B
Bradley Walker
Well I finally did it yesterday, I purchased a 2001 Titanium Green (Seafoam
green??) Outback Limited Edition 5spd wagon from a local dealer with 78,000
miles. This was the same dealer that I posted about a few weeks back that
had an orginial sticker price of $15,900, then had a 'hidden' internet price
on AutoTrader of $13,200. Initially I was holding out for the low to mid
12's for a purchase price but when the salesman got extremely pissed off at
my suggestion of getting it lower as well as scoffing at my `93 explorer
trade in, I walked as you know. Of course I got a bit of heckling for that
for not taking it at $13,200 and being happy.
After a few weeks that same vehicle was sitting on the lot still and the
dealership was advertising heavy end of year discounts. Plus I had also
talked with an uncle of mine who works in sales with radio. He said wait
till this week or if not, wait till the 28-30th when dealerships get antsy
to move inventory. I called the dealership up yesterday morning and called
their bluff by saying I was interested in the vehicle, however another
dealership had another `00 Outback for $11,900. Obviously that car or
dealership didn't exsist, but the salesman bit. Btw this was a different
salesman than last time. The guy wanted me to come in around noontime, but
I decided to hold off till around 3pm to see if the psychological affect
would help me any. I figured he he knew he had an interested buyer in me
that could be looking at another dealership, he'd do what he could to make a
sale.
Long story short, it worked. I walked into the dealership around 3:30
yesterday, sat down with the guy and I made mention I had been in there 4
weeks prior and even test drove the car. That comment seemed to help
influence things along. First thing I wanted to do was go into the service
shop to get the maintanence records on the vehicle since I knew it had been
serviced there for a few years. I politely in a businessman manner asked
the salesman to get the records for me, and we both walked over to the
service shop. Interestingly enough I think my politeness but my intent on
doing these things threw him off his sales tactics. Although to give the
guy credit, he was nice and polite himself, obviously out to make a sale,
but no high pressure, no jerkoff like behaviors. I was fairly impressed
compared to other salesmen at the dealership. The maintanence records
showed that the clutch & flywheel assembly had been replaced as well as
brand new brakes, all fluids changed, transmission was power flushed, new
plugs, wires, etc. They had the detailed history of it in hand so that put
me at east not worrying about anything major that could break on me. The
service rep is also a computer client of mine.
I was greatly surprised when the salesman took my explorer over to the
appraisers office where they appraised it for $2000!! That is the same
vehicle that last time another salesmanager/appraiser refused to even look
at it or want it. KBB valued it at $2700 and I got the $2000 appraisal with
broken 4WD, barely firing cylender w/low compression (cracked valve I
think), no functioning heat or AC but the body and interior was still fairly
mint. With that info in hand, the salesman went to the salesmanagers desk
and came back about 15 min later. Their initial asking price of $13,200
which I was told weeks back that there was no way they could go lower, was
now down to $12,900 combined with the $2000 trade in brought the overall
price of the vehicle down to $10,900 before tax, tags, title, and
processing. After all was said and done, I paid $11,800 for it.
The interior is MINT as well as the exterior not even having so much as a
scratch on it. The only issue I noticed is that the drivers side mirror has
a problem barely wanting to move up and down with the electronic mirror
controls. Left and Right works, but not up and down. However the
passengers side mirror works great. That was the only known issue I found
after looking the vehicle over top to bottom.
My main question is, when it comes to the regular service and replacement
parts such as tires, what is the best or highly recommended brands/models to
go with? This vehicle won't need a full servicing until around 90-95,000
miles and I'm curious for snowy weather driving here in the mountains of WV
what tires are recommended for this? What about snow chains? (You wouldn't
believe some driveways people have around here). I saw another post
regarding the oil filter brand, what about air filters? I want to be as
prepared as possible.
Bradley
green??) Outback Limited Edition 5spd wagon from a local dealer with 78,000
miles. This was the same dealer that I posted about a few weeks back that
had an orginial sticker price of $15,900, then had a 'hidden' internet price
on AutoTrader of $13,200. Initially I was holding out for the low to mid
12's for a purchase price but when the salesman got extremely pissed off at
my suggestion of getting it lower as well as scoffing at my `93 explorer
trade in, I walked as you know. Of course I got a bit of heckling for that
for not taking it at $13,200 and being happy.
After a few weeks that same vehicle was sitting on the lot still and the
dealership was advertising heavy end of year discounts. Plus I had also
talked with an uncle of mine who works in sales with radio. He said wait
till this week or if not, wait till the 28-30th when dealerships get antsy
to move inventory. I called the dealership up yesterday morning and called
their bluff by saying I was interested in the vehicle, however another
dealership had another `00 Outback for $11,900. Obviously that car or
dealership didn't exsist, but the salesman bit. Btw this was a different
salesman than last time. The guy wanted me to come in around noontime, but
I decided to hold off till around 3pm to see if the psychological affect
would help me any. I figured he he knew he had an interested buyer in me
that could be looking at another dealership, he'd do what he could to make a
sale.
Long story short, it worked. I walked into the dealership around 3:30
yesterday, sat down with the guy and I made mention I had been in there 4
weeks prior and even test drove the car. That comment seemed to help
influence things along. First thing I wanted to do was go into the service
shop to get the maintanence records on the vehicle since I knew it had been
serviced there for a few years. I politely in a businessman manner asked
the salesman to get the records for me, and we both walked over to the
service shop. Interestingly enough I think my politeness but my intent on
doing these things threw him off his sales tactics. Although to give the
guy credit, he was nice and polite himself, obviously out to make a sale,
but no high pressure, no jerkoff like behaviors. I was fairly impressed
compared to other salesmen at the dealership. The maintanence records
showed that the clutch & flywheel assembly had been replaced as well as
brand new brakes, all fluids changed, transmission was power flushed, new
plugs, wires, etc. They had the detailed history of it in hand so that put
me at east not worrying about anything major that could break on me. The
service rep is also a computer client of mine.
I was greatly surprised when the salesman took my explorer over to the
appraisers office where they appraised it for $2000!! That is the same
vehicle that last time another salesmanager/appraiser refused to even look
at it or want it. KBB valued it at $2700 and I got the $2000 appraisal with
broken 4WD, barely firing cylender w/low compression (cracked valve I
think), no functioning heat or AC but the body and interior was still fairly
mint. With that info in hand, the salesman went to the salesmanagers desk
and came back about 15 min later. Their initial asking price of $13,200
which I was told weeks back that there was no way they could go lower, was
now down to $12,900 combined with the $2000 trade in brought the overall
price of the vehicle down to $10,900 before tax, tags, title, and
processing. After all was said and done, I paid $11,800 for it.
The interior is MINT as well as the exterior not even having so much as a
scratch on it. The only issue I noticed is that the drivers side mirror has
a problem barely wanting to move up and down with the electronic mirror
controls. Left and Right works, but not up and down. However the
passengers side mirror works great. That was the only known issue I found
after looking the vehicle over top to bottom.
My main question is, when it comes to the regular service and replacement
parts such as tires, what is the best or highly recommended brands/models to
go with? This vehicle won't need a full servicing until around 90-95,000
miles and I'm curious for snowy weather driving here in the mountains of WV
what tires are recommended for this? What about snow chains? (You wouldn't
believe some driveways people have around here). I saw another post
regarding the oil filter brand, what about air filters? I want to be as
prepared as possible.
Bradley
. Obviously I knew about HG probs with these engines. Moreover -