Good dealer/mechanic in Bay Area?

[hadvw]

I'm in Fremont, looking VERY closely at a new GT w/ 5EAT in black.

Any suggestions as to GOOD/friendly dealers who know their stuff? Read some bad stuff about Diablo Subaru/Mazda.

Also interested in suggestions for good/friendly independent shops. I know a bit about cars (had a '94 Corrado VR6 w/ SC, coil overs, LSD, etc), but don't have the tools/space to work on 'em myself too much..

Will take my wife out to test drive one this weekend.. (already drove one with a 5MT a while back)

Thanks.

HADVW

[Gumby]

Subaru of Santa Cruz gets my recomendation although it's quite a hike from where you are they did give me a great price over the phone/email when I bought the WRX.

The general consensus is to avoid Stevens Creek

Dave.

[Bill Harada]

I bought my GT wagon from Carlsen, in Redwood City. I bought the '02 WRX I traded in from them, too. No haggling as they do a $ over invoice (I think it was $350 when I bought my Rex), but my sales rep (Warren) sold me the wagon for straight invoice.

[hadvw]

I bought my GT wagon from Carlsen, in Redwood City. I bought the '02 WRX I traded in from them, too. No haggling as they do a $ over invoice (I think it was $350 when I bought my Rex), but my sales rep (Warren) sold me the wagon for straight invoice.
I've currently got an offer of $150 under invoice from "Cypress Coast Autogroup" in Seaside, and at invoice from Livervmore Subaru via a www.mycar.com auction.

Plus, Irvine Subaru is still offering $600 off invoice, I THINK.

I'll have to see how things go.

Mattias

[dafoo]

I had a friend stop by Stevens Creek, & he complained they were really pushy. That was the reason why he didn't get a Subaru & went Mazda instead.

OTOH, I heard from a coworker that Ron Price has good service.

[Ken S]

Carlsen Subaru and Santa Cruz Subaru are both very good dealerships. I bought mine at Santa Cruz.

Try Kunos in Redwood City for a independent shop. They specialize in Subarus and have great service. Kunos used to be a Subaru tech at one point in his career -- definetly knows his Subies.

Ken

[champagne 2.5i]

I got my OB at Carlson in Redwood City and Warren (the sales manager) got me an awesome deal. Whenever I need Subaru service I would definately not hesitate to go there again. Aviod Stevens Creek, they suck, they told me they don't think the OB comes in auto. I was like "riiiiiiight" and left.

[ur a bus]

I bought mine at Stevens Creek. The whole deal was done by e-mail, and one phone call. Mike in the internet department handled the entire deal in a very professional manner. Price was $200 below invoice, and they had EXACTLY the car I wanted. I rode AMTRAK down and picked the car up on a Wednesday. No sweat, no pressure from the F&I guy to buy a bunch of crap that I didn't want or need. Shannon, their Delivery Person, went over the car with me, explaining all the features.

That said, their floor salesmen are VERY scary people. :eek: There was a service guy running around answering the phone that was even more scary. :eek: :eek: I don't know if he is a service writer or the service manager, we weren't introduced. I can understand why you folks that live in the area want to avoid them.:rolleyes:

Steve

[Ken S]

Lots of stories like that at Stevens Creek. Their sales people use old school tactics even to this day of invoice pricing being available all over the web.

I was there earlier last year when I was shopping around for my Legacy GT wagon. They quoted me $2000 over MSRP when all the other dealerships were already down to $1000 over invoice!

Then, I got talking with one of the sales managers. I asked him about the '05 VDC wagon and he starts telling me VDC is available only with the sedans (?). I told him he was wrong, we get into this heated argument, he finally goes to his sales literature to check and boy did his face turn red!

Then, in an attempt to thwart his embarrasment, he starts telling me he'll give me a great deal on a VDC wagon if I buy "today". I tell him I didn't even see a '05 VDC wagon on his lot. He assures me he has '05 inventory and starts pulling out an inventory report. I take a closer look and they're all '04 models! I point out this small detail to him and without even blinking, he says "yes, '04 VDC wagon" as if that's what we had just spent the last 30 minutes talking about.

I just got up and left.

Ken