Premium 6MT

[Symbiont]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75PE05AIrx0"]Scion FR-S | Tour of LA - YouTube[/ame]


I suppose that I'm a relative newcomer to the BRZ/FR-S scene, but no less passionate about this car for all that. I first started leaning heavily towards the BRZ when I drove a Genesis Coupe and a Mazdaspeed 3 and came away feeling as though something was lacking.

I've had many cars over the last 20 years, my last being a Maxima that, while fun to drive, really made me realize how much I was straying away from what excited me about cars for my entire life. After looking into it for awhile, I ended up calling around to a few Scion dealerships and tried to put a deposit on any manual FR-S that they would have. I loved the front end and description of the suspension differences that made the FR-S have a tad more oversteer than the BRZ.

Ultimately, I was unable to find any unallocated, but a small dealership in Orange County promised me that I was 'first on their list' for one that was coming in the week or two before June 1st. Over the next month or two I tried to stay in contact with that dealer, but frequently received no calls back, no responses to my email, and no assurance that I could be the one to get the car. Numerous times any contact I had was unfavorable ('oh, we're going to put a suspension kit and upgraded stereo in at the port' and 'oh, there may be a markup on it now').

I requested the VIN once it arrived at the port, and even offered (again) to put a deposit down on the car (Asphalt 6MT). After being denied, I called the dealership and spoke to someone who wasn't the 'Internet Fleet Manager' and asked about it, to be told that I'd be 'first on their list to be called when the car arrived at the dealer'. At this point, I lost all faith in the dealer, especially after once again not receiving a phone call or email, and drove down the road to Irvine Subaru to see if I could sit in the car, as I had some trepidation about being able to fit (I'm 6'7").

Sitting in the car (WRB AT) turned into a test drive, which turned into a conversation about a SWP 6MT that they had out back that someone had JUST backed out on, which turned in to me driving back up the 5 to try to talk to someone at Tustin Scion one last time. Unfortunately, the gentleman I had been working with was still 'unavailable', so I decided to stop wasting his time. I promptly turned around, picked up my girlfriend, and drove back down to Irvine Subaru. An hour later, I drove off in my brand new toy:


I apologize for the quality; I took it with my iPhone.

This car drives like a dream. My thoughts are instantly communicated to the tires, the sound is amazing, and I only have to think it and the car performs. I hadn't driven a stick in almost 12 years (and missed it terribly), but I never had any issues instantly feeling the engagement and blipping the throttle just enough to get the car rolling smoothly without excess clutch wear, even on the hills of Laguna Beach. My girlfriend was constantly laughing, watching the expressions on people's faces as we drove by... the car was being gawked at non-stop. I saw one wife hit her husband because he was paying more attention to the car than what she was saying. Hilarity ensued.

For the longest time I wanted to buy an STi and never found the requisite funds. After driving both, back to back, I much prefer the balance and responsiveness of the BRZ. I have never been happier with a major purchase, and have no remorse whatsoever.

Thanks to Gene down at the dealership, I felt respected, cared for, and appreciated. He made the process seamless and smooth, and I am absolutely in love with this hunk of metal.








Mods to date:
Grimmspeed license plate holder
TWM M1 Abrams gunmetal Shift knob (arrives 6/6/12)
35/25 tint
Custom cut 3M clear bra

Here are some pictures of the tint and 3M Clear Bra (and my new shift knob):

Clear bra




Tint




Shift Knob




Most recent pictures:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=100

[Lonewolf]

Good for you and congrats on your buy.

What is it with all these Scion dealers being pricks to people?! They wonder why the brand is floundering...gee, could it be their douchey salespeople?

You should drive the car up to the Scion dealership, and just say something along the lines of..."See, this is the easy sale that you lost, have a nice day"...

[Jayde]

Congrats on getting what you wanted!

Originally Posted by Symbiont

I saw one wife hit her husband because he was paying more attention to the car than what she was saying. Hilarity ensued.

[bestwheelbase]

Congrats!

Funny about the passersby being distracted by it.

[NeedsmoreCowbell]

MMMM DAT A$$..... congrats on a BRZ

I feel ya on the sales tactics... I had a wonderful time with TOD but before I closed on the one there I tried buying the one at another dealership and they just treated me like garbage. Didnt matter I drove in with an audi and was well dressed. They wanted to rape me and also not let me drive the car after buying it. I quote "you can buy it, but I cant let you drive it home until we get another allocation in" Hahhhhh Hahhhhh. Thats just wrong..lol

congrats on the BRZ it looks amazing even on iphone pics

[WRXGuy1]

Congrats!

[Symbiont]

So, while I'm at my friend's auto detailing shop, I thought I'd finally take the time to detail my quest for my car, and how I ended up in the Subie camp, rather than behind the wheel of a Scion.

Around 3 months ago (told you I was a late bloomer), I finally decided that I was going to pull the trigger and buy a new car. My girlfriend and I had recently come into a bit of money, enough so that I could either buy the car outright, or put a large down payment on a car that I really enjoyed driving. Every one of my cars before were driven from necessity, and I never loved them the way I wanted to. I spent a couple years working in a Porsche repair shop and doing a bit of amateur rally racing in the southwestern deserts, so I knew that I felt amazingly happy when behind the wheel of a performance driving machine.

I have been a car fanatic since I was a kid, devotedly following all the new cars. When my dad's business partner bought the new Toyota Supra TT (Mark IV) the first year it was released, I talked him into letting me drive the car. I was 16, and the reviews I read had left me in awe. The sequential twin-turbos ('...when the second kicks in at around 4500 rpm it pushes you back in the seat...' - I still remember how one magazine described it in its review) and other performance features of the car left me aching to really love what I drove.

I ran through an odd collection of cars (86 Chrysler LeBaron GTS stick, 83 Mazda b2000 stick, 79 Yamaha 650, 89 Toyota Corolla DX stick, Chevy Cavalier (don't ask, it was all I could afford), and a Nissan Maxima (a32), none of which I ever really loved (for obvious reasons), but spent my free time working on my friend's 2.5RS with a J-spec STi engine dropped into it and taking the customer's Porsches through emissions. The owner had a 914/6 that he had restored to near-mint condition that I got to drive a few times, and I absolutely loved the feel of a lightweight rwd car that you could absolutely fling through the corners.

Fast forward to present day. I read some reviews of various cars, test drove a Genesis 2.0T (worst transmission, ever) and a Mazdaspeed 3 (couldn't stand the FWD) and decided on a car I had never seen in person, let alone driven. I read up on some dealership reviews and decided to work with Tustin Toyota/Scion, as they had decent ratings from customers, or so it seemed. Most of the other dealerships in south Orange County had less than stellar reviews, and I /hate/ car salesmen (no offense, just have had horrible experiences). I always feel like a soft mark, and I hate feeling as though I were taken advantage of.

I emailed off an interest form through Scion's website and was promptly contacted by Tustin's internet fleet manager. He seemed affable enough, and I decided to go with them over their nearest competitor, as they seemed a bit shady. I informed him of my interest, and he said 'we don't have any yet, but will at the end of next month'. This was in late March/early April, and I was already having trouble waiting. My heart goes out to those of you who had waited for years.

I eagerly devoured any media I could get on the Scion FR-S, as I was intrigued by the 'Pure Pricing' (hey, I can't get jerked around by a dealer, right?) and I liked the nose styling better in pictures on the Scion than the BRZ. The BRZ also had a bunch of options on the Limited I really didn't care about, so I figured I may go with the cheaper option. I also appreciated the slightly different suspension setup in the Scion, as it sounded a bit more fun to drive (more oversteer, yay!). I kept calling and emailing the dealership every few days, and started to feel like a pest.

I was trying to be patient, but this is when I started getting no replies from the salesman. He wouldn't return email or voicemail (1 out of every 5 calls were returned), so I only heard from him every 2 weeks or so. He didn't seem put out, but I felt less than cared for. I really wanted to love the entire experience, but I was left with a bad taste in my mouth.

First, I tried to put a deposit down on a car in their first shipment (of two), an Asphalt 6MT. I really loved the color in pictures, and the Black on Gray motif interested me. I was informed that 'Scion doesn't take deposits'. I found this odd, as many people on here indicated that they had put deposits down, but shrugged it off to an anomaly of this dealership. He promised I was first on his 'interest list', which meant that I'd get called first when the car got there. Needless to say, I wanted more. I was interested in VINs, port dates, transfer dates, delivery dates, etc. He seemed puzzled and concerned that I'd want all this, and shuffled about any way he could to avoid providing me with the requested details. I got a temp VIN from a coworker of his, and was told the car should be there soon. A couple more weeks go by, and I finally hear that the car is at the port (from another salesmen, not the one I had been working with). When pushing for a dealer arrival date and a perm VIN, he promises to email me the info, but never does.

Finally, two days before the car is supposed to arrive at the dealer, I call back and speak to a random salesman. He informs me that I'm at the top of HIS interest list, too, and that he'll call me the second the car (my same car!) arrives at the dealership. I finally realized that this was going to be a feeding frenzy, and threw up my hands in disgust. Probably literally, as I was heartbroken and felt like I had been led on.

The next day (Saturday), I woke up and just had a feeling I should call around and go to some other dealerships. I had heard in on here that there was an automatic WRB BRZ at Irvine Subaru, and I wanted to see if I could even fit in the car. I called them, confirmed the car was there, and drove down. Looking at the car turned into sitting in the car, turned into driving the car, and I loved the driver position. Being 6'7" 260lbs, I was concerned that I would be able to fit in there with any ease. When I got back, I realized that I was trying to talk myself into the auto, and it just didn't feel right. I shook the dealer's hand and was about to walk away when the manager walked up and mentioned there was a SWP premium 6MT that someone had walked away from earlier that day out back. I went to look at it in the shade and sit in it to feel the clutch, and I loved the classy way it looked. I was very intrigued, even though I had never considered white as a color I liked. The pearlescent SWP was gorgeous, however, so I had some hard thinking to do.

Got back in my car (Mazda CX-7 - the girlfriend's ride) and drove down to Tustin Toyota again with the intention of dropping an ultimatum; promise me my Asphalt FR-S... GUARANTEE it to me, or I am walking. I called my significant other on the way there and had her give me her opinion of the SWP color, and she loved it. Considering this was her money as much or more as it was mine, I wanted her invested in the purchase. She doesn't love cars, but she loves me, so it works out well. She loved it. I told her to get ready, as I was picking her up and we were going to buy a car, one way or another.

Arrived at Tustin Scion and met the salesman I had occasionally been working with when the IFM wasn't available. The IFM wasn't even available to walk outside to meet me, which just confirmed that I wasn't important enough to him to care about. I had a brief discussion with the other salesman, told him that I had an option to pick up a BRZ with HID and Nav/Sat radio, and he just stood there. 'How much more does it cost?' I told him that it would be an extra 3k out the door for me to get the Subaru, over what I knew Tustin was going to charge me. He looked at me as though that would be enough, but then I mentioned that the cost of the HIDs and audio was enough to allay the price difference. He just shrugged his shoulders. That right there sold me on the Subaru even more than anything else. Tustin just didn't care if I bought from them or not. I was very disappointed.

Drove home, picked up the girlfriend, drove down to Irvine Subaru. Took the manual around the block (hadn't driven a stick in 16 years) and didn't chug or stall at all. Loved the clutch feel. Loved working with Gene (Sales Manager). Drove off 2 hours later in my brand new BRZ.

Was my experience enough to 'blacklist' a dealership? No, I'd say not, but I will not ever be working with them again. I didn't care about the cost, as I could afford it easily, but the attitude and lack of caring just left me feeling depressed.

Now... I couldn't be happier. This car is everything I dreamed it would be, and I truly love driving it.

[Symbiont]

Holy cow, that was a long post. Sorry for the wall o' text.

[Chupacabra]

That is a good story Symbiont. And congrats on the BRZ, it looks beautiful.

[benjoke]

Congrats Symbiont! Nice to hear that there are good dealerships out there (even though most of them seem to take advantage of buyers). I'm hearing good things about Irvine Subaru so far and now I'm in contact with them. Were they able to give you the car for MSRP? A lot are doing mark up now and I'm curious if they will also do so on backed-out orders. Thanks!

[Symbiont]

Essentially, yes, I did. Those crazy markups that I've been seeing definitely make me sad.

[Extreme86]

Originally Posted by Symbiont

Holy cow, that was a long post. Sorry for the wall o' text.

Good story! Thanks for sharing. You and your girlfriend enjoy that purty BRZ!!!

[Symbiont]

Some pics from today during my drive after the detailing. Clear Bra and tint tomorrow, then going without my car for a week while I let AEM run some tests.

[Jayde]

Excellent story! Glad you ended up happy in the end!