Best Of

My Subaru dealer, which used to be a "family friendly" type of place, has been trying to rule the world. They have been buying up other dealerships and brands.

They are extremely aggressive with phone calls, texts, emails, and they try to trap you when you visit for service. They have one guy and all he does is look at service appointments and print out a vehicle similar to the one the person is bringing in for service and offer them a price on a new one.

I hope it's working for them because people I know who have, or have had, Subarus have some sordid tales.

A couple we know who sit in our section at baseball games are now driving a Honda. Evidently, they had their Outback in for state inspection, and it cost them around $2200. His wife was told, over the phone, that it needed 4 tires and I forget what else he said. The Outback had 15,000 miles on it.

A lady who helps out at our baseball league for disabled children was approached by the above guy when she was having her Forester serviced. He kept nagging her until she told him she didn't want her payment to increase. He finagled the numbers around until he hit her request. Then he said it was on a lease which she told him she specifically didn't want to do.

My daughter who just bought the Jeep GC said they called her 5 days in a row about something I forget. As you noticed she now has a Jeep - after having 3 Subarus before.

They have called me 3 times about making an appointment to have my wife's Forester inspected. I told them all 3 times that I was taking to somewhere else to have it inspected. The only things I have done there now are to get the free oils changes that were negotiated when we bought my Legacy and her Forester.

We have a few years to decide what we want to do when the time comes.

That sounds like a dealership on the brink of bankruptcy. Years ago we went to a Dodge dealership to inquire about a used truck we had seen on their lot. We were immediately barraged by multiple high pressure fast talking salespeople all trying to get us to buy something new right on the spot. Before we could even see the used truck one person was pulling up a base model short bed standard shift and asking us to sign right away. I told them I needed a long bed for the farm and my wife couldn’t drive stick and they immediately started trying to sell us on something else. At this point we were so freaked out we left having never even looked inside the used truck we wanted to buy.

About a year later the place closed.

@graphicguy RE: They ended up repairing torn quad ligaments and replacing the hip at the same time.

GG, I feel your pain and i hope you are feeling better soon. It reminds me of something that happened to me a few years ago. I had a lump on a toe near the joint It is caused by fluid in the joint leaking out) . I went to a foot doctor "Guy".
He said he was retiring in a month so didn't want to do any cutting or surgery any more, but he said I had 3 options;
1) leave it and it will probably breakdown eventually, but it could come back.
2) He could lance it and get rid of it, but it could come back, or
3) Go to the hospital and it would get removed permanently.
I chose 3, might as well get rid of it forever. The doctor at the hospital called after about a month and made an appointment for me in about 3 weeks time. I parked at the hospital, here you pay about $10 an hour, waited for over an hour, then was told to go to a room.
The very pretty young lady doctor and her equally pretty assistant told me to lie down on the bed. Just then I had the presence of mind to ask, "Once you do this when can I return to playing tennis?" The young doctor said you'll have to wear a boot for 8 weeks, so no tennis!
I said, I can't waste 8 weeks in the summer not playing tennis (or pickleball), can I cancel?
She said, yes, of course you can.
I walked out and I could hear them laughing as I walked down the hall. They probably thought I chickened out of having it done.
Anyway, the bump disappeared shortly after and never came back.

That's probably what they said about you and the reason they were laughing.

@stickguy said:

Jip him. You know what you want. And sales are tanked.

Only 3 numbers matter. Tell him $700/month, $1,000 DAS on 36/36000 and you will pick it up this weekend (of course I made these up so whatever your bottom line is) take it or leave it. Pretty simple since you are doing all the work for them.

Exactly what it will come down to!

I thought the listing was wrong and all Laramie were the 5’7” but looking closer it is the 6’4” bed. Current one is the 5’7”

No wonder it’s been on the lot forever.

Well … for the right deal I’d take it. It’s not like my current one fits in the garage anyway

I drove a Ram Rebel trim today up to Vermont. Electric blue with an over abundance of faux louvers and black accents meant to look aggressive. Lots of screens and displays that would have put me in a ditch if I tried to play with them while driving. It had large knobby “off road” type tires which whined just enough to be annoying. Otherwise it was a nice ride.

If you want an 8’ bed you could get what I think used to be called the Classic trim with a single cab. Although they may have discontinued that too.