Hodges Subaru - Ferndale, MI

[TotallyJaded]

I had been meaning to write up a review, but ended up needing a repair within a week of owning my '12 OB, so I thought I'd give a broad perspective.

Overview
Hodges claims to be Detroit's "Subaru Only" dealer, which is more or less true. Though, in visiting other dealerships, I can't say I ever felt as though I was talking to a Volvo dealer who happened to sell Subaru, or a Jeep dealer who pushed me toward a Grand Cherokee.

In any case, Hodges is a pretty small "blink and you'll miss it" dealership that's been around since the 50's (and selling Subaru since the 70's). The lot has maybe 6 - 12 used cars at any given time, and there are about as many in the back lot. The new cars are all kept somewhere else, and asking to drive one is quick and painless. But, this isn't the sort of place where you can wander a sea of cars.

Competition
Since there are a few dealerships around, I thought I'd give a quick impression I had from visiting each one:

Dwyer & Sons, Commerce Twp. - Went twice, and both salespeople were largely indifferent toward having a customer. Service department quoted a remote starter at $780 and suggested I go to Mickey Shorr. Hodges and Dunning both quoted under $500.

Glassman Subaru, Southfield - Jimmy plucked me off the lot when I was looking for a '11 Forester XT. After wandering the entire Jeep / Subaru / Kia / Saab lot, he asked someone. "Mr. Glassman drove it home." Scheduled a test drive for the next day, and got a call on my way there. "Mr. Glassman took it home again." At 3:00 on a weekday? "Mr." Glassman apparently likes driving cars more than selling them.

Dunning Subaru, Ann Arbor - Contacted them online first about a WRX. For the next six weeks, I got continual messages about the base Impreza, even after responding with "I don't want an Impreza." On the lot, the dealer offered $500 over invoice on anything before I told him what I wanted. "Nobody gets to drive the STI." Whatever.

Suburban Subaru, Troy - Any "motor mall" stereotype comes to life here. The salespeople try to pretend that they're the quirky ones, and that you're somehow fighting The Man if you buy from them.

The Sale
I contacted Hodges online, and received a response pretty quickly from Danielle Isabell, their Internet Sales Manager. At the time, I was certain I wanted a WRX, and was grilling all of the dealers about ordering a 2012. Danielle was the only dealer who was straight with me in saying they couldn't be ordered yet.

I had driven a WRX before, but wanted to see how my family would fit in one. Danielle had no problem letting me take out an STI, and had it on the lot waiting when I arrived. She wasn't the slightest bit pushy, didn't seem at all put off by me wanting to put a child seat in the back, and didn't insist on coming along on the test drive.

Turned out, the WRX wasn't going to work. So, we took out a Forester. I wasn't sold on it, and was sure I wanted an XT if I was going that route. So, she found one at another dealer (Glassman, mentioned above) and suggested I check it out. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with her risking the sale to another dealer.

I ended up deciding on an Outback, and asked for a specific model they had, to see if I liked the color and nav system (turned out I didn't like either). Again, no hassle at all, the car was waiting for me when I got there, no pressure to buy anything. So, I ended up ordering.

As a reference point, I'm VIP eligible, so there's not much I can really say about negotiation, other than on my big list of things I wanted, she talked me out of the alarm shock sensor, and in to the rear bumper guard, which I appreciated.

The Wait
I was hit by the brake recall, and my e-mail address was apparently entered wrong, so I wouldn't have known anything, had I not read the forums. For a while, I wasn't even sure my car had been ordered.

Although annoyed, I will say that when I'd call to ask, Danielle would return my call within the hour, even if it was to say there was nothing to say. Eventually, I called up SOA to see if they had any more info. It took them the greater part of the afternoon, but that seemed to get everyone on the same page. They gave me an estimated date, 30 minutes later, Danielle called me with the same info, and when the date came, my car was ready.

The Buy
I thought I did pretty well, getting myself a 2.49% loan all prearranged. As it turned out, there was a 0% up to 36 months / 1.9% up to 72 months deal through Subaru / Chase. Like everything else, Danielle mentioned it to me without pushing it on me, and I bit.

At the dealership, I was "transitioned" to John Zajac, the Finance Manager, for signing and upselling. The upselling wasn't too crazy -- pretty much "Do you want AD&D insurance? GAP insurance? Tire damage insurance?" No, no, no.

We got to extended warranties, and I was armed with quotes, thanks to Omaha. I came out of the gate with my number to beat, and John wasn't having any of it. But, it was more of a "That's a really good deal". From there, it was loan time, and I don't know if it's the new bank regulations, but he explained everything in detail, which I thought was really great.

Meanwhile, Pat the receptionist had given my three year-old daughter some Share The Love rubber band type things to play with, and Danielle was showing my wife Foresters. (Uh oh.)

[TotallyJaded]

Post-sale
Very long story short: I had a bad puddle light, and due to the holidays and phone problems, scheduling the service did not go well at all.

Danielle to the rescue, actually managed to have someone come out to my office about 20 miles away with a loaner, and swapped out cars with me.

My service experience wasn't stellar, but because of the holidays and my complaining, I'm giving them the benefit of doubt.

They offered to come and swap cars with me again, but I decided to pick my Outback up. It saved me from making a special trip to order a Forester for my wife.