So lets all hear it for Steven's Creek...........

My notes from my visits....

First visit,
Salesmen had no clue the WRX was coming out even after the Detroit announcement (around 2 days after). He did state that if they were coming out with one, that it would be limited and in turn cost a lot over MSRP.


Second visit,
Salesmen stated he had three pre-orders already for $8000 over MSRP and would not be able to budge from that, and stated that other dealerships were going to be forced to sell for at least MSRP.

I never got to try their service department, nor would I ever. Both times the salesmen were rude, very un-informed, lied even when he knew I knew the truth......

Philip

You know, I've no idea why I see so many cars still with dealer plate being bought from this dealership. Not only Subaru's, but Hyundai's,...etc. The salesguys there sucks. The pressure you into buying what they DON'T have.

The sales manager, forgot his name, tells me that he won't sell the WRX a dim below $5000-over-MSRP. They are the 2nd biggest Subaru seller in the COUNTRY and they will get WRX's before anyone else in town. If they were to ask for that kind of price, everyone would be asking for way more. I would need to put deposit down now and don't be one of the punks with over-sized jeans, driving lowered Honda's and just want to go to them for a test ride of the WRX. At that time, they don't even have the car I want on their lot and they weren't sure when they would be getting one - silver wagon.

granted, a LOT of cars go through Stevens Creek through internet orders, and have nothing at all to do with the salesmen there. I have a feeling there's a lot of that going on.

Also, you can't knock Stevens Creek's location. They have a huge market right there, and only need a few idiots to make big profits.

[comic book guy from Simpson's]
Worse dealership EVER!
[/comic book guy from Simpson's]

I've read horror stories on a salesman cussing at one of the customers! They also try to void warranties on anything and everything. They try to void the warranty of normal subaru owners as well (normal as in non-carenthusiast).

Yea i hate that place. you guys are too funny!

Just came back from that place because they called me (after bugging them for days since last Friday) to pick up the touch up paint I ordered. I gave them the color code and whatever else they needed exactly a wk ago. When I went there an hour ago, Parts dept. gave me the wrong paint.

After I took his phone book size reference book and pointed out to the guy that obviously the PN printed on the bottle does not match what is in the reference book, he then came back and told me (after searching around for 10min in the back) that the Silver paint is back-ordered. They can't tell me that when I placed ordered?!

Wasted 45min. of my time getting out there from work!

Worst dealership experience I've ever had was at Steven's Creek Subaru. They wouldn't give us a deal that we could accept so we walked outta there. Next thing I know the dealer is yelling at me, telling me that I will not find a better deal anywhere and if I do shop around, that I shouldn't bother to come back. Needless to say their deal was the worst offered anywhere.

yeah... agree... especially that evil faced manager, at first he was smile all over his:D, after he noticed i got a better deal from albany through my cell phone then i negotiate with him with price got from albany. he looked kinda pissed off and i never see his smily face again(the reason i would go from oakland all the way to san-jo is that i check their web site mention- they are #1subaru dealer in nor-cal and would beat any price in the area!)

well, after that freakin' manager refused to add floor-mats on my deal and kinda show his displeased sign to my family and i, i decide go back to albany which they are much better all around service. finally got my subie at $21,500 with all the options!:)

i was wondering can i order my subie from the dealer and still be negotiable on the price? any comments any1?

OK, this goes against my last 5 or 6 visits, but I did have a good experience there... with the service guys, manage to dodge the sales snakes.

OK, this is weird... I hate going there, but I felt I HAD to for some quick to get parts. Here's out it went.

1st stop, Parts counter: I needed to find out some info on relays and fuses and the guy was actually trying to help. He searched his computer for about 5-10 minutes... not finding anything, but he at least tried. Luckily some bloke came in for a part, so I was like, "just hand me that part manual, I'll find it." It took me less than 1 minute to get the part number for the 3 relays I needed. I guess I'm just a better researcher? I still needed the fuse for the fuel pump though and it was not listed in the book. The parts guy actually called into the shop and talked to a tech for me, eventually sending me back.

2nd Stop, Subie repair shop: Waited for a few minutes for an escort then walked back through shop #1, drooled over 2 WRX's, and into the Subie shop. Talked to a guy by the name of Gary. He was more than helpful, he photocopied 2 pages from the shop manual for me with the wire diagrams and let me know which wires to check and even highlighted them. There were a few other goons in Garys bay that he had to ask to leave like 4 times before he finally said get the F@#$ out of here. Those 2 are typical Stephens Creek people. Gary however was nice helpful nad get this... knew *** he was talking about. I don't know why they are hiding this guy in the back, maybe they think he'll ruin thier reputaion. :confused:

He was even appreciative of my turbo and asked if the car had been in the shop before. My answer, "yeah you guys said my timing belt was broken and it turned out I had a few busted up pistons."

Chad
93 1.8T

im tired of hearing this crap, this thread should be emailed to SOA. Stevens Creek needs to shapen up badly. this is not how you treat customers.

Andrew,

don't know if SOA can govern how Stevens Creek run their Sales Operations.

Here's the response from emailing SOA...

Dear Mr. Stamper:
Thank you for visiting Subaru.com. I am sorry that you e-mail was prompted by
poor service from Stevens Creek Subaru. I have reviewed the notes on the i-club
forum. I will post the commenst and yours as well. Unfortunately, we are not
in a position to direct how they run their business. The best thing that you
can do as a consumer is to write to the general manager and owner of the
facility. They would be interested in knowing about your experiences. You can
also carbon copy us on the mailing at Subaru of America, P O Box 6000, Cherry
Hill, NJ 08034. We are not presently offering parts directly through us on the
internet. It is possible that their are other Subaru facilities that will send
parts to you. You may want to call facilities in your area to find out if they
offer those services. Unfortunately, we cannot send our Drive magazine to
owners with older model vehicles. I hope this information is helpful to you.
Should you have any further questions, please cal!
l us at 1-800-SUBARU3.

Harry

<end of message>

Chad
93 1.8T

dang, where were u guys a couple months ago? heheh....
sorry, this complaint is very long, bitter, and my cheap alternative for therapy....

i bought my baby at stevens creek in june, when they agreed to match the price i got at carlsen, who did not have a silver sedan in at the time. the catch was that all the options had yet to be installed [carbon fiber trim, center console, factory spoiler]. more on this problem later....

moving on after arriving at the price, i was confronted by the finance dept, who of course tried to sell me the extended warranty. i kept steadfastly refusing, the price kept coming down from $1100. after awhile, the guy said his "cost" for the warranty [is this valid or an out and out lie?] was 750, but he would "lose" $12 and give it to me for 738. i kept refusing, and so he reverted to insulting my intelligence, telling my father, who helped me purchase it, sitting next to me, that i was just some stupid kid that did not know the value of such a warranty, and that later on he would be the one having to pay for all my repairs. he then offers 700. i call my friend who works for acura, because there has to be a certain price where an 80k mi / 6 yr warranty is worth paying for, who tells me to offer $600 or nothing. so i do that, and after further degradation of my honor and business sense, he gives it to me for 600. for some reason, he didn't offer me the clearcoat. darn.

[the day after driving it home, my friend found a round dent in the hood right by the latch, apparently from some idiot at the dealership who had tried to push-close the ultralight aluminum alloy hood. but that was how i bought the car, so i could not do anything about it.]

they instructed me to call the service dept to make an appointment to install the options, and i did, for a week from the purchase date. I take it in, at 7:30 IN THE MORNING, my brother had to go out there to pick me up, and they told me it would be done around 3:00. at 3, they say 5. at 5:30, they call to tell me that i should come pick up my car, but there is a problem: nothing has been done. they never had the parts. they never even ordered the parts. they never received the order from FINANCE, who was supposed to finalize everything. on top of having my car the entire day, there are 5.6 extra miles on it. i ask the service manager why they took my car for a joyride, since they did not do anything to the car. he BLATANTLY LIES TO MY FACE, although i did not know at the time, saying that "it is a PDI [post-delivery-inspection], required of every car, a minimum of 5 miles." i find out later that a PDI really is a minimum of 5 miles, but it is done when a car first arrives at the dealer, NOT anytime after, service appts regardless. i now have the only wrx with 2 PDIs.

a few weeks later, after another 7:30-in-the-morning-waste-of-a-day's-use-of-my-car, i finally get everything installed, i get my car back amazingly with only a 0.1 mile PDI this time, and i ask them to please compensate for their mistakes and lies. i was looking for maybe a roof rack or a guage pod, just to start high, but they did not even offer an apology. i have still not recieved my plates or my dealership evaluation in the mail yet. might they have changed my mailing address so that i cannot send in a bad report? i guess i won't know until i get a ticket for expired dealer registration.

in conclusion, need i say, do not go to stevens creek subaru / hyundai. there are a lot more details i would like to post, but being so long from the incident, and not having slept last night, i am sure many wrongs have slipped my memory, i will edit as i recall details.

please advise me in any way i can get back at them [legally of course], and please spread the word not to ever give them any of your hard-earned money.

thanks for takin the time to listen to my pent-up anger that came rushing back to me when i read all of the above posts,
MAK.

p.s. my friend's family was also about to purchase a wrx, but they were so insulted by the way Stevens Creek treated them, they refused to buy a Subaru, no matter the dealer. instead they bought a 325ci. way to go SC! they should get commission from BMW.

bump....
just want everyone to see how horrible these people are, and why never to go here.

They need to retrain their sales men, their attitudes are quite interesting, it sounds like they are doing the cusitomers a favor if the customers are buying from them, in spite of that marked up of $5000 over MSRP. Ha! Ha! OK! you can keep it in your lot, I don't need it, thank you very much!

BIG FAT BUMP.

everyone must know the truth!
u bastards are never getting away with anything.

:monkey: :monkey: :monkey: :monkey:

in short:
my worst experience ever at a dealership. I actually still can't quite believe I actually bought something there.. It was more like I just watned to get it over with so I closed the deal after 4 hours. The price was ok but the salesmen are slime!!! #$$holes!!
I made sure I left the worst rating when subaru asked me to fill out their online survey. Hope they actually use those ffedbacks!!

I thought it was only me. I went there and the sales manager kicked me out when I started haggling over the wrx price (which was way way too high). I bought at Ron Price instead. On another note, do any of you Sil-valley locals have a cross rail set for a 02 wrx that you'd be willing to sell cheap?

if so, let me know.

jsp

i think the big subaru corporations should be aware of their selling style! they are really making subaru look bad. my sister bought a car there and i could not believe how much this guy which i think was the manager haggled over selling a outback sport wagon for 2k less then how much he was asking which was way to high, this was in 98 and i guess they still suck over there....
i think they should clean sweep that dealership and hire people who actually like selling subarus....
i never have any issues with the guys on the coast (santa cruz, and seaside. they are great to deal with!!!)

Because Steven's Creek deserved this, I decided that this thread should be bumped again. They suck @$$. I went there to have my car warranty service, and they totally refused. I look young for my age (trait from mom, I have a face of a 14 year old when I'm really 19), and so the service manager immediately blurted out, "It's his (referring to me) fault." Um, hello, he didn't even look at my car. What a prick.
Upon being peeved, I decided to go to Carlsen to have my car serviced. Due to their dinky parking lot size, I had to pull out using a U-turn. Man, this one old service fogey had a bug up his butt or something. He was yelling and screaming to get out of the service area fast. Being fed up, I flipped him off. Next thing you know, he cuts me off after exiting the parking lot and starts saying **** like "I'll remember your face and when you come to get your car serviced here, I'll know what to do." Punk, I'd like to see him try as I'll never go back to Steven's Creek. :monkey:
Someone said that the dealership has changed. Wrong, the salesmen still had evil looks that would cringe a demon and the service people are fat skanks. End of rant.
Now Carlsen Subaru, you guys own. Gave me parts for free to fix my problem and the service man was way way way (did I say way) better and more polite. :cool:

Here's the original thread (http://forums.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=181043&perpage=25&pagenumber=2)

...or, if not the original, then another one :rolleyes:

Hahah, if you read it boka, I posted a link from the one in BAIC to here. The reason is that this section is especially reserved for reviews of dealerships.

Can we sticky this thread?

Please admin? I mean c'mon, even brucelee got into a fist fight with those guys. These guys seriously deserve no customers since they treat us like trash. :mad:

I just set an ongoing reminder in my calendar to bump this thread every day :lol:

My experience there almost stopped me from buying a WRX.
My salesan was straight from the Al Qaeda network...they offered 5k over sticker...for the WRX, this was in Feb.

They also hijacked my ID, so I couldn't leave...

I can't even imagine how horrific their service would be.

If I never go in there again...it will be TOO soon

I had two bad experience with Stevens Creek Subaru. First time I went in, I went solely to test drive the WRX to make sure I really wanted it before I went to the trouble of selling my Pathfinder to get the money to pay for the WRX.

First off, I brought a male friend with me. As soon as we got out of the car, the salesman went straight to him, shook his hand, and introduced himself. I patiently waited for him to do the same for me, but he didn't. So my friend pointed to me and said, "She's the one buying the car." All I got for an introduction was, "Oh".

I'm use to this treatment from dealerships. It's happens at every dealership I go to. Anyway, test drove the car and decided I liked it. Wanted to sell my 2001 Pathfinder and get the WRX without dishing out any cash. Bluebook on the Pathfinder was $26K and I told the salesman I wanted to sell it first, then come back and buy the WRX. He suggested trading it in. I flat out told him, the only way I'd trade it in is if I didn't have to put out any money.

So we went in and started the whole haggling issue. They took my keys to the Pathfinder so they could check it out to make sure it was in good condition. After 20 minutes, I knew there was no way they'd give me anything close to $26K for the Pathfinder. They offered $17K. I laughed at them and asked for my keys back. I spent the next 20 minutes repeatedly asking them for my keys. The salesman wouldn't accept no for an answer.

So I posted the Pathfinder on cars.com and it sold in two weeks. So why did I go back to Steven's Creek? Cause it's 5 minutes from my house. My treatment the second time was worse than the first. And honestly, I didn't think the first treatment was all that bad considering all my dealership experiences.

Anyway, they didn't have the WRX with the options I wanted. They did however have this wagon with approx 120 miles on it. On top of that, the shifter knob was missing. I told the salesman that was out of the question. I didn't want a car that had obviously been abused. This is where he started getting mad at me. All the snippy comments came pouring out of his mouth.

Another salesman was logging onto their computer to search affiliated dealerships to find me a WRX with the options I wanted. While he was doing that, I asked the snippy salesman a few questions about WRX's to kill time. For example, I asked when the 2003 WRXs were scheduled to be released. In reply, I got, "There's no way I'm going to give you that price for a 2003." After a few more rude answers, I got up without waiting for the other salesman to come back and left.

Long story short, I bought my WRX at Livermore Subaru. But don't take that to mean I liked my treatement at Livermore either. The awful customer service started a couple days after I drove the car off the lot. I'll start a thread on them next.

Stories like these pi$$ me off. :monkey:

Holy dear lord... Alright, I weasled a 2002 WRX wagon from these idiots for $25,000 out the door. I also got them to give me $4000 for my piece of crap 1994 Explorer which was about to explode (worth probably $2500). The salespeople are some of the least intelligent human beings I have ever had a chance to interact with and they all smell like they are having farting contests in the back room.
I only recieved one key when I bought the car and they said they would mail me the rest of them. Two months and five trips to the dealer later, I tell the owner to stop jerking me around and give me my keys. The guy has the nerve to snap back at me and he damn near got his skinny ass thrown out the window and beaten into submission. The idiots at the service desk try to grind me a key and after four attempts still cannot grind a key that doesn't stick.
Bottom Line: Completely incompetent, braindead ********.

DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING TO STEVENS CREEK SUBARU!!!

I went to Stevens Creek tonight just to see how they would treat me and see how true these stories are. and to my surprise, all the stories are true. WIthout even letting me sit in the car, they already wanted me to hand over my license and start signing stuff!! I got a quote over the phone, the salesman took it and was ready to sign me up, no questions asked. He didn't even ask my county for the tax costs, but said he would include it in the price i gave him (a random one that had similar numbers to what was in a fax i got from a phone quoter)

As i became very weary and very pressured, the salesman got his manager to speak with me. THe manager was worse, saying that the price i was quoted DIDN'T include the options that i asked for. He was on his way to charging me $700 MORE right off the bat. My salesman was there listening and didn't even say a thing!! Needless to say, while they were getting the keys so i could LOOK inside the car, I left the lot. I noticed that the salesman was chasing my car down as i was leaving, yelling "hey where are you going? I have ur car all ready...."

I think i would pay a few hundred more for guys i can trust. Be careful with what they try to get you on if you choose to go to this dealership...

Folks,

I checked out Steven's Creek Subaru. I had cash new what I wanted and they let me sit around like a lost puppy. They wanted to sell me what wa son there lot ... that is it.

This is not an advertisment - but I bought my 2002 WRX from Santa Cruz Subaru, simple $300 over invoice. Sure, I had to wait for it to come in, as I was particular in color/options. Santa Cruz Subaru is only about 45 minutes away from Stevens Creek. No hassles, no haggling and so far perfect service and customer satisfaction.

Plus, they give you free, that's right, free oil changes up until 3 years/60K miles. Way I figure, that's about $400 off list. :D

I got my WRX wagon from Stevens Creek, and the overall experience was OK. Not great, not awful, but still OK.

I had done my research beforehand, and fired up emails to a couple dealers around the area. Only Stevens Creek had Exactly what I wanted, and their price was ~250 less than an identically equipped car of a different color at one of the other dealers ... so I got the one I wanted from them at a price I was happy with. (was about $700 less than from carsdirect.com).

The good points:
- I didn't have to haggle for the price
- Everything was done quickly
- the options they didn't have immediately, they got the next day and installed them while I waited ...
- The "finance" manager tried to sell me everything (lojack, ext warranty, etc...), but didn't push his luck after I politely declined.

The bad points:
- They only had one key for the car. Offered to make a couple when I stopped to get the options installed, but their machine was broken ... I won't drive all the way there to have a few keys made .. I'll have them made at my local hardware store ...
- Took two people to understand how to use my peoplefirst.com check ... I was paying 1/3 cash and 2/3 with the check ... took them a while to figure that one out ...

Haven't tried their service department other than for installing the armrest ext and the crossbar .... but with the horrible stories on here, I'll look elsewhere for my maintenance ...

-- Coutch

Here's my Stevens Creek experience.


I went there the first time to test drive a WRX. This was my first time ever driving a WRX and I wanted to see how it feels. I've read countless magazine articles praising the car, so I had to see it for myself. I walk onto the dealership and this guy named Adil greets me. This guy is missing most of his teeth and he has coffee stains on his shirt. Not very professional at all. I asked to test drive a manual WRX sedan, and he pulls out one. I go on the test drive and I wanted to see how it felt on the freeway. He wouldn't let me go onto the freeway. He said the freeway was too dangerous. I drove back to the dealership and we talked about the price. I asked what was the best he could do for me, just to see what he'd say. HE said "For you my friend, 30,000 out the door." I gagged. This car only had 2 options, an armrest extension and he upgraded security system. I told him the price was way too high, then he said "If you can't afford the WRX, how about the 2.5RS?" That did it for me, I left.

I went to Ron Price Subaru in South San Francisco. This experience was somewhat good, but not the best. Much better than Stevens Creek though. The salesperson was a total b*tch. I hated her, and she kept lying and lying. She told the manager that was driving very aggressively on the test drive and she was scared for her life. SHE DID NOT EVEN COME WITH ME ON THE TEST DRIVE. That is against the dealer policy. I left. I forgot her name, but she had long black hair and she was a total snatch.

I ended up buying my car at Livermore Subaru/Honda/Audi. This dealership was very professional. The salesman, Peter, was very courteous and friendly. I recommend buying your Subaru, Honda, or Audi from this dealership, especially from Peter. I don't have his card with me right now, but I'm sure he's the only Peter there. I was in and out of the dealership within an hour. He gave me the price I was thinking, and that was it. Livermore rocks.

Man too bad I'm a newbie and didn't see this thread... I went there to test drive the car cuz I want to buy this Saturday and didn't want to drive over the hill to Santa Cruz... the guy tried to give me a sales pitch (it sucked)... why he likes the car... c'mon who cares why you like the car... I like it... anyways I didn't get my test drive yet and am dying for one... I know the bay area guys meet at the KK on tuesday nights but as an engineer I work pretty damn late!!! and have a meeting with some folks in Asia on tuesdays at 8pm. If someone reads this post and has time to take an enthusiastic future owner for a ride just to make sure he's doing the right thing let me know... oh and me and the friends are having a dyno day... if you're interested email dave david@osdesigns.com the info can be found here:

http://rotarygod.com

Even though I've never visited or bought a car from a Steven's Creek dealership during my 6 years in the bay area, I'm not surprised to read about bad experiences with that dealership. Customer Service in the bay area is rare no matter where you shop.

Descriptions of the sales people make me wonder if they aren't rejects from Fry's... :)

It seems people don't do searches, but I'm bumping this cuz I'm tired of hearing people personally tell me how they got shafted at this slime ball dealership.

I had a pretty good experience at Stevens Creek. I got everything I wanted without any run about. The salesman took his time to show me everything I wanted to see even though I told him that I wasn't buying yet, only after I've compared the car to the CRV.

Of course, the day I decided to get my Subie, I went there with a inventory list for Carlsen and Steven's Creek along with itemized invoice prices for all installed options and option set.

The deal was all done in 30 minutes. The only complaint I had was that the plastic protection sheets weren't removed cleanly and there were still bits of residues when I pickep up the car. They fixed it immediately after I made a comment.

Everything was pretty cool.

We I visited them early this month. people there just sits in a group smoking.
I just looked around by myself go inside walked around no greeting. they just all seems very busy talking with each other as if I am invisible. I just grabbed couple brochures of WRX and Forester and left.
they will have new show room and lot soon then I will pay a visit again.

I am going tonight.....just for fun and because they gave me a pretty damn good quote over the phone...new sales person and it sounds like subaru or the dealership manager or whatever is letting him hand out deales to get more sales to embarace the old sales folks.

Livermore is rad. I talked to Peter today. Good price...nice guy....probably will be from there or from Santa Cruz for my subaru when I buy it this week. Looked at Audi's a while back at livermore because I was gonna buy an A4....first place I checked out the subaru was there....now I am getting a subaru. Audi is nice but too nice to snowboard in...or rather take snowboarding.

Will fill you in with my story on Stevens Creek tomorrow.

BUMP

Don't bother going unless you like being harrassed and dealing with knuckleheads!

I recently had a bad experience and forwarded an email to Subaru.

Here is our email correspondence....it is disappointing...


------------------------------------

Chad Daniels,


I am very disappointed in what seems like more of a forum letter then and actual apology or interest in rectifying the situation.
First let me assure you that I am not some 19 year old arrogant young kid that was giving the dealer a hard time. I am a CEO of a financial company, a member of the Chamber of Commerce in the San Francisco, and have strong ties with the financial and business community.
For you to say that "...if I disagree with the treatment..." is an insult. The salesman said that I was stupid and referred to me as an "Ass Hole". Your statement defends and condones this kind of treatment and behavior.
I fully understand business and that if Steven's Creek is pulling in strong sales numbers regardless of sales tactics, but it will eventually hamper growth and a loyal customer base. I recently visited the NASIOC (the largest Subaru Community in the US) and I was not alone in the complaints about Stevens Creek Dealership. Over 100 people have voted them the worst dealership and there are more complaints about them then any other single dealership in the US.
I suggest that you visit the site (two links below devoted to the poor service at Stevens Creek) and find out for yourself.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81864

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=181043


As for me I am sending a letter to the Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau. I will also be forwarding your email and my letters to Subaru of America.

Remember, Passivity breeds failure!

Good Day

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

-----Original Message-----
From: SOAMail@sun.subaru1.com [mailto:SOAMail@sun.subaru1.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 11:29 AM
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Dealer Relations (E-mail #597914)


Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXXX :

Thank you for contacting Subaru of America. Please understand that every Subaru dealer is solely responsible for all services provided - including pricing, servicing recommendations, sales experience and labor costs. To that end, we suggest that if you disagree with the treatment you received by the sales department you may want to notify the General manager of this dealership of your concerns. Please be assured that we are sincerely interested in assuring that our customers receive the best possible service from all Subaru dealers. We have noted your complaint in our customer service system. We use such data from customers to log and track dealer and product performance. Best wishes! Thank you for visiting subaru.com!


Chad Daniels
-----------------------------------------------------------
YOUR ORIGINAL MAIL:

Dealership problem! I have purchase cars in the past and expect the aggressive selling techniques, but my experience at Steven?s Creek Subaru in California was horrific. I have never been treated so rudely. I asked about the price on a WRX and the salesmen went into some diatribe about how they are the second largest Subaru dealer in the US and they set the price. He kept telling me how I was stupid for not wanting certain upgrades or the extended warrantee. I said calling a customer stupid is not good for business. He then continued with he doesn?t need my business since they are the second largest Subaru dealer in the US. I said; ?OK, Good bye.? I then started speaking with another salesman; the initial salesman came over to have a private conversation with the new gentleman helping me. I could easily overhear what they were saying. It went along something like this. ?This guy is an A** Hole?? I interrupt them and ask for my keys and drivers license back, which I have given !
them for a test drive, and they would not give them back. Two other people (customers) approached me as I left and said they wouldn?t buy anything from them either. You need to be aware of the problem at Steven?s Creek Subaru, it is damaging your name and on that day 3 people did not buy a Subaru. One gentleman told me that his experience made up his mind, he is buying the EVO. Please check the following link.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81864

First name: XXXXXXXXXXX
Last name: XXXXXXXXXX
null
---
Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.507 / Virus Database: 304 - Release Date: 8/4/2003

onemanarmy got wiped out?
it has been 6 days and haven't hear any of his story.

Bump.
I was pressured myself today into buying a 2.5 RS from the Fleet/Internet manager (Mike Schwartz). The guy also quoted me 21,750 + tax & license. I walked out.

I then requested a quote on the same car from Carlsen Subaru and was quoted $19,237.
:)

If I plan on purchasing a Subaru I will be going to Carlsen.

I do have to agree that the salesmen suck and pressure you with everything they've got. The sales guy that I talked with didn't even know what a boxer engine was :rolleyes: . How could he not know what a boxer engine is?? BUT, I still got a good deal cause I brought along a quote from carsdirect.com. And one suprise I did come across while I was purchasing the car was one of Stevens Creek Subaru's customer service reps, T.S. Anderson. Hecka cool guy, drives a NICE STi and is sponsored by Apex. He's an actual Subaru enthusiast, unlike everyone else at the dealership and knows what he is talking about. In fact, I just saw him earlier today cause my trunk wasn't opening. I walked in without scheduling an appointment (cause it just started happening this morning), looked for Mr. Anderson and told him my problem. In two seconds, he already knew what the problem was, came out, and fixed for me right on the spot and showed me how to fix it in case it happened again. He told me he was having the same problem on his STi :lol:.

San Jose sucks. I went in to test drive a 04 WRX, I got my test drive no problem but I also got the major hard sell. They said they would sell me a WRX, today only for half price but that was good only on the beat up test drive car. They said I was crazy for not taking there half price offer. The best part was while the sales manager was trying to sell me a car some other salesman started in on my sister. She told him she didn't need a car she just bought an Audi A4 wagon, the sales guy had the balls to tell her they would give her good trade in value for the Audi, :lol: he said it would help keep the payments on the WRX down.
I ended up buying my car though a friend thats a car broker, easiest car buying experince I have ever had.

SOA must think that Stevens Creek is a stellar dealership. They have been awarded a Stellar Performance Dealership rating. Either the third party organization that gave them the certification does not look at our little forum or maybe thought the cert was for Stealer Performance Dealership.

I send my car to service as I the steering wheel is slightly off (the steering wheel is FACING slightly to the left rather than directly to the driver).

Its an obvious one and even a small kid can see it. You dont need any special measuring tools to detect the problem.

Anyway, I drop my car at the previous night and expect them to inspect it the next day as I made my appointment at 7:45am in the morning and they said they will need to take the ENTIRE DAY!

Never mind assuming their busy schedule. Today, the service advisor called me at 4:47pm (when the technician already went home) and told me they can't find the problem.

Its ok if they can't find the problem, maybe I did not describe to them properly but WHY must they call me at such a late time and tell me they can't find the problem? Why can't they tell me earlier? Also, when did they start working on my car? My appointment is at 7:45am, so what had they been doing with that car for the past 8-9 hrs?

- Charles

duh!

See Kevin at Carlson or go to Santa Cruz.

Originally posted by Stanley
duh!

See Kevin at Carlson or go to Santa Cruz.

I know but the distance!

- Charles

I could have sworn we had a forum for this kind of thing :).


Brian

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This is a long one, I need to get it out once and for all!

This is my first post, I dont even own a WRX, but I did deal with these guys a few months ago! They are the worst dealership around, by far!

I was shopping around for a car, I came across the STI, the local dealership in Santa Cruz wouldnt let me test drive (which is fine) but when I called the Stevens Creek dealer they offered to let me test drive the car.

I went over there that night, they kept me waiting around for about 50 mins before they got the car out of the showroom to let me test drive. I told the salesman up-front, I wasnt looking to make a purchase today, I wanted to test the car out and come back later to make a deal. He said thats fine.

So he takes the car out, he rolls out into the road and burns a little rubber, pushing the car into the high rpm's to show off the boost. Keeping in mind, this is a brand new car. He was quite an agressive driver for a salesman, although he was trying to show off the car to me - taking corners fast, pushing the boost.

He stops the car, tells me I can drive it around a little. Most of his driving was on main roads, and he gives me the car in a residential area with kids nearby, so I know I cant really push the car. I got to drive it for about 2 mins, and we were back at the dealership. I tell him thanks for the test drive - he asks me to take a seat. Lets talk numbers - he can make a deal for me.

I hadnt yet shopped around much before now, and this salesman was starting talking to me trying to make me feel guilty because he took me out in the car which is rare, he said the dealership had only done that another 2 or so times for other customers, and it would look bad for him if we couldnt make a deal.

So I say, ok.. lets look at the numbers. He lands 38K on me, with NO options! He gave me a quote of 600 per month or something over 5 years. I tell him its too pricey for my blood. I am feeling presure and wanting to leave now, but he's playing me on this guilt trip thing again.

He runs to his boss, comes back and says, we will pay your tax and your payment will be lower, only at 550 per month (but doesnt mention the term - which i didnt pick up on) do we hae a deal? I am looking outside at the blue/gold STI. Looks hot, I was here with my wife and we agreed to go ahead regardless.

He hooks me up with finance and I get hammered even more, this guy was trying to tell me that I needed this, and needed that.. before i knew it, the price had gone up alot more.

To cut a long story short, they had fooled me into paying almost 800 bucks per month for not 5 years, but 7 years. And I didnt even have an audio system. I signed the paperwork without realising the extra 2 years had been added on. I realised later on that night, and felt like I had been raped or something.

Ah, there is more. The total cost of the car was way over 40K, and they were having problems getting a bank to give me this - I got a call from their finance asking me if I could I pretended I lived in san jose because he had a local credit union who were gonna loan me the cash, but I'd just have to give a friends address and pretend I lived there.. I said no to that. But he kept on asking me to give him a san jose address regardless.

A week went by, I hardly driven the STI because the finance wasnt settled. I had to call them on the 8th day, and ask what was going on? They told me that they found a bank, but I had to lose ALL of my options and go with base car to lower the price. Meanwhile, I called Santa Cruz dealer and they quoted me 31K a silver STI. That is 7K cheaper! I was very upset.

I drove over there that night, and thought to myself, ok, my karma is kicking in, I got ripped off but I have a chance to get out of this. I stay in the finance department for about 3 hours while 2 sales people, one finance guy and a manager all try to get me to sign the new contract, telling me that 38K for the base car is still a steal! I refused all the way.

Within all this madness, I had one salesguy sit infront of me telling me he was counting on my sale, and he will be out of pocket this month, which was not good since he promised his kids an xbox.. and some other stuff. He also dissed the finance guy who served me by telling me that guy shouldnt have added those options on because my credit wasnt good enough to support a 40K+ loan. He said they have no idea what they are doing, then the finance guy came back in, and he was dissing on the sales guy for approving me for the car in the first place.

I noticed them going into a mirrored glass room a few times also and yell at each other, trying to find a way of fixing it. They finally offered to pay for my options out of their own pocket but I still had to buy the 38K car and sign the new contract. I say no, and they try the guilt thing on me again saying they will lose alot of money on this car because its now used.

I sign the car back over and I leave that place, feeling like I got a get out of jail free card!! The manager of the place drew me some dirty looks also as I left the place, like i was nothing.

So to sum it up, they will use any angle possible to make you pay big bucks, they will try to rip you off in finance also, they also hurt their cars by racing them around during break-in phase. They may also ask you to lie to credit unions as well.

I lack experience dealing with dealerships, but this was one good lesson and I'll be more carefull in future. I'm actually saving up a down payment for a 05 Silver STi. I might drop by Santa Cruz dealership if they can offer me a good deal like last time.

One thing I hate about salesperson is that they will use tactics like they are in need of money or earning money to support their family etc.

Always just be firm with your price. Testing drive a car is part of their job and part of your experience before getting a new car. Steven Creek also try to manipulate me but I was super firm with the price that I want and that it.. (Final)

After a few hrs of hot discussion and at times, firing words to the salesperson, i got the car for about $200 above invoice

- Charles

ok long one here goes.

Chalk another pissed off person up for Stevens Creek Subaru.

I went in to the dealer just poking around to get a feel for what i was looking at. At first glance I almost immediately discounted all subarus because of the inordinate markup stickers placed on the windows of the cars. $5k for an 05 wrx sedan $4k for an 05 wrx wagon, and $3k for an 04 wrx wagon. This put me off pretty bad, but I'm a pretty mean haggler so I thought I'd give it a shot. They easily let me go for a test drive, but the stupid ass sat in the front seat immediately even though I had my wife and kid with me, that PISSSSSED the wife off. Anyhow the drive was good and I was really happy with the car so we got back to the dealer and the first thing out of my mouth is "I'm not at all interested in buying today I'm just shopping around, with al bullcrap aside what kind of numbers am I talking" The first number he put on paper almost made me punch him($31k for an 05 wrx wagon). I then asked what about trade in. I about my flawless black 01 v6 accord for trade in with 25k miles, not a ding in the body(it is currently in the shop due to a hit and run, one fender and some suspension work being done), freshly zaino'd, I kept the interior spotless in the car with no stains and no abnormal wear, tires have less than 500 miles on them, brakes are less than 1000 miles, and this moron writes $5k for trade in. I almost got up and left immediately. He asks me to please wait a second and goes into the magic mirrored room and comes back and says "ok buddy, you have to shake my hand, look at the deal I got for you" and pushes a piece of paper in front of my nose with $8k written on it. I got pretty upset and said "Do you have any f#@$ing idea how much that car is worth. He gave me this BS that after an accident that's over $500 cars get a salvage title. I guess he thought I was stupid, the car had about $3k worth of damage that was being fixed at a dealer recommended body shop, and salvage titles only happen when your car is declared totaled by the insurance company. I whipped out reports from KBB.com stating my car was worth between $12k and $16k for trade in and he almost crapped his pants. He got up and went back into the magic room and pulled the "buddy shake my hand, look at the deal I got for you" again. He showed me a piece of paper with $10K written on it. I was pretty mad and told him I'd just sell it by myself, so what are we looking at bottom line for the car. He played with the calculator, he says "out the door with tax title and the other fees, $31750". We go though some arguing and a few more "buddy shake my hand bits" and he gets all the way down to $29k out the door for an 04 wagon with 1100 miles on it, but here's the clincher, he just pushes a piece of paper in front of me and says, "here buddy sign this". I asked what it was and he calmly said "oh it's just you accepting the offer to take the car" I got up and said "thank you, that's not in my price range" and called to my wife and kid and politely asked for my license and registration for my accord back. They started pulling "oh no sit down lets talk some more" it was already too late and I was pretty mad so I demanded my stuff back and STILL they refused. I then threatened to call the police if they didn't give me my stuff back and magically the manager disappeared and was back out 20 seconds later with my stuff.

Now I really wanted a subbie for my new car and had already done some research on KBB and edmunds as to what I should be looking at price wise. I ended up going to Carlsen. I told the salesman I wasn't interested in any BS what price could he give me bottom line. We sat down, he immediately said and "ok here's the invoice, I can go $750 below this plus $1000 for the current incentive." He said without seeing my car(it was still in the body shop) but based on my description he estimated between $12K and $14k(which is what I was expecting). So overall Carlsen was more than $10K price difference between Stevens Creek.

Can anyone guess here I bought y new toy from? lol


I'll also note that while I was at stevens creek subaru, I personally witinessed some stupid young kid take 8.9% financing and $43K out the door for an 05 STi. I wanted to slap him, but it was his stupidity.

You guys should try Ron Price.

yeah stevens creek is about the worst service and sales that I have ever experianced. when I was in the market for a wrx, they tried to sell me an 02 wrx with some rims for 24,000, and this was back in september of 04... when I showed him the then blue book value of around 19,000, he told me that the rims were worth $4000... it's obvious that they were not $4000 rims as they were most likely rotas from what I could tell. They even had an old end of the year 04 on the lot that they were selling for $20,000, but it had about 160 miles on it, and had all sorts of strange body paint damage... avoid Stevens Creek like the plague!

Stevens Creek is beloved on I-Club too.

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109552&highlight=Creek

You gotta love a dealership coming on-line using fake sincerity asking "Where Did We Go Wrong?" and you get over 600 replies telling them what they did, and where to go :D . From what I've read, they still haven't changed their ways.

Just had to bump this wonderful thread.

I want everyone to know how crappy they are. Grrrrrrrr

Oh, and not only are they terrible people, but they rape you VIA wallet.

*shakes fist in air*

Oh, and not only are they terrible people, but they rape you VIA wallet.

*shakes fist in air*

whoops, ^^^ sorry.

I had the internet manager basically hold an STi hostage thinking I would gladly pay $32,000 for it with a coke and a smile. I had been dealing with the internet manager over at Livermore (which is much closer to me) and had negotiated $31,000 for the same car, which would have to be dealer traded from Steven's Creek. The internet manager over at Steven's Creek refused the trade, stating that he wanted to deal with "Paul" himself. (mind you that my name is Peter) I thought this kind of scum and villainy was reserved for the movies. I ended up buying the car from Livermore, whose internet manager came in on his day off, and drove up to Sacramento to pick up my car. Now that's service!

I'll never go to Steven's Creek Subaru again. Even knowing I would not be able to make the payments, the salesman manager tried to push a car on me.

Subaru of Santa Cruz is the best on my area!!!