Why are 2013 Imprezas delayed delivery until December?

turnip2turnip2 Member Posts: 4
My daughter ordered a Limited Impreza on the first day the 2013 were open online in mid August. I see Subaru is bragging about such high sales in August but since hardly any 2012 left to pick from these sales figures have to be for ordered 2013 models that only have a deposit on them. These sales could easily unwind. Why does the press publish these phoney sales numbers?
At the time of the order she was told 6-8 weeks to get the car. Also that two weeks before it arrives dealer will get notification the unit has shipped. It has been six weeks and now dealer is saying November possibly. No one can tell us why it is taking so long. Daughter called Subaru of America yesterday and now they are saying it could take till December but zero guarantees. Also no explaination of why it is taking so long. Also their website doesn't warn consumers about this either.
Does anyone know why the delays? How can we believe anything they tell us since the delivery date is always a moving target and not even reasonably late.
Is it because exchange rate is not good and cars sitting on the dock since that is an issue with Japanese cars at times? Also are the riots in China in Japanese plants stalling getting parts for the cars? Is Japanese economy and banks not able to lend out enough money causing production shortages since Subaru is the smallest of the car manufacturers there and not getting enough funding? I see they want to build a plant in the U.S. but it will cost 1 billion dollars and who is going to fund it? Is it the lack of power since nuclear power plant imploded and Subaru gets a smaller slice of power allocated? Are the cars glowing in the dark now? I see the 2011 and 2012 had recalls with brakes and that was the explaination of why they also held up those units too. Do they hold them up to avoid U.S. recall rules? What other cars are comparable to the Impreza hatchback limited version that we can actually buy and drive now? Are there ANY 2013 Imprezas here now?

Comments

  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Impreza is in high demand, and all of ours come from Gunma, Japan, a plant that is busy making all our WRXs and Foresters.

    Forester will change over to the new model soon, but hasn't yet. Frank just ordered one, but the cut off is very soon. That could affect new orders.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Don't know where you are located, but my dealer in Silver Spring, MD has two 2013 Imprezas in stock with several in transit.

    http://www.herbgordonsubaru.com/new-inventory/index.htm?listingConfigId=auto-new- &year=2013&model=Impreza&internetPrice=&start=0&sort=&facetbrowse=true

    In fact, I checked the web sites of several Washington, DC area dealers, and they all have some 2013 Imprezas in stock.

    Bob
  • turnip2turnip2 Member Posts: 4
    My daughter just got off the phone again with Subaru of America HQs and they still are giving her the run around and have no answer way it will take till December to possibly deliver the car. The dealer finally admitted that he ordered a sports model in error and then ordered the correct model so that put in a delay but didn't say how long. This was the fleet manager too. They told her the reason for the delay of the 2012 models was because they let the cars sit on the dock. They failed to say why. But there were recalls from what I have read. I wonder if you order a car with certain features it is put at the end of the production line? I don't trust Subaru right now if they can't be honest then it does make one wonder what they are hiding.
  • turnip2turnip2 Member Posts: 4
    edited October 2012
    @ rsholland thanks for the link. I sent it to my daughter. So there are in fact 2013's here already. That is useful information. I just think that when you sign a contract to buy a car and put the money down and they are told 6-8 weeks that is a contract. They should be held to perform it and I don't care who loses commission at this point. It is such a sloppy manufacturer in it's practices and the dealer is too. Hey the guy was the fleet manager who messed up the order. The guy from S of A said that he will try to find one closer to us but he wouldn't be shipping one from back east to her. I think he should do whatever it takes to make it right. I think the more of these they had to eat the profit on the less likely they are to be so blantantly calvalier about deliver dates IMHO. I think this is a very dishonorably approach for the Japanese. No offer of loaner car either. They offered crumbs like we will throw in 200.00 worth of extras. My daughter had her Sports Corolla totaled by an idiot who was driving truck and tailer and on his phone and is borrowing my car since it costs like 1,700 to rent a car a month. It just burns me that there is no accountability for the car dealer and really we are thinking about another brand of car that is equal to the Impreza with AWD and all. She likes the fuel economy of the Impreza compared to the Outback too. If the manufacturer and dealer are so lame now well I hate to think what happens with a recall and it seems like they have had brakes issues recently too. This has been way more hassle and it is suppose to be fun buying a new car.
  • elg77elg77 Member Posts: 5
    I just bought a 2013 Impreza Limited off the lot last week. Most dealerships have at least 2 or so in stock.
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 17,092
    If she ordered it, it may have something to do with the car's options that are factory-built. They build them in batches, but I cannot imagine it taking two months for her batch to come up. I'm generally told that factory orders take 6-8 weeks, though, so eight weeks is pushing December.

    I was lucky when I factory-ordered my 2010 Forester. It was right after the Clunkers fiasco, so demand was sky high and stock was quite low, but two weeks later the dealer called and said he was allocated a car that was "in port." I flew down two days later with plates in hand, gave them to the dealer, he had them installed, and ten minutes later I was driving home.

    Last winter, I heard people tell tales of 12-14 week waits on their 2012 Imprezas, but I doubt that will happen for the '13 model.
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
  • boogzboogz Member Posts: 5
    What kind of deal did you get on your 13 impreza? I'm in the throes with a few dealerships trying to get a deal on a 42 month lease.
  • fredjohnsonfredjohnson Member Posts: 48
    wow, chill out a bit on your daughter's car. Sheesh. It will arrive. If you don't like the wait, then cancel it. Big deal. Buy something else.
  • elg77elg77 Member Posts: 5
    Well I bought mine, didn't lease.
    I actually got a really good deal b/c I went at the end of the month and they were desperate to make more sales. Since it was a 2013 they couldn't give me much in discounts but they just kept raising the price of my trade-in. In the end they gave me more than 2X what other dealerships said my trade in was worth so that really brought my final price down.
  • turnip2turnip2 Member Posts: 4
    Well we finally got somewhere today. We had to take it to the owner and he made it right. I have to say I am impressed with the owner. I talked with him earlier this morning and by 1 pm he had an answer for me and a very fair solution. It turns out the car was ordered wrong and then reordered a month later but salesman never said anything and was hoping she would wait and not ask too many questions. S of A finally came clean on the order date on this unit since I think they were tired of taking the heat on something they had no control over.

    Well the dealer found out the next Impreza allotment cuts like this Friday and will know by Monday. The cars arrive in about a month. He is making a deal to get a car like the one my daughter ordered from that allotment and trade from another dealer.

    He also gave my daughter a loaner car until then. She just picked up a Subaru Forester which helps a lot since we lent our daughter our car and had to just use our truck which costs twice as much in gas. Now we get our Corolla back. We probably spent like 160.00 more a month over what we normally spent on gas plus we kept our trips to a very minimum too. Now we can do more and won't have to spend as much on gas. Yes I was hopping mad about the idea we would have to continue to do this till December because the salesman screwed up.

    @ Fred I would say that it is important to at least try to get fairness first and that was what we were doing. It took a few steps and many calls to finally reach someone who could provide it. When we first went up the ladder at the dealership they were more than happy to give us our deposit back to just get rid of us.

    The problem wouldn't be ours anymore but the dealer still had a problem he didn't know about. I let him know he had a problem with a person or process and I think he appreciated that. He is the one who writes the checks and pays the interest on the loans and all. If I was him I would want to know who is messing up and costing me money and unwinding deals on me. He must have found value in that and decided to make it right.

    So far this is a happy ending : )
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 17,092
    Thanks for the follow up, T2. I didn't realize that the car was already a month out. That would definitely put it in the outlier category for a December delivery!

    So your daughter gets a new Impreza and you're stuck with a Corolla. I hope she's the one paying for the new car! :P
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
  • birddog03birddog03 Member Posts: 2
    I ordered a 2013 Impreza at the end of August. We were told that if they found one with our exact color and options, we could get one earlier, but worst case, it could be 13 weeks. That put us into December and I had no problems waiting because I want a specific color and option package and I'm willing to wait to get exactly what I want.

    I'm not expecting to see my new vehicle until December and if it happens earlier, I'll be plesently surprised.
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