L
labtec
I was looking through the various newsgroups concerning Subaru vehicles
and came across a post from (e-mail address removed) who also had
problems with Subaru of Claremont so I thought I would add my experience
as well.
My story is as follows. Recently I went to the Subaru of Claremont
dealership and received a written quote on a trade for a new vehicle.
Not knowing for sure if this quote was a fair price or not, I went to
another dealership to see what they would offer. They said they could
not offer a better deal so I returned to Claremont to accept their
offer. When I arrived less than three hours after receiving their
written quote, the sales manager said that particular vehicle was no
longer available. Since there were several other standard models in
stock identical in price and configuration to the one I had selected
earlier, I said I would take another vehicle. He said the there were no
others available "exactly like that one" as that particular vehicle was
offered to me as a "loss leader" and that it was the only loss leader
they were going to offer at that price. I then asked what constituted
whether a particular vehicle was offered as a loss leader or not. His
response was that it was strictly at the "dealer's discretion". The
bottom line is that they were not going to honor their written quote and
I was going to have to renegotiate and settle on a higher price if I
wanted a vehicle - or go back to the second dealer.
Needless to say, since there was no mention that it had been a "special
quote" that expired on leaving the premises, or that the vehicle that
was originally offered was different from any other vehicle with the
same configuration and price, I didn't feel they deserved my business at
any price higher than quoted price. As a result, I returned to the
second dealership and in talking with them I learned that Subaru of
Claremont was probably engaging in what is known in the industry as "low
balling". My understanding is that this is where the dealer offers a
low price he has no intention of honoring when he knows you are shopping
around so you will return to the dealership and he will have another
opportunity to negotiate. They even issue a written quote on a standard
quote form with the dealership letterhead but are very careful that it
is not signed and I did not pick up on that.
This is my personal experience only but they definitely engaged in
deceptive pricing with me in this instance as far as I am concerned. I
also wonder that if they are this devious during the initial
negotiations, how will they treat customers in the service area after
the sale when you might have to take their word on what they find wrong
under the hood? I will personally avoid them like the plague.
and came across a post from (e-mail address removed) who also had
problems with Subaru of Claremont so I thought I would add my experience
as well.
My story is as follows. Recently I went to the Subaru of Claremont
dealership and received a written quote on a trade for a new vehicle.
Not knowing for sure if this quote was a fair price or not, I went to
another dealership to see what they would offer. They said they could
not offer a better deal so I returned to Claremont to accept their
offer. When I arrived less than three hours after receiving their
written quote, the sales manager said that particular vehicle was no
longer available. Since there were several other standard models in
stock identical in price and configuration to the one I had selected
earlier, I said I would take another vehicle. He said the there were no
others available "exactly like that one" as that particular vehicle was
offered to me as a "loss leader" and that it was the only loss leader
they were going to offer at that price. I then asked what constituted
whether a particular vehicle was offered as a loss leader or not. His
response was that it was strictly at the "dealer's discretion". The
bottom line is that they were not going to honor their written quote and
I was going to have to renegotiate and settle on a higher price if I
wanted a vehicle - or go back to the second dealer.
Needless to say, since there was no mention that it had been a "special
quote" that expired on leaving the premises, or that the vehicle that
was originally offered was different from any other vehicle with the
same configuration and price, I didn't feel they deserved my business at
any price higher than quoted price. As a result, I returned to the
second dealership and in talking with them I learned that Subaru of
Claremont was probably engaging in what is known in the industry as "low
balling". My understanding is that this is where the dealer offers a
low price he has no intention of honoring when he knows you are shopping
around so you will return to the dealership and he will have another
opportunity to negotiate. They even issue a written quote on a standard
quote form with the dealership letterhead but are very careful that it
is not signed and I did not pick up on that.
This is my personal experience only but they definitely engaged in
deceptive pricing with me in this instance as far as I am concerned. I
also wonder that if they are this devious during the initial
negotiations, how will they treat customers in the service area after
the sale when you might have to take their word on what they find wrong
under the hood? I will personally avoid them like the plague.