Subaru Crew - Future Models II

zman3

I don't know if Subaru limits how much you can apply to a vehicle purchase but I think the ones I have received have an expiration date of about four years out. I do know that I am capped at earning $500 per year on my card.

ateixeira

$2 grand max, then?

Not that I'd earn that much. But it could still be a substantial amount over 4 years.

-juice

hypov

Max limit of $2000 can be applied to vehicle purchase, unless you have subie bucks that were grandfathered after the program was revised which can be used in addition to the $2000 earned in the new program.

-Dave

zman3

$2000 cap sounds like it makes sense based on the Subaru bucks I have received. We get what, 3% of purchases? That's $16,667 of charges per year to earn the $500. I made that this year only because I finished my basement and charged whatever purchases I could. I don't anticipate maxing out in future years.

I have found that I actually like using the bucks on parts and repairs. It makes them less painful. I also think I will be more apt to buy a car based on value and not if I have enough Subaru bucks or not.

Karl

ateixeira

We might come close to that max, so we should really get that card!

Being able to spend them on parts and maintenance is just an insurance policy, if Subaru goes insane and they start selling VersaTrak equipped GM cars.

-juice

c_hunter

When I did the 30K maintenance on my wife's Forester, I ordered all the parts from Libery Subaru and threw in a couple oil filters to round it up to $100. Mailed them a single coupon and got the parts a few days later, no money out of pocket. Can't beat that deal!

Craig

luck11

May want to check out CITI bank Driver's Edge M/C...no annual fee. CITI applies 2% of all purchases towards Drivers Points up to $500 per year, up to $2500 for any one vehicle. Points expire 5 yrs after the date upon which they were earned. This is the best part: ANY VEHICLE MAKE OR MODEL, BUY OR LEASE! Simply send a completed redemption form and a copy of the invoice/lease to CITIBank and they send you a cheque. Greater flexibility. Presume this is avail in the US. I use it everywhere MC is taken...groceries, auto and home insurance etc. I have a significant amount accumulated so far (mind you, I used it for many purchases while building my house).

Unfortunately, Subaru card is not available in Canada.

Cheers.

volkov

to spend 16K on your cards? Let me help, just send a second card to my wife. You'll hit your limit in 3 months. Sadly I'm not joking.

Luck 11: I wish I'd known about that Citi card being available in Canada.

Nicholas

ateixeira

But that's 2%. I sold the idea to my wife because the 3% was a lot more than the 1% we are currently getting from the Toys R Us program. So while a good idea that would cut the delta in half.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

-juice

luck11

Funny, 'cause, believe it or not, my wife is the frugal one in our family! Shucks darn, that means I have to do the spending! I learned of it through one of those many unsolicited envelopes for credit cards that come in the mail every week and usually toss out...the Driver's Edge caught my attention. Once I researched it, I switched immediately. BTW, you can also get your picture on the card...no charge!! Great security feature.

Juice...I hear you on the 3%....I wish we had the Subaru card in Canada. I looked into it before I purchased my 00 OB, but no go.

zman3

Oh yeah, a picture on the credit card. That's a splendid idea. Have you seen any of us???? That would be enough to make me keep the card in my billfold!

salbaby1972

Picture cards are great in theory, but next time you use a picture card make sure to see if they verify that the photo on the card is you. MOST cashiers just match the card with the ID or Driver's License handed to them AND NEVER verify that the person standing in front of them matches the cards.

luck11

Actually, I would have to say that 7 out of 10 actually verify its me in the picture...perhaps because it seems to be a bit of a novelty up here. Some don't bother. Heck, I've gone to places that don't verify either the signature or the photo!! I guess the security is only as good as the cashiers are disciplined at checking it.

Anyway, back to Subies.....

sweet_subie

have 2 cr cards. one in my name & the other in my wife's.

so, you can earn 2000 quickly.

ateixeira

Don't want to scare people with a picture...

Wife says get the card now, I'll call today if I have time.

-juice

sweet_subie

saw a 9-2x wagon.....it looks really nice compared to WRX !!!!!!!!!!!!!

not a bad idea for subaru as well. becos they know WRX sales will fall esp. due to Forester XT so, this is a nice way to increase sales.

kens

I think the WRX sales will also be impacted by the Legacy GT. I'm sure we'll see a number of current and potential Subaru-loyal WRX buyers switch to a base Legacy GT sedan 5MT.

Ken

zman3

I don't think I will typically max out during the year but I hadn't thought about getting two seperate credit card accounts, one for me and one for my wife. We currently have two cards on the same account.

When it comes time to buy a car, can you combine the two sets of Subaru Bucks and if so, do you have to title the car in both peoples name? Anyone know?

c_hunter

I don't think it matters if you mix them (as long as you stay under the max use limit) -- but I'd also like to know, as we're in the same situation. Combined, I think we'll have about $1000 in Subaru bucks by the time we're ready for that new GT...

Craig

volkov

I'm with Ken on this, and I've said it before. I expect the Legacy GT to impact WRX sales much more than the FXT. I think that WRX and Forester buyers tend to be different. Yes there are exceptions, but go over to Nabisco and I expect you'll find a few WRX drivers who'd consider a legacy GT, but very few who would trade to a Forester XT. I see it more of a continuum from WRX-Legacy GT-Outback XT-Forester XT with MOST people less likely to cross-shop the extremes.

Nicholas

lark6

A few WRX owners have traded for Forester XTs. One of the more notable is our own bluesubie. ;-)

Ed

ateixeira

We're also getting 2 cards, soon as I find the time to call.

Remember a lot of WRX owners will move up (in size, at least). I bet we'll see a lot of used ones for sale soon.

-juice

volkov

I made the point of saying there are exceptions. I think you have to be careful of what we call "Sampling Error" in the research realm. My reference to Nabisco is because there are two completely different demographics at the two sites. We are older um I mean wiser, more thoughtful and conservative. Come to grips with it!! I have - I cruise both, but know I belong here. WRX owners are the minority here. I swear the average age of WRX drivers over there is low 20's. I get blown away by College and even high school kids talking about their Rexes or STi's!! SOA has done their WRX and STi consumer survey over there too. If they are smart, they would ignore our opinions on the WRX and STi and follow the 'Bisco because it is more representative of the target demographic.

Nicholas

zman3

Try to follow my question here:

Is there really a cap on how many Subaru bucks you can apply to a car purchase, or is it more or less driven by the fact that each card account can only accumulate $500 per year and there is a four year expiration on the bucks. In other words, assume I maxed out a card each year and my wife maxed out a card each year. That would be $1000 each year total. If we both did this for four years we would have $4000 to apply to a car as opposed to $2000. Could we do that or is it really a hard cap of $2000 per vehicle purchase, imposed by Subaru?

Thanks.

Karl

ateixeira

I bet there is a cap, but I'll wait to see what the official answer is...

Still, can you use coupons in two different names? If so, you could reach that $2000 limit in half the time, potentially.

-juice

rsholland

http://www.fhi.co.jp/fina/english/financial/pdf/shiryo/fhi-vi-200- 4.pdf

ateixeira

Compete on value, not price.

Size of company similar to BMW and Audi.

They're trying to grow the Outback in Japan.

Legacy gained major market share over other Subies.

Strengthen alliance with GM (*barf*)

Marketing shift towards Performance.

They mention rechargeable battery, HEV, and diesel but in the next sentence they mention the alliance again.

No big surprises really.

-juice

robr2

Did you notice on Page 12 of the pdf the 2 "grayed out" vehicles. One looks like traditional square box SUV and the other a more swoopy design SUV/Crossover.

I thought only one larger vehicle was on the boards.

ateixeira

OK, being tremendously interested in the big Subie, I copied the image and started comparing the greyed out cars.

The bottom one looks like it might be the Outback, but if it's to scale, it's a lot bigger than the Legacy wagon at the bottom. In fact the Legacy image fits inside it completely.

The upper grayed out image is bigger still, also it has a taller, rounded roof.

Two new vehicles?

Or is that bottom one just an Outback, not to scale?

Dunno, but it sure is fun to speculate.

-juice

sweet_subie

Will fuel prices affect Turbo sales. is very likley esp they all need premium.

did anyone think of this ?

ateixeira

Perhaps a little. But there was pent-up demand, so that'll just mean less waiting. I still think they'll have no trouble moving them.

-juice

sweet_subie

it is the crossover, the rear door is flat unlike in the legacy/OB which is slanting.....

locke2c

All three of my vehicles currently require premium. It is an insignificant component of the overall cost of ownership/operation in my case.

If someone drives 50,000 miles per year in a vehicle getting only 20mpg, I could see that being a relevant factor.

it's all emotion. I realize that emotion rules the day over logic and numbers often, though. I know of two co-workers who recently convinced their wives to let them spend $5,500-10,000 on motorcycles so that they wouldn't be daily driving those "gas hog trucks/SUVs." now I'm no CPA, but I suspect the payoff on that transaction is measured in years rather than months.

~c

rcf8000

But their life expectancy might be measured in months!

subearu

I don't mind putting premium in my F-XT either, especially since both of our vehicles only average about 10k miles per year.

Hope those guys bought helmets to go with their new bikes!

-Brian

sweet_subie

for 10k miles a year, why do you need a new car ? j/k

salbaby1972

Need? When you look at the 05 Legacy and Outack, want is coverted to a need in about 6.5 seconds.

subearu

or about 5.3 in an F-XT ;-)

-Brian

locke2c

whatever! I've been riding a long time. I wouldn't do it in DC/NoVA traffic but it's perfectly safe here.

and yes, they both wear helmets.

~c

ateixeira

Colin the Oil Baron speaks his mind. I'm sure your pension is tied up in those oil prices some how...

;-)

Miata is a practical alternative if you think a bike isn't safe enough. I still tend to keep to the back roads. 27-28 mpg ain't bad either.

-juice

locke2c

ha! I wish. for starters, I doubt I'll be here for 20 years to earn a pension. also there isn't anything resembling profit sharing going on...

for the average person, the premium for premium gas amounts to 2-3 whoppers per month at most. if you don't eat fast food, buy a bottle of wine. if you don't do either, take in a movie. it's insignificant compared to your car payment and insurance.

~colin
(don't even make me bust out the math yet again!)

ateixeira

Haven't had wine in a while, and I have to force my wife into a fast good joint.

She says I'm cheap, but I told her she could super-size it! ;-)

19/25 is reasonable IMO. 17/23 for the F-XT is borderline, but mostly because of range - the tank is a gallon smaller on top of the 2 mpg drop in highway mpg.

I care more about range.

-juice

salbaby1972

If you drive a FXT, GT, OBXT you will have to subtract the entertainment value from your cars TOC and move it over to your entertainment expenses. Yes, they are fun to drive and you can skip the movies, wine, and Whopper!

ateixeira

Roller coasters, too...

-juice

sweet_subie

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=7183&sid=18- 1&n=157

sweet_subie

http://www.bakersfield.com/cars/story/4731278p-4781291c.html

sweet_subie

A lot of reviews think the new leg/Ob pricing is cheap considering its performance & in comparison to audi & stuff......

sweet_subie

SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. ANNOUNCES VOLUNTARY RECALL OF

2005 LEGACY SEDANS AND OUTBACK SEDANS

http://media.subaru.com/

rsholland

http://dealer-magazine.com/forum/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumI- - D=19&TopicID=404&get=last

jon_in_ct

Hmm, a link to a site with forums. Thought that was verboten.

Here's a note to sweet_subie: the 2005 Legacy and Outback ARE NOT future models. You can buy them today, ergo they're NOT FUTURE MODELS. I believe there's a separate Edmunds discussion just for those models. How about posting your "news" links about them there?

On the issue of Subaru Bucks: I personnally have a Subaru Bucks certificate that expires 01/2010. But all my other Subaru Bucks certificates seem to expire 4 years after they were earned so that one certificate was probably a mistake. Merely having two cards issued to different persons for the same account doesn't "defeat" the maximum of $500 Subaru bucks per year. You'd need to establish two or more separate accounts (different numbers) to achieve that.