This is going to be long review as I'll be detailing everything, even the boring stuff going all the way back from when I was born to when I picked up 2016 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited.

The TL;DR version: Ciocca Subaru gets an A+! Professional Dealership Staff, Painless Experience. Highly Recommended for the North East!

---- Start of Story ----
Parents started looking for a new car during summer of 2013 and really liked Subaru performance, safety, and styling. All the dealerships in Brooklyn are owned by the same people and they're all pretty bad but Subaru's Brooklyn Dealership was tiny with no inventory and higher markups due to being in Subaru Distributor Corp's area instead of Subaru of America.
In the end, they ended up buying a Honda CR-V EX at a decent price with 0% APR but not without a ton of headache, wasted time, and dealership's shady practices. The experience was so bad that the deal was offered by the owner, who personally apologized to my parents and to me over the phone and a salesman was fired. Come to think of it, they never sent a survey and my parents didn't care as they got the car and didn't want to think about it anymore.

Fast forward a few months and I wrecked my mother's Lexus RX330 in Houston, so she's been without a car for a while, which isn't a problem in NY because of the awesome transit system. But I wanted to get her a nice new car so I've been on the forums looking for an outback since probably December 2014 or earlier. In January 2015, I joined this forum for the community and the tips on getting a great price. I had Subaru VIP (invoice) through my former employer but I joined Leave No Trace for $20/$25 to get Subaru VIP (invoice-2%). I had to wait 6 months before I could use the invoice-2% but ended up not needing it.

Another Long story short here, I ended up ordering a 2015 2.5i Limited Outback from a different dealer in PA that was highly rated on these forums for a very good price (around 5% off invoice) around March 2015. I ordered on the phone after negotiating over email and texts. It took a bit longer than I liked because this dealership was pretty popular at the time but I was happy with the deal and I was able to do it all remotely in Houston, TX. Asked for the car to arrive in Mid-May as that's when I'd be back on the east coast to help pick it up. I had to cancel the car in late April as I had an unexpected schedule change and had to be in Seattle for 3 months starting Mid-May, so picking up the car was out of the question. Might as well wait for the 2016 model and pay the $300 or so that Subaru adds each model year.

So I wait and find out that orders open June 4 for the new 2016 outback models. Day finally rolls around and I called up the saleswoman at the other PA dealership asking for a quote thinking she would give me the same deal + a $300 increase. But nope, they raised their prices significantly and have gotten even worse on the communication. I was on a deadline to get the order in as quickly as possible so my parents would have the car in August for their road trip. I eventually gave up on doing business with them and started emailing my dealer contacts again in Chicago, Colorado, and other locations. I got a couple of good quotes and a couple of bad ones but the one email response that surprised me the most was from Ciocca Subaru.

The saleswoman I had been working at Ciocca Subaru with moved to one of their other dealerships and Shawn Parr had saw my email and responded that he would be taking over. I was hesitant that I would have to explain and negotiate everything again but he only needed minimal information from me. I explained to him that I wanted to order it ASAP and that I had a lower quote from another dealer. Shawn matched it for me with no problem and we were able to negotiate a deal about accessories with little to no effort over email! I had to call him to give him my credit card information but I missed him by an hour or so on 6/9. I tried again on 6/10 and was able to order the 2016 2.5i Outback Limited in Tungsten Metallic with no problem and was issued the copy of the VON sheet right away with an ETA of 'end of August.' Putting the deposit down for the 2016 Outback was painless and I did it all remotely 3000 miles away in Seattle without ever having to step into the showroom.

Cars101.com also leaked that Subaru was running a "Love is Worth Waiting for" event with 2 gifts for those who ordered a 2016 Outback before 7/31/15. Gift #1 being a choice of premium Luxottica sunglasses (Raybans, Oakleys) and Gift #2 being Free 3 years of StarLink.

I received the Rayban's promotion email on 6/24, exactly 2 weeks from when I ordered. I selected a pair of Polarized Rayban Aviators ($120 value) that day and it was sent and received by my parents on 7/10, exactly 1 month from when I ordered the car. I received the VIN for the car on 7/29 and got a more defined ETA of 8/17, which would have been cutting it close to the start of my parent's vacation. Come 8/10, I received a call that the car had just arrived at the dealership ahead of schedule, exactly 2 months from when I ordered the car!

I scheduled the pickup time for 6PM on 8/11, giving the dealership only 1 day to prep and prepare it for sale. Shawn Parr, my internet sales adviser told me that Mike Mohr was going to be the sales specialist taking care of me and my car when I get in. I told him how much I was putting down as a down- payment and got an exception to put $4000 on my card instead of their limit of $2500. Mike also sent over their secure financing application link on their website to which I filled out and qualified for the 1.9% Subaru financing. That was another thing that I could get off my chest, not having to worry about being screwed around on the financing rate, as I have excellent credit. I wanted to use Subaru financing instead of going through PenFed for 1.49%, it wouldn't have made a big difference.
The only strange thing was that I filled out the financing application and another salesman called my parent's home phone to ask about what car we were interested in buying. It was quickly resolved as I explained that our car had already come in and that was the financing application to purchase it. It was resolved in less than a minute and nothing too bad as I had put my parent's home phone number on the application instead of my cell phone that I had been using to communicate with the dealership.

I left NY around 3:30 with parents and got to the dealership at 5:30, a little bit earlier than I had scheduled but it was no problem. The dealership is huge! Much Much bigger than any other Subaru dealership in the NY area, they actually had inventory and cars to sell and loan... There were so many cars on the lot that I drove right by my car and didn't even notice it was mine, even though it was the outback sitting nice and pretty on their curb.

Walking into the dealership was amazing, they had show vehicles inside as well as a cool retro Subaru 360. There were tons of salespeople and help staff but they didn't bum rush us as soon as we walked in the door. We were politely greeted by a salesman who asked us if we needed help once we entered onto the main sales floor. I explained I was here to see Mike Mohr to pick up my car and the salesman went to grab Mike right away. A tall and friendly salesman walked over and introduced himself as Mike and was excited to show us the car. We walked outside to where I had driven pass just a few minutes before.

There it was, the Tungsten Metallic Outback sitting right there front and center. It looked almost silver in the shade and a lot lighter bronze than the pictures online make it seem. I really like the color shade! It's almost like my car was painted right after they stopped painting the Ice Silver and started mixing in Tungsten Metallic. I was worried that it would be a deep brass copper color and it would be a flashy target out on the street. But nope, the car can definitely blend into the sea of other cars on the mean streets of NYC (but not really though because Subarus are rare). We examined the car and Mike explained that they need to wash and clean it again as a bit of dust and dirt from the roof had stuck to the passenger side window during the brief but heavy on-pour that had just rolled through Allentown. It wasn't really that noticeable. I was even allowed to take a short test drive before the car went to get cleaned and before we went in to sign all the papers.

We back into the dealership and get some free coffee and water from their lounge to sort out all the necessary documents at Mike's desk. I asked for a copy of the financing agreement before going into the financing office. I got a printout of the paper right away and I poured over the details. THERE IT WAS! The exact price I had negotiated for the car! Nothing more, nothing less, straight and clear, no gimmicks or shady practices! What a relief that was, as I had been worried that this would turn into another terrible experience. But nope, I was relieved to see this is going to be a quick and smooth process. The car price was exactly what I had negotiated over email, the NY state taxes were exactly as I had calculated, the various registration and fees were slightly higher than quoted. But the fee was a less than $20 increase and still a bit less than what I was originally quoted last year for a 2015 model. Nothing to be worried about as there wasn't a huge dealer fee, just standard transit tag, state vehicle, and registration fees. PERFECT pricing documentation.

In we go into the financing office with Mike Vannote. All the financing and legal documentation was ready to go and we could have walked out of there in just a few signatures. But of course, the sale for the extended warranty had not been made yet and that was the last thing I was prepared for. There really was no pressure to buy the warranty but my parents wanted to hear it out anyway. We were offered the EGAssurance extended warranty with a 7year/100K mile, $50 deductible for a reasonable price. However this was an extended warranty offered by the Ethos Group, a third party. It wasn't the Subaru Gold Plus extended warranty I was expecting. I was pretty certain that I didn't want to buy the extended warranty anyway but it's not my car and no my decision. My mother wanted it and she requested the Subaru 7year/100K mile, $0 deductible instead which was a bit more pricey. But my mother did all the negotiation here and got a very nice price of $100 less than what Mike priced it at. It ended being the same price that another Subaru Outback forum member who had recently picked up their 2016 got it for. Great, we signed all the paperwork and it ended up taking a while longer than needed because of the deciding time for the extended warranty and me running in and out checking out various things. I felt bad as there was a long queue of people waiting for the financing office and it was getting close to their closing time of 8pm.

We finished all the paperwork and go back to Mike Mohr to wrap up a few questions and get the keys. Ciocca Subaru has the Ciocca Promise, which offers 2 free oil changes and some other benefits. I asked if I could just get the quarts of oil, filters, and washer instead as we wouldn't drive out this far to take advantage of it. Unfortunately we were told that someone else had asked that same question earlier and the answer is No due to liability reasons or something like that. We were handed over the 2 key fobs and went outside to the car, which at this time had been cleaned 3 separate times and is spotless. Mike had done all that we asked for with a great attitude and everything was in order. He had personally cleaned the car, installed front and back license plate mounting screws with license holders, and scraped off the small 'Ciocca Subaru' tattoo that was on the back of the car. Lastly we asked for a short 2 minute overview of the car's eyesight safety features as it was past closing time and we were keeping Mike from his family. I had already done enough research that I was probably more of an expert on the outback but my mother just wanted to hear it for the basics. We didn't want to keep him any longer by asking for a full front to back demonstration of little thing that car had.

The one thing I didn't get was the 3 years of Starlink ($249 value) applied to the MySubaru account that Ciocca created for me. I had asked Mike about it but he didn't know about the secret code but promised he would find out for me. I eventually found it myself on the forums and applied it by myself today right as Mike texted me about his findings.

The only thing that matters is that parents drove off happy with the Outback as I followed in the Honda. Buying a new car at Ciocca Subaru could not have been a more pleasant experience! I will definitely buy my next car at a Ciocca Dealership and hope with work with Shawn and the Mikes again.
It's a bit further away from home but it's worth the 100 mile drive across 2 states.

Nice review. I should have a similar one after picking up mine from VT.
I bet the other PA dealer mentioned is Steve Moyer. I have contacted Ciocca once but they did not give me a good quote.

 

Once I pick up my 2016 OB 3.6R on September 10th, I'll be writing an in depth review. My dealership was no where near as pleasant of an experience
In fact it was awful, & still is. More to come on my complete future review.

 

This is awesome to hear, congrats on the great experience. I've emailed Sean before on a couple of vehicles, but it was more of a kicking the tires and not really ready to purchase thing.

We'll be looking to order/purchase later this year. Rafferty (Newtown Square, PA) and John Kennedy (Plymouth Meeting, PA) are our two closest dealers, but I don't expect Rafferty to work with us much on pricing. Ciocca is a bit further out than I'd like, so we probably won't service with them, but it's great to hear how things have worked out. Steve Moyer is on my list of dealers to contact too (and also the furthers dealer in the area we'd consider dealing with), should be interesting to see who offers the better deal.

 

Thanks for the in-depth post. We ordered with Shawn earlier this month. No VIN yet, but our VON shows it to be filled with an allocation already in the pipeline. Quick question, you said they had set up for the front license plate for you. Was that with the Subaru mount or simply the dealer surround screwed into the bumper?

 

It was just some stainless steel screws that they drilled into the pre-existing holes on the bumper. Better to have it included with the car than to search for the right size screws at home.
They had free plastic ciocca subaru license plate holders, so I had those installed with the screw.

 

Thanks, Xnap, very very helpful; certainly puts me at ease as I wait another month or so for my car.

You seem to imply that NY taxes were part of your bill, how is that given Ciocca is in PA? I live in MA and am expecting to have to do MA sales tax/registration by myself. Ciocca will only give me a 30 day? temp plate./registration.

 

Nothing to worry about at all. Go in there at ease and enjoy yourself.

Yeah, they told me that if I'm financing the car, they have to do the registration for me because I'm guessing they're putting a loan lien on it or something like that. So they took care of the taxes and tags and added it to the OTD price.

The only thing I have to do is get a NYS safety inspection sticker and replace the PA one. Then wait for my plate and registration sticker to arrive in the mail.

I wanted to do it all myself at the DMV as I could get plates on the spots. You can probably ask them to see if their titling people can handle the DMV paperwork but if I were you, I'd do it myself just to get everything in order faster.

 

Ciocca Subaru, Allentown, PA

Picked up my 2.5 Premium+eyesight today. Ordered late July and it only took 3 weeks!

I ordered from Ciocca Subaru at Allentown, PA. Shawn Parr is the Internet manager. He is very responsive to my initial email query and subsequent communication. He gave me a quota around 2% below invoice, which is OK with me since I don't have to wait for a few more month for my IMBA membership to be established for 1/2 year so that I will qualify for the VIP program. I may be able to do better by asking for more quotes from various dealers mentioned on this forum, but I did not want the hassle.

Since I live NJ and ~1.5 hours away from the dealer and had an old car to trade-in, I was not sure how the trade-in could be handled. Shawn asked me to send in pictures and answered some questions about the car, and was able to quote a price over the email.

For whatever reason, my order ended up filling one of the dealer's allocation, so my car comes very quickly, for most people this is great news, but I was caught by surprise since I was expecting the order to come October/November, and did not budget for the car to arrive in 3 weeks! Ciocca was nice to allow me to put more on my credit card than they typically allow to help with my cash flow problem due to the unexpectedly fast delivery of the car.

I also had a problem that I thought I could pay the balance with a personal check, but a day before picking up, I asked and was told that I need a casher's check because they require that for out of state customer. Fortunately after speaking with the general manager, Steve, they allowed me to use a personal check accompanied by a letter from my finance institution (who does not issue casher's check) stating that my account has certain amount of fund. Steve sounds like a very nice guy on the phone.

Picking up the car was painless, other than a bit of wait for the finance department since they were very busy, the whole process was smooth. Shawn was away and Greg was the salesman handling the delivery. He is a pleasant guy and was chatting with us the whole process. He took the key for my old car and the title, and did not have any issue about the trade-in price they agreed in the email. Because I pay cash, I had to handle my NJ tax myself, which is fine.

In the whole ordering process, the only minor issue I have is that I never got the email from SOA for the free gift of sunglass and 3 year Starlink Safety Plus and Security Plus, I read on this board that this is because my order was filled by an existing dealer allocation. Pity. Other than that, the whole process is pleasant.

Overall I highly recommend Ciocca Subaru.

 

Picked up my 2.5 Premium+eyesight today. Ordered late July and it only took 3 weeks!

I ordered from Ciocca Subaru at Allentown, PA. Shawn Parr is the Internet manager. He is very responsive to my initial email query and subsequent communication. He gave me a quota around 2% below invoice, which is OK with me since I don't have to wait for a few more month for my IMBA membership to be established for 1/2 year so that I will qualify for the VIP program. I may be able to do better by asking for more quotes from various dealers mentioned on this forum, but I did not want the hassle.

Since I live NJ and ~1.5 hours away from the dealer and had an old car to trade-in, I was not sure how the trade-in could be handled. Shawn asked me to send in pictures and answered some questions about the car, and was able to quote a price over the email.

For whatever reason, my order ended up filling one of the dealer's allocation, so my car comes very quickly, for most people this is great news, but I was caught by surprise since I was expecting the order to come October/November, and did not budget for the car to arrive in 3 weeks! Ciocca was nice to allow me to put more on my credit card than they typically allow to help with my cash flow problem due to the unexpectedly fast delivery of the car.

I also had a problem that I thought I could pay the balance with a personal check, but a day before picking up, I asked and was told that I need a casher's check because they require that for out of state customer. Fortunately after speaking with the general manager, Steve, they allowed me to use a personal check accompanied by a letter from my finance institution (who does not issue casher's check) stating that my account has certain amount of fund. Steve sounds like a very nice guy on the phone.

Picking up the car was painless, other than a bit of wait for the finance department since they were very busy, the whole process was smooth. Shawn was away and Greg was the salesman handling the delivery. He is a pleasant guy and was chatting with us the whole process. He took the key for my old car and the title, and did not have any issue about the trade-in price they agreed in the email. Because I pay cash, I had to handle my NJ tax myself, which is fine.

In the whole ordering process, the only minor issue I have is that I never got the email from SOA for the free gift of sunglass and 3 year Starlink Safety Plus and Security Plus, I read on this board that this is because my order was filled by an existing dealer allocation. Pity. Other than that, the whole process is pleasant.

Overall I highly recommend Ciocca Subaru.

Great review; glad you also had a pleasant experience with Ciocca like I did.

 

So we bit the bullet and finally bought! It was truly a team effort, as I received my two quotes from Shawn Parr, dealt with Tom Calianno when Shawn was out of the office, and got handed off to Greg Fichter to complete the sale when we arrived at the dealership.

Overall, it was an awesome, pleasant experience. Shawn initially quoted me a factory order $80 below VIP pricing (only mentioned VIP to our local dealer), but we were planning on ordering through Rafferty who is much closer and stated they would honor VIP pricing. After attempting to order the car Wednesday, it was blocked by the Subaru computer system due to the wheel arch moldings not being available. Since Rafferty refused to commit to installing the part for free at VIP price, I began looking at dealer inventory. Ciocca has by far the largest selection in the area, and they had almost what we were looking for in a crystal white/slate black 2.5i Limited with pkg 23, Pop 5, and the wheel arch moldings already installed. I asked for a quote on this particular car with remote start and body side moldings installed, and Shawn gave me a price that was still $500 below invoice, and only $180 higher than VIP pricing, and we'd have the car now vs. end of January.

I dealt with Tom late Wednesday after Shawn had left for the day, and asked if we could secure the car with a deposit, as we couldn't make it in before the weekend and the dealer had already announced a Black Friday sales event. I was worried the car would sell before we got there. They agreed to hold the car if we were 100% sure on the deal, but couldn't give us a firm trade in offer due to not having seen our trade (they did provide a range of 2500-3k, which was lower than our hoped for 4k). I told Tom we'd pass for now and if the car was still available Saturday, we'd venture in to have the trade appraised.

I stopped by Carmax after work on Friday for a quote on our trade (as a baseline and fall back option) and they only offered $2k. Needless to say, my hopes for actually getting 4k for the car were drowning.

I called this morning to confirm the car was still available, and it was. We drove up, met Tom, and got handed off to Greg Fichter to complete the negotiations. He was affable, approachable, friendly and considerate. He initially offered 2500 for the trade, but moved to a firm 3k final offer. Knowing this was probably the best we'd do (the car had unrepaired accident damage and some minor rust), we shook hands, as we were already getting the car 3500 under sticker.

We dealt with A.J. In the financing department, and it was quick and painless. He discussed a summary of our options, where we negotiated GAP coverage for $350 (down from 600, but more than the 299 our credit union offered). They also beat our credit union's interest rate (2.29/72) with 2.09 through Subaru/Chase.

Finally, we dealt with a Delivery Coordinator (who's name escapes me at the moment) who went over the car quickly but thoroughly and answered all of my wife's questions. Total time at the dealership rang in at 4.5 hours, but that includes part install and detailing on perhaps the busiest sales weekend of the year. My two year old daughter came along for the adventure and was reasonably well-behaved (at least until it got close to nap time, she passed out in her newly installed car seat during the Delivery Coordinator's spiel).

I was thoroughly impressed with the staff's friendliness, courtesy, and knowledge. It's a shame they're an hour from our house, as I would love to let them service the car. I will definitely be considering them for our next purchase, which may be the seven seater debuting next fall once it comes time to replace our minivan. Can't speak any more highly of these guys. Top notch operation.

 

Does anyone knows if Ciocca charges a fee for financing? if so how much? Also is the fee different if I finance with Chase bank through Subaru or a third party bank? Thanks

 

I can't say that any dealer I've ever worked with has every charged a fee specifically for financing before. I'll double check the bill of sale tonight, but I don't think we were.

 

The Ciocca Collision Center Quakertown ,Pa

Take it from me never take you automobile there , they are tied in with the insurance co. They all about making there wallets healthier & meeting there quota , they can careless about your vehicle while there. Beware & be safe.

 

The Ciocca Collision Center Quakertown ,Pa

Take it from me never take you automobile there , they are tied in with the insurance co. They all about making there wallets healthier & meeting there quota , they can careless about your vehicle while there. Beware & be safe.You think your car is going for repairs at the Allentown Subaru but it's not it's taken, you got it correct alright Quakertown.Warning!!!!!!!.:roadtrip

 

I purchased a '16 2.5 Limited with Eyesight from Ciocca last week. It was a great experience.

A few emails and we arrived at price I was happy with. They added the remote start as the only option. I considered the OEM hitch, but decided against it. I picked up the car the next day, and the number they provided was exactly what the final paperwork indicated.

They went over the car in great detail, probably more than I needed, but it was an extremely pleasant experience from start to finish.

I would definitely recommend.

 

I'm still looking at quotes and Ciocca seems to be the best (by far!) in the area and has been easy to deal with. I do have a question on some fees they added to the OTD price. There was an online registration fee this was listed separately from the doc fee. I'm wondering what this is? Anyone else charged this or know what it is?

 

When we bought from Ciocca there were 2 possible fees. The doc fee, which was $134 for us (+$28 for 30 day Penn tags), and then my understanding was if you financed and were out of state they had another fee to some national registration group that would register the car in your home state and make sure the lien was properly in place. We did not finance so we did not have to incur that cost.

 

I am assuming that they took over Becker?