The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

(subtitled "The joys of dealing with car salesmen).

So, I signed for an XV - one with the lot (S, auto etc). Expected delivery end of June/early July, in other words it hasn't been built yet!

Here in Adelaide we have one dealer in the CBD, one in the suburbs (where I bought my Forester) and three, I think, in "near" country areas. Not a lot of choice. I had already decided that, as with most things I buy, I would approach the dealers, tell them what I wanted, and ask them for the best price they could do. I would not discuss their price with other dealers, it would largely be based on whoever gave me the best price straight up.

Pretty optimistic of me, huh?

I had already discussed it with a country dealer (where I test drove it), and was waiting for him to get back to me with a price.
Next stop was the suburban dealer. At that stage we were going to get an L (mid-range), as my wife only decided afterwards that we'd get the S. She drove it, and then we sat down with the salesman (we'll call him Bob, not his real name, of course). I told Bob that I wasn't going to sign that day, all I wanted from him was his best price on the car. Eventually, he hinted at $35,000 ($3500 below retail) if I'd sign that day. He gave us the usual guff about end of the month/end of the quarter deals. Then he pulls out some prices and says he'll work off the fleet price, which also gives a discount. (Hmm, thinks I, I'm not a fleet buyer, someone is going to have to falsify the paperwork and it won't be me!). I think my wife would have signed then and there, but I said no, but do you think I could get a firm figure from him? When he realised I wasn't going to sign, I got the feeling he sort of lost a bit of interest.
So we left.

A couple of days later I went back the the city dealer. I hadn't intended to, as my first visit left me feeling a bit uncomfortable with them, nothing I could put my finger on but there it was. Anyhow, they gave me over to a young, fresh-faced kid (mind you, compared to me almost everyone is young and fresh-faced) and I told him the same story, that I wouldn't sign anything yet and just wanted their best price. After a while it became obvious that "the kid" understood the cars they were selling, and also much of the opposition. It also transpired that he went to school (in a country town) with my son-in-law! I tell you, Adelaide is a small place!!!

He called over the sales manager, I went through my spiel (again - no, I wouldn't sign...) so they worked up a deal for me to talk over with my wife. A very good deal, in fact, and based on their figures (and I have no reason to doubt them) they basically dropped their profit margin on the car. They said that if I was a happy customer then it would repay itself in recommendations plus hopefully I would get the car serviced there. Fair enough, I thought. So the next day I went back and signed (managed to screw them for a set of car mats ). They did, however, also offer me one other thing. Because I needed the second car by the end of May, when my daughter and her family return from overseas for a while, and mine obviously wouldn't be here, they offered me a loan car to use until mine was ready. No charge, free, gratis. And it would be a current demo, probably a Forester or Outback. Now that, I thought, is customer service. Gotta be happy with that.

The country guy rang back, and he was only a couple of hundred $ more, so I think I would have been quite happy dealing with them too, they seemed pretty straight about things.

This afternoon I got a call from Bob, asking me where I was up to with the car. I told him I had signed, and he asked me how much and then said so it was pretty much what he had offered and was disappointed that he didn't have a chance to deal. I told him I had asked him for a price and he wouldn't give me one (unless I signed), and he had had the same opportunity as the others.

Based on the figures I had been given, Bob's original "suggestion" was something like $2000 below the base level when the dealer's margin is taken out. There is obviously no way they would have sold a new model/new car to me at that price.

A couple of things became apparent during my "journey of discovery". The S model is easily outselling the other two, and the auto is outselling the manual. The feeling seems to be that Subaru have under-priced the S model, relative to the others.

And they vastly under-estimated how many XV's would sell in Australia.

I had also forgotten how much I hated buying a new car!!

first off congrats on the new car! sounds like you got a good deal
the loan car is a missive bonus even better if it come with a fuel card
"bob" would be kicking himself i bet!

Yep, Bob is the sort of guy who gives car salesmen such a bad rep. He said he expected me to come back and "negotiate" a bit more, as that's how these things are done . I guess he didn't think I was serious about the way I was doing it.

I forgot to mention that apparently the dealer margins on Subarus are pretty low, which doesn't give them much to work with, and that's why it's difficult to get much discount. This is made worse, for the buyer, when they can sell all that they can get their hands on. You can't get a silver (or white) S model for love or money at the moment (if any other dealer has one they won't swap it to any other dealer).

I found out today that Triumph motorcycles are the same, with very low margins for the dealer so virtually no discounting.

next time,may i suggest you type up a nice explain for the sales people as we humans often remember what we have read better than what we hear - save you repeating yourself and gives them an idea that having printed it out - there may be more copies on other sales desks around the place and leave them a little gift - a pencil sharpener

Disclaimer :never bought a new car for myself but have helped a few friends save a little

That loaner is an excellent way to treat a signing customer. Maybe you'l post a pic displaying where the dealer is when you get it

If 'Bob' is a larger chap, then I have had some fun with him.

We were arm wrestling over a price, he donning his huffy pants, and wanted me to come inside to talk 'like men' (!).

I said I was fine, it was only 43C that day, and he was sweating like a pig...he eventually stood in the doorway, adjusting his huffy pants, and, I shit-you-not, said 'at that price I make nothing, and will not reach my sales quota, which means I cannot pay for my daughter's 21st...'

I offered to meet his price if I could come to his daughter's 21st...

NO DEAL!

sven '2' wrote:if 'bob' is a larger chap, then i have had some fun with him.

We were arm wrestling over a price, he donning his huffy pants, and wanted me to come inside to talk 'like men' (!).

I said i was fine, it was only 43c that day, and he was sweating like a pig...he eventually stood in the doorway, adjusting his huffy pants, and, i shit-you-not, said 'at that price i make nothing, and will not reach my sales quota, which means i cannot pay for my daughter's 21st...'

i offered to meet his price if i could come to his daughter's 21st...

no deal!

gold!

Afterall , you woulda paid for the party - thought that was a fair and reasonable offer. Poor Bob

sven '2' wrote:
I offered to meet his price if I could come to his daughter's 21st...

NO DEAL!

classic!

Good one, Sven! I love it! And no, he wasn't a big guy but must have gone to the same "how to sell" school .

'at that price I make nothing, and will not reach my sales quota, which means I cannot pay for my daughter's 21st...' Does he think anyone would really fall for that line? Good grief!

And yes, I'm happy to name the company I signed with - Jarvis Subaru (it's a large, private family owned company, which surprised me). I think what put me off initially was the very large, shiny, flashy showroom. It must have triggered a sub-conscious warning, based on past experiences. Anyhow, they appear, thus far, to genuinely take the customer seriously. Time will tell.

i use to drive car parks (Car Carriers) on the east coast, i was at a car auction one day waiting for a load of cars to take north. got talking to one of the sales reps that i had delivered cars to about what to buy he said that they only buy used cars that didn't need work on them and that they could sell quick and make no less then $2500 on the sale and they know what they can sell quick he had a list in memory so to speak of what to buy. most of the trade ins go to auction saves them fixing them up for sale no extra money spent. if the car had been sold by them and the owner was upgrading then they would most likely sell it with history,books and satisfied returning customer bull shit

thanks for sharing your story.
seen two XV's on my short trop home from work today 7km. They are selling quickly no doubt

Revmax, seeing your info just reminded me - as I said, the young salesman came from a large country town, and he mentioned how much Brumby's are in demand by landowners. Seems that, even considering their age, they tend to fetch relatively high prices!

yer tell me about it. I feel the same and am not in any hurry to give up my Brum either

From a work mate who has traveled Australia. He says that in Victoria every where you turn there is a Brumby in sight, probably an exaderation but his point is Vic has the highest population of Brumbys.
he probably took notice cause he bought a NEW Subaru back in 76, although not registered it is still on his farm and he WILL NOT give it up.

revmax wrote:From a work mate who has traveled Australia. He says that in Victoria every where you turn there is a Brumby in sight, probably an exaderation but his point is Vic has the highest population of Brumbys.

I'd agree with that. But I'd also say that victoria's country towns are closer together than the likes of outback NSW, QLD and parts of SA too - thus you can cover less country and see more vehicle if you get what I mean.

Well done on the buy Dikman - I hope you update us with the ups and downs of new car ownership - and the new model's performance in terms of service costs/1st model bugs (not that I'm hoping there is any!) etc

Cheers

Bennie

El_Freddo wrote:1st model bugs (not that I'm hoping there is any!) etc

Me too! Still, I have more faith in Subaru than Holden/Ford .

Think trhe bugs were ironed out with the 360

At the risk of further boring you guys, I just remembered that I didn't mention the obligatory hard-sell to try and get me to sign up for the paint protection/interior protection/window tint!:rolleyes:.

After paying the deposit, I was introduced to a "customer service" person. I knew what was coming (why is it always women who do this job?). I told her not to waste her time as I wasn't signing, but she insisted that she had to go through it all. She offered me a "super special" deal, heavily discounted, so I said I'd talk it over with my wife (only way I could get her to go away).

So, a few days later she rings, wifey answered the phone and I chuckled to myself as I heard her being put through the mill, even though she told her straight out that we didn't want any of it. She gave the phone to me and I told her there were more important things that we needed, like a towbar and roof bars, for a start. She was incredibly persistent, saying that she was concerned about the leather if we didn't get the tinting (!) and that every car they'd sold had all the stuff done and that now she'd have to explain to the salesman why I didn't have any of it (as if the salesman would care?). I told her I had great faith in Subaru's quality control, and hadn't had any problems with the leather in my current car.

I can't believe that people still get sucked in by this stuff. A bit of research shows that it has a huge profit margin for the dealer, and you can get the same things done by specialist places considerably cheaper, if you still want it. (But a teflon coating to the paintwork is a new one on me!!).

A bit of digging on the 'net finds that even people in the trade agree it's a bit of a con (although the window tinting may have some benefits), and applying a good wax is as good as anything for the paintwork.

Shop around and you may find the same treatments at a price set by the applicator not a dealer. Other manufacturers have been double the service provided by a 'local'

All these extras seem to mean didley when it comes to trade in time

steptoe wrote:All these extras seem to mean didley when it comes to trade in time

You hit the nail on the head there Steptoe.
Dealers are only interested in getting your butt into a new car and making what they can out of your old one (if they can) and sending in the young chic to bat her lashes at you and smile to take your mind out of gear and get you to sign up for all the add-on's.

Hey, my daughter is at the stage she has had her 00 WRX LTD and it's got a bit of a death rattle in the bottom end and she is tossing up between a XV and a Nissan Dualis, she reckons the XV manual is too gutless though loved the interior but wants leather so is leaning toward a 2wd Dualis.

I'm doing everything I can to change her mind & hopefully will as I talked her into driving them both again soon explaining the better clearance, knee airbag and much better handling at speed, she's doing a novated lease and has a great job with high pay so I'm hoping she'll spend a bit more for the upgraded XV.

So anything you can say to help convert her as you haven't really said much about the actual car...........Or am I missing a thread.