Is this a good deal?
 

Hey everyone, first post.

I have followed the forums now for awhile and have been wanting to pull the trigger on getting my BRZ for some time now. Well I have finally decided to do it. I have been talking and negotiating with all the dealerships in my area when one of them laid this on me and it seems like a great deal. Just wondering if I am missing anything or if it all seems great. Picture is attached.

This is all for a SWP Limited edition with the homelink mirror.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Are you going to trade in? If so, you'll probably pay less as (at least here in AZ, and I know it's the same elsewhere) when you trade in, you're only taxed on the difference between the vehicle and the trade. So, if you get (not realistically, just for example's sake) $10k in trade, you won't be taxed according to $27k, but according to $17k.

Still, all numbers look legit. Just be warned, that $30k total is BEFORE they try and sell you on service packages and maintenance agreements. If you desire to mod the car, don't go for the extended warranty.

I have a car to trade in which is my 2006 focus st but in the past they offered barely 2k for it when private party trade its worth well more than that. I will offer it on top of that but I have a buyer lined up for 4700 cash so most likely not. This does seem like a fair deal though?

Seems like a fair and normal deal. Some folks have snagged new limiteds for less, but those numbers are all kosher for a limited.

But unless you have multiple gates or doors to open remotely on your normal commute, the homelink mirror is a waste of your money. Just go with a normal compass mirror (if offered) or just the basic mirror. Unless you have use for a multiple-remote-opener, homelink is just an expensive toy that you don't have any need for.

I agree the homelink is just what is on the car before I started negotiating. It would be nice for the garage but that's the only thing I would use it for.

I should mention the dealer seems like he is willing to go lower but I don't want to insult him. His exact email after I told him I was waiting for a response from other dealers was "so what can we wrap it up at?"

Any suggestions on that?

On the other hand, if you have a gate and a garage door, homelink is the shit. What I wish I could get rid of without dissecting the mirror is the compass.

See how low he's willing to go. If it's just a difference of a few hundred $$, eh, whatever. If he's willing to drop to $29k or $28k, get him there.

I liked having the compass in my STI and WRX. However, my apartment's gate remote wasn't compatible with homelink so that feature was utterly useless.

Thanks for all your help. I will give it a shot and see what he says.

Never worry about insulting someone with a counteroffer. It's just business. If they don't like your offer, the worst they can do is say no.

There was a great piece on NPR a while back about car salesmen trying to make their quotas on the last day of the month. A guy made a ridiculous lowball offer, and the salesman made a point of not saying no. He didn't say yes either. He kept negotiating, because ultimately he wanted to make that sale. He eventually did. He said that if he had balked at the lowball offer, it would have let the guy off the hook, and he would have lost that sale altogether.

If a salesman is truly insulted by your lowball offer, he's in the wrong job.

I guess I am just too kind sometimes :iono: I ended up sending him an offer of 28k for the "balance due" and he declined but offered 30k. I am waiting for his response on 29.5k. We shall see.

Since your location of 'United States' really doesn't help in possibly sending you to a dealer who might give you a deal, maybe what state you're in would be helpful. If you're near Colorado, it would be Clint at Heuberger Motors.

What are the "dealer installed options"?

also, do you want the "VTR"? if not tell them you don't want it. If they already did it to the car, then still act like you don't want it & don't want to pay for it

The dealer installed option is tint and something else I cant remember. The VTR is something I discussed and he advised we would reduce the price by 200 more because it was something I didn't ask for.

Sorry about the location, I will fix that asap, I am in Arizona. I spoke with Clint already but the price is very slightly less than what I am getting with this dealership. I might save a couple hundred if anything going through him. And still have to pick up my car or pay more to have it shipped.

what dealership in AZ are you speaking with?

Spoke with Peoria Subaru, Camelback Subaru, Autonation Subaru in Scottsdale, and Subaru Superstore in Chandler.

Spoke with the dealer a little bit ago and the final price he says he can do is $30000 all fees and tax included. Seems quite reasonable to me.

This is without a trade in.

I bought all my cars (save my 05 Forester, which was bought back in VA) from Camelback Subaru.

Last I was there, they had a gorgeous WRB Limited on the lot.

Btw, that $30k even won't include the service agreements they're going to try and get you to buy. But $30k even with AZ's tax and reg fees (which are NOT cheap, especially registration) isn't bad for a limited BRZ.

If the other dealerships can't (or won't) beat that one, I say take it. Then again, you're buying in the middle of the month. You could probably get a better deal if you hold off till the very end of the month. The limiteds don't sell as fast, so that one could still be available and he might be getting desperate to sell then.

Service packages and maintenance agreements and warranties are all price negotiable as well. The fight isn't done until you sign on the line.

Exactly, and finance percentage isn't even garaunteed until the bank itself says "yes" to the dealer's offer. That happened to me, where the dealership finance department gave the thumbs up on one apr number, but the bank said "no" and went higher. I had to go back and sign a new form (2 weeks after I'd bought the brz), but the finance manager (b/c I was a repeat customer and a good one) fiddled with the service agreement numbers to keep my monthly costs the same. He basically gave me a few service agreements for almost $0 in order to make the numbers work out. Which is why I'm going to keep most of them. The refund on them would be near zilch. Might as well have them then. The extended warranty I'm seriously thinking about canceling and taking the pro-rated return and applying it to my loan principle (since I went upside down in trade-in to get out from under the financial burden that was the STI and into my BRZ).

My advice: be ruthless with the service and maintenance agreement #s. and if you plan to mod at all, don't go for the extended service agreement, and do NOT agree to N2 in the tires (that's another way for a dealership to make $$). the benefits, while real, are not enough of an improvement over 78% Nitrogen (regular air) in the first place.

Hmm I was debating the middle of the month thing. I was starting early with hopes to get a good deal lined up right around the end of the month when this dealer offered me this one. it was significantly below the others so that's why I am considering it. Think holding off until the end of the month would be wise? I hope there is no chance of losing this deal if I do wait.

Agreed on nitrogen. The benefits are great... if you're on a hot track heat cycling the shit out of your tires.

The windshield replacement warranty is trash. You'd think it would account for rock chips, but it doesn't. Just manufacturer defects. Get windshield coverage through your insurance company.

The only way you'll lose this particular deal is if someone else buys this car first.

You run the risk of someone else buying the car. If its a great deal for you, it might be a great deal for them too. How badly do you want THIS particular car? For me, I didn't need to buy at all. My car was perfectly fine, it was just boring. I let them know that I was under no pressure to buy and had no problem walking away from a sketchy deal.

I have lusted over owning a BRZ since I started seeing the concepts being made. I fell in love with the SWP BRZ when I saw in person and test drove one when they first got onto the lots. I want this car very bad but I am also one to dwell on losing money or losing a good deal.

I agreed to go down to the dealership tomorrow to look at this particular one and start discussing options but if I can get another 500-1k off I would be willing to wait. Like I said I want to save as much as I can and I feel that should take priority. My car now is in very good condition and I am not desperate aside from staying awake at night thinking about this car :)

I guess the deciding factor for me would be one question. How much would you guess I could save by waiting until the end of the month?

I've never bought into the end of the month quota desperation theory. I can see end of the year, but what didn't get sold this month can be sold next month. Others might have a different opinion.

On the one hand, it's only two weeks. You may be able to get a slightly lower price. On the other hand, that's two weeks that someone else could buy the car, and the price they've offered is pretty reasonable. And you should be able to get $500-1000 off of the maintenance plans, with enough arguing.

If they're offering you a deal on this one that they wouldn't offer on another one in a few weeks, I'd get it. But I'm also an impulsive buyer. I drove a 2013 premium they had on the lot two or three times then bought a 2014 limited that hadn't even been unwrapped yet, because I wanted that color and the heated seats (winter in Delaware). All over the space of three days from first walking into the dealership to look at it. They finished the initial prep after I had already signed for it.

how badly does the salesman realize that you want this car? If he's gotten clued in, then you may need to agree to the $30k (b/c he'll play the long odds and hold his own, b/c he figures you're going to sell the car to yourself sooner or later, with good money betting on sooner, even if he doesn't cave on price), OR suck it up and wait just to prove him wrong and wait for another SWP Limited to pop up.

If he's still in the dark, play the "I can walk away any time I want" angle even to yourself, and play the odds that the limited will still be there in another 15 days. The limiteds don't move anywhere near as well as the premiums b/c of the cost factor. The subaru dealerships can sell the premiums ridiculously easy b/c the price is just too good. The limiteds are for those who can go higher and really really want that particular car. Thus they don't move as fast. Much like the WRX base models vs. STI Limiteds (except they'll probably have more BRZ Limiteds on hand than the new STI Limiteds) in terms of time on lot till sale.

Another thing: factor in what you know you can sell your current car for + another few grand for your downpayment. Offer them the "I can pay you X right now" then, and write a promisory note (signed check that they won't cash for about 21 days or so) for what you know you can sell your car for. That will reduce the loan amount and reduce your monthly payments. Then, SELL your car immediately. If you think you can get $5k minimum for it, promise another $5k down on the BRZ. If you think you can at a minimum sell it for $4k, promise $4k even if you end up selling for $5k. Then roll the difference after the sale into whatever you want (mods, or better yet against the principle loan amount).

Also, GO for the smartnote payment system. It allows you to pay off your loan earlier by auto debiting your checking for half the monthly amount once every two weeks (almost but just a bit more than 2x a month). It'll pay off the loan faster by several months up to almost a year in advance depending on length of the loan, which ends up saving you $$ in the long run, and you can then not worry about missed payments (if you are prone to sometimes forget these things), so it protects your credit score that way.

Eh. That knocks off vtr (which is a scam) and a little more. He can definitely come down on doc fees, and I'd ask for coming down on the dealer installed options as well. And if ask him to match Clint's offer that you have. Basically I'd want him to come down $1k+. Actually, more than that - I'd want an extra discount from them for f'ing up the window with the vtr...

If this car is exactly what you want, I'd get it. You'll run the risk of having to custom order to get what you want if they sell it, and then there's less room for negotiation usually.

On the other hand, if you plan to keep this thing stock, do consider the 100K mile extended warranty. There are threads in the tech section on engine failures in the 30K to 40K mile range. I don't think a few of those indicate that we have a particular problem with this car. But I know I had warranty repairs on my Jeep in the 70K and 80K mile range that would have cost much more than the cost of the 100K extended warranty on this car. What good is it to save a thousand dollars now if you're one of the unlucky few who end up shelling out several thousand for an engine replacement at 40K miles, just a few thousand miles out of warranty? To me it's not that expensive an insurance policy.

That NPR story I mentioned earlier explained it. In that story, the dealership had a total quota of 30 cars each month. If they met the quota, they received a $60,000 bonus from the manufacturer. If they only sold 29 or fewer, they did not get the bonus. They could almost give their 30th car away and make money if they met that quota.

At the beginning of the day, they had only sold 25 cars for the month, so they had to come up with 5 sales that day. As the day wore on, they ticked up to 28, to 29, almost to 30, and then a couple of the customers backed out. They got desperate, and they started offering to sell cars at a loss. They would actually make more money selling at a loss and getting the bonus than they would if they didn't make the sale at all.

They stayed open until 9 PM that night until they sold their 30th car (at a loss). The sales manager told the interviewer that if you drive by the dealership at 8 PM on the last day of the month and the lights are still on, you can often get a ridiculous deal IF you bargain hard and you're willing to buy the car that night.

Obviously how well that works depends on the manufacturer's incentive structure. But pretty much all of the dealerships have a quota, and the individual sales people have individual quotas as well. If your particular salesman hasn't met his quota for the month and his income (or in some cases, his job) is on the line, you're in a much stronger bargaining position than you would be on the first or 15th of the month, when there's still plenty of time for them to make up a deficit.

That's interesting, thank you. I didn't know the manufacturer offered a massive sales incentive like that.

Oh the end of the month thing exists. Ask @jeffsides, who works in finance for a big toyota/scion dealership. Towards the end of the month he usually doesn't make it in time to our evening meets b/c of salesmen staying late with customers trying to secure sales (drives him nuts b/c it keeps him at work way later than he'd like).

I told him I am basically buying this car sometime soon but not in a hurry. I am going down there here within an hour or 2 to talk financing and what options we have. I plan on buying the car tonight if I don't get too much tacked on the end with service agreements and whatever else they try to add.

Thanks everyone for the help in this decision. I will post how everything goes later tonight.

Id say its a good dead but thats coming from someone who bought one with a "+" in the discount area instead of a "-" (I got the opposite of a discount). I paid 33,000 OTD for mine.

Post pics! :D
@Diode Dynamics has LED fog lamp bulbs that produce a white light that matches the HIDs. The OEM bulbs are dingy yellow.

Cravenspeed 2" antennas are $25 on Amazon.

Energy Suspension shifter bushing is $20 on Amazon.

So many cheap mods are available, there's really no reason not to.

I had that exact experience last year. I was shopping for a Camry for my wife at the last day of October. We did some test drives, then came back to my local dealer and made a real low-ball offer, fully expecting a tough negotiation. To my surprise, they accepted my low price offer with no negotiations. The only condition was that we had to accept the deal right then. After the deal was finished, I asked the salesman why he accepted my offer, and he admitted that they had a quota to fill for the end of the month and they simply could not afford to let a potential buyer go out the door that night.

Danger Will Robinson. When I did the same thing back in November, I walked out with a BRZ instead of getting a good budget idea.

The salesman WILL be doing the "What numbers do you need to see for you to go home with this car today?" routine, with that theme prevalent.

Go in VERY well-armed and prepared to deal as if you are going to buy today, especially if you're not.

I waited before I got mine. I love my BRZ but could not Justify paying 30,000 dollars for it (Sorry, I just don't feel it's a 30,000 car). So, when I found a used limited priced well I jumped on it. I paid 24,900 (Out the door) for my 13' Limited with 7300 miles on it. It was the best priced one with in 1200 miles at the time. Though I understand wanting to get one BRAND NEW. In this case, I could justify buying used.

-Sam

I would just negotiate the price of the car out the door over email. Then you have it in writing. Don't add a bunch of options and service/protection plans onto the car. It already has a very good warranty, and you can always add an additional extended warranty later for most likely a cheaper price. Lots of places sell genuine extended Subaru warranties online.

It just makes it easier to negotiate up front then if you go down there. These guys do this for a living, they know how to push things on you that you may not want/need.

Mine tried to push me right into a WRX. There are not a whole lot of options to upsell on these cars, and the salesmen don't like having so few items to use for negotiation. The first salesman I dealt with tried to just skip all that and convince me to test drive a car with more options. I was having none of it.

My salesman was not pushy at all. The finance guy was. Even after I told him I did not want an extended warranty he kept trying to push it on me to the point where he was getting annoying. I finally told him I just wanted the car at the agreed upon price with nothing else. No window etching. No fabric protection. No extended warranty. No clear bra. Nothing else.

He was grumpy but it went smooth after that.