The "My Dealership Told Me" Thread

[HipToBeSquare]

Thanks for not answering.

I appreciate it.

Since you are all one big happy group... I'll just resume blaming you all.

Do you think I would give a rip about any of that stuff, if I wasn't a big fan of the Subaru Legacy, and want to see it fill it's potential?

If I didn't like the car, and want the car, I wouldn't bother knowing all of that.

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[rsholland]

As to the joint-venture coupe...

***8226; He thinks the basic engine block will remain, but that Toyota will redesign the cylinder heads. His feeling is that the Subaru has not done a great job with the current cylinder heads, and expects Toyota to improve upon that.

***8226; No comment on as to whether it will be AWD or RWD. He's just not sure-but he is concerned if it's RWD, that it will end up being just a badge-engineered vehicle, not unlike the fullsize Chevy/GMC pickups; just an exercise in styling, and not good for the Subaru brand.

***8226; He thinks the diesel is dead, as they're having a really tough time keeping the price down. It's likely to be a $4K option in order to get it past CA emissions, and in a mid-$20K vehicle that's a very tough sell.

***8226; As to the hybrid, they sell well in urban areas, less so in rural areas. Again, hard to make a business case for it.

***8226; He thinks the joint-venture coupe will hit the market before a diesel or hybrid. Whether it wears a Subie badge, he thinks that's up in the air at this point.

***8226; Last year SOA sold only around 800 Impreza GTs. Not good. He, being a Subie dealer, has only seen one, and not at his dealer!

Bob

[SOA Blog]

Dealer "knowledge" is always funny to hear - some is right, some is not - it's always interesting how they can get some stuff dead-on and other stuff way off all in the same breath.

[rsholland]

Originally Posted by SOA Blog

Dealer "knowledge" is always funny to hear - some is right, some is not - it's always interesting how they can get some stuff dead-on and other stuff way off all in the same breath.

Well, it's like hearing anything third or fourth hand. Some may be true (as you said), while other stuff may not.

I think we all know that here. Still, it's fun if not interesting. So the question is: of what I've posted, what can we count on, and what can we discard? ...Oh, I know you can't answer that.

Bob

[SOA Blog]

Originally Posted by rsholland

So the question is: of what I've posted, what can we count on, and what can we discard? ....

Bob

half of everything you know is false...

[SOA Blog]

Originally Posted by HipToBeSquare

Thanks for not answering.

I appreciate it.

Since you are all one big happy group... I'll just resume blaming you all.

Do you think I would give a rip about any of that stuff, if I wasn't a big fan of the Subaru Legacy, and want to see it fill it's potential?

If I didn't like the car, and want the car, I wouldn't bother knowing all of that.

it's cool that you love Legacy and want the car you like best made. Thanks.

[rsholland]

Originally Posted by SOA Blog

half of everything you know is false...

I'm hoping that is good news. Now which half are we referring to?

Bob

[unclemat]

Originally Posted by HipToBeSquare

Please,

PLEASE

explain to me how that is not the case, considering the past 6 model years of differences between the US built Legacy, and the Japanese-built Rest-of-world options...

(...)

I have spent 6 years wondering why JDM got various things for Legacy that were completely unavailable to me as a US Subaru driver.

There are far more completely bizzare differences between Japan and SIA made cars. For example the headlight on 08-09 are little bit longer so the JDM headlights do not fit USDM fenders. This is a change that can't be explained by regulations or customer needs/wants! They simply did it because they could (and now I have to import JDM fenders to complete the conversion).

Lack of JDM options (I said options, not standard features) is often explained by price FHI charges SOA for them. Heck, when it comes to accessories (i.e. bascially stuff you buy separately, not factory installed as an option), one would think if it's available and there is potential demand, they would simply make them available adjusted for the cost of shipping them here and at least try to sell to see if there is a demand. Yet they don't think this way.... one company, my ass.

[D-Speed 2.5]

SOA Blog

I heard that the Legacy GT will soon come with an automatic. Can you address this rumor? If it came with the 5EAT like the older model, I would buy one tomorrow!

[HipToBeSquare]

Originally Posted by unclemat

Lack of JDM options (I said options, not standard features) is often explained by price FHI charges SOA for them. <snip>...one company, my ass.

You make a good point there.

If they were one company... why would they be charging themselves a price, other than the simple costs involved with development and logistics... Why would "overhead" be necessary?

My wife doesn't charge me part of my paycheck for her effort to procure the clothes that she buys me sometimes. I don't charge her money when I maintain the car that she drives. We simply pay our bills together. We are "one family."

[SOA Blog]

Originally Posted by HipToBeSquare

You make a good point there.

If they were one company... why would they be charging themselves a price, other than the simple costs involved with development and logistics... Why would "overhead" be necessary?

My wife doesn't charge me part of my paycheck for her effort to procure the clothes that she buys me sometimes. I don't charge her money when I maintain the car that she drives. We simply pay our bills together. We are "one family."

presumably, you don't run your marriage as a business. We are one business but with different business units - many if not most companies work that way - we even have charge backs within SOA - then you can see who spent what.

[HipToBeSquare]

In my business, I don't surcharge my fellow colleagues when they ask for my help toward the organization's common goals, either. The customer pays for the product or the service, and we make sure we are offering something competitive for them to consider buying.

Shuffling money around needlessly within in a company adds bureaucratic waste, and hurts the product by making it expensive, or further limited, or both.

It certainly made YOUR product, the Legacy GT, limited, and I don't mean the leather trim package. I mean not offering what some people would have paid you money for, if you had.

[Leonardo]

Any chance in hell one of the Legacy AND Imprezas will include a feature found in some of the cheapest cars on sale now? A smart key / push to start system has been sold in Japan for some time now and as I said before, some of the smaller cars have it. Or is it something like "Well since the segment we compete against with the Legacy don't include that feature, we won't either!" which would be BS and at least in the WRX/STi lineup, some of the competitors have it (Mazda comes to mind).

And if it's coming, please, don't tie it in with the useless nav!

[only1agam]

Originally Posted by rsholland

Not surprised by that news, as he told me (some time ago) that Subaru wants to keep the CVT a Legacy/Outback exclusive for 2 model years.

Bob

CVT being exclusive makes sense not because soa may want it for 2 years, but more importantly because it probably doesn't mate up with the new engine cradle to the impreza and forester...i doubt the forester or impreza will get the new tranny any time soon; at least not until the redesigned models.

[BigElm]

Originally Posted by SOA Blog

presumably, you don't run your marriage as a business. We are one business but with different business units - many if not most companies work that way - we even have charge backs within SOA - then you can see who spent what.

It's called Intercompany business transactions.... People here don't know about that.

[unclemat]

^ People do know about it very and what's more are quite aware how that works in practice in a Japanese multinational corporation having working in one. What people do not know why certain decisions are so boneheaded. Wait, I know... lack of competence, communication and general mistrust between the American branch and the Japan mothership. Been there, saw that.

[HipToBeSquare]

Originally Posted by BigElm

It's called Intercompany business transactions.... People here don't know about that.

INTER-company business transactions denote transactions between two different companies with some sort of demarcation between the two parties to the transaction.

INTRA-company business transactions denote transactions within a single entity...

But still doesn't explain why FHI would be trying to price options out of range for the US market, if Subaru Japan and Subaru of America, are both little nodes under the Fuji Heavy Industries umbrella, and a single company entity.

[BigElm]

^ Well, that's an internal business question. Whatever is the infrastructure for their business practices. Even intercompany transaction entities will want to make money. It gets political, which is not worth discussing.

[Steckers]

Being a noob, I have a question:
I just recently bought my first Subaru, an 08' Impreza OBS, and I love the car. No doubt about it, I will definately be buying a Subaru for my next car, and yes I will get one with F/I.
But there is one thing that I could tell needs improvement right off the bat. I only have a 4 speed tranny, whats up with that?? I can go but a Corolla and get a 5 speed, but a competitive performance oriented company like Subaru sticks to a 4 speed??
I really love the Sport Shifter on there, much smoother than any of the other Manu-matics I've driven, but I'm limited to 4 gears?
Hell my friends Altima, same 2.5 liter size engine, has a 6-speed manu-matic?!?!?!

Subaru, if u can hear me, fix this S**T!! What's the point of a performance oriented engine limited to 4 gears?!?!?

[Steckers]

Different topic, relative to SOA stating "We are one business but with different business units - many if not most companies work that way - we even have charge backs within SOA - then you can see who spent what"
Well of course, thats how ur books get balanced. But u dont cut eachother checks every month to balabce out your various accounts; you simply make journal entries to move around your assets.
I guess what I'm trying to say, is that rational is no excuse for the point he is trying to defend.

[jzamorski]

I just contacted my dealer and the internet manager said that they are going to start accepting factory orders and they will begin to receive the 2011 WRX's by late July. He said it takes about 10 weeks from the time they order it. I have to wait until the hit the dealerships to order one anyone as I won't be graduating til August and then starting my job. Can't wait to trade my mazda 6s in for one of these.

[Leonardo]

They should do factory orders on the damn Legacy which is built here in the US!

[SubaruIchiban]

Originally Posted by HipToBeSquare

INTER-company business transactions denote transactions between two different companies with some sort of demarcation between the two parties to the transaction.

INTRA-company business transactions denote transactions within a single entity...

But still doesn't explain why FHI would be trying to price options out of range for the US market, if Subaru Japan and Subaru of America, are both little nodes under the Fuji Heavy Industries umbrella, and a single company entity.

knowing what i know, the former is an example of transfer pricing (a reality of managerial accounting) and the latter is simple price discrimination between markets.

put it this way. if you, as subaru, could charge every customer their maximum willingness to pay for each car, you would maximize your profits. but you can't really do that unless you wanted to auction off each and every car. we all love subarus but the market doesn't have nearly enough buyers, so "3rd degree price discrimination" is the approximation subaru is using..

[akoshy]

Originally Posted by Leonardo

They should do factory orders on the damn Legacy which is built here in the US!

Yeah the vehicles are "final assembled" here, but a lot of the key components, including the engine and the transmission will still need to come from Japan, which in turn is tied to the capacity at the Japanese plants.

[BOY]

Originally Posted by akoshy

Yeah the vehicles are "final assembled" here, but a lot of the key components, including the engine and the transmission will still need to come from Japan, which in turn is tied to the capacity at the Japanese plants.

Akoshy, virtually all the EJ motors are built here. The trannys and EZ motors are shipped over from Japan. The US parts content on the Leg and OB is very high.