recommended Subi dealer in Bay Area?

I'm almost ready to get a WRX wagon, and have been dealing with Albany Suburu in the east bay, since I live near them. I'd like to know your experiences and opinions on them, as well as on the Oakland and Santa Cruz(!) (since I've heard good things about them on i-club) dealers.
And I guess the Marin county dealers as well.
Recomendations, condemnations, etc.

I live in El Cerrito (west Contra Cost county) so Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, etc counties are all possible places to buy/get service. Even South bay since I work in Fremont (but going south from there does tend to be a nightmare).

I'm certainly interested in price, etc info, but what I'd really like to hear about is the service department, since after the sale, that's who you deal with.

And not to beat a dead horse, but I've been alarmed by the discussions here about ABS malfunctions, for obvious reasons. Any comments for a prospective WRX buyer?

Thanks

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[aussiebrydon]

a friend of mine from work - 42years old, Senior Scientist with a pharmaceutical company, went to Carlsen Subaru and they didn't want to give him a test-drive because none of their cars had reached the 1000 mile mark - I'd go with Santa Cruz Subaru

[Ken Levin]

Santa Cruz Subaru without a doubt! Do a search of BAIC threads on this topic. There is much info.

[hman]

Most people rave about Santa Cruz.

[local420]

I bought my car at Stevens Creek. I was not happy about their dealership as a whole... Nothing like teaching the sales rep when you go to buy a car... And for the many reasons stated here, I will never go back to them.

I met Bruce and some of the guys while at the laguna Seca Track day. One big thing to remember is that they sponsered the event... Showed up with raffle prizes, Shirts Hats and Stickers. Santa Cruz went out of their way... Above and beyond ANY dealership in the bay area to make sure we enjoyed ourselves greatly. They support us in our endevers to enjoy our cars, we should support them in making sure they will be around long after the stevens creeks of this area

My feelings

Josh

[tsn97]

I bought my car at Albany Subaru last June. The sales person answered all my phone calls and emails promptly before I bought the car. So I would say they are ok.

As far as their service dept., u can see my recently experience with them in my story about "cracked windshield" here:
http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthr...hreadid=132251

[SFsube]

Subaru of Santa Cruz is THE call in the Bay Area IMHO. The sheer volume of positive comments clearly overwhelms all other dealers combined.

Angus

[Darkstar]

I have my WRX on order with Albany Subaru. Their not bad, they didn’t try to rip me off, unlike Prestige Imports and Jenson Motor Center who gave me nothing but BS.

OK, thanks everyone. As expected, people like the Santa Cruz dealer. Unfortunately that's 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from me. Probably still worthwhile if I need any serious service. I might just buy from Albany Subaru though - several people have indicated satisfaction with them (as well as 2 people in my area whom I know personally). And I've been dealing with them, and they've been pretty good about things, letting me take test drives (not alone of course), etc.

However, I have asked both the dealer, and Subaru directly (via email and on the phone) about the reported ABS problems, and I just get the standard stonewalling - "Nothing wrong that we know of" and "You shouldn't get your information from users forums". Not very reassuring, I must say. I'd even prefer, "yeah, we heard about that and looked into it; there's no problem, it's just a bunch of idiots complaining". I wouldn't like it, and wouldn't necessarily believe it, but they keep saying they haven't heard of any ABS problems. Surely at least *some* of the people who've complained here have officially complained to SOA? I know at least one person complained to NHTSA, since I checked their website and found the record.

What do yo othink? Should I ignore the possible ABS probelm and go for it? Right now, it's the only thing stopping me from getting a WRX right away.

thanks to everyone for their info.

[stevedood]

hey..

I just got my WRX at Marin Mazda/Subaru with a clear pricing scheme that indicated total markup ($995) and base invoice. Talk to Eugene Tintoc (tell him Steve recommended him). These guys move alot of inventory so their markup is tolerable and I would recommend sorting out the numbers before you go in there. I did alot of talking on the phone before I was comfortable with the numbers I was getting (from 5 different dealerships). I actually cruised through the paperwork in about an hour and took a test drive by myself.

I'll let you know how their service dept is...



Steve

[wonthanhboi]

I'm sure people who are looking to buy a wrx in the bay would like to know any out-the-door prices you guys paid?

Those are the two main things that will determine if i can get a wrx or not. The insurance and out-the-door pricing. Subie of SC on their site is saying about 24,500 or so. This would be a great out-the-door pricing. And i've been hearing about no more than 1000 over invoice. But invoice on edmunds is only about 22,500.

So, can anyone help here? How about, posting the price you got for your wrx? And if you got options, can you list the price of these options? Thanks. Oh yeah, manual tranny only unless you have the price of the auto option so i can subtract that. Thanks a lot! Bye.

[syank]

I got my WRX with the Spoiler and the Boost gauge as the only options. I got it at Carlsen Subaru. I payed about $25,000 out the door. They have a set mark-up of like 2% of invoice (thats a guess, don't remember the exact percentage). The people there were friendly. I had seen it there the day before, but couldn't get over to buy it that day. I called them, and they said they would hold it for me, and make sure it was washed and had a full tank of gas. It was a very good experiance. Also, deffinatly stay away from Steven's Creek Subaru. They chased my friends out of the dealership and threatened to physically hurt them, just for asking to test drive a WRX. Hope this helps.

[wonthanhboi]

25 out-the-door is pretty okay. But I've also heard of people saying that they got theirs for about no more than 500 over invoice AND others saying invoice or under. I'm wondering where these supposed dealers are. I'd like to give them a call when my parents are going to fork over the money to get a new car. That isn't until next year, but by next year the price SHOULD be down, and finding people buying at invoice is very encouraging!

Oh yeah, anyone know about any good/cheap insurance for a 17 and a half year old kid for this caR? You know, i'm searching for pricing on everything before i take the big leap. Well, b4 my parents take the big leap on buying me the car. Insurance is the BIGGEST issue. So, uh, help a subie lover anyone?

[satrya]

I bought my 2002 at Albany Subaru. No complaints here. I service my subarus there since 1995, and I have never had any bad experience with them. The technicians seem very nice and genuinely interested in what they're doing...
I got a CEL last year and they did a good job taking care of it (it was one of those earlier "need to reprogram the EVU" thing)...

I haven't had any ABS problems....

my 2 cents

[bugnutty]

i'm picking up my silver wagon from ron price in south city later on this evening. charles geldfrit, the internet fleet manager has been awesome to deal with. i went to him with all my details and he gave the lowest price of all others in the bay area. carlsen down in redwood city has always had great reccommendations by others from the club, when i called, i was quoted $450 over invoice, but when i went in they wouldn't budge from $650 (still a smokin' deal). i went in to see charles and he beat the $450! even with all my bugging and anticipation, he was totally cool. i am interested to see how the service guys handle the many mods i have planned.

also, carlsen will not let you put a mile on any of their WRX's (great policy to keep the car straight), when ron price had a car specifically for demos. just avoid buying a red, auto sedan... that was the car i drove and layed the smack on. probably already sold for a smokin' deal!

charles is the man!

.roland

[ScoobyBoy]

how does everyone feel about ron price.
ive checked carlsen and santa cruz, but ron price was the only place that had the wrx with the options i wanted.

[drboost2002]

dont even go to stevens creek

[Frederf]

I've been to Steven's Creek... they would have shot me if they had a gun.

[IgotWRXed]

DO NOT DEAL WITH ALBANY!! I WARN YOU... DONT

check out my horror story:

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthr...hreadid=157177

now keep in mind, i spent time at the credit union before and then after AGAIN. the car looked like crap, i couldnt believe it. after i had been drooling over this car, i was just smashed. but i guess it was a blessing in suprise that albany sucks.

[IgotWRXed]

and the only reason i didnt go to ron price was that they werent a certified AAA dealer. AAA = less price. ron price's policy on using one car for testing is great, albany uses any car, hence my problems.