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Comments
..Mike
I'm surprised that the 6-CD changer isn't standard on the LL Bean/VDC models.
There was also, on the back lot, an H-6 VDC (Pearl White) with NJ mfg. tags on it.
Bob
They have a few more scheduled for delivery in mid
November. Most of them are spoken for. They
expect to get their first VDC cars in January.
All of the VDC cars are spoken for.
They were charging 5 3/4 percent over invoice.
They are now charging MSRP.
I picked up my LL Bean on Saturday. The 3.0L
engine is has noticeably more power than the 2.5L
engine. The rest of the car is very similar to a
Legacy Outback limited.
Please share photos, impressions, etc.
-juice
I had a leaking transmission gasket from the day I took it home and some minor problems with the security system (any vibration set it off).Maybe it had something to do with the car being on the dealers lot almost 6 months before I got it, I guess Rio Red GTs aren't fast selling! The dealer fixed all that in the first 2 weeks or so and provided a rental car for 2 days also during the transmission fix. Nothing else has gone wrong yet (which I can blame on the manufacturer - various bits of interior trim destroyed by the kids the few times they are in it instead of the wifes van!).
I just had my brake pads changed for the first time! Never had a car go this far without needing them done earlier incl the earlier Legacy. I drive my car fast and brake quick too!
As long as I live in the snowbelt I will never buy another brand.
..Mike
..Mike
-juice
Has anyone ordered their Subaru from the factory (i.e. built your specs)? If yes, how did your negotiations on price work?
Second, and the reason I'd like to order the car, is I really want the CD sound system package! CD Player, upgraded speakers, woofer, etc. Has anyone had any experience with these items as Subaru-installed? Should I just do aftermarket instead? (I would think it would be easier to install such a system while the vehicle is being built!)
Any thoughts and/or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!
Has anyone ordered their Subaru from the factory (i.e. built your specs)? If yes, how did your negotiations on price work?
Second, and the reason I'd like to order the car, is I really want the CD sound system package! CD Player, upgraded speakers, woofer, etc. Has anyone had any experience with these items as Subaru-installed? Should I just do aftermarket instead? (I would think it would be easier to install such a system while the vehicle is being built!)
Any thoughts and/or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!
-mike
Bit
The premium speakers replace dual-cones with true two-ways. You can also add the tweeter kit, plus the subwoofer/amp under the front seat. Then you can add either a single CD or a CD changer in the dash. Lots of options.
The 2001 Legacy got some nice upgrades, like bigger brakes, a 2nd odometer, and a temp gauge. To get one with all the stereo upgrades will require ordering from the factory, since they're hard enough to find and the ones you see are lightly equipped.
Keep us posted.
-juice
Cheers,
-wdb
-juice
-mike
-Macca
Thanks
My first concern would be why are they selling in less than a year? Problems, perhaps? Unless it was a couple that suddenly had triplets, I'd be suspicious.
I guess it could have been a 1 year lease with a 15k mile limit, and the owner didn't want to pay the penalty for mileage. Find out.
As for the value, any used car loses 10% of the value immediately, and roughly another 10% per year, though it's less than a year.
I'd knock about 15% off the original selling price, which hovers around $24-25k, so that should be worth about $21 grand.
-juice
-mike
-juice
Bob
Went to the Costco web site and was pointed to another of the 4 dealers (Larry Miller Subaru Salt Lake City). They had just got 2 VDC's and 2 LL Beans in. Were obligated under contract to sell these cars for $ 1,000 above invoice - no ifs and buts. Thus ended up with a fully "LL" loaded (Woodgrain, mirror, security, air filter, cargo net etc.) VDC for $ 30,600 (including delivery and destination) instead of the 32,950 sticker price.
Morale: When the dealers play the "Viper game", go to Costco's website and force a deal through their contract with designated dealers (you may have to buy a $40 Costco membership)!!
Good luck!
-Bo
Any impressions you want to share?
-juice
-Thanks
I got it by going to www.autonation.com and cross-matching their VIN's to the ones off of www.subaru.com to figure out the invoice price was for the cars they were selling. I found that Pitre Subaru in Scottsdale AZ was selling at invoice as their Internet price on the Foresters. So I sent Camelback some EMAIL inviting them to match Pitre and sell me a Forester S at invoice (I despise Autonation), giving them the VIN of one that I was interested in (obtained from subaru.com's web inventory). The fleet manager called me back, said that one was sold but a similar one was available, she gave me the VIN, I checked it against subaru.com to make sure it didn't have options on it that I wouldn't want (like that butt-ugly bull-bar), I verified that her invoice price and my invoice price (obtained from Edmunds) matched, and 10 minutes later it was a deal!
I probably could have gotten the paint protectant wiped off completely, but hey, it was still a good deal, and Pitre probably would have found some other way to get more money out of me (those guys are notorious).
-E
Cheers,
-wdb
-mike
Eric: congrats. Gotta love that sky roof!
paisan: FWIW, there's a local shop here that'll paint an entire car for $100. The catch is YOU have to tape/cover any portions you don't want painted. If you leave the windows exposed, they'll paint right over them! Wheels and tires too!
Now that's cheap!
-juice
-mike
I just thought it would be fun to bring it up!
-juice
I'm not sure that you could repaint a Forester with a good-quality paint for $600-$800. It costed my mom's mechanic $120 for the paint alone to re-paint her rear fender (it had been lightly tapped by a car in a parking lot, he managed to pop it back out and hammer-shrink it and re-paint it without us having to resort to a body shop, but this guy was a perfectionist and wasn't about to put a cheap paint on my mom's pride and joy). That was just a fender. I'd imagine that a Forester, with its huge expanses of body panels (that roof, for example!), would cost $600-$800 for the paint alone, nevermind the labor (the Forester, due to the plastic cladding, would actually need TWO paint jobs, one for the bottom part and one for the top part, because you really need a different paint for plastic).
Note that "baked on" is a misnomer for aftermarket paints. The best of these paints is a two-part setup with paint and hardner, and it does help get good results if you do it in a controlled climate (the amount of hardener needed varies depending upon temperature and relative humidity), but this isn't really "baking" in any real sense of the word. Still, this process does result in a better paint job than just pulling out the paint gun in your driveway and starting to paint (unless you are very, very lucky and happen to paint your car on the one and only perfect day of the year).
As for clear coats, clear coats were invented so that auto makers could put a thinner coat of less toxic paint onto the car and thus reduce the cost of pollution controls for their factories (without a clear coat, the weak paint they're forced to use due to environmental regulations would look really pathetic). There's nothing inherently superior about a clear coat, and plenty to despise about them (their tendency to peel, for example). The thinking that clear coat == quality is good marketing, not good technology (though in certain cases it can make certain metallic paints look really "deep", so it's not all bad...).
Most of the above from a depraved period when I was thinking about restoring a '73 VW Microbus. Just the thought of paying for the paint for those vast body panels was enough to make me blanche at the time and abandon the idea...
-E
Thanks for the interesting info regarding the automotive painting process.
-Frank P.
P.S. $120 for paint to cover a fender seems awfully high to me. Your mom's mechanic might have done a good job but I don't think he gave her a good deal.
I actually had the top surfaces (hood, roof, trunk) of my Peugeot 505 repainted for about $400. It was a fine job, it looked good and wore well, and it kept the car looking really good for its age; where most cars that old are show "age spots" on those surfaces, my Turbo looked shiny and even. For those of you who keep cars until the wheels rot off, having the top surfaces recoated before the paint goes away is a trick to keep in mind.
Cheers,
-wdb
I think the reason it's pricey to paint one fender it because they have to mix the paint. Once they do that, I imagine making more of it is pretty simple, so it would get cheaper.
This one shop was going to do a $400 front fender and door repaint and repair, and they added just $40 to do a rear panel since the paint was already mixed.
Still, what do I know. The clear coat peeled like a banana about a year later, *just* after their warranty.
Avoid "Autodent" in Rockville.
-juice
..Mike
..Mike
the Gold Plus (bumper to bumper), zero deductible,
6yr/80,000 mile extended warranty. The key selling points for me were:
1. Manufacturer warranty (Subaru of America).
2. Even though the car comes with a basic 3 yr. /
36,000 mile and 5 yr. / 60,000 mile drivetrain
warranty, these are limited warranties, which, in
most?/some cases does not cover the entire cost of the repair.
3. Peace of mind.
4. Cost, like everything at a dealer is
negotiable, paid 35% less than the listed price of
$1385.00.
Having said all that, I have trouble admitting to
friends I bought an extended warranty because they
have such a reputation as being overpriced and pure profit for the dealer.
I've seen alot of talk on point #2, that your covered for 3/36,000 and 5/60,000 so why get overlapping coverage. Has anyone had any warranty work done that was not covered in full?
Juice or anyone: what do you think??
If you're getting one at all, the manufacturer's makes the most sense. In many cases, 3rd party warranties only reimburse you, after you pay, submit papers, and meet whatever requirements they have. Kind of like using a doctor that doesn't take your health insurance (PITA!).
-juice
Thanks, mtnshopper
Anyway...I'm here in north-central NJ and wanted advice on dealers in the area, both for sales and service. Any thoughts?
Wendy
milehi: Just curious what dealer you got that vehicle from, since I'm shopping in the North Front Range area.
MtnShopper: You can look up dealers by zip code on the Subaru site and find specific models. They'll have the option info and the VIN listed, then you can go to the John Elway / Autonation site and look for the same models. By looking at each unit that they list, you can find VIN numbers that match and get their stock number and Internet asking price. I've done that before with the John Elway Subaru West and John Elway Subaru South. From my shopping, Shortline in Aurora, or Chamberlain in Greeley will probably give you the best deal on ordering a VDC. Burt may be able to do OK on an in-stock unit. Dellenbach in Ft. Collins and King in Loveland are OK also. Didn't much care for the attitude of the Inet sales mgr at JE West, though.
HTH,
Theo
The extended warranty doesn't "over-lap" the basic warranty but extends it (hence the name). The basic 3-year/36k "bumper-to-bumper" warranty does cover everything. Manufacturers use the term "limited" for legal reasons. Any warranty will be limited in the sense that it won't cover items damaged due to fair wear and tear or abuse. Any basic warranty will certainly cover the full repair cost of a defective item (without a deductible). I've only heard of deductibles on extended warranties for appliances and the like.
The advantage of an extended warranty is that it picks up at the 3-year/36k mark and continues the coverage out to 6 year/80k.
Your reason #3 (peace of mind) is the main reason to get an extended warranty. I suspect someone at your dealership distorted the truth a bit regarding the basic warranty coverage in an attempt to make the extended warranty more attractive.
Patti- correct me if I'm wrong on this.
-Frank P.
We normally get a 1 year period for "adjustments". So if you go in the 2nd or 3rd year and ask them to adjust the clutch pedal because it engages too low, they may not do it for free.
Should be OK - if you haven't figured that out within a year, you've gotten used to it anyway!
Under the extended warranty I'm sure they'd gladly do it for you.
-juice
Thanks, mtnshopper
I have a good dealer story to share with you. I deal with Jones Soob in Bel Air Md. Their service dept. has impressed me of late.
A noise was coming from the heater fan. Kind of a “feathering” sound. While the car was in the shop for some routine work I asked the service writer to have a look at the fan. I have to admit it is a minor noise .. but I seem to be sensitive to it .. and it was driving me nuts. (short ride) Anyway, when I went to pick the Soob up, I was informed that neither the service writer nor the mechanic could hear the noise. Well, I’m disappointed to hear that .. do I fight or learn to live with the situation? Ooops good news follows from the service guy “We went ahead an ordered a new fan motor anyway .. we’ll call you when it comes in.”
OK .. reality check! I don’t have to fight with anybody to get what I want? Hey, I even admit that the noise is pretty subtle. OK Jones, I like the way you guys work. You have my business!
- hutch
Cool car though.
- hutch
The guy who marked up the LL sure ain't sober! Fitzgerald is discounting all their H6s.
-juice
-mike