Subaru Dealer Blacklist (Surprise markups and other shady dealings)

[Llilith]

Beaverton Toyota, Beaverton Oregon.

I was buying a 2013 BRZ Limited from this dealership. I'd been pre approved by my credit union and had a check to fill out. The check had a max amount that I could write it for. So, at the very end of the process, they asked to see my credit union check. They took it in the back and came out with it FILLED OUT for the max amount. I was livid and the sales manager, John Canwell acted as though this was my problem to solve. He and the other manager, James Harding were extremely unprofessional.

They had no right to fill out my check, let alone for the max amount. I walked.

Also, the salesman told me they wouldn't fill the tank for me. WTF? I've never bought a car from a dealership without them filling the tank.

[Splicer006]

Not me but another Fellow from Ohio.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=2698393

I had my new WRX with 1300 miles throw a CEL. Code scanner says P0390 & P0391. I'm concerned. It's brand new, I broke it in according to the manual. I take good care of it.

I take the car to Adventure Subaru in Mentor , OH. I speak with a service adviser, REDACTED. It's been there since Friday. I FB message him today to ask the status of my car. He tells me he needs to have a tech take my car home overnight for testing and that it is ok with Subaru and my warranty. I get a call an hour later from him stating that he hit a deer. As far as I know he is not a mechanic, just a service rep. Why is he driving my car?

Then I go to the dealer and talk to the GM, Scott . He says that MY insurance will need to handle the claim as it was a deer strike.
I go around back of the dealer to take pictures of my car and I notice that it is in an uncontrolled parking lot and unlocked. The front end is heavily damaged as shown in the video. Then I notice there are college books on the passenger side floorboard. It seems my car became the service advisor's commuter toy. I have admissions from the service adviser and the management that he was on his way to class when he crashed my car.

I was at first promised to be put in a new car, but the owner is now stonewalling and saying they "might" be able to help me with a trade in. I feel like if I don't get my story out they are going to get away with screwing me.

[JS + BRZ]

Avoid Subaru of Glendale at all cost.

Don't bother test driving a car there. Because according to their sales manager, Subaru has a new policy that every person needs to do a credit check in order to test drive. Unbelievably rude.

[superleggera]

Was not a fan of Steve Lewis Subaru in Hadley MA. I was looking for my BRZ last year, and specifically requested if they had a new WRB limited in stock which they said they did. So I set up an appointment, took off from work early, and headed up there. Turns out the new WRB limited was their demo car, so it had like 2,000 miles on it. To top it off, the price off the bat was MSRP list price. I left and when I went with another dealer, they were ready to match the other dealer's price and locate me one with no miles. Sorry but I'd rather give my business to the dealer that gave me a good deal off the bat.

[why?]

So I just had the absolute worst dealer experience ever. Went to planet subaru to look at a car. The salesperson was totally clueless and thought that was a good thing, absolutely refused to even pretend to try and negotiate, when we brought up prices in other parts of the country he actually laughed about buying a car and having it shipped. I've read about arrogant Subaru salesperson, but holy crap this guy was treating subaru's like they were Ferrari's. I mean seriously, I traveled almost an hour to visit, treat me like I am a human, not someone who has zero clue. I bet this place will be in trouble within the year. This place makes the black plague look good. If you want to meet an amazingly clueless arrogant salesperson, go there. Seriously makes me want to never even think about Subaru, even though I've been a gigantic fan for 15+ years.

[Who8myrice]

Originally Posted by JS + BRZ

Avoid Subaru of Glendale at all cost.

Don't bother test driving a car there. Because according to their sales manager, Subaru has a new policy that every person needs to do a credit check in order to test drive. Unbelievably rude.

They did that to me when I was in market for Sti at riverside and Ontario.
I thought that was normal

[JS + BRZ]

Originally Posted by Who8myrice

They did that to me when I was in market for Sti at riverside and Ontario.
I thought that was normal

No, it's total BS.

[musicman78]

You can read my Yelp review, but highlights are, I was given the worst test drive, not allowed to go on freeway until I demanded a second test drive, sales guys knew nothing about the car, lied to my face by introducing me to the so called "owner" of the dealership, who I later found out from the actual owner's son, was just a sales manager. They tried to bait and switch cars on me, made the buying experience the most difficult one possible even though I was paying cash out right for the car, and in the end, insulted my girlfriend, and said they did not want my business and I needed to leave. When she tried to include a yelp review, she was harassed with people leaving "compliments" which were just nasty comments left by people who were obviously friends or employees of the dealership, trying to insult her integrity even further.

I drove all the way to Fullerton, and had a great buying experience from the salesman Charles down there. I would highly suggest staying away from Glendale. It was painfully obvious they do not care and are willing to out right lie to your face to try and make a sale.

[yamrossi]

Test drove BRZ Premium at Stevens Creek Subaru, CA.
The sales guy gave me some absurd info about the car. One of them being the BRZ has more down force better aero than the Ferrari 438...
COME ON!!!!
What super stealthy prototype is Ferrari 438???

There was a markup of $3100 on the 2016 BRZ Limited. Wow..
Also my test drive was limited to driving straight for a mile or so, u turn and straight again. I had to request the sales person to let me drive around corners. That's what the car is good at. My whole test drive ended in like 7-8 min.
The whole experience was underwhelming. It's like they don't want to sell it.
Compare that to the new Miata I drove or the Mini Cooper S, Fiesta ST.. Totally opposite. Very engaging, encouraging me to push the car. Trying to sell the car..

[MR2Dave]

I just bought one from Stevens Creek Subaru. I'll never go near that place again.

I was looking for a used BRZ on autotrader.com, and ran across a new one left over from last year's stock in the color and trim I wanted. I contacted Frank Homayoun via email and asked some questions. Everything sounded legit enough to drive three hours to look at it, so I secured financing, asked him to hold onto it for me, and let him know that I'd be there on Wednesday between 10 and 11. This was Monday.

I arrived Wednesday at 10:33. Frank wasn't there. I'm beginning to question his existence, given that his last name is somehow also the first name of the sales guy who ended up helping me, Homayoun. Quite a coincidence. Nobody seems to be aware that I was coming. They haven't bothered to clean the car. They haven't even bothered to move the car. It's still parked in, several cars deep, somewhere in the back lot. So I wait while they dig it out.

20 minutes or so later they've finally extracted the filthy car. We take it for a spin. I'm from three hours away. I don't know the area, but I know I want some corners. The sales guy couldn't have been less helpful. I've driven an 86 before and I'm sure I want one, so I'm more concerned with listening for odd noises and just making sure nothing feels wrong with this one. I got a crappy test drive, similar to the one @yamrossi got. The sales guy was more concerned with showing off features like the homelink mirror and the entertainment system, which demonstrates to me that he doesn't understand that this car is for driving. Also, the test drive isn't the time for that. You've got a customer driving an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar place and now is the time to play with the radio? No! You can play with buttons in the parking lot, if that's your thing.

When we get back to the dealer, the sales guy dumps the car on the poor service guys to clean at the last minute. They did what they could, but the car was pretty bad from sitting for so long, and they weren't given time to do their job properly. I felt bad for the service guy who got stuck with the job.

It was around this time I asked when the car's last oil change was. It hasn't had one. The manual clearly says replace the oil and filter every 7.5k miles or 7.5 months, whichever occurs first. The car has been on the lot for 14 months. They have a service department right there. Why wouldn't they maintain the vehicles in their own inventory?

I should have walked away then, but I was already attached to the car. It felt like mine, and I couldn't leave it with these fools. So we do the paperwork and I wait some more while they clean that car and fill the tank. To make the day complete, 20 miles from home I get stuck behind a major accident on the highway, wasting two more hours of my time. The whole time I can't help dwell on the fact that I would have been home long ago if they had just taken care of the car they knew I was coming to look at before I got there.

I kinda want to complain at SoA about this dealer. Not to get free stuff that I don't want anyhow, but rather to affect change. I don't expect that goal to be met, or worse, they could penalize the sales guy for what is more likely a managerial problem, so I'm probably not going to waste any more of my time.

[angadam]

Yark Subaru in Toledo Ohio. Although the sale was great, 2 years later I'm getting the run around with warranty work. Mine threw a P0163 code for fuel level sending unit. As a mechanic this is pretty easy diagnosis for me but apparently not for them. The first time I was told not to have the key fob inside the vehicle while fueling. The second time I was told to try not having the fob with me while fueling. The third time I let it run out of gas showing 1/4 tank and made them pay to tow it in. They finally replaced both level senders and wow its good now. The other issue I have is that something [in a tsb for cold climates) has scratched my drivers side window straight up and down. I was told the tsb didn't apply because the tech took the door panel off and there was a rock inside the door that caused the scratch. At this point I asked if that was something that was installed at the factory because from what I can see there is no way for rocks to get inside the door and scratch the glass. I will not be buying by next car from yark that is for sure.

[~el~jefe~]

Originally Posted by Maniak_

Liberty Subaru in Emerson, NJ.

Gave me a quote for a SWP Limited BRZ for $26,706. I went in today to chat with Damon, who I was in contact with for a few days trying to narrow down the price and options. After about an hour of talking, going over my trade-in and such, I tell him to give my brother and I a chance to talk about it. I had the damn down payment in my hand; ready to do the deal if he agreed to value my trade-in just a little more than his original quote. He comes back when my bro and I are done talking and has this new number on a blank sheet. I knew immediately what he was going to say and bam: So there was a pricing mistake, this is the new price I'm going to sell the car to you for and yadda yadda yadda.

A $1000+ markup. I waited for him to finish, pulled out the down payment check and told him they just lost a sale. He face went a bit ashen, but he stuck to his guns. He was like, "you're not going to find a better deal, I've sold a bunch of cars today and I'm going to sell a bunch more. If you think you can get a better price, then go." Get this, I actually got to see the car on the lot and it was filthy as hell. Dirty streaks down all the sides, dirt and grime under the bumper applique. The inside carpeting was filthy. So thankfully, I was glad they pushed me away.

The price might have still been good and it wasn't a huge markup, but screw that if they're going to bait and switch my ass with that attitude and a vehicle that wasn't even take care of properly. I left just easily as I walked in.

this was a pricing mistake. Big one. He would have made next to nothing on it. I see some of these posts and have to just shoot them down as they are a simple mistake quote.

[~el~jefe~]

Vast majority of these posts are about large markups.

A good car dealer takes your money and gives you a nice car. Them taking more of your money makes them talented and smart. Their prices are just too high for what you feel you should spend.

My mini cooper s from 2006, when i bought it, I did not negotiate. At the day of signing my loan, they reduced the price several hundred dollars by themselves, nothing asked. From 2006 to 2016, I have been given amazing amazing amazing service whenever I call or stop in. I think i paid 500 more than other people to get perfect service for 10 years.

[WolfpackS2k]

Originally Posted by ~el~jefe~

this was a pricing mistake. Big one. He would have made next to nothing on it. I see some of these posts and have to just shoot them down as they are a simple mistake quote.

Anyone know what invoice is on a Limited model? I'm pretty sure they still would have made money. All cars these days have a lot of fluff built in.