2013 and earlier-Subaru Outback Prices Paid and Buying Experience

ateixeira

They have a few 05s left. Not many, but a few.

-juice

bat1161

Juice-

I agree that Fitzmall is a good barometer. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks we'll be able to get out to some dealers and see what they say.

The one thing I've found annoying so far, with one local dealer, was that as soon as I said I had the VIP pricing, the trade in value went down to almost $2700 less than what Flemington quoted me. At that value, I'm better off selling it on my own.

Mark

ateixeira

You almost always are.

When we bought my wife's 626, they offered $500 on the trade, we got $2200 for it!

-juice

bat1161

Juice-

I emailed you a question about Fitz.

Mark

jeep1988

Usually between model years, the price only differe bewteen 300-400 dollars.

rocks1

Hey mwhitt and njswamplands. I am in Kinnelon too. Used to be close enough to Flemington and LOVED their service. I have to replace my GT now (going with OB) and cannot figure out either where to buy OR where to service. What did you both end up doing and how is it going?

shanvo

(Newbie, trying post in a more appropriate forum).
Hi
I am shopping around for a 2006 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport SE, Automatic (I know not manual). I got a final offer from the dealer for $20700, OTD (Out of the Door). Michigan sales tax is 6%. My final offer was $20500. What do you guys think? Should I budge if the dealer does not come back. Over all what do you think about the deal. Also, this would be my first Subaru (none of my friends or family own a Subaru). Thanks a lot in advance to all you guys. Expecting your expert comments/advises.

In fact I arrived at this number $20500 (for OTD) after getting the TMV from Edmunds.com (which is 20500 before taxes, which I guess is pretty high).

One more thing, heard usually if there is a total down payment (no-financing) the dealers would reduce around $500 to $1000. Is it true across the board or depends on individual dealer.

njswamplands

hey kinnelon rocks, so many subarus.

just have had normal service done of the subaru so have been using local oil change places.

i bought from liberty subaru because they gave a decent internet quote and treated me with respect. i wanted to buy from wayne but could not get anyone interested in me there. loman subaru messed with me and lost my business.
so i bought far enough away from me to unlikely use their service. that is the call you have to make.

j6t3s

This board provided good info for me, so I wanted post my recent experience shopping in Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

2006 Outback 2.5 base AT w/ auto dimming mirror, armrest extension, cargo net and all-weather mats. MSRP 26800 paid 24400 (including rebate, prior to fees and tax). The base 2.5 (non-turbo) has plenty of power IMHO (not that more power wouldn't be more fun...)

Bought from Morries Minnetonka Subaru. started via email, closed deal with one visit and a couple of phone calls. no dickering, no hassle, no hard sell on warranties or clear coat treatments, etc.

Visited 3 other dealers in the area (and I previously owned a 2001 OB Ltd., so I had knowledge of the car).
Salesman at Booklyn Park Subaru walked down adjacent aisle watching me like I was a going to steal a car, followed me around the whole lot. Creeped me out.
White Bear Subaru was low key and easy to deal with, would have matched car price but offered $1000 less on my trade in (F-150 aka 13 mpg). Also easy test drive, let me go wherever I wanted, no hurry, etc.
Bloomington Subaru kept me in a chair for an hour while the salesman went back and forth to the manager, started out at MSRP, offered an 05 demo for sticker minus rebate, hard sell on dealer add-ons. Price started to come down after I mentioned that I had been looking at edmunds and other on-line info. offered less on trade in as well. (didn't drive an OB there, but drove an Acura TSX for comparison. Test drive was barely 2 miles with salesman giving instructions like the driving instructor I had 27 years ago. I only found out what a great car the TSX was when I tried another dealer, who copied my license & handed me the keys... what a concept... let the product sell itself! Just not the right car for me at this time.)
I didn't try the new Burnsville Subaru, as they are farthest from me.

Hope this helps someone.

bat1161

Having just picked up my new 06 LL Bean Outback Wagon from Flemington, I would defintely recommend them. I have been using them for service for the past 5 years, wtih no complaints. Even though they are 45 minutes away, I feel they are worth it.

I had found the car at another dealer (World Subaru in Tinton Falls) who was offering a decent price ($29500 before taxes after rebate) for a 06 with Homelink, Armrest, rear and side cargo nets, and wheel locks. I then called Flemington, who not only beat that by $200, but gave me $1800 more on trade-in (that for a car with the same options except the shock sensor instead of the wheel locks). All of this was done via phone and email. I finally saw the car when I went to pick it up Friday night! After my experience I would defintiely recommend Flemington due to the easy, no pressure sale, as well as their excellent service area.

Just for comparison - I went to the Staten Island Subaru (where I live)-
The girl who came out to help us had her blouse half way open, in slippers, with no knowledge of which model was which. I said I was interested in either the OB XT LTD or the LL Bean. She points to a base 2.5i OB and says thats the XT LTD. Then, after I correct her, she points to a 2.5i LTD and says there's the Bean. Finally she takes out a 06 Bean for a test drive. After the drive, when I asked what the car would run me, she quoted me the sticker. My wife and I left as quickly as possible.

One last piece of advice. Be prepared when you go and are ready to buy. World Subaru saw me pulling out the different print outs with all the break downs from Edmunds, and one other source. Seeing this he asked for my bottom line, and then agreed.

Mark

bianchi98

Hello all,

First post here - so, I'm shopping for a 2005 Outback XT Auto Limited. It appears
as though the rebates will continue in November (according to Subaru.com).
Edmunds has an invoice of $30,123. Subtracting $1500 cash back, gives a
price of $28,623-. I am not sure if the $500 to dealer incentive is in still in effect.
I'm in the Denver area, and the credit union buying service is quoting 'around 28,400'
which is about $1K more than the Fitzmall price. Can anyone suggest a target
price I should be aiming for? SInce ')6s are already being rebated $1K, I'd hope
to get a substantially better deal on an 'O5.

cheers

bianchi98

raybear

Try using Edmunds to shop your local dealers, there are some heavy hitters in your area numbers-wise. You may have to "settle" when it comes to color as inventories are way down on the '05's.

bat1161

I would also use carsdirect website. "build" your car, then submit. They will have a dealer in the area contact you. Then use the carsdirect price/Edmunds/Fitz to work out your best price. Bring along the printouts to show the prices. 05 XT LTD are getting very hard to find, at least in the NE here.

Mark

bianchi98

Thanks Mark and Raybear -- I'm going to test drive tomorrow, and if the XT is the one
for me, I'll shop around for quotes. If I can beat the credit union fleet price then all well
and good - if not, I'm still way under invoice.

cheers

bianchi98

trick18

Just picked up an 06 Outback with the same options in Atlantic Blue fro $23040. not icluding tax and tags.

bat1161

Good Luck! Let us know how it goes.

Mark

bianchi98

How does $28,198 sound? Invoice is $30,123. Essentially I'm getting the cash back and subaru to dealer incentive. BTW, this thing flies!!

cheers,

bianchi98

j6t3s

Sorry, need to correct my original post... should have read "paid 24400 (before $1000 rebate, prior to fees and tax).
that sounds a little better!

bat1161

That's a pretty good price! Fitzmall has a 05 XT LTD Auto for $29474, so yours is a good price. Enjoy it.

Mark

hox

Twin Cities,

What was the MSRP on the vehicle that you paid $23,400 on with rebate?

Looking at an 05 XT Limited 5 speed with options-MSRP of $32+K and priced at $27K. What are others seeing in the marketplace.

Thanks,

Hox :shades:

rsholland

As we all know, many car dealer sites have the "invoice price" posted along with the MSRP and Internet price. Is the invoice price what the dealer pays for the vehicle? I've heard conflicting answers on this. Does anyone know for sure?

Bob

bianchi98

Thanks Mark - I got it for that price, and couldn't be happier. It's truly a great car.

j6t3s

MSRP was 26,800 including the options.

ateixeira

Invoice is what a dealer pays up front, but they get a holdback after the sale which reduces their costs. And then there's the question of whether or not they include advertising and processing fees in that "invoice".

Just compare bottom-line prices, minus on tax and tags.

-juice

mosquito1

Thank you for this information. I am in the market for either a used Forester or Outback, 1999 - 2002, with around 50k miles. I live south of Rochester and plan to drive up to the Twin Cities this weekend to car-shop. You have provided me with useful info.

garandman

There's a $1,000 rebate here, currently. I have prices for two models delivered in MA (excluding sales tax) as follows:

Outback 2.5i (lots of colors) $23,272
Outback 3.0R (Champagne only) $25,856

Good?

bat1161

Checking against Fitzmall (a good barometer price wise) they both sound like good prices. Are these autos?

Let us know how you do.

Mark

garandman

3.0R is only 5 spd auto, 2.5i is auto.
New England has slightly different prices as they're distributed through Subaru New England. All prices include any "document fee" they add on.

Called Wakefield (MA) Subaru - where I bought my last two - and they quoted me $27,630 for the 3.0 and $24,926 for the 2.5i. I told them they were way off the mark and they came back with $23,488 on the 2.5i. But when you've bought two vehicles at a dealership previously, you kind of expect better pricing, not worse. IRA in Danvers MA seems to be the highest, they are very proud of their Subarus!

pnut311

I just got a quote for a 2006 Outback 2.5i automatic with the dimming mirror/homelink, front bumper guard, and shock sensor. The guy quoted an MSRP of $26946 and a sale price of $25151 before a $500 rebate available on a lease.

I can bargain reasonably well, but I've never bought a car so I don't really know what numbers to start at without looking like an idiot. What can I reasonably ask for that would be pretty aggressive but not ridiculous?

Edmunds shows the invoice for this configuration at $24776, but Fitzmall shows a "Delivered Internet Price" of $22875 for an Outback 2.5i auto with an invoice of $24775. I figure $22875 probably has a $1000 rebate already applied, so since my rebate is $500 could I reasonably try for $23375?

Thanks in advance!

j6t3s

If you go back a few pages on this board, I posted my deal - sounds like pretty much the same car: 06 2.5 AT, MSRP 26,800, I paid 23,400 including the $1000 rebate. A couple others reported deals a few hundred better. I think you can easily push for 23375. All they can do is say no.
Good luck.
750 miles and counting.... heated seats rock!

bat1161

Duh! As someone who just picked up the 3.0 Bean Outback wagon I should have remembered it only comes in auto

I think NE prices are $50 or $100 more than the rest of the country. I agree that as a repeat customer you should "catch a break".

Good luck!
Mark

xwesx

Well.... not the "rest" of the country, but a good majority of it anyway.

rob_m

IRA in Danvers MA seems to be the highest, they are very proud of their Subarus!

Huh. I bought my last 3 Subarus from the same local dealer in NH. When it came time to buy my 05 LGT LTD, my local dealer would not even come close to what I would consider a reasonable deal. IRA beat my favorite dealer by a couple thousand dollars, and gave me the best trade-in value on my old Subaru. I considered them very professional and low-key. Rob M.

garandman

Yes, certainly YMMV, Manchester (NH) Subaru gave me the best price and without any haggling.

denvrdav

Just bought a new Outback here in Denver. Was amazed at the showroom traffic. We had to wait and wait. But after shopping on line, I paid $23,500 with auto, armrest and fancy mirror. Got screwed on my trade. I got the blue color and was told that for 2006 all Outbacks are solid blue not with the gray trim of 2005 but alas the one I bought and its a 2006 is blue with gray trim. This is my first ever new car--traded a 99 Maxima that had zero repairs in 6 years and 94k miles. Not sure if I can do that well with the Outback but can hope!

raybear

Relax. Everyone thinks they got screwed on their trade.

ateixeira

The dealer is going to sell it at auction if it's more than 2-3 years old, so he's not going to be making much money on that.

If it's cherry you might see it in the used lot.

-juice

riverrat3

I'm about one hour away from signing on the dotted line for a 2006 Outback 2.5i Limited 5MT in Champagne. The only option is the fancy auto dimming mirror. After a fair amount of back and forth which involved bringing in ads from the Portland paper, Edmunds quote for invoice ($200 less than Subaru of America is currently showing) I have haggled to a price of $24,900 plus $218 registration fee. We have no sales tax here in Oregon. I am in Corvallis.

I believe (and hope) this is a pretty good deal. I think it is within a few hundred of the best I could possibly do by shopping in different towns.

ateixeira

But go for it. Don't fixate on what amounts to less than 1% of your up-front costs, that should not spoil the new car buying experience for you. Dealer employees gotta eat too!

-juice

riverrat3

Well I am definitely the type of person who needs to know he got the best deal possible, at least within reason.

Having said that, my time is worth something too- I'm pretty busy these days. Its not worth it to me to drive around to dealers in different towns and fight over a couple hundred dollars. Any free time I have these days is worth more than money frankly. And I live in a fairly yuppie town- I don't think I could have done much better here.

I'm pleased, as long as I don't hear in the near future of any signifcantly better deals. And if I do, oh well!

ateixeira

You save yime, money, and gas!

-juice

bat1161

I have to agree. When I recently bought the Bean I went to one dealer, where after lots of test drives we decided on the LL Bean wagon. I then compared prices from a couple of dealers through email and phone calls. It defintely saved "time(yime), money, and gas" to use the internet to shop around.

Mark

ateixeira

yime? Is that short for "your time"? :sick:

-juice

riverrat3

I guess I'm not getting your point about "too late now".

I most certainly shopped via the web, starting with Edmunds. This Subaru Crew site was a great help. For instance, I learned about Fitzmall here and checked with them. They are currently showing the exact same car we bought (2.5i Limited 5MT) for $24,837. They are on the other side of the country though.

I also compared prices in the most competitive market around here- Portland, and communicated with dealers there.

So what is your point about "too late now?" How much better than $24,900 do you think I could have done? (Options were the fancy mirror and security system upgrade.) I went back and forth with the dealer and got them to reduce the price three times.

I understand the point is now moot, but I'd like to know what you are getting at.

ateixeira

I'm about one hour away from signing

And that was 7pm, my post came in at 10pm.

-juice

sufaru

The local dealer in Norfolk VA has an 05 new XT LTD silver that he emailed me a "sale" price of 27984. Dealer is Perry Subaru. If you want to take a ride to the south, he'd probably come off a few hundred more.

sufaru

picked up a new gold OBXT loaded yesterday for essentially invoice (as listed on Edmunds) minus $1000 rebate so it ended up being ~$29300. Even after CARFAX showed my trade had been in a wreck (sideswiped, collected $900 from other drivers insurance and never got it fixed) he gave me $25 less than NADA for the vehicle in good condition. Driveaway with VA taxes, etc. was 30000.

Worst feature is the stereo/cd. Cant plug XM/iPod/MP3 player into it. :^(

grace_gt

I was offered $21,522(plus Tax and Tags) for a manual 2.5i with no options or $22,434(plus tax and tags) for an automatic. What do you guys think of these offers?

raybear

New cars or used? I think they lowballed you.

grace_gt

Thanks for the response, its for any new Subaru in their inventory. So I guess it's a good deal then?