Subaru Promotion Question

[BRH]

Today, I received a letter from the dealer where I bought my 2001
Forester. It contained an offer which I find extremely hard to
believe......

It's called the "Exclusive Trade-In Assistance Program", good thru
6/15/04. It says that "any customer trading in a 1996-2002 Subaru
model on a like or upgraded 2003/2004 Subaru will receive 100% of the
base model MSRP when new (as provided by N.A.D.A.)". Am I reading this
right? Are they saying that, if I bought my 2001 Forester for $20,000,
they will give me $20,000 as a trade-in on a 2003-2004 Forester (or
higher model)? Of course, they say that your trade-in "must be in safe
operating condition, with normal wear and tear and free of paint or
collision work" and. they will make deductions for mileage. But even
this results in a 2000 or 3000 deduction, this sounds too good to be
true.

Has anyone else gotten this letter? What's the catch?

Bert

 

[Alan]

The catch is in the fine print where they can deduct anywhere from $.10 to
$.55 per mile. Guess which one they'll use. If you drive 10,000 miles per
year, that's $5500 per year. This is 2004, so they will be deducting up to
$11,000 on a 2002. In most cases, it probably works out to a normal trade-in
value.

 

[BRH]

Aah..... I took that to mean EXCESSIVE mileage, and wondered what they deemed
normal mileage. Now this makes sense.... The usual dealer scam.

Thanks!

 

[David Betts]

Aah..... I took that to mean EXCESSIVE mileage, and wondered what they deemed
normal mileage. Now this makes sense.... The usual dealer scam.

It is not a 'scam' atall. It is a perfectly reasonable trade-in offer
which may or may not work in your favour. You should always check the
market value of your car before getting a trade-in offer anyway. More
often than not, you will do better on a private sale... and get a
bigger discount on your new car if you have nothing to trade. As
always, do your homework. If you get ripped off, it's probably your
fault <g>.

David Betts
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Mort Shuman]

I saw the same thing, and thought it sounded too good to be true. Then I
read the part about taking off the $ due to mileage, and it made more sense.
I have an 02 TS Wagon, and for a few minutes, I had myself trading it in for
an 04 WRX...but it just doesn't make sense to do so. Financially, that is!

By the way, I'm in Maryland...

Mort

 

[BRH]

"Scam" was probably too strong a word. "Come-on" is probably more like it.

 

[null]

Yeah, anything to get you in the showroom. Oh Mr. Smith I see you touched
up a tiny rock chip well that
qualifies as paint work so we'll have to deduct a grand.

Funny, side story: My brother was selling his 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP.
He had it in the paper. He
gets a call from a guy who says he'll take it. Sight unseen, full asking
price. My brother says o.k. when do
you want to pick it up. The guys asks if he can drop it off at the XXX
dealership when he trades-it in for his new
Pontiac. What? Yeah they guy says, I'm the used car salesman at XXX and
I'll give you full trade-in value for the car if you buy a new car, blah,
blah, blah. My brother told the guy no deal he wants to sell the car not
trade it in. My brother being a accountant quickly figured out that the
guy would have scammed him out of about a grand.