Let's say you want a particular car, but your subie dealer doesn't have it on the lot. Can they look on a computer and see what other subie dealer has the car you want and then get it from them?

Who's gotten their car this way before? Anyone here? How long does that take? Especially if it would be coming from half way across the country. Also, would they ship it on a truck or drive it. 'Cause if they want to drive it then there's no way I would do it.

Also, do they charge you extra for this? And what if you don't like the car when it arrives...are you stuck with it anyway?

Anyone know all the details of doing something like this?

Yes, all Subie dealers do this. I got my RS via a dealer trade. I'm in St. Louis and my car came from Minnesota somewhere. I used to sell cars and the only dealerships that don't do dealer trades are small but cocky places that don't get along with anyone.

Will they drive it or transport it? Transport is actually not that expensive, so request that it be transported.

Will they charge you for transport? Yes, if it is out of the immediate area.

Will you have to buy it? I doubt a dealer will locate and trade another dealer unless you have signed a contract on the car.

Are you wanting a WRX? Fat chance. No dealer is going to trade away a car like the WRX, unless they're trading for another WRX.

Chad

The exact opposite happened to me. The dealer (in Las Vegas) gave the white RS I wanted to another dealer in Phoenix before I could get there. I called him and he said the white one was being traded to another dealer. I asked him if he could hold it for me. I was in town for a funeral and couldn't get there before closing. We went by the closed dealer later that night and the white RS has a "Hold" sign in the windshield. I was hoping he was holding it for me. The next morning when we got there it was already loaded on the transporter and we saw it head off for Phoenix. He said the "Hold" was for the other dealer, not for me. The only choices were red and brp two doors and several 4 drs. I ended up with the red one, though my first choice was silver and then white. Oh well. I love the red car, and you don't see them very often. The short answer is yes, they do trade with other dealers, apparently even out of state.

yes...
they can do that between any two or more dealers.. as long as dealers are happy with what each of them end up with...
if you know what i mean.
that is how i got my car.. the dealer i went to can't find one so i found one and let them do all the talking and dealings.
what did they end up with i don't know...
that is their business
hope this helps
michael

They can-- but it takes some push. Some dealers will sell more Foresters than OBs and will swap out. It might be tough to swap out a white RS for a black RS.

I told one dealer I wanted a silver RS sedan. She called and said there was one in Arkansas. $500 delivery as well. I passed and bought my silver RS at the other Subaru dealer which was there all along.

it's ok SLIG, red is the prettiest color anyways http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

and to echo everyone else, yeah, many times dealers will trade, but there are special circumstances under wich they will not.

That's exactly how I got my car. I live in Florida and bought my from Jerry (Deadbolt on this board) at Prestige Subaru in NC. I don't remember what dealership he got it from but I do know they sent a driver with a flatbed and picked it up. I think it was part of the destination fee, But i'm not sure. It took a couple of days to drive there and bring it back. It all depends how long it would take to drive a flatbed to go and pick it up. Some dealerships charge more than others. I chose to get it from Jerry because a closer dealership in Florida said it would cost an extra $1000 to have them pick up the car I wanted from a different dealership. It only cost me a few hundred for the plane ticket and I broke my car in on the way home!

How much does it cost the dealer to ship a car, let's say, 600 miles?

My dealer is gonna have to ship mine to me, since he told me to come pick it up, I drove 600 miles, and the car wasn't there.

But I'm thinking I might can work out something. If it would cost the dealer $400 to ship the car to me, I would offer to take $300 off the price and handle the delivery myself. I could have someone in my family who lives near the dealer meet me halfway.

So does anyone know how much this costs the dealer?

I've recently heard of a dealer or two not willing to do this. If they don't it's because they're lazy or don't want to bother on the price difference. If you run into this, just call 1800Subaru3 and they can track down the car you want.
Dennis

Dealers make "holdback" on any vehicle sold... most dealerships pay their salesmanagers on total selling dollars in the till. When trading vehicles, each dealer "sells" the vehicle to the other dealer -- hence, the managers' pay line only shows the profit made on the sale (as the other dealership "kept" the holdback on the traded vehicle). Some managers will refuse to dealer trade because they'll get paid less.

But -- all dealers are able to trade.

Ahhhh, this is the perfect topic... See, I work for a Volkswagen dealer, and that is my very job. The sales people, from what I can see, don't sell any of the cars we have in stock, so the swap manager locates the desired vehicles, talks to the other dealership as to what they want in return, and I'm the moron that has to go and get the car. Many many times, when I finally make it to the dealer the car has 250-260miles on it, but it seems people don't mind... They do draw the line at 300 miles tough... They will NEVER send me any further. No matter how badly someone wants the car. And yes, there are times when other dealers or us, will not part with a certain car, cause we all know that we can get sticker for it. Example- the GTI VR6 in silver. We have one or two, and several dealerships as far as Pennsylvania have tried to swap us for, but we've said no, and the same the other way arround- we've been trying to get a Passat 4motion for a while, and everyone hides them. In the VW world, you can't not swap a car just because it's hot, or else the other dealership CAN sue you, but there are lots of loopholes... Anyway, sorry for the long post, and if you have any other questions on the topic, feel free to ask.

Danny

I got my Impreza this way. The local dealer, from which my family has bought a Legacy, '95 Impreza, '98 OBS, and my 2000 Impreza off of didn't have any Impreza's when I wanted to trade the Legacy in. They traded a Forester to another dealer in northern PA for my Impreza. They went the extra mile for me since my family has supported them, but I'm sure they would have traded regardless.

Jonathan

My local dealer traded and Outback for a Red WRX sedan!! My salesman said that he was surprised that happened.

I did get my 99 RS by a dealer trade, but they traded a Black one for the Blue one that I wanted, so it was an even trade.