Process of ordering car at dealership

What is the process of ordering specific car options at a Subaru dealership. I wanted to get some info before actually asking the dealership about it to make sure they use a similar protocol as others have experienced. I am pretty much a neophyte at buying a car and don't want any surprises or later find out that I've been taken advantage of.

 

There's 3 local Subaru dealership in my area with the next closest about 120 miles away. I'm wanting a Steel Silver Legacy 2.5L Premium with the All Weather Package and Harmon Kardon Audio (both of which is factory installed and not dealership installed, hence the ordering). I know the Limited has both as standard, but it's still cheaper to get the Premium with them added, unless ordering the car adds to the cost??

 

I'm in not in a hurry to get the car so time is not a factor. The important thing for me is getting the car with the options I want above at the cheapest price point wheather it be dealer/factory ordering the Premium or just getting it as standard options on the Limited.

I ordered my Legacy back in 2004. First go to some internet sites such as Edmunds.com to see what the realistic selling price should be. See if the dealer has an internet sales manager. The dealer may want to get rid of what's on the lot, but special orders get off the truck and get delivered so there's minimal bank financing costs to the dealer. Good luck!

HG, I suggest you do what bluesuby did to sort out the price. Review what is said about the dealers on Yelp, pay attention to the service department reviews too.

 

After you know your price and dealer check to see if the dealer does internet sales - they should. Send them an offer $500-1000 below what you think they can give it to you and you will get a counter offer or phone call pretty quickly.

 

We bought our LGT in 04 (a 2005 unlimited) the color and options we wanted for $24.5k with fantastic financing. Hopefully you qualify for 1.9% that I think has been extended to the end of the month (was till Jan 3). I am not a sales guy, I was on a Subaru lot last week checking out Foresters.

I ordered my '11 LGT back in August (should be here any day, just got a VIN). I emailed all local shops for pricing on what I specifically wanted. They provided pricing, well aware that they did not have the vehicle available. I aimed for pricing below invoice based on pricing for edmunds and truecar. My car did not have anything special, I just wanted a specific combo (SWP LGT with NAV and spoiler). It was surprisingly easy and the price was well below invoice.

So no one experienced any funny business like an extra fee for ordering a car instead of one already in stock at the dealership? Has anyone actually ordered at the dealership in person?

 

I ordered my '11 LGT back in August (should be here any day, just got a VIN). I emailed all local shops for pricing on what I specifically wanted. They provided pricing, well aware that they did not have the vehicle available. I aimed for pricing below invoice based on pricing for edmunds and truecar. My car did not have anything special, I just wanted a specific combo (SWP LGT with NAV and spoiler). It was surprisingly easy and the price was well below invoice.

 

So instead of using the TMV on Edmunds, you just went ahead and offered a price below invoice and they agreed? Were you paying it up front with no financing? I don't think I'm that savvy as a Business(wo)man to pull that off. Was it all thru email and phone?

It honestly didn't take much work to get the pricing and deal I wanted at my dealership (Liberty Subaru in Emerson, NJ). I am not sure where you are located, but I would definitely give them a shout. I spoke with Clayton in Internet Sales. Just mention my name, Shri, he knows me very well. I would gladly recommend them for sales.

 

I had no extra fees for ordering the vehicle. I ordered the vehicle at the dealership, but started with my pricing through email. I worked out all my deals at the dealership itself though. I am financing the vehicle, but I did not mention that towards the end. But financing should in reality, not affect the price of the vehicle. Clay is a very honest salesman, and went straight to Trueprice when I was there and gave me a price below invoice. I do think he looked at a lower level vehicle though when pricing the car =).

 

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

Also depends on how many dealers there are in your area. There is one within 700km of me, so they dont move on price at all.....

 

Depending if its a special model, Ive heard of up to $895 "custom order" fee.

 

They did not have a specb on the lot when i bought mine, so this was waved for me. But i pretty much paid retail.... ($44k + tax, minus -$7k incentive) of course this is canadian, and back in april of 2008.

It honestly didn't take much work to get the pricing and deal I wanted at my dealership (Liberty Subaru in Emerson, NJ). I am not sure where you are located, but I would definitely give them a shout. I spoke with Clayton in Internet Sales. Just mention my name, Shri, he knows me very well. I would gladly recommend them for sales.

 

I had no extra fees for ordering the vehicle. I ordered the vehicle at the dealership, but started with my pricing through email. I worked out all my deals at the dealership itself though. I am financing the vehicle, but I did not mention that towards the end. But financing should in reality, not affect the price of the vehicle. Clay is a very honest salesman, and went straight to Trueprice when I was there and gave me a price below invoice. I do think he looked at a lower level vehicle though when pricing the car =).

 

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

 

I live in the midwest so I don't think getting the car in Jersey is going to save me any money You ordered the car in August and now just recieving it? That's about a 4 month lead time. Did you have start paying in August or do you start payments when you receive the car this month?

 

Also, would you care to share how you used Truecar in your negotiations. You mentioned the salesmen went to Truecar. Did you say something to him first about it?

Your payments start when the car arrives. also your financing rate gets locked in at the time of order. so if its at 1.9% now, and your car comes in 2 months, you'll get the 1.9 rate. at this time, it would be great for you to figure out all the extra options you may want. its usually cheaper to have things installed at the port vs at the dealership. for example I had my homelink mirror, Short throw shifter, and arm rest extension port installed instead of dealer installed and each item was considerably cheaper.

Your payments start when the car arrives. also your financing rate gets locked in at the time of order. so if its at 1.9% now, and your car comes in 2 months, you'll get the 1.9 rate. at this time, it would be great for you to figure out all the extra options you may want. its usually cheaper to have things installed at the port vs at the dealership. for example I had my homelink mirror, Short throw shifter, and arm rest extension port installed instead of dealer installed and each item was considerably cheaper.

 

I know exactly what options I want and color, but there's is no car dealership within reasonable range from me that has it. If ordering the car is going to be a four month lead time, should I just wait for the 2012 model to see if there's any improvements or changes? My ideal date for getting a car is Spring (due to having my finances being "comfortable" at that time). But if the 2012 model is more appealing I'm willing to wait for them in the fall and then I would have my finances be even more comfortable.

 

I've been in the market for a car for a while since my trusty Civic, which I got in 1999 , started to show a few hints of old age 2 years ago on its 10th birthday. So I decided my next car would be an AWD car (no small SUVs, or crossovers) and must be a foreign car maker and rare (I hated seeing my car every other second on the road). This led me to the Lexus IS250 AWD, which is actually very hard to spot others driving here in the midwest. Unfortunately, the Lexus is way overpriced for what the car actually delivers. This lead me to the Subaru Legacy, which is even harder to spot in the Midwest then the IS250. I did my usual lengthy research (I already have the Owners Manual on PDF), asked advice from my "car" enthusiast friends about what car maker had the best AWD and all said Subaru. I did an initial test drive of the Legacy and enjoyed it (very different from my Civic, which I can pretty much drive between highway lanes like a motorcycle and do a U turn in my driveway ). I will test drive it again with a mental checklist to go over, but all in all, this is the car I want, and all other AWDs has to win me over, before I change my mind.

Whatisit is right with payments. I have yet to start payments. I put a deposit of 500 down, but I was allowed to reclaim that any point since my car didn't have crazy amount of extra options.

 

In terms of truecar, when I went to the dealer, he was well aware of providing me with a price below invoice (no hassle). After he provided his price, I told him a slightly lower price and we took it from there.

 

If you want a GT, whether 2011 or 2012, there is a good chance you may have to order it with a NAV. And comparison wise, I went through all similar priced/equivalent optioned vehicles and the closest option to me was a g37x. Only problem was that it didn't come with a manual for me (and of course the extra cost).

I ordered my 2011 Legacy in November. I did not pay any extra to order it compared to cars on the lot. I got it for invoice, which I thought was fair. You can find the invoice, with options, on Edmunds or carprices.com. I ordered exactly the options and color I wanted, and it was delivered to my dealer in three weeks to the day from when I put down my $500 deposit. How easy or hard, and how much you pay, is up to your dealer.

Your payments start when the car arrives. also your financing rate gets locked in at the time of order. so if its at 1.9% now, and your car comes in 2 months, you'll get the 1.9 rate. at this time, it would be great for you to figure out all the extra options you may want. its usually cheaper to have things installed at the port vs at the dealership. for example I had my homelink mirror, Short throw shifter, and arm rest extension port installed instead of dealer installed and each item was considerably cheaper.

 

Unfortunately you cannot "lock in" incentives eg 1.9% if your car does not exist ie a associated VIN #, you will only be able to use the Subie Incentives available at the time your car arrives. SOA requires a existing VIN# or MCO in hand for the vehicle to qualify for the advertised incentives.

 

Feel free PM me if you have any questions! Yes...I sell Subies:eek:

Busuto is correct. You get the finance incentives and any rebates available at the time you receive the car NOT when you order the car.

 

I ordered my '08 Outback XT in December '07 and received it in February '08, 9 weeks later.

^^Ditto^^

They couldn't lock in my GTP or financing rate until the car arrived. So while I waited for the car, my GTP devalued over 8 weeks......