Safety of BRZ purchase/transaction?
 

Colorado has lots of BRZ dealerships.
Clint at heuberger told me there's a shipment of 20 coming in sometime soon.
The sales rep (Eric) told me that I'd have to put down a deposit to save a spot, and the car would be prioritized to me. He said it could take 30 days or more for it to reach my door. What can I do to make sure that the correct car I deposited for will be sent to me after it arrives to the dealership (heuberger motors). I'm trusting Heuberger with this transaction but my mom is freaking out about if its safe or not. Idk how to respond to her worrying questions. Heuberger hasn't sent me a VIN because they haven't even received the car. My mom is thinking about just goin to a state dealer and paying an extra 2 grand just for the safety of the transaction and no wait time.

any thoughts?

if you're in SC, Folger Subaru had 2 BRZs sitting on their lot last weekend. I recommend checking them out.

You should have:

1) Receipt for down payment.
2) A photocopy of the vehicle pipeline report, which will have the VON (Vehicle Order Number); which will be replaced by the VIN closer to delivery date.
3) Motor Vehicle Purchase Contract.

If you don't have those; they just have your money. If you don't want the contract, that is fine; but they don't have to hold a car and you have no agreed price/etc. Make sure "This is a Finance Transaction" and box B "Acceptable to You" are checked. It's not a lot of legal stuff; so just read it all.

Without AT LEAST the vehicle pipeline report; you have no guarantee of a specific car/options...

They should be able to tell you the Model Code, Package specifics (B2N, QEV, QER, MEA, H8B, etc). For example, H8B is "wheel locks", price and Planned ETA. This all comes right from the pipeline report.

Your receipt should specify "Deposit on Inbound" or something to that effect.

Hope that helps. I take delivery of my BRZ on July 1st. My dealer called Yesterday (Monday) to update me with the VIN so I could inform my insurance company...

I ordered from them. They will give you a VON. Then when it comes closer to arriving they will give you a VIN. Once the car is in, they will ship the car with the correct VIN to you. Or you can go and pick it up

To be honest? You're freaking out about nothing. So is your mom.

A few notes:

• Pay deposit via credit card. You can always do chargeback if they don't deliver as-promised
• The actual down payment of the car (or "pay in full" check) will need to be mailed back with the signed documents that they send out to you. If you are financing then the finance department will arrange all that.
• 30-days or more, that is correct. This is because dealers do not have solo transport, those will be upwards of $1000-1500 or more. My friend transports cars for a living cross country, and it's all dependent on schedule. Sometimes it can be as fast as 1-2 weeks, sometimes it can be a month. It's like missing the bus and waiting another hour to catch the next one.
• Dealers aren't going to give a VIN until they actually have the car, because there's no point in providing all that info prior to the arrival of the car. What's to say the car makes it to the dealer in one piece?

Bottom line is, if these things freak you out, don't save $2000. If you don't have a good understanding of how these types of transactions work (especially how to register the car in your state), don't buy the car this way. Not everyone is comfortable buying a car out of state, and you should always use your best judgment (and that also involves NOT trusting a bunch of guys on car forums for information... we're providing our experience and opinion, but in the end the decision is yours and yours alone to make)

Having said all that.... I bought my car from Clint @ Heuberger. And spent a total of 10 minutes at the dealer, and didn't even bother inspecting the car up close. I drove it from CO back to LA without checking any fluids, tire pressure, etc.

Best decision of my life, absolutely zero regrets.

-alex

Edit: Sort of like buying a normal car, if you are VERY specific on what you want, you have less leverage to negotiate on the price. Just a heads up... because if you put a deposit down on a specific type of car, you won't have as much leverage as, say, buying any BRZ that fits your need in general.

Or, you can just get a FR-S and call it a day.

I'm in the middle of the whole process purchasing a BRZ with Clint. The car just arrived the other day. I put my down payment weeks ago and today literally they just took it out of my account. I gave them my debit card. Working at a bank I knew I had nothing to worry about, if anything was to happen I could have closed the card and they wouldn't have gotten a dime. But using a Credit Card is probably safer. And they can't give you the VIN till you put your deposit down and till the car actually arrives. The whole process so far I'm happy with. I should be getting my contract tomorrow to sign and send back out. They couldn't be my rate I was approved with my bank so I'm only paying for the car. I chose to pay TTL here in state when the car arrives. Hopefully the car will get here quickly

Don't register the car until the temp tags run out... you'll just be paying CA tax earlier for no reason.

Your CA title will start the day you go to the DMV. Have patience and enjoy no license plates for as long as you can.

-alex

BTW, this above only applies if the car is actually on order... the dealer often gets cars like the BRZ on allocation-basis ONLY, which means they don't know what is coming until Subaru sends a shipping order to the dealer.

That's why Clint suddenly had a ton of cars coming... Subaru allocated them a ton since they just randomly ordered a ton (i.e. 40 on order, 15 allocated, etc)

-alex

woa lots of responses! thanks guys! i did my research and i knew that there really wasn't much to worry about but i needed some facts to say to my mom to make sure she cools down. This is my first car purchase and hell, its time to grow up. I have to do it some day or another. Thanks guys, appreciate the help.

I think you need to reevaluate... your sources of information should be coming from the dealer, from the DMV in your state, and from sources of funding. You should not be using forum comments as facts.

We may be stating facts, but much like a home purchase, every situation is unique. You need to gather your own facts (NOT off this forum, but you can find the same info that we've talked about) and then present them accordingly.

Think about it: if your parents are co-signing for the car, why would they trust information from 3rd parties on an internet forum versus, say, a Subaru dealer and the state motor vehicle department?

-alex

There seems to be a misconception that the only researching I've done was through forums and internet stuff. In fact, I have called many dealerships and did the in-depth research. I can now announce that I have purchased a WRB limited BRZ MT that should arrive at my door in a month or so. thanks for everyone's help!

Congrats on your purchase... but just FYI, there is no misconception.

You are seeking help from forum members on what to say to your own mother to satisfy her concerns. If you've already done the research as you stated, you wouldn't need to ask us...

This advice is not just useful for a car purchase. It's also good for everything else from an interview, working in a professional setting, to even relationships.

What I'm getting at is: if you've done due diligence, don't stress about it. You can have 1000 people reassure you, and all you need is one tiny screw-up in the process of purchase, and sour your entire experience.

Word of mouth is great, but everyone's own experience is unique.

-alex

Your buying a brand new car out of a dealership, not speakers out of the back of someguys van, no idea what you so worried about... If they were super shade doubt they still be in business, and pretty sure SOA would tear them a new ahole

Congrats man, I have the same color and trim. Good choice!