Are all Subaru Dealers This Nice?
 

So, after runing some errands this morning, I have some time to kill.

Subaru of Jacksonville was just down the street from my last stop, so I decided to pull in to take a look at the new re-styled STi. I'm greeted by a friendly fellow named Henry, and I give him the stock "just looking" line, and he says "no problem, I'll be here if you want me to answer any questions" and grabs the keys to open the STi.

He's very knowledgeable about the car, and answers all my questions, etc. and then asks me if I want to speak to some of their Tuners. (Their WHAT I'm thinking?)

"Oh yes, we have a fully tuning shop with a Dyno and all the bells and whistles." I ask, "so you HELP your customers modify their cars?" He proceeds to tell me that if they do the work, the car stays in warranty and that they LOVE when their customers want to improve the car. He says that 75% of the people that buy the WRX or STi from them do some type of modification to the car, and they love to help.

So he then proceeds to show me around the shop which has ~ 10 cars in various states of upgrades. One guy is on the computer loading a new MAP, another guy is putting on new sways for a customer..you get the picture. Now remeber, I haven't expressed ANY interest in buying the STi, this salesperson was genuinely proud of the work they do, and wanted me to see it!

So after spending about 20 minutes with Henry, I thank him for the Tour, and tell him that I don't want to take up any more of his time, as he has "real" customers to attend to (the place was fairly busy.)

He then says to me "Wait a second, you mean that you're not even "curious" about driving the car?" C'mon..let's go! "Henry, I'm not going to buy this", I say. "I've got a million dollars into this Rx-8 that's worth about 18K to you. I couldn't buy an STi even if I wanted to!"

"Don't worry about it, let's go for a drive" and off we went. We spent about 20 minutes on the test drive finding the curviest roads we could (which isn't easy in Jacksonville) he asked me just to keep the RPM's under 5000k "if I could", and "have fun" with it.

After the test drive, the General Manager comes over to introduce himself, and says that if I ever sell the Rx-8 and are interested in an STi, please come back and see us. No Hard Sell, no "let's sit down and crunch some numbers" none of that "we can give you what you want for you car, what do you want your payment to be?" crap I experienced with Mazda. (A story for another day)

I walked away totally impressed at the professional way in which I was treated, and the pride the salesperson really had about the car and the Dealership.

(All through this I'm thinking of my last interaction with the Mazda dealership just last week. "Can you do an alignment with these specs?" Answer..."We can't do an alignment, you have aftermarket wheels" WTF??? Can you please check the control arms for the recall? I have the paperwork right here." Answer..."We don't have it in our system yet, so we can't check anything" I say, "but here are the instructions, just look at the stampings!" Answer..."No, you'll have to come back." I go to pick up the car..."We can't work on your car anymore, it's too low!" WTF? I say, "How is it too low? It has a MAZDASPEED FACTORY KIT!" Answer..."It's too low for our lift, it was too much of a hassle getiing it on to do the work." Thank God the morons didn't notice the REVi intake, or some part my warranty would have been voided I'm sure.) Sorry...I digress..

I have noticed usually that new car salesman are better than used cars salesman. Ive noticed it quite a bit at every dealership I go to.

Anyways it sounds like that Subaru dealership should have a very good customer satisfaction rate.

It seems that the Subaru dealership you visited was very professional. All car dealerships should show this kind of professionalism.

I had a great experience with a Subaru dealer in Baton Rouge when I was trying to decide on the Z, 8, or WRX. My wife and I drove up and were greeted with a smile and a knowledgable salesman and when we explained why we were there he threw me the keys and hopped in the rear so that my wife could sit in the passenger seat. The salesman was very nice and when I told him that I wasn't ready to make a decision yet but would probably go with the 8 he said no problem and asked if I'd like a coke and a piece of cake before I left.

My Mazda experience wasn't nearly as good but i was going to get the 8 and they were the closest dealership, else I would have had a 1 hour drive. Knowing what I do now I will drive four miles if the price is right. Heck, I might even drive ten hours down to Miami.

I have one Subaru dealership that I LOVE which sounds a heck of a lot like the one that you visited. I have one that I don't like that isn't bad but just full of unknowledgeable salespeople. Then the rest that I've come across are pretty damn good. I don't know what it is about Subaru but they seem to have their shit together compared to a lot of other manufacturer's dealerships.

It's hit & miss with every car brand. My experience with Subaru/Mazda of Thousand Oaks was terrible. Wound up jerking me around. My experience with Santa Monica Mazda was terrible. With Galpin Mazda, they will do all the Mazdaspeed stuff & keep it under warranty. Personally I don;t buy all that nice crap a lot of times. Seems real nice, until they sell you the car, or the parts then they couldn't give a damn about you. Santa Monica Mazda was that way. Very nice, until I signed the contract, then everything/ every promise went to hell in a hand basket. Seems like almost every dealership is like that. I had 2 previous MBZ dealerships, one was great, one was terrible, just random luck more than brands.

That is a great experience. I have been to several Subaru dealerships. I even purchased a certified preowned Honda from one, along with STI from different one, and visited two others when shopping for the STI. I got a good feeling from all of them. I never felt uncomfortable going there to browse. The way they treated you had a purpose, even though you were not going to buy. You are already boasting them, and word gets around, and this is how the build their dealership. This is yet another reaosn why Subaru has had returning customers for a long time. Most people who buy a Subaru once, always go back to Subaru. :)

I bought a 02 RS previous to my RX8. It was from CARR Subaru in Hillsboro, OR. And there service was just as good.

Their sales manager was a founder of a local Subaru enthusiast club. Though I dont believe they had a tuning shop, I had asked them about after market parts, and their stance was the same.

Pretty much, he said they wouldnt void a tranny warranty for an engine mod.

Loved the car, but I wanted more power. I looked at buying an STi, but to me the interior was still an econonmy class interior. The seats werent comfortable to me at all.

I feel the RX8 is the best looking car on the road, and though it may not have the power as some in its class, I still think it is much 'nicer' of a car all around than an STi.

But I have to hand it to the Subaru dealers I have been to, the best service I have ever seen.

I went to a subaru dealership once and they had the hottest blonde saleswoman there. Best part was that she knew her cars.

hey Fanman
I totally agree with you about Santa monica dealership They are horrible and retarded.

That's how succesfull salesmen treat prospects. Nobody intelligent gets bullied into a $30k purchase. I'm sure the sales manager sets the tone and the rest of the staff follow. I'm in direct sales and can tell you that the right manager makes all the difference. Shit rolls downhill and when the guy at the top is a grease-ball the newbs tend to, almost unconsciously, soak up some of his tactics, sayings and body language.

My Mistubishi dealership is very similair to the Subaru dealership you visited. They have a performance shop with an AWD dyno, modding "consultants", different mod packages, all sorts of parts and even a waiting room with leather couches and a big flat screen HDTV running WRC footage from the SPEED channel. That kind of stuff makes selling a lot easier because a serious prospect has already shopped around and should be impressed by what he's seeing.

It's sad but I think it's true that Subaru dealers are nicer then other dealers. I been going to a of different dealerships in the last couple of weeks to help look for a new WRX with my uncle and I have to say that Subary dealers were the nicest. Of the 4 Subaru dealers we went to, all of them had salesmen that was there for longer then 10 years and knew what they were talking about. None of the Subaru dealers had to sic the manager on us, and all of them never pressured us to buy a WRX even though they spent a good 1/2 hour with us. We never got the "lemme see what the manager would say" and let us sit there for 15 mintues at a time. They know about the car's spec. The maintence scedule they spoke off the top of their heads instead of reading from a brouchure, and they were always curtious. I would've wanted my uncle to buy the WRX, but the new 05s are butt ugly. Maybe because they always park the WRX next to that Tribeca. Holy shit that thing is ugly. But yeah, I think they are the nicest.

if more car dealears were like that, more new cars would be sold each year

i agree with you and fanman, they're retards, they sold me my car too with like 3 scratches and a fucked up headlight.

ugh i hate them.

and regarding the thread topic


YES i have noticed subaru dealers are exceptional, but a tuning shop? you've got to be kidding me, the second i read they keep your warranty i fell off my chair.

when i was looking at an STi i told the salesman that i had recently purchased a car and was not intrested in buying he had no problem talking to me and showing me the legacy GT's the new wrx and STi(i went to see the redesigned 06 impreza line a few monthsa go) and the guy knew his shit about the impreza and all of the minute changes from year to year, extra helpful too.