When, and how, to buy the BRZ
 

OK, we think we’ve been waiting long enough; time to start planning a purchase. I went online and the process is not at clear-cut as thought.

(a) What model year, and when? On Subaru’s website, they mention the 2023 BRZ… aren’t they all sold out? Is it known when the 2024’s either arrive for dealer stock, or when to place an order to order one? As we tend to keep cars a long time, buying at the end or beginning of a model year does not matter much to us. Her 2007 Honda S2000 is running just fine (indeed, she is going to miss it) so we don’t feel pressured to buy immediately if conditions suggest waiting a few months.

(b) Contacting dealers. I tried Subaru’s “Build and price” at the end it gave me the choice of contacting one (1) dealer, although I can change which one. I do not see a method where I can ask for offers from multiple dealers. Is there such a technology? Maybe it’s a website other than Subaru’s like get "getoffersonscars.com? (I just made that up) And the selection “check local inventory” did not provide results (maybe because there aren’t any?)

(c) My fallback might be simply to use a 1990’s approach: Do a search, state by state, of Subaru dealers until I find them all within, say a 100 mile radius… and then e-mail each one independently. That really sounds tedious but I’m willing to do it. We’re in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC and suspect driving some distance away from major cities might net us a more reasonable deal. You'd think in 2023 there's a better way!

(d) Right now — this is to be my wife’s car — is a Premium, must be manual transmission. We can skip most or all of the accessories I see on Subaru’s site, they all look like they can be added on later if desired. Her 1st color choice is blue, 2nd choice is the other blue, 3rd choice is red, 4th choice is not buying the car.

Actually go into the dealer you plan to buy from and speak with a salesman.

What I did was build my car on the Subaru website and save the build number. I called a few dealerships and told them I was interested in placing an order for a BRZ and asked for pricing and wait times. Luckily my local Subaru dealership had a msrp policy so I ordered through them by giving them my build number. They ran my credit. They had a refundable deposit policy but waived it for me. Super easy process.

Car arrived about 6 months later. I denied all the stuff they wanted to add. Little pressure there but they caved on everything.

This. I was in and out in 10 mins, with an order number for 500 under MSRP +homelink mirror. Easiest car purchase of my life.

Eek! :confused0068: No! Salesman? No! And I haven't spoken to a person live in 3.5 years! Are you crazy?

More seriously, I certainly have no objecting to including that as PART of the process.

Hmm, fair enough. Website shows 2023, is that going to happen? Or will the "build" be saved as a 2024? I still do not know their timetable. But it's worth trying.

I'd probably take that deal today. Here near DC I wonder if I'd have to change "under" for "over" and add a zero?

Roll up into your local dealer with 5 hondo and order what you want....then wait 8-12months for delivery.

What I did to order my car was to go into the dealer in person and put down a deposit for the exact car that i wanted (Ice silver metallic, base) for a thousand. and then it was on them to wait until the factory started accepting orders (around a six month wait) and then for the car to get built and delivered (another four months) before i had to go through the trouble of buying. and i got the car at MSRP by doing it like this

every dealer is different, especially post-covid. you might be able to pre-order at some, subject to their conditions of course, others will only sell off the floor.

a good first step would likely be to visit a few local dealers or at least call and ask them about their process--every dealer handles it differently, though i've known plenty that refuse to deal with over-the-phone stuff. yes, even in this day and age.

I was eligible for Subaru VIP program though my employer which gets me invoice price (about 2k below MSRP). When 2023 orders opened (April of 2022) I got a list from VIP website and walked in to first dealership on the list, ordered there with $1000 deposit, no credit check. Car arrived 5 months later. I told dealerships I don't want unwanted credit checks, I would try only Subaru financing which is through chase and had 2.9% apr then, if I wasn't approved I was going to pay cash. I went with limited mainly due to blind spot monitor, I always look and don't rely on it but it still can save my a** someday, 2k difference was minimal for me, plus I really liked the seats.

I would say order 2024 model year with specs as you want. There are accessories that are better added to order like STI short throw shifter which can cost more to buy and install vs adding it to order as port installed option.

Color and trim level... the rest, as you surmised, are all "port installed" options. You would be better off buying the parts and installing yourself, much cheaper.

Fastest way to get a BRZ is to talk to the dealers in your area... tell them you want one (I did all that online). I saw one I liked on AutoTrader... the dealer said it was an order for someone else. The next morning they called me back, said the kid didn't have the money. I told them I did... done. Otherwise, you will be in for a looooong wait. In my area, the dealerships in affluent locales would order for themselves, then put decals and wings on them, and sell with a huge premium... 50 miles out, it was MSRP and no silliness. (PS: I think the inventory system of many dealers just automatically links with AutoTrader.... I saw many "customer order" ones show up!)

^i had done something similar back in '14. where i checked on autotrader/similar for local inventory, called the dealer to confirm the vehicle existed, then made plans for the next weekend to visit, test drive, and purchase. of course, that was back when most dealers had 2-3 sitting on a lot/showroom ready to go.

2 local dealers wanted to play games, and refused to test drive until i put down a deposit and sighed paperwork. they were also marking up the car "because of demand".

the 3rd dealer i ended up purchasing the 1st and 2nd brz's from later, which was a little further, was no/minimal haggle. i confirmed the vehicle, they offered a test drive when i arrived, sat down for paperwork, they showed me their best price below msrp (which was inline with expected), gave a soft-sell on some of the add-on's that i declined, then signed and drove away. i was in/out in under 30 minutes each time, which still blows me away that any dealer could've made the process that painless..

I am tempted to say "I hope so!" but it's a little premature. OK, I am one day into the process...

The 1st dealer replied to me stating "the Subaru closed the BRZ orders for 2023 and has not announced a date yet to start orders for 2024. The last factory order placed took over 9 months to get in for our client. Please let me know if you might be open to looking at the 2023 WRX?"

So if there is no way to order a 2024 yet, I am likely hitting a wall at any dealer. But, I also presume if I show up in person they might take me a little more seriously.

If there's a 2023 still on a dealer's lot within, say 250 miles, wouldn't it be great if there was one website that would search all dealers' inventories?

And, no, not interested in a WRX; it checks a lot of boxes -- the wrong ones.

[EDIT] OK, I did a Google search and found a website called cars.com that allowed such searches. There are several blue ones w/manual wishing 250 miles, the closest 130 miles away in PA. Perhaps I should pursue...

I'm not sure how to custom order a car without a salesman, from what I understand doing all that on the interwebZ just kicks you to a salesman to complete the transaction.

Hence the suggestion of going in and speaking with them.

While my journey ended up with a few strange twists when I bought my '22, this was the direction I was headed.

I started with the "contact dealer" at the end of the build and price on the website. Figured I'd start there before going the brute-force cold call method. Within 15~20 minutes and 3~4 text messages, I had an appointment for two days later (COVID restrictions) to place an order at a dealership; despite being after 10pm.

The dealership experience was low-drama and straight forward...and I paid MSRP.