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Unfortunately, because we wanted the black interior, we were limited to either the Paprika, Silver, or Black. 2009 models with Premium, AWP, and manual were nary to be had within reasonable distance (2500 miles) from Alaska. I could have purchased a camellia red '09 premium if i wanted to drive 4500 miles..... :sick:
Subaru is offering a very nice array of colors on the Forester. Unfortunately, there is just no variety of interior colors to match. If you want one color, you end up with the interior they choose.
In terms of colors, I like the Newport Blue, the Sage Green, and the Camellia Red the best, though the Paprika Red and Dark Gray are awfully sharp too. In any case, the blue catches my eye every time. My current car is sage green. I love the color, but it's time for a change.
Thanks,
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ee9c851/38720#MSG38720
At the bottom read where it asks for all the details, including model, transmission type, color, location, etc. All those things affect values.
They will tell you the dealer's auction value. You might get less on a trade if the dealer doesn't think they can put a 2004 model on their lot. You can get more selling it yourself. But it does give you a solid reference of what 04 Forester are selling for at auction right now.
I'm guessing it'll be around $10 grand or so.
Premium 2,319
Automatic 922
All Weather 339
Freight 720
Cross Bar Aero 145
Interior Illumination 65
Rear Bumper Cover 61
All Weather Floor Mats 50
Total $24,293
:confuse:
At this point, you're $600 over invoice, which is about half-way between invoice and MSRP. Again, depending on your market, you can do better. I would shoot for $23,500 and be willing to pay up to $23,800.
Also, if you are ordering the car and since you are already getting a couple of the items included, I highly recommend the rugged package. It includes the aero cross bars and rear bumper cover, along with body side molding (protects the doors from others' doors), wheel arch molding, and splash guards. In addition to trimming the car nicely, it also protects the paint along the lower side of the rig. It is a $600 package (at invoice).
How much of a discount should I expect ordering a 2010 Forester Premium that would have an MSRP of approximately $25,000.00?
Since there is no significant floorplan on a factory order should the discount be larger?
The pearl white looks fantastic but I want black interior for low maintainance. So I will probably go with silver. Love the pearl red but have it already in a Miata. Dont understand the addition of Paprika when it is so close to Camilla Red Pearl.
Does anyone have any strong feelings regarding purchasing the Turbo vs. the standard 170 horsepower engine?
If they had the WRX engine I would have no hesitation with 264 horsepower.
With appreciation of your feedback and kind regards,
Brandon
Versus a car on the lot, I would think so, but that is often not the case. It really depends on the dealer with whom you are working.
I would shoot for around invoice, if not a little under. If MSRP is $25,000, invoice will be appx. 94% of that, or $23,500. In person, Paprika is far different from Camellia Red. Camellia red is a deep red, regardless of light, whereas Paprika looks quite orange in bright sunlight, though it has a deeper, warmer hue in more subdued light. My car is Paprika and I have several photos of it on my Carspace page in different lighting conditions if you want to compare. Actually, for 4runshoper's benefit, the rugged package can be seen on the car, too.
I feel the same as you with regard to the turbo. I have a standard 2.5 in mine, and it is plenty peppy, but I would have been sorely tempted to get a turbo if it were offered as a 265hp variant; or even a manual transmission, for that matter, with the toned-down 224. As it is, it is fun and I am not likely to get into too much trouble with it.
I will target 94 percent of MSRP on the dealer order.
I would bet that the 2011 will have a CVT automatic with better gas milage and the higher horsepower Turbo. The CVT is rated for 29 MPG on the highway for the 2010 Outback.
Due to the success of the 2009 model, Subaru probably did not have much incentive to make significant changes.
So do you have an opinion regarding purchasing the automatic vs. the manual transmission?
The first Subaru was a '96 Outback with a 4EAT. The car had 220,000 miles at the end, and the transmission was strong and reliable. I never did any work on it other than a couple of fluid drains and filter replacements.
The second was an '07 Outback with 5MT. I only put about 9,000 miles on that car, but had no problems with the manual. The factory fluid was not sufficient for Alaska winters (they put a conventional 75w-90 in it) and would get extremely gummy at temperatures in the -30 or colder range. I replaced it with a synthetic 75w-90 that has a -65F pour point, and that improved both fuel economy and the shiftability of the transmission. Nothing noticeable during warm weather, but then half of the year here could not be considered warm.
The third was an '08 Outback with 4EAT. I purchased this car for a short-term trip and sold it four months after purchase (I bought the auto for ease of resale), but put about 7,000 miles on it. Again, the transmission was absolutely reliable. I noticed right off that at highway speed, the engine RPM is a little lower than that of the MT cars. I would say that at 70, the MT runs at about 3100 RPM, whereas the AT runs at about 2800 RPM. I also felt it was quite spunky. I very much liked the sport mode and the simulated manual mode (with gear indicator on the dash) as compared to the '96, which did not have those features. Some say the AT feels sluggish compared to the MT, but I guess I tend to run my MTs more with fuel economy in mind... at least most of the time.
The last is my current car, the '10 Forester, with the MT. I notice this time that the clutch pedal feels very muted, much like the steering, and I have a bit of a hard time feeling the trigger (engagement) point on the clutch plate. For the first couple days I owned it (during which I put over 2,000 miles on it), that made for a few awkward starts, but I have it figured out now. I am used to older/larger vehicles that have direct-linked clutch pedals and gobs of torque. This car also has a hill-holder feature, which basically acts like the brake remains engaged for a couple seconds after you take your foot off it to give time to transition to forward momentum. I hate this feature; my wife likes it. Again, I am used to it now, but for the first couple of days it messed with my mind because rather than do what I expected it to do, it sat motionless and I hesitated, trying to figure out what was wrong.... A nanny for everything these days. :P For leisurely accelerations, I've found the shift points to be 2nd, 5-10 mph, 3rd, 18 mph, 4th, 25 mph, 5th, 35mph. For not so leisurely accelerations, I've held 3rd past 60 and was around 4000 rpm, if I recall correctly.
As far as fuel economy goes, with me driving the MT returns better fuel economy than the AT; it is the opposite for my wife.
Thank you once again for the fantastic feedback on your experience with your four Subies.
My girlfriend has a 2009 Honda CRV and it is at least a generation ahead in my opinion in build quality and fitment over the RAV 4 and Subaru Forrester. It seems like it is assembled by alien technology. That is probably why it is the best selling small suv.
My attraction to the Subaru is the superior four wheel drive system and the CRV is a more feminine car. I do not want the ride and gas milage penalty of a more truck like vehicle like the Xterra or Wrangler although I love the styling.
So regarding your feedback with the manual transmisson how do you feel about resale value vs. the automatic transmission?
The vast majority of the Forrester vehicles sold are with the old four speed auto.
With appreciation and kind regards,
Brandon
We are going to try to get a...2010 Forester X, Premium, Automatic, All Weather for dealer invoice at Bill Kolb, Jr Subaru in NY...any thought on this effort?
:shades:
It still took me nearly three months to sell it, but that was because I managed to buy it just as the economy started to tank. I still made out quite a bit better than my alternative for the trip (combination of airline tickets and rental cars); I sold it for a couple hundred less than I paid for it.
In general, I doubt folks who buy new cars look to sell them immediately. From what I see, old used manuals tend to be snapped up quickly because (I suspect) they are 1., even more rare than in the new car market, and 2., cheaper (just like new manuals), easier to maintain, etc.
Really, in the end, it is just a matter of what you prefer vs. what is available.
My wife drives a 2009 Forester Limited, those only came with the 4 speed auto. It's surprisingly responsive, though. The compression ratio is higher than the turbo, so it actually responds to throttle inputs pretty much immediately. The Miata is quicker but the Forester never feels slow, in fact I think the initial response to throttle inputs comes sooner.
On caveat - we got the PZEV model, which is rated for 175hp, 5 more than stock.
If it were mine I might have insisted on the manual, but she really wanted to get it loaded, and the Limited only came in auto, so that was that.
The manual is both quicker and more efficient. CR got +3mpg with theirs, manual vs. auto. In the fuel economy threads I've seen people reporting up to 3mpg better than I can manage, though at 22-30mpg I'm not complaining.
The turbo gives up about 2mpg in real world driving plus you gotta use premium, so 10% more gas that costs maybe 10% or so more, figure 20% extra fuel cost.
I think if I lived in the mountains (say, Colorado) or if I were going to tow heavy loads with it I may have pushed for the turbo, but that would only make me want a manual even more, and you can't get one any more.
I am leaning toward a factory order on the Turbo in Spark Silver with minimal options targeting a buy price of $26,000.00.
To ateixeira. We were shopping for a Miata at the same time and I also purchased a PRHT in copper red. There is another couple who live near me who also have a Forrester and Miata.
Have you been satisfied with the panel alignments on your Miata? My doors need to be adjusted..
My only complaint is that the Blue Mica paint is very, very dark, and with a clearcoat it shows swirl marks and scratches all too easily. You basically cannot touch the paint at all for fear of scratches.
Other than that, no issues. I wish the bottle holder in the door didn't stick out, but I moved the dead pedal back 3/8" and that helped a lot. I may do the gas pedal mod next, not sure.
Your blue is a very attractive color and you made a good choice sans the maintainence part.
I am going to meet with a factory rep regarding fitment and may attempt to have them buy it back.
One panet has a gap of approxmately 7 mm, both doors do not fit properly, and the truck is misaligned.
Sorry to go off topic regarding the Forrester.
Forester Premium w/ AWP and no other options for $23.6k before TTL.
Are any of the Popular Equip Groups required (meaning every vehicle comes w/ one of them)?
Need some advise, please help...thx
I would like to order a Forester, but I am not sure how to price the car if it is a PZEV. I live in one of the states that require it. PZEV is listed on the car's sticker in PA, but without a price. Does that mean Foresters in PA and 10 other states have different invoice costs, if the cars sold there are PZEVs? Do I calculate PZEV as an option if I decide to order the same car in Ohio? Ohio does not require that dealers sell the PZEVs, but dealers there can order them, since they border a PZEV state. I have found some dealers willing to offer me an ordered car at invoice, but I am not sure how to work the calculations of invoice when I want a PZEV.
Thanks in advance for your help. I haven't been so lucky figuring this out on my own and I can't really trust the salespeople to enlighten me!
At invoice, the price for PZEV is $308. At MSRP, it is $300. :confuse:
My wife and I live in Alaska and opted to purchase a PZEV car. It was easy to get in Washington (which requires it), plus my wife really wanted to the lower-emissions car. I purchased my car for $300 under invoice. My dealer priced all options I added at invoice before deducting the $300, so I paid $308 for the PZEV.
Thanks for your help and advice, Forester experts. It is very much appreciated!
Congrats.
Need your opinion. About to pull the trigger this Saturday...NY taxes
2010 Subaru Forester, 2.5X Limited in Newport Blue $28,300 OTD
Included Accessories:
* Reverse Sensors
* Wheel Arch Kit
* Body Side Molding
* XM Radio
* Auto Dim Mirror
* Splash Guard
* Luggage Cover
What is the MSRP on your car and the price, before taxes and fees, you are paying?
2010 Forester 2.5x Premium, Automatic, All Weather Package, Remote Starter
My Final Offer: $24,000 (accepted by dealer)
Edmunds: MSRP: $25,391, TMV: $24,641, Invoice: $23,802
They showed me the dealer invoice and I added $20.
Once I made that decision, I sent out another round of emails specifying the car/option/accessories I wanted. Since I live in PA, cars here must be sold as PZEV, so when I approached dealers in Ohio, I asked them to order my vehicles as PZEV. I informed the dealers that I would buy the car immediately from the dealer giving me the best price at or below invoice. None of my local dealers would give me a price, instead offering me the car for $200-500 over invoice. When I turned those offers down, one dealer was quite insulted at my disregard for a dealer's need to sell cars at a profit. Even in this day and age, several dealers wanted to sit down with me before they would discuss price. Others promised deals at invoice or below IF I sat down with them first. I just wrote them back, thanking them for their “help” but telling them I had real numbers from others to consider. Throughout eastern Ohio, dealers offered me the car I wanted at, or $60 over invoice. One dealer in NW PA offered me the car at invoice with a lifetime power train warranty. Two PA dealers, both about an hour away, offered me the car at $200 and $274 under invoice. I will pursue the latter offer. As a courtesy, I emailed those dealers who offered to order my car at invoice to tell them I selected a dealer. Some emailed me back to attempt to better their offer. The lowest offer I got was $300 under invoice. Whenever I got a price from a dealer at invoice, their figures exactly matched mine. Interestingly when someone offered a figure over invoice or a percentage over invoice, their figures and mine rarely matched.
I appreciate all of you who have shared your buying experiences on this forum. The car pricing guides suggest that buyers are paying well over invoice for the popular Forester, but here several buyers have made much better deals. I am always looking to make a great deal if I can without entirely gouging the dealer. I couldn’t ask for a car at invoice minus all/part of their holdback. I have a style that works for me and has helped me make great deals on my last two cars. I couldn’t do this without the information I gain from this forum. Thanks, all.
Summary of car ordered:
Subaru Forester 2.5 Limited, PZEV
Navi
auto-dimming mirror w/compass
Rear bumper cover
all weather mats
ipod console
MSRP= $29,129
Invoice= $27,074
Edmunds TMV=$28,032
My cost=$26,800 + 7% Pa tax, license and tags
Subaru dealers I would recommend: Huebner Subaru (OH), Boardman Subaru (OH), Waikem Subaru (OH), A Crivelli Subaru (PA); New Team Kunkles Subaru (PA) and Kerven Subaru (this is where I am ordering my car). All of these dealers were responsive, helpful and willing to deal.
MSRP $24,890
Discount -$1,908
Adjusted Price $22,982
Engine2.5L H-4cylTransmission4-Speed Automatic
Ext. ColorCamellia Red Pearl
Int. ColorGrayStock
NumberCS821VINJF2SH6CC4AH738351
Model CodeAFF