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Thanks,
Steve
I'm in NYC.
I ordered my 2009 forester/premium/auto/prez with no options for $23,135 ( inld destination) + tax + DMV.
You should easily get the same or a bweeter price on yours.
Why would I get a subaru for 1000 more than the honda? That wouldn't make any sense.
For those of you that have done in depth comparisons can you please tell me the difference between the two cars besides the name? Thanks!
We don't mind waiting until the summer or later to get a new car because I've heard that subaru should have some incentives soon. That's from what I have read on here.
Also, they wanted to give us an interest rate that was higher than the 4.5% that is offered nationally for the 09 forester.
VIP price was $25.2k, but $1600 Subaru Bucks brought that down to $23.6k.
We have to wait, but the good thing is that if any incentives appear between now and then they will apply to our deal. :shades:
The best price I got was for just over 300 under invoice on a automatic x premium with lots of add ons (tail pipe covers, cross bars, puddle lights, ipod connector, subwoofer, tweeters, cargo tray, bumper cover, maybe other stuff?) Invoice was 24,100. The dealership offered me 23,750 + ttl.
where do you live? as that might matter. I've seen better quotes here in Colorado.
I believe they photocopy your license in case anything happens accident wise during your test drive, they have all your information. Some dealers will ask you to sign a liability waiver.
Word of warning though. I just read something on identity theft and they recommend that you get that photocopy back from them before you leave the dealer...you never know how they dispose of it or who might have access to it.
I was checking out used car prices as well as new when I was doing my research. I found I can almost by a new vehicle for the price of a used one...sometimes one 3 years old with 40K...at least that is their asking price good indicator. that is the main reason I'll be buying a new one.
To get the best price be sure to do all your homework first and know exactly what you want and what you are willing to pay, not just the final price, but know the itemized prices as well. Take the time to do all the research, even thougth you do know more than the salesmen. ;-) They may not all come into play, but the more info you have in any negotiation, the better. Determining how much a specific dealer is willing to give up to you could be important.
Get several internet prices for the exact vehicle you want before you even go into the negotiation. Read some negotiation books before you start if you are unfamiliar with methods and tactics. The worst part of dealing with the car game is that you are negotiating for yourself. However, the dealership puts the salesman between you and himself, the decision maker, giving him the advantage. There is nothing to keep you from doing the same thing. And it would help to keep your emotions, which get tied to the vehicle that you want, out of the game.
Many times, long pauses can earn you a better deal. I had a dealer come down $1000 and throw in a bunch of stuff worth about $750 recently by hemming & hawing and not really saying anything. If you are too frustrated to do it yourself, there are people out there who will do the negotiation for you and get your price.
Year: 2009
Manufacturer: Subaru
Model: Forester
Trim: 2.5X with Premium Package and VDC,AUTO DIMMING MIRROR W/COMPASS AND HOMELINK, PUDDLE LIGHT KIT
Transmission: Automatic
Odometer: 0 mi
VIN: JF2SH63679H7XXXX
Exterior Color: Sage Green Metallic
Interior Color: Gray
MSRP: $24,654
Invoice Price: $23,066
The sale price $23,483.
Doc. Fee $399
I need the car for the first week of August and I will wait to see if any incentives will be available in next 2 mo.
I agree with pgb, it sounds a little HI. If it is a dealer fee, it is a lot HI. what state?
Get other quotes.
Thank you for your help. I'm going to ask for internet prices right now for the dealers here in Delaware as well as the one in salisbury maryland and see what the prices are like. I bought my car two years ago and was able to get a great price on it from Mazda and now I'm looking at the 09 subaru for my fiance.
I know how to deal with the dealers and just walk out if I have to but I'm going to do as you suggest and I'm going to print everything out as well and take it into my car so if they question me I'll show them the price on kbb for her car and all that.
I really like the car and we would have gotten one on Thursday but that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop looking because that's no way to get the best deal possible.
Thanks again for your help!
Thanks again for everyone's help. I appreciate it!
I passed on the base premium with floor mats, rear bumper cover, and splash gaurds for 22500. So if you are in CT you can def get that or better if you do your hw and get a couple of dealers in the game.
Harte Subaru is great to work with and the internet service is nice.
Most pricing guides I see, including Consumer Reports, suggest that true dealer cost plus 4 percent is fair. I've also seen car-buying gurus suggest you settle for dealer cost plus 3 percent. Of course, these are only guidelines, since lots of things influence what a dealer is willing to take.
I ran your specs on Edmunds and got the same invoice as you. Consumer Reports shows the dealer holdback to be $705. So the dealer cost should be invoice less holdback, or ($23,066 - $705) = $22,361.
Allowing for 4% profit to dealer, your cost could be as low as $23,255, $228 less than the quote you got. That's less than one percentage point over invoice, pretty much exactly the same markup I paid for my LL Bean. I hope this information is helpful.
There are several websites that you can go to to get dealer quotes. A few are:
Subaru.com - you can actually check each dealers inventory and ask for that car.
Edmonds.com
Cars.com
Autotracker.com
Invoicedealers.com
Good luck!
Sounds like you really like this car...just don't let them know how much!
you can go to subaru.com, then go to "check inventory" or "find a dealer" and you will be shown all the dealers around you post code, from there you can open the dealer webpage, check the inventory, and if it have the model you are looking for, ask for a quote. I did that way, and some of them offered really good quotes for an Impreza WRX I was looking for, though now I am undecided between the impreza and the forester.
For the forester 2.5X + premium package+fog light and a few more extras (worth about $1000), we have been quoted $23.500+TTL more or less, in the Austin area, and there is still room for negotiation, because a friend and myself could be buying a car each at the same dealer, but definitely, no way I would pay more than that even for only 1 car, and forget ridiculous fees. They should total no more than $200, then the taxes depend on the state you are so you and the dealer have no control, but must be the same in every dealer in the area. I wouldn´t stick to that dealer if you have others at 30min drive. You may be quoted as much as $2000 less, and for $2000 I would drive even a couple of hours. At the end the car is the same, and after you have it, you can service it anywhere.
Get 3 or 4 prices asking through the dealer webpages, and then go back to that dealer and tell him no way you would pay more than that. If he doesn´t come down, go somewhere else.
And post here the results
Good luck!
Apart of some other bonuses, that run on a month to month basis, and on certain models, and particular to only an area, or only a dealer, Subaru has a program called Ascent, and another called Summit. They can be different depending on the area, but this is more or less how they work:
Once the salesman has sold 3 cars in a month, he can get about 100$ for each car that month, if he sells, lets say more than 5 (the exact number can be different for different areas), then he gets 125$ for each car, for all the cars sold that month. If he sells 7, then maybe 150$, and if sells 10, then maybe 175$ dollars.
So imagine your salesman has sold 9 cars so far that month, so he would get 9x$150=$1350, but if he sells you one, he gets to the next step, so would get 10x$175=$1750, so by selling you one car, he gets $400 more, apart of other profits they have, like holdback, etc.
So this salesman knows by selling u that car he gets $400 extra, plus all the others bonuses for that specific car (holdback etc), maybe he is willing to give you those $400, to get all the other bonuses, or maybe he is willing to give you half, lets say $200, that he wouldn´t give you if your car is just the 2nd he sell that month.
It is impossible for you to know what will he get with that car, and maybe the next dealer 10 miles away, can get even more by selling you the car, so you only know ur best deal by asking several dealers.
I recommend you not to make any offer until you know the prices of several dealers, because if you try to calculate the price by adding a 4% profit over the invoice for the dealer, and you make that offer, then he will not go any lower, even if he is getting really a 10% profit thanks to that car, he knows you are willing to pay that, so why would he offer a better price?. Better ask for prices, compare them, and then try to get it the lowest the possible, when the dealer doesn't want to go any lower, if you like the price, take it.
Different dealers in the same city can get different profits in the same car thanks to this programs, and even 2 different salespersons in the same dealer can have a different bonus, so though the sales manager will tell them the lowest they can get, maybe your salersman knows he will get more bonuses with just your car, and can push his sales manager, or give you some add-ons for free. You can not deal with 2 salesmen in the same dealer, but at least can check at different dealers and see what they can offer.
However, I am not sure our local dealer is giving us good price quotes - I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts. Here's what we're being offered:
LLBean with some basic options like all weather floor mats, aero cross bars, side molding, and a few other minor extras, purchase price $26,306. Lease quote is 42 months (?) and 15,000 miles w/$0 down, $439 month. Purchase quotes are 48 mos/$669 month and 63 months (another ?) for $529 month.
Any thoughts on the lease quote. The residual is @$14,500 (don't have exact #) and I have not been told the money factor but it has to be around 7.2% rate.
Thanks for any input, help, etc. I want to buy the car, but am not sure about those rates & prices.
I just wanted to give you the latest information and see what you thought about this. The dealer that I might go see tonight, otherwise this weekend, is offering 1% over invoice, a good trade in value as long as the car is in fair condition (which it is), and a $250 gas card as well as a good finance rate for qualified buyers, I'm hoping we fit that because I don't know what exactly that means.
What do you all think? I can get the Limited edition (that was the LL Bean before the name change) for under $26,000 and I've told him that if he gives me what we want for the trade in then we will get the Limited edition.
Thanks for all your comments. I'll check back in a little bit as I have a meeting to attend.
Thank you for all your help. Can you look up a LL Bean edition for me as well. I unfortunately do not below to consumer reports. Also, The deal I was getting was after the trade in. They really wanted 25k+ for the car and I said no. So they really wanted $2000 more. Look at my last post and tell me what you think of that deal.
They are going to give me the papers and show me the invoice price of the car and add 1%.
Thanks again for all your help.
Thank you for all your responses. I talked to an internet dealer about 40 miles away and he gave me the offer I posted before. He said he doesn't play any games because he realizes that I'm not a person that would just walk onto the lot since I live 40 miles away. Let me know what you think of that deal.
Or you can go to Consumer Reports' Web site and buy a new-car pricing kit, which lets you choose options and see prices and CR reviews for as many cars as you want for three months. You can compare them side by side and save or print the reports. This will tell you the dealer holdback and other incentives. I found the $39 to be money well spent. You don't have to be a member of CR's magazine or full Web site to do this.
I hope these tips help everyone fish for themselves.
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Keep the trade completely separate from the new car deal. Tell them you don't know if you will have a trade-in or not. Once you get a satisfactory deal for a new car cash price, then ask them to value your trade. That lets you compare the two separately. If they want to renegotiate the new car price after they agree to it, leave.
Keep financing completely separate from the new car deal. Tell them you are financing separately and will buy from them on a cash basis. Again, once you settle on a cash price for the new car, you can ask them to provide financing options for you to compare. They make money on financing too, which is fine, so long as what they offer you is better than what you can get on your own. I found that the current Subaru 4.5 percent financing was much better than other offers I had, even through Costco with my good credit rating. If you don't know your credit rating, you're entitled to a free report from each of the three agencies each year, but you have to pay a few dollars extra to get the important FICO rating.
You can Google all these topics for more details. Good luck.
Another question would be for all those that have purchased a forester what was the deciding factor for you?
Thanks again.
A note: I haven't seen the car yet so I don't know of the options.
http://www.subaru.com/shop/model_consideration.jsp?model=FORESTER
For us, the big thing on the LL Bean/now Limited was the power driver's seat. That was an option on the '08 Premium. If it had stayed in the '09 Premium we probably would have bought that instead of the Bean.
We looked at several small SUVs and even small hatchbacks. Key for my wife: Visibility. All the other SUVs (and most other newer cars) have huge blind spots and sit way too high in back for safety (as evidenced by how many children are being backed over these days). They have little pinched-up windows in the rear. No wonder they need back-up cameras. The '08 Forester is a bit better than the '09 on visibility, but the '09 is still vastly superior to anything else in its class, so we decided early on that if we got an SUV, it would be the Forester. We decided we needed the extra cargo enough to justify the Forester over a smaller hatchback (although we really loved the VW Rabbit). Fortunately, visibility aside, the Forester still is a great value, has good mileage, nice features, great safety and good reliability ratings. We are very happy with our choice.
Wish list: More features on the trip computer (distance till empty, mainly); softer seats (the '09 is better than the '08 but still could use improvement); rear air vents; body side moldings as standard equipment; and a hybrid model.
I have not found anybody else lower than 4.5% for 60 months- local credit unions in general offer better rates than banks here in Austin- the lowest I found was 4.5% for upto 66 months from a neighborhood credit union.
That bracket ranges from 699-660. You can see which credit scores qualify for which rates here:
lhttp://www.cars101.com/subaru/rebates.html#rates
One of the key features for us was also visibility, but we also liked the safety, handling, and utility features of the Forester. Didn't really see any viable competition in this class for the features that were important to us. I wanted to like the CRV and RAV4 based on the reviews, but didn't even bother to test drive them after seeing their poor rearward visibility.