Bay Area - best dealer to work with?

Hi,

I live in the North Bay, and I've been e-mailing around to dealers in my immediate area to find a good deal on an LGT, Ltd Wagon. So far I've contacted Marin, Albany and Oakland... and the best I've been able to get is $76 below invoice, and then the 1,500 rebate on top of that.

I was wondering if any of you have any recommendations for any particularly good dealers to work with (that will make great deals)?

And advice is appreciated. Thanks again in advance!

Several members have said that they liked Santa Cruz Subaru. We were pleased with Price Subaru in South San Francisco. Others have complained about Carlsen.

i got mine at ron price thru the internet dealer.

 

try the carsdirect.com see if they are any better. ron price gave me a sweet deal.

 

carlsen eh. guy i worked with didn't want to work on the price.

 

oh, good luck

Got mines through Ron Price also thru the internet dealer. They will match the prices of other dealers also.

Not sure if the pricing is different for the wagons, but I just purchased my lgt sedan this past weekend. I was dealing with Carlsen (redwood city), Stevens Creek, Santa Cruz, and Ron Price (ssf). All dealers gave me ~1500 below invoice plus the additional $1500 rebate except for Ron Price.

 

It took several calls and haggling to get the price to that level when dealing with Santa cruz and Stevens Creek. The internet manager at Carlsen gave me the lowest price right from the get go. Contact Larry Fung at Carlsen.

do NOT go to stevens creek.

I ended up going to Carlsen in Redwood City. I sent internet quote requests to every dealer within a 100 mile radius of me, and they ended up being the lowest quote.

I even sent a quote to Carr in Portland Oregon (as I heard they gave some of the lowest prices), and still Carlsen was lower than that.

Overall I was VERY pleased with our experience there. We walked in with our internet quote, and they immediately got us keys to the car to take a test drive by ourselves (without a salesman trying to sell us the car while we were trying to drive). The whole thing took about 1.5 hours (due to all of the paperwork...)

I would highly recommend this process, and this dealer (I dealt with Sam Levy, who I think is the internet sales manager).

Carlsen is my local dealer, no issues with service, not enthused about the sales but they are better than most in the bay area.

 

but service... A++++

i went to stevens creek and they were shady bunch of guys. they brought in like 4 people to sell me when i just asked for the price and test drove the car.

 

carlsen. really wanted to buy from these guys. liked them a lot plus they would have been a convenient option. but ron price (been there many times to shop) gave me the sweeter deal. i even went to carlsen to see if they would match. nada.

I ended up going to Carlsen in Redwood City. I sent internet quote requests to every dealer within a 100 mile radius of me, and they ended up being the lowest quote.

 

I even sent a quote to Carr in PortlandOregon (as I heard they gave some of the lowest prices), and still Carlsen was lower than that.

 

Overall I was VERY pleased with our experience there. We walked in with our internet quote, and they immediately got us keys to the car to take a test drive by ourselves (without a salesman trying to sell us the car while we were trying to drive). The whole thing took about 1.5 hours (due to all of the paperwork...)

 

I would highly recommend this process, and this dealer (I dealt with Sam Levy, who I think is the internet sales manager).

 

NICE! Congrats! Glad this ended up working out for you. Glad the site could help you out so easily.

We just visited Carlsen, Stevens Creek and Ron Price for our first Subaru purchase. We like Carlsen the best with their straight forward attitude and ease to deal with.

 

Stevens Creek gave us the worst experience. Glenn is the manager's name. He said he has been there for over 11 years, and his nose is certainly higher than anyone else. He is not friendly at all, if not hostile. He doesn't "have to do" many things. There is no way they can earn my business.

 

Ron Price sales experience is good, but we haven't got the price lower yet.

 

FYI.

pengrus try going thru the internet manager. you may get the best quote from them.

Thanks. I'll go through internet manager from other dealers, definitely not Stevens Creek - three reports of negative experiences in this thread alone.

A happy customer reporting very positive experience with the Internet Sales Manager Kay at Subaru Downtown Oakland. He is laid back, down to the earth, and very nice guy. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one from him and recommend him without any reservation.

 

We started communicating through online inquiry, several emails, a couple of calls and one visit. He has been responding fast in a kind and professional manner. He got my business. Later I also found another online reviewer who highly appraises him.

 

If you want to save your time and get good deal, give him a call at 800-200-5299 ext.268 or email slitwin@downtownautocenter.dealerspace.com .

A follow up post.

 

Two days ago, we finished the purchase ( 07 LGT Wagon ) with Internet Manager Kay at Subaru Downtown Oakland. He honors what he says, and has been very patient every step of the way. He is very knowledgeable about the cars, such as Saab vs Subaru - he sells both.

 

We are very happy with the purchase and we strongly recommend him if you want to get a good deal on Subaru Legacy, Outback or Forrester. They got some new LGT on their lot.

 

His phone number: 800-200-5299 ext.268 or email slitwin@downtownautocenter.dealerspace.com .

do NOT go to stevens creek.

 

I agree Stevens Creek Sucks. Marin Subaru sucks too. They couldn't even figure out how to install fog lights.

I hear that guy Mike in Roseville is a pretty chill Fleet Manager. I know for sure cause he sold me a car and he's fat and asian. Wait I'm fat, asian and my name is Mike... hmm... I change my vote, I suck.

I agree Stevens Creek Sucks. Marin Subaru sucks too. They couldn't even figure out how to install fog lights.

 

I bought mine from the internet department at Stevens Creek, and have no complaints about the sales experience.

 

I don't go there for service (too far), so I have no opinion about that. From what I saw when I was buying the car, I'm NOT impressed.

 

I have brown hair, brown eyes, and I am moderately hairy. The camel jockeys there didn't recognize me as 1/2 Portugese and 1/2 English. They accepted me as one of their own, and didn't f**k with me as I have come to ASSume that they do with every Asian customer that sets foot in their stealership, which I (again) ASSume is the root of their bad rap in the community.

 

-- Steve

stevens creek probably has the cheapest price on most models. However, I bought my old WRX from Larry at Carlsen. Great guy to work with. Service at Carlsen is excellent. I went to Ron Price once for the 22.5k service and they leaked radiator fluid all over my engine buy, so much that it ate t hrough the hoses eventually. I had to tow it to carlsen after the radiator dumped and they fixed everything under warranty.

pengrus try going thru the internet manager. you may get the best quote from them.

 

How does one go thru the internet dealer for Carlsen, does carlsen subaru have its own website?

 

Ed

I have to give Subaru of Santa Cruz a +10000000. I have purchased 3 subies from them:

1st: Feb 04: 04 Baja Turbo @ factory invoice

2nd: Mar 06: 04 Forester Turbo @ whole sale price

3rd: aprl 06: 06 LGT @ 200 over Factory invoice

 

And they showed me the dealier invoice and factory invoices and there as about 1500 differance. So I got it for 1300 under dealier invoice. Bruce is the sales manager and he is a stand up guy and really down to earth and easy to deal with. Dan is one of the associates and is crazy about subies and is easy to deal with as well.

I agree Stevens Creek Sucks. Marin Subaru sucks too. They couldn't even figure out how to install fog lights.

 

Hmm...that's interesting.

 

Most of our Subaru techs can install the STOCK fog lights. We don't do aftermarket installations, specifically because of issues with fitment, etc., which makes for unhappy customers.

 

I send ALL of the aftermarket business to LIC Motorsports in Novato, as they are the absolute best with Subaru.

 

-Gregory

Marin Subaru

Parts Dept.

I use to be one of Marin's biggest advocates, but can no longer recommend them or vouch for their expertise. It took them 6 visits to deal with the Cooling Fan issue, and the only reason it is not more is because I finally brought them the correct diagnosed, fix and part numbers provided by this site. Plus they left my window down during the last visit, so that my once sparking interior was covered under a layer of dust. Nice. I asked one Service Writer if I can have a demo (warranty), and he said he did not know how to do the demo's. So I had to go track down the apparently one SW who did know how, Mario.

 

I just took my OBXT to have the headlight replaced at Ron Price in the City. So far, very professional and knowledgeable.

Hmm...that's interesting.

 

Most of our Subaru techs can install the STOCK fog lights. We don't do aftermarket installations, specifically because of issues with fitment, etc., which makes for unhappy customers.

 

I send ALL of the aftermarket business to LIC Motorsports in Novato, as they are the absolute best with Subaru.

 

-Gregory

Marin Subaru

Parts Dept.

 

They were stock and they were installed incorrectly. They kept shorting out. I had to go to another dealer to get them installed correctly. I also had issues with alarm that was intalled.

 

that was awhile ago so maybe things are better.

stevens creek probably has the cheapest price on most models.

Really? I seem to recall them marking up STI's $10,000 when the first came out...