Subaru Outback Forums banner

Quitting subarus due to the dealers

14K views 92 replies 54 participants last post by  tumbleweed 49 
#1 ·
A long read”
After six Subaru’s I finally had to move on but it’s not the brand it was the dealer.



Our first car was a 1988 GL Wagon and we hauled our family around and took it on vacations and drove it on 4X4 roads it should never have been on but it never failed us. When our family grew we moved into our minivan stage and sold our wagon but returned to the brand when the kids left home and we sold the minivan. During that time my Aunt moved back from California and since she lived in the county I got her started on Subaru’s and she traded every 18 months and bought 4 foresters, an Outback and ended up with a Crosstrek. Between myself, my Aunt and my mother we bought approx 12 vehicles from Figgs Subaru in Topeka,Ks. All of us loved the brand and we liked calling ourselves Subaru people and my wife and I referred to ourselves as a Subaru family when talking cars. We have had two brands Subaru and Toyota in our family and while we loved our Toyota minivan and my Toyota pick up we never had the ownership feel that we did with our Subaru’s.



One of the reasons we kept going back to Subaru’s was our dealer. Figgs Subaru was a smaller family owned dealership and we never had a problem with them. In the early 60’s Figgs took a gamble on if you remember “Those little jap cars” and turned it into a very successful dealership. They didn’t operate on cut throat methods and you could walk in and buy a car and walk out in an hours time happy and feeling good about the deal. I used to do research on the cars bottom dollar and go in to buy a car ready for a fight but it wasn’t that way with Figg’s Subaru.



A few years ago they sold the dealership and another local Mega multi brand dealership (Briggs) bought it and in my opinion it is the worst dealership I have ever dealt with. They kept our same salesman that we have dealt with for many years but other employees that they kept on were slowly let go.


Mike the service manager was let go because he didn’t GENERATE enough work or money. In the past you knew that if you took your car in that they would fix problems and I never once felt like they took me for anything that wasn’t needed. Mike told us when he left that they always pressured him to bring in more and more money and when he didn’t they let him go and since that time they have had multiple service managers. Since I was getting older and we were trading vehicle more often I had been in the habit of letting Figgs do my oil changes but I had to start doing my oil changes again just for my own peace of mind. When you take a brand new vehicle in for the first oil change and they want to inspect it for possible work and they tell you that you need new windshield wipers on a two month old car then something is very wrong. I have very little faith in taking my vehicle there and for the first time at a major dealership I worried that they would break something to sell me a new part.
If you call Briggs Subaru the call goes to another dealership and they will not transfer the call until you tell them your name. If you do not give them your name the call always goes to voice mail so you have to leave your name and number for them to call you back. One of the sales managers who wasn’t there long told me that they data mine names and numbers and it helps to generate a call list for sales. He said that there is also a process for mailings due to the number of times you called and which dept. you called.



Since Briggs took over I have been spammed with E mails form distant dealerships that are in the Briggs group who email you to bring in your trade for a great deal. I received one of these e mails after recently buying a new car. I asked my salesman and even the new sales manager to remove my emails from the system but that is impossible to do.



Our original salesman has stayed but that is only because he has such a strong customer base that they cant let him go but I have rarely seen a salesman stay for more than a few months and this goes for parts people and all other employees there.
I know some will say that this is the way of the world and that’s just how big dealerships are. BUT, the Toyota dealership I buy my trucks from was also a small family dealership who took a chance on Toyota’s in the 60’s just like Figg’s and Lewis Toyota is now a multi dealership dealer and their business practices are nothing like Briggs. I have no problem and feel very comfortable taking a vehicle in for service and while I have to know my numbers when I buy a new vehicle I feel comfortable buying from Lewis.



I do have to say that the recent decline in Subaru quality has had some impact on my opinion but it has been mostly the dealership. Sine 2013 I have bought three windshields for our Legacy’s and right before I sold the Outback it had a broken windshield. I also had a wheel bearing go out on our 2017 Outback. The windshield is a definite problem but a wheel bearing can just be the luck of the draw and I figured it was just one of those things that can happen. BUT, when I took the car in to Briggs to have the service done I did not feel confident that the work would be done right or that they wouldn’t try to find something else on an 18 month old car that needed fixed. The NEW service manager was very nice and very efficient young lady and I really liked her until she told me that the service tech said that I needed new tires.



All of this added up and my wife drove a friend’s 2017 Toyota Highlander and we stopped in one day and drove one and bought a 2019 Highlander and we love it. I do miss my Subaru’s but as long as Briggs owns the dealership I wont be back and at my age I doubt if we will ever be back or change brands. I do regret not taking my “6” emblem off of the back of the Outback and I do feel a little regret every time I see an Outback.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I switched to Subaru for the same reason you left. The Honda dealer in this area is so bad that I was determined never to buy another car from them. But I wanted a dealer that was close to home so I decided to try Subaru, the Dealer is only about a mile from my house. So far so good. If things don't work out with them there is a Toyota dealer just down the street. I have very little brand name loyalty.
 
#5 ·
This sounds pretty close to how I feel about the local Toyota dealership and was pretty much the reason I bought my Ford Escape in 2010. I was all set to buy a Rav 4 to replace my Toyota Matrix which turned out to just be too small for my needs. In trying to work out a deal for the Rav 4 I just got so sick of the antics and them completely ignoring everything I told them I wanted I finally just walked away and found what I wanted up the street at the Ford (and also Subaru) dealership.

When it came time to replace the Escape I bought my Outback from the same dealership. I won't pretend they are perfect, but they have treated me right and so far haven't done anything to run me off. They are currently in the process of separating the Ford and Subaru franchises and are building a new facility next door that Subaru will move to when it is finished. They will then have a completely separate service and parts department for Subaru as well. It will be interesting to see what might change when that happens.
The next closest Subaru dealer is over three hours away so I would prefer to buy locally as long as they keep treating me fairly. I don't mind that I won't get the best price on a car here but at the same time if the savings was large enough I would jump ship and buy outside of the area.
 
#6 ·
Oddly enough - I've sworn off ever doing business with the "small" Subaru dealer in my area. I had a bad service experience with them. The dealer I bought from is part of a larger dealer network (but not a HUGE one, they have lots for GM, MOPAR, Mitsubishi and Subaru) but I feel they're reputable. Yes, I get those same emails trying to get me into a new Subaru but ONLY from the Subaru dealer in the group.

I wonder, for the OP, was there another dealer to try or was this an excuse to find a different brand? Maybe Subaru dealers aren't as common in Kansas as they are in New York...
 
#7 ·
It sounds like you might be retired or soon to retire, maybe you just need to move to a new location?

I have at least 7 Subaru dealerships within 50 miles of where I live in the Portland, OR area. They all have to be good to the customers or they won't survive.
 
#10 ·
It's NOT GOOD to see others that have had the same problem with other dealers but at least I know I'm not the lone ranger. I thought a long time before I wrote my letter to the group because I have been so loyal to the brand and I didn't want my dislike of the dealer to bleed over into the Subaru brand. Subaru's are great vehicles and I would still be driving one if I had a different dealer.


intelisevil The closest Subaru dealer is 25 miles away and it is owned by the same group so going to another dealer is not a good option. Even though we are in Kansas there are a lot of Subaru's in the area. It's not like Colorado or the Portland area but there are a lot of them around. BTW, I am three weeks into retirement and I am loving it. 8-10 hours of sleep instead of 2-4 every other day has been great.



Danver, I like what you had to say and you are right that no dealer is perfect butt his guy Briggs is flat out terrible. I did a lot of reflection on whether I was being to critical of the dealership because we were spoiled with our old dealer.



Thanks for all of the replies.
 
#13 ·
This trend has been happening in CA for the past 18 years or so. It started with all our small family owned Toyota dealers being bought up buy the mega Auto groups. They own entire regions I would need to drive about 3 hours to get out of the owned Toyota dealers. Its so bad here the sales staff right up front tell you they don’t negotiate prices!! No joke!! Whats even worse is that they control the Tech pay for the entire region so top Toyota Techs either get paid garbage or go independent.

I think the first move all Auto Makers need to do is offer Certification for Warranty and Auto Maker backed service. Independent shops then can choose to be Auto Maker backed service locations. This would effectively start to short circuit the Monopoly the Auto Groups literally are engineering for entire regions.

This is also why Tesla has fought the Dealer Lobby.

I think eventually what will happen is that a state or states will file monopolistic business practices against the big Auto Groups. And the Auto Makers will leverage that to get the dealer middle man eliminated. The Dealer model creates lots of issues for the Auto Makers also, inconsistency in service being a big issue obvious from the comments here.

My favorite BS game is how all the store fronts meter out the models and trims and use their adds on Auto trader to justify their asking price but don’t tell you all the adds are their stores. Not competitors
 
#15 ·
Sad to say this also happens in Australia at a lot of dealers.

The Subaru dealer I now use is owned by Subaru Australia so thankfully they need to be on their game or head office is not happy.

Seagrass
 
#17 ·
updated thread title

"moving on," seems to be like the OP was selling a home to move to another area to live near a good subaru dealer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: repete
#18 ·
We bought our 2003 h6 outback new,still looks and works good.Daily driver,although now as a winter vehicle.
I have never had it back to the dealer,not once.Kept up the service on it with an independent garage and myself.
This shows two things,Subaru quality and my own distrust of dealers.
Same goes for my Volvo c70.
 
#20 ·
+1 on the Toyota dealers saying they don't negotiate prices when I was car shopping in 2009... so I bought a Chevy.

Now, I do all my negotiating by email. I message all dealers within 50 miles, then go back and forth between best offers till one stands out. If they don't give me a quote in writing, they don't get my business. I've bought 2 subarus this way, and it's worked out pretty well (bought one from Santa ana, and one from Irvine) . We'll see how it works with Honda later in the year.
 
#21 ·
Socal is ground zero for the Auto Group monopoly game. Im in Norcal and its getting pretty bad here. GM and Ford are the only independent locally owned brands now. Our Toyota super mart owns bmw, Audi too. The Subaru mega mart owns, land rover also. Both are absolutely terrible to deal with or work for.
 
#22 ·
I see things differently- you buy the car once and only deal with the dealer again if you need warranty work.


My vehicles only go to a dealer for warranty work period. Find yourself a local independent shop that you can trust.



Dealer are a crap shot period- doesn't matter the brand, but to stop purchasing a Manufacturer you like because of the local Dealer seems like a cutting off your nose to spite your face kind of thing to me.
 
#25 ·
I see things differently- you buy the car once and only deal with the dealer again if you need warranty work.
My vehicles only go to a dealer for warranty work period. Find yourself a local independent shop that you can trust.
I'm with you here. Go to dealer for vehicle if they have what you want. Go back only for warranty work and firmly decline other work.

On the other hand:
I have had good work done by a local Dodge/Chrysler dealership. Heck they even fixed a mistake. Their automatic washer ripped off a chrome bumper/trim piece on a door. They sent it out and had a new one painted and installed at no cost to me. Personally, they did the right thing and charged me a good price for the timing belt work I took it in for. Never felt pressure from an up sell. Also had them take a look at that same car when I wanted to sell it for my Outback. He sat me down and said he is not interested and proceeded to give me advice and a starting price to sell it myself. I regret not taking that advice and trading it in at a much lower price. I would have bought a vehicle there if Dodge still sold a Magnum. :rolleyes:
 
#23 ·
Central Maryland here: same horrible experiences with dealers, and seems like getting worse every year. I feel like now, as soon as I step foot in a dealership - they automatically load me up with "recommendations" worth at least $1000 that are obviously bogus.

I would be interested in getting feedback from someone who doesnt think their dealer is motivated only by higher profits.
 
#26 ·
Is there a sign above the door that says a dealership is a not-for-profit organization?

No?

Then OF COURSE they're trying to get profit, pretty much however possible. Making a profit - meaning monies received over and above all costs (which include the actual fixed costs, like lights, paying for the building, internet charges, etc.) - is why they're in business. It's NOT a bad thing.

Now, think about this. How many threads on here (and every other forum) are people saying, hey, what's the actual invoice for the car, what's the holdback, what other kind of discounts and such can I get, so I can buy this car as cheaply as possible. When I worked at the plant, we could buy the cars 2% back of invoice, and one of the things we could do was go to the plant office to actually see what price the dealer really was paying for the car. (That was also how to really irritate the dealership in Lafayette back then, because they weren't thrilled with it. Their attitude has changed a little since then.)

Guess what? Without the manufacturer reimbursing the dealer for part of that money, they really WOULD lose money selling the car to a customer for that far back of invoice. So how exactly are the dealerships supposed to stay in business if they don't do something to make some money. Guess what? We know you work hard for your money and want to keep as much of it as possible. We don't have a problem with that. If you come see me and you're reasonable, I can be reasonable, too.

Are all dealerships like this? No, and I'm not going to say that they are. But the internet is changing the way that the car dealer does business, and we have to adapt as well.
 
#24 ·
I agree it is likely that far more dealers practice the 'up sell' approach than those who do not. I also agree that it isn't brand-specific. It is a dealer management philosophy to bring in more profit by selling things people really don't need. Your best bet to combating this is to educate yourself on your car and let the service manager know that you understand what is needed and what isn't so you can comfortably decline the recommended extra work. Get a copy of the factory shop manual and read it. Dig through on-line forums like this one. The slime ball dealers prey on people who don't know jack #&it about their cars.
 
#28 ·
I'm old enough to remember when the best way to maximize profits was to have happy customers who brought in repeat and referral business. Now, it's like "maximize profit on the sale of this car, and what happens after that is somebody else's problem."

When I bought the last car before my Outback (a Mazda), the sales manager at that dealership was great, a straight shooter with no BS. When I was preparing to buy my next car, the first place I went was that same Mazda dealer to see about a CX-5. The prior sales manager was gone and the new guy was a total dick. Walked out of there pissed off, and less than a month later I was driving the Outback. Both the Mazda dealer and the manufacturer lost a sale, and the dealer lost some future service business. Who knows, maybe the new sales manager made better numbers than the prior guy, but not from me.
 
#29 ·
I have no issues with dealers making money.

Here is why Dealers need to go away.

$450 Differential service quote.
Local $185hr labor rate top quality shop charges $115 for both.

$3900 100k extended warranty, I bought a better one manufacturer for $1200. The one he was selling me was $900.

These dealers scam every non technical customer that walks in the door selling fake service items, and 4x over priced items. They need to closed down if they can’t run a legit business.
 
#32 ·
I had the same issue. There is only one dealership in our province. Twice we were looking at the new 2018 crosstrek first time we looked at trading our ‘11 outback but the trade price was too low and we walked away. 10 months later we came back looking to trade our ‘16 RAV for the crosstrek. Again they came up short on the trade price so we walked away...over to Nova Scotia. Did the deal on the phone and The deal we got there was worth driving the 850km...ish..each way to get it. Because there is only one dealership here I guess they figure they have you and will take what they offer. I would drive that far again if I had to to get the better price
 
#35 ·
There are advantages as well to a dealer- their techs only deal with those vehicles and see a ton more of them so in a lot of instances you'll save money even with a higher labor rate.


An example I can think of from over 25 years ago- I was an apprentice at a Subaru dealer. When they'd come in with a fluctuating idle- pull it in, replace idle air motor and done.


Take it to an independent shop and they might have spent a few hours figuring out the problem.
 
#41 ·
There are advantages as well to a dealer- their techs only deal with those vehicles and see a ton more of them so in a lot of instances you'll save money even with a higher labor rate.

An example I can think of from over 25 years ago- I was an apprentice at a Subaru dealer. When they'd come in with a fluctuating idle- pull it in, replace idle air motor and done.

Take it to an independent shop and they might have spent a few hours figuring out the problem.
I disagree to a point. Some indie shops specialize in Subarus, and they are far more knowledgeable than the dealers, especially on older models.

Furthermore, there is no conflict of interest in helping you maintain your older Subaru versus trying to sell you a new one - if anything, like you they benefit from keeping your older one on the road.

Finally, when it comes to one area - recommending the best parts to use - the indie will generally be looking out for you best. Case in point: Like many H4 2.5 NA owners, I had my head gaskets replaced a few years back. Indie put in Six Star multilayer gaskets. Subaru techs were still putting in single layer at that time. My take? Subaru knew they had a problem, and corporate didn't want to admit it was a defective design by changing over their recommended service procedures.
 
#36 ·
The Subaru dealer local to me sucks but to be fair all the local dealerships suck.

I tried to buy a 3.6 off them, told them what I wanted so email me a quote, gave them my card, and two weeks went by without a response.

I gave the guy a call and he said he was busy and he would call me right back.

Called the next day and he said there were no green 3.6s in the area.

Went to a dealership up an hour away that had a green 3.6 in stock.

The Toyota dealership wanted to sell a Sequoia when I was interested in a Prius.

The Chevy dealership did more or less the same thing.

Go in and ask for a hatchback or wagon and they'll try to show you a Cruze Diesel wagon.

I've never gone to the dealer for anything but new car purchases and recalls.

If there was a way to avoid that I would.

I have a lovely dedicated independent Subaru garage here.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top