Still Subaru hunting...

[KLS]

Damn straight.

My '99 Outback has 106k miles on it, runs
perfectly, and has costed me scheduled
maintainance plus about $200.

I wouldn't even consider selling it for less
than $12,000.

Interesting. We're leasing our 1999 OBW (now has 79k on the clock),
and when the lease is up in Dec. 2006, we plan to purchase it for the
residual value of $5,000. Just fyi: that's what the dealer has
priced the car at, and it's a very good car. Good luck on getting
what you want for it. I for one would not pay that much because I
think it's way overpriced. Come down just a little: my mother sold
her 1998 OBW Limited, loaded with leather, 89K miles, last summer for
$8k. The car ran/runs perfectly.

 

[Jim Stewart]

Interesting. We're leasing our 1999 OBW (now has 79k on the clock),
and when the lease is up in Dec. 2006, we plan to purchase it for the
residual value of $5,000. Just fyi: that's what the dealer has
priced the car at, and it's a very good car. Good luck on getting
what you want for it. I for one would not pay that much because I
think it's way overpriced. Come down just a little: my mother sold
her 1998 OBW Limited, loaded with leather, 89K miles, last summer for
$8k. The car ran/runs perfectly.

The car is not for sale. $12k is what I
would take if someone came up to me and
offered it. I realize I could not sell it
for that price. My problem (and point) is
that I have a very hard time getting rid
of something works so well.

BTW, before you do the residual buyout,
try to get the dealer to do the timing
belt and front oil seal. That's coming
up soon and will save you some money.

 

[Bradley Walker]

I looked at those prices and felt there were really high as well, but then
again maybe that has something to do with the region you or I are located
in? I'm in the Northern Virginia (DC/Maryland/Virginia/West Virginia) area
where about 1 out of 12 vehicles on the road is a Subaru. Goto the
mountains for skiing like I did last week and that is more like 1 out of
every 4 is a Subaru.

Back in December a dealership was hosting a repo show where banks came
together to sell their repo stock and I found a 2001 5spd Limited Ed. Navy
blue outback wagon. It had around 50k miles and they were wanting $19,200
for it, really outrageous. Well I walked in with my 93 Explorer 219k miles
and they wanted to give me 2k for that and I eventually talked them down to
the point that the bank manager himself came over and started begging and
throwing offers at me. The offer I was going to take him up on was $220/mon
for 60mon with $0 down and no payments until Feb. (This was done on Dec 9)
I agreed and went back to my office to grab financial papers and headed back
a few hours later, only to find it was sold. Probably to some unsuspecting
idiot that overpaid. I did notice when I was speaking with the bank manger
that the salesman himself I think was ticked off and upset that he was
loosing commission because he withdrew himself from me and the bank managers
conversation and seemed... dejected at best.

 

[KLS]

BTW, before you do the residual buyout,
try to get the dealer to do the timing
belt and front oil seal. That's coming
up soon and will save you some money.

Great advice, thanks! I'll look in the manual; I'm thinking it says
90k miles for the timing belt.

 

[Dom]

I am located in the north east US.
With all due respect, yes - the value of the car may be $8000 Kelley
Blue Book RETAIL....or maybe not... I dont know because I haven't taken
the time to look it up. Regardless...
How many of us WANT to pay FULL RETAIL VALUE for a depreciating
asset???
Not me.
Ideally, you want to pay as close to the current wholesale TRADE IN
VALUE - not RETAIL value.
I'll use the $8000 RETAIL VALUE since its already being quoted as fact
here...but...
What is the WHOLESALE TRADE IN VALUE for this car? Alittle research
will tell you that it is in the range of $4000 - $5000 depending on
condition and the market you are in (obtained right off Kelley's
website - go into SELL YOUR CAR to get the wholesale information).
Do I expect that he will pay only wholesale? No...a dealer is in
business to make money - not give away cars.
But Bradley can certainly can do better than the FULL RETAIL price of
$8000.
In this deal, the dealer would be making 3- 4000 dollars profit (minus
the cost of warranty to the dealer...which is much less in cost for the
dealer than it would be for Bradley).

If he goes in with a $5000 dollar offer (to start) for the car and work
up from there, he stands to do better in the end.
If the car has been sitting, and the dealer paid $4500 for the car - he
may sell it for 6000 to get it off the lot - even possibly with a
warranty.

From the dealers perspective, the dealer will want to start at the

"RETAIL VALUE" of $8000 and work down to maximize his profit - thinking
that if he can get the buyer to bite at $7500, the buyer will think he
is getting a fair deal - when in fact, he is paying $2500+ more than
the car is ACTUALLY worth to anyone.

I still insist that he should get the wholesale dealer cost for the car
(also available from Kelley...refer to SELL YOUR CAR section for this
info) and start from there.
The extended warranty does offer some security....at a cost! He
shouldn't be lured into thinking that he is getting it for free in this
case. In this case - it doesn't appear its free at all.
The dealer knows what he paid for the car, he knows what the warranty
will cost, and he knows how much $$ he will make if sold at or near
FULL RETAIL.

If I were Bradley, I would:

1) get WHOLESALE TRADE IN VALUE for the car.
2) find out how much the warranty coverage (or similar) is by itself
PRIOR to negotiating anything.
I would call around for similar warranty coverage elsewhere (AAA
offers a good warranty policy) to get an idea of the value.
When I understands what a warranty policy would cost me to obtain on
my own, I am a better position to negotiate for the car - WITH a
warranty - and - WITHOUT the warranty.
The dealer should be willing to negotiate both ways.

But always....always...always start low at dealer wholesale cost -
NEVER pay full retail value for a car.

Case in point -
When I bought my Subaru, the extended warranty for 5 yrs/100,000 miles
was almost $1800 through the dealer.
I got the same coverage thru AAA for half that cost....saving myself
hundreds.
In addition, my car was on the lot for sometime (its a stick shift).
Being that stick shifts dont sell quickly in this area,
I was able to get a great deal ($200 over dealer cost) on my car
because he needed to unload it.

Keep in mind too - the used car market pricing is more depressed these
days do to the glut of used cars on the market....just another reason
not to pay full retail value.

Best of luck -