ron price or carlsen?

[hoss_jenkins]

all -

i live in SF & am looking at a legacy GT wagon - over the years
i've test driven a few subaru's at ron price, i can't say i way
impressed too much.

is carlsen in redwood city better? how about marin subaru in
san rafael?

thx all

-hoss

[hadvw]

all -

i live in SF & am looking at a legacy GT wagon - over the years
i've test driven a few subaru's at ron price, i can't say i way
impressed too much.

is carlsen in redwood city better? how about marin subaru in
san rafael?

thx all

-hoss
Hmm. We felt very comfortable at Ron Price. Then again, we had a deal via www.mycar.com for $500 under invoice and when we mentioned Gus (the sales manager), we were treated like royalty!

HV

[SnoDork]

i bought my Subie at Downtown Subaru of Oakland...the Sales staff was easy to deal with, Finance dept so-so, but i did sneak out with 63month@1.9%!! HAHA...

[mattm]

I bought my GT wagon from a salesman named Ben at Ron Price, and was very happy. He was low-pressure, but knowledgeable, and yet willing to say "I don't know" if I asked him a question he wasn't sure about rather than making up an answer. During the actual sale I got the usual annoyance from the finance guy about various options that I really should buy because they're a great deal, but I just said no to all of them and that was that.

Oh, I did have a problem where the first number Ron Price gave me was ridiculously high, but later I told them a (good) quote I got from Subaru of Santa Cruz and they matched it. Not fair to Subaru of SC maybe, but I had already test-driven twice at Ron Price, liked the salesman, and live 15 minutes from Ron Price, so I was happy to buy there.

-Matt

[hadvw]

I bought my GT wagon from a salesman named Ben at Ron Price, and was very happy. He was low-pressure, but knowledgeable, and yet willing to say "I don't know" if I asked him a question he wasn't sure about rather than making up an answer. During the actual sale I got the usual annoyance from the finance guy about various options that I really should buy because they're a great deal, but I just said no to all of them and that was that.

Oh, I did have a problem where the first number Ron Price gave me was ridiculously high, but later I told them a (good) quote I got from Subaru of Santa Cruz and they matched it. Not fair to Subaru of SC maybe, but I had already test-driven twice at Ron Price, liked the salesman, and live 15 minutes from Ron Price, so I was happy to buy there.

-Matt
Yeah, I turned down all the "extras" too, and they seemed quite ok with it..

HV

[champagne 2.5i]

I got a great deal at Carlson in Redwood City. Warren the sales manager was very knowledgable and let me test drive some wrxs and outbacks in oreder to compare what I liked. There was almost no pressure in buying (except from me because I needed a by the next day). Avoid Stevens Creek Subaru at all cost.

[Ken S]

Carlsen and Santa Cruz Subaru are probably the two most customer-friendly dealers in the area.

Ken

[Bill Harada]

I've bought both my Subies from Carlsen, a WRX in '02 and my GT wagon this year. One thing Carlsen has going for it is the largest inventory in the bay area.

[turingmachine]

Carlsen and Santa Cruz Subaru are probably the two most customer-friendly dealers in the area.

Ken

Yup, I got my 05 LGT Wagon from Santa Cruz. Lovely folks, and absolutely no high-pressure BS tactics. I recommend 'em.

[Tide]

I'd say Santa Cruz for purchase, and Carlsen for service. I bought mine at Carlsen and wasn't happy with the dealer, but the service guys are great.

[champagne 2.5i]

Agreed. Where is Ron Price BTW (Is Ron Price the same as Santa Cruz?)

[pacbreak gt]

Ron Price is located in SSF, at the bottom of Westbourgh, just east of El Camino Real. We purchased our Legacy GT wagon there, very easy to deal with. The salesman was Steve Frazier--no BS.
Good luck.

[cljw]

I bought my 05 OBW at Livermore Subaru. Nice folks there. Really good experience.

[mattm]

One more thing about Ron Price (follow-up to my earlier post) in South San Francisco, I went in, test drove, and left twice before I came back to buy on the third visit. In those two early visits I test drove a Legacy sedan with the short-throw shifter, and a GT wagon with auto, and a VW Passat wagon (just to check it out, since it's Ron Price Subaru/VW), and then on the next visit test drove the GT wagon auto again and my wife also test drove it. After all that test driving on both visits, I said I still needed to think about it and I didn't get any of that crap many salesman pull to try to prevent you from leaving without buying the car since they don't think you'll ever come back. Ben just gave us his card and said, you know where to find me when you make up your mind. It was actually a pleasant experience!

-Matt

[hoss_jenkins]

thx all for your replies - i'll stop by ron price first since they are the
closest before heading down to redwood city.

-hoss

[SFGR415]

Went to Ron Price back in 03 to by my brothers 03 WRX. The salesman was cool but the finance guy (believe his name was Borris) was a complete dick. We almost backed out b/c that guy sucked. When we first got there we noticed a white 350Z so i was checkin it out (this was like the first week Z's were being spotted on the streets). When we walked in, there were a bunch of salesman standing at the door but neither of them (maybe 5 or 6) asked us if we needed help (had they known we had $24000 in cash, they would have probably been all over us). Anyways, one salesman was way cool and when we went to go talk to Borris, he was straight being a dick insulting my father tellin him (a ferrari/fiat/alfa/lambo/maserati tech of 50 years) that he wasn't the same skill level as Ron Price's techs... Then he is all like...you like that Z huh? Cant get those anywhere but I have one. Me and my dad got pissed so we bounced and my brother bought the car. Even last week, my brother went to go check out the Legacy GT as a trade in and no one helped him for half an hour. DONT GO TO RON PRICE...THEY ARE DICKS...

[hadvw]

Went to Ron Price back in 03 to by my brothers 03 WRX. The salesman was cool but the finance guy (believe his name was Borris) was a complete dick. We almost backed out b/c that guy sucked. When we first got there we noticed a white 350Z so i was checkin it out (this was like the first week Z's were being spotted on the streets). When we walked in, there were a bunch of salesman standing at the door but neither of them (maybe 5 or 6) asked us if we needed help (had they known we had $24000 in cash, they would have probably been all over us). Anyways, one salesman was way cool and when we went to go talk to Borris, he was straight being a dick insulting my father tellin him (a ferrari/fiat/alfa/lambo/maserati tech of 50 years) that he wasn't the same skill level as Ron Price's techs... Then he is all like...you like that Z huh? Cant get those anywhere but I have one. Me and my dad got pissed so we bounced and my brother bought the car. Even last week, my brother went to go check out the Legacy GT as a trade in and no one helped him for half an hour. DONT GO TO RON PRICE...THEY ARE DICKS...

Interesting.. We did not deal with Boris - I don't believe he's there anymore. We dealt with Steve, and their alternate is Vlad, I think..

HV

[jrnot]

Neither.

CARtelligent is the only way to buy a new car.

http://www.cartelligent.com

[BlackBox]

We tried both Ron Price and Carlsen... before going with Albany Subaru. The details were always changing when conversing with various people at the first two.

The salesmen at Albany were on the mark. They were also soft sell, gave a good price right away (invoice), and seemed interested in making sure we were happy. The experience was fun.

Oh, the salesman offered to drive the car to our house in SF and do the whole deal there, as we were not able to come to him initially. That's service!

PS the test driving is not as good in Albany (roads are bad and short, and the highway stretch is short too) but you can always ask for the route that suits you. ;)

[Nate510]

Just got my LGT from Carlson 2 days ago. Good people, no pressure and the finance manager, she is kinda hot.

[YOPARK]

Bought my GT Limited Wagon at Ron Price via the Internet Dealer (Charles Goldfrit). Got it $400 below invoice and he picked me up at the Bart station. No pressure at dealership to upsell other stuff such as extended warranty or rust treatments. Got in and out within 45 minutes.

[pacbreak gt]

Forth five minutes? Record time! Enjoy the wagon.

[Legacy409]

I am looking at Camry/Accord or Legacy (which is the one i REALLY want).

What are the prices going for? I live in SF and anything in the area (to the extent of down to SJ) preferable. I will go through hell for a good price. The legacy is kind of on the pricier side ... so I may or may not be able to get it.

Any advice for me? Looking to buy in ... probly about 4-5 months? I would like a nav (almost mandatory), and I hear the 06 will have one. Will that be 2k extra on top of the limited package? .. getting antsy .. but I'm damn happy I found this site. Thanks for the help guys!

[axis008]

Well, I don't know much about the dealers over in the Bay Area, even though I'm going to school up north here, but I can give you some pointers. Definitely wait till the '06s come out. They should be out like July-ish. Navigation will be an option for the GT Ltd. I'm not sure how much, but I'd imagine it being $1500-$2000 on top of the Ltd. price. If you're willing to somehow drop nav, even though you said it's almost mandatory, wait till the '06s come out and see if there are any good deals on leftover '05s, since you say the Legacy is a bit on the pricier side.

[mtnsubie]

shucks. i originally had no intention of buying a new car. originally i wanted a used car. but then i saw the legacy. i said, "shoot, that's a sweet looking little wagon." then just to kill time, i test drove it. that was the biggest mistake because then for the next two weeks it was like meeting that beautiful new girlfriend. it was all i could think of. i tried to talk myself out of it.

Now coming from a V8 tundra to the little wagon, it was a big change. it def does not have the punch or power of the V8 nor the transport space. but my needs changed so it was the right thing to do. i do miss that instant power and high line-of-sight (9" of ground clearance!).

well, my advice is once you know what you want, deal throught the internet sales guys. i emailed every single dealer in the state. that's right, every single one! it was a feeding frenzy. i was getting quotes all over the place. they started getting lower and lower. finally, just as i was giving up on the idea of a new legacy, eric at roseville quoted me a price significantly lower that his first quote, which was the 2nd lowest i received. i had to be flexible on color, but def wanted the ltd with auto tranny. i confirmed via email and phone the deal. i walked in on sat morning, drove out about an hour later, done. no hassles, smooth deal.

i got the last '05 on their lot.

as for the nav, you can save plenty w/o the nav and use that to buy a portable nav. the nice thing with that is you can use that same unit on other cars and use it as a portable unit for hiking as well. garvin and one other brand are quite good. their screen may not be as large but they do have a talking feature and all the features of the in-dash units. check out consumer reports and other review websites if you decide to go that route. i just think the in-dash units are overrated and overpriced. and you're limited to one vehicle use only.

[Legacy409]

thanks for your responses. i was told in dash nav units were superior... tomtom go 300 has me interested tho


looks like there will be a shortage of lgt ltd .. hrmm

this will be the only vehicle so the multi vehicle thing isnt a factor. i dont get around to hiking much either so that wont play into it. is the 06 coming out in july or being announced in july? i'll be looking into picking up my next vehicle by september/october .. my best guess.

[Legacy409]

btw, what was your out the door price mtnsubie?