i want to get a 04 wagon and i was wondering which dealer is good. i heard that the service at stevens creek subaru sucks ass.

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either santa cruz or carlsen :)

If you already know exactly what options you want, color, etc., best bet is to use the various online car buying sites available that will link itself to various bay area subaru dealers. You can also check their inventory through Subaru of America's site, and contact them from there. Just ask for the out the door price, and see which one you prefer.

There are some who have posted negative experience in some dealership; and most of them on one particular dealer. There are a lot of positive feedback on santa cruz & carlsen. Fwiw, I have had no complaints with the sales & service department of Albany Subaru as well. Bought my 2nd subaru there without shopping around much (back when you had to be on the waiting list for the early batch bug-eye impreza), and then did the internet approach for my 3rd. I ended up getting the best deal for my 4rd subaru from Albany, so both my 2nd & 3rd came from there. They have been good in terms of honoring warranty repairs and addressing my concerns thus far.

my 2 cents

i would do the online thing but i want to bargin down teh price. haha. im just a student so hopefully theyll go easy on me.

I would put my hat in for Santa Cruz. I got a good deal on a 04 baja turbo and it was the easiest car buying experiance that I have ever had.

Ben

Originally posted by s202sti
i would do the online thing but i want to bargin down teh price.
The online route allows you to ask an initial out the door quote, and then approach the one that has the most attractive package to see if they can agree on something more favorable to you. My final choice wasn't the one that gave me the lowest initial quote. It took perhaps 3 e-mails back and forth to settle the details, including pricing. Iirc, I made a phone call after the few e-mails. Beats having to haggle with several dealers initially. You don't waste their time either.

Give Charlie Yeo a call at Subaru Santa Cruz

I'd goto Carlsen for everything if I had to use a dealership

Carlsen took good care of me. Of course, I didn't have much choice in the matter. That dealership had the only white STi in Nor Cal at the time. But they are pretty cool all the same.

Originally posted by yayitzian
I'd goto Carlsen for everything if I had to use a dealership

what else is there to use besides teh dealership? i dont understand how the online buying works. i thought once you "builded" your car online and they give you msrp + options, that is what you have to pay. and if this is true, then i cant bargin.

Originally posted by s202sti
i thought once you "builded" your car online and they give you msrp + options, that is what you have to pay. and if this is true, then i cant bargin.
I don't know how it is nowadays, but last year when I bought my 3rd subaru, I looked at one of those generic online car buying sites, picked a brand & model, and was later contacted via e-mail by several local Bay Area dealers. I then looked at their website through SOA's general site, and searched for the particular vehicles they have in their inventory. After finding the one with the preferred color & options, I e-mailed them back and negotiated a bit more. That eliminated several dealers, and I simply followed up with ones that were willing to negotiate with me. After that, a few phone calls (because the closest vehicle listed in their inventory didn't have exactly all the options I wanted, and had some that I didn't want) to settle the options and pricing. Then I simply agreed to come pick it up on a certain date/time, made the payment, and off I went with the new car. I suppose what I'm saying is even if you want to haggle, you can do it via e-mail. There are advantages & disadvantages, but one good thing about it is in the begining, you're wasting less of your time and their time. You don't have to go to various dealers to talk to them, nor do you have to make phone calls and hope that the same person you previously talked to is the one that follows-up your negotiations. With initial q/a through e-mail, you're dealing with one person. Of course, if that person happens to be a bad salesperson, you might pretty much eliminate the possibility of buying from that dealership. Imho, both you and the dealer win.