Dog Tested
Have you guys seen these commercials?
Well they worked on this gal who had a love for dogs, a love for Subaru Outbacks and a Cobalt on its last leg.
In December we shared with you guys the auto saga of a replaced car battery and a towing out of the lawn (which was admittedly my own fault).
I even hinted around about the new alternator that I had to buy two weeks later, see that post here. Obviously the battery wasn’t the problem.
What you didn’t hear about was the leaking heater core, the overheating car and the gallons of coolant that were sloshing around under the passenger side of my car on Monday morning. Not a great way to start your week – another grand in the hole on a car that you’re not sure you should keep driving. We’ve been giving the AAA Car Center so much business that they asked me to write a review for their members magazine. That’s too much business.
So after much discussion and a little number crunching, the decision was made. And, I am now driving what I think is going to be an awesome long-term, slightly rugged, but slightly luxurious automobile. You’ll have to remember that my “luxury” gauge is low considering my Cobalt was not equipped with power locks or windows.
The verdict: a 2012 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited.
Me likey.
Chad likey.
The pups will likey once mama decides to let their stinky tails in it. It’s only been with us about 36 hours so I’m still enjoying the new smell sans puppy.
BUT, the purpose of this post isn’t to shout out to my sweet new ride – okay well, maybe just a little. Rather, the point was to share with you guys 1. where I purchased this wonderful little machine, because I had a great experience and 2. share some tips that I picked up before going in to make the deal.
1. I went to Johnson Subaru in Cary. I chose Johnson because they seemed to have the largest selection of Outbacks to choose from in our area. I also like their old commercials.
2. The only other time I have purchased a car was in 2006. Thankfully my dad was with me. However, I don’t really remember “making the deal” since I let Dad handle the biznass of it all.
So to prepare myself I did what I do before making any big purchase. I Google-d. I Google-d like a wild woman. Here are the car shopping tips that I compiled and took with me to the dealership.
- Print out comparisons of all the vehicles you are interested in. This won’t work for everyone because I had specific idea in mind of what car I wanted. I ended up just driving one on Saturday.
- Take those vehicles that you’re interested in and use a site like www.edmunds.com to look up the dealer invoice, MSRP and true market value of each vehicle. Set a limit of how much you’re willing to spend on each.
- Get your finances in order. Check your credit scores so there are no inaccuracies or surprises at the dealership. Also, we did NOT do this, but it’s really recommended to go to your bank or credit union first to get the best deal on interest rates. We were able to take advantage of dealer financing a “special rate” but if this had not worked out the plan was to leave and go to our own bank for financing. On a side note, don’t let a salesman tell you that you need to buy a car by a certain date to get 1.9% financing or something. I was casually looking online for months and as soon as on deal ended, another one started the next month – sometimes at a better rate. In addition to interest rates though, go ahead and decide what amount you’re willing to put forward as a down payment and what montly payment you are comfortable with.
- Put on your game face for the dealership. For me this meant reading tips from all over the web before going. My takeaways were: never say that you l-o-v-e a car, always give the impression that you can and will walk away fromthe deal. Never say to the salesman or to your spouse “I don’t know what do you think?” Try to avoid giving the appearance of indecision. Be firm but really nice of course!
- Plan your negotiation. Hop around the house. Throw some air punches. Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee. After such things were done I had a very simple plan: start by asking to see the dealer’s invoice. They should be willing to show this to you. If they aren’t, I know I would go elsewhere. My plan? Offer $200 over invoice. I probably should have offered less because they took my offer. However my back up plan was to only increase my offer in small $100 or $200 increments and always allow them to counter offer. Never increase your own offer before a dealer counter offers. The final part of the plan was to go to the sales manager when I reach my maximum offer. Even if the salesman protests. Tell them if they want to sell you a car you’d like to talk to the sales manager. You’ll have to confirm everything with them in the end regardless, your salesman’s goal is just to try and bring the highest price possible to their manager. Again, I did not find myself in this situation because they accepted my initial offer which was $400 less than my planned maximum.
- If you have one, know your trade. All this really means is going to a site like Kelly Blue Book and valuing your car. Be sure to check the “trade” value and not the private market value. Also be realistic about the condition of your vehicle. My biggest negotitation came in valuing my trade rather than the final sale price of my new car. I figure this is likely why I was given a great price on the new car, because I was low-balled on my trade. In the end my trade was based on the “fair” condition value noted in the Blue Book. However, I was initially offered a thousand dollars less.
- Finally, be prepared to wait. To anyone who can, I would recommend going on a Tuesday morning to buy a new car. I needed to go on a Saturday morning, as to avoid missing work. However I was in the dealership from 10 AM – 3 PM and I came prepared with a copy of my pay-off information and both keys to my Cobalt, my auto insurance cards, my current registration, drivers license, and proof of income. It was still a long day. They did provide me with lunch for free though - it was the most expensive “free” slice of pizza ever.
So that’s a LOT of words just to say: The process was a little nerve-wrecking and I was definitely making pancakes by the end of the day (yes that’s another gross sweat reference), but in the end it was absolutely worth it. I adore every little inch of my new Outback, feel very proud of the big-girl negotiations, and am hopeful that this is another long-term car for our little family.
Photo: Subaru
The weather was nasty this weekend so I don’t really have a picture to share, but you guys get the idea.
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I’ve seen those commercials and I love them!! The dogs are just so sweet… I especially like the one of them camping and “singing” around the campfire… but then getting so scared of the wolf howling…. so great!!
Anyway, enjoy you new car!
They are great commercials. On the Subaru website you can even read about each dog like where they were found (most were rescue pups). Thanks!