Cityside Subaru | Page 338

I was able to negotiate a good price and got exactly the car I wanted. I appreciated the opportunity to test drive the car with a friend, and was pleased with the responses I got to all of my questions. Gle car I wanted. I appreciated the opportunity to test drive the car with a friend, and was pleased with the responses I got to all of my questions. Glen was easily accessible - I appreciated being able to reach him directly by cell phone. I'm happy with my car. More

John found a way to get the model we were looking for even though it was not available in the dealer inventory during our first visit. He provided very good advice given that the car we were purchasing w even though it was not available in the dealer inventory during our first visit. He provided very good advice given that the car we were purchasing was for the teenagers. He also was able to discuss models of other manufacturers More

Every person I dealt with at the dealership was polite, informative and helpful. Questions were answered promptly and correctly. They went out of their way to find a local car that had the accessories I wa informative and helpful. Questions were answered promptly and correctly. They went out of their way to find a local car that had the accessories I wanted and not ones I did not want. all information was directed at me, the car purchaser, and not at my husband. More

Took my 2003 Forester here for a Timing Belt replacement because they had a special on their website advertising this service for $250. I should have known there would be trouble right away when I called on because they had a special on their website advertising this service for $250. I should have known there would be trouble right away when I called on the phone and they claimed they had no knowledge of this special. I printed out the coupon and brought it in with the car and pointed them to their own website. Anyway they said fine and I left the car for the timing belt replacement. The next day I get the call from a service associate saying that when they took my timing belt off they found that the belt tensioner was leaking, and if I wanted it put back together the whole job would be $600 now. He made it clear that if I chose not to do that the only option was for them to push the car out into the lot and I could tow it out of there myself. (Basically extortion). Now, I know $250 sounds low for a timing belt replacement, and I should have expected that a dealer would go on a fishing expedition (looking for more things to charge for) once they had the vehicle, but in the Subaru a timing belt replacement IS relatively simple due to it's accessibility at the front of the engine. I asked the associate for a breakdown of costs and he gave me a list of parts and additional labor for the work. This now included about $140 for the tensioner, an extra $150 for labor fot that, and now $60 supposedly for bolts on the belt cover that they found were rusty and the cover gasket. So first off, if they quoted me $250 for replacing the timing belt, they knew they would have to replace the bolts and gasket since any car coming in for this service has at least around 100k miles, and this should have been part of the total cost. Second, the actual retail cost of the stainless steel bolts at several other locations was less than a dollar a piece and the gasket less than $10 so that whole cost to them was probably around $10. (They wanted about $60 more from me). Second, although it was probably perfectly reasonable to replace the tensioner when doing the belt, they were being completely dishonest about this too. Even if I grant them the exessive price of the tensioner they were charging, there should be zero extra labor on this. The tensioner has to be removed and replaced as part of the normal process of replacing the timing belt. Since I do most of my own maintenance on the vehicle, I have a full set of shop manuals (the originals published by subaru) and they clearly state this. I told the guy on the phone to hold the work and I would come in and speak to the service manager. I came in the next day and spoke with some guy named Joe, I think, who was the service manager. When I questioned him about the sudden high cost of the job, he acted like they had never tried to force anything on me it was all optional and they would finish up the work for the original $250 minus replacing the tensioner. When I asked about the extra labor for the tensioner replacement, he tried to tell me it was extra work. Now I know this is false, and even if some mechanic would try to replace the belt somehow without removing it, the tensioner can easily be removed with one bolt anyway. As expected, when challenged with this fact, Joe became hostile and rude, and just irately said he wasn't going to argue with me. After, I DID argue with him for a bit more they agreed to finish the job including the tensioner now for $500 which means I paid about $250 more for a tensioner that I could easily buy for about $100. (oh well I should have know I wouldn't get out of a dealer for the same price they quoted). The interesting thing was that, on the final invoice, the charge for the the bolts and gasket was now about $15 and the bolts were listed at 81 cents a piece. I guess someone forgot to hide that fact. The whole process reeked of dishonesty and was to me clearly a bait and switch operation. They advertise the work at one price, then once the have your vehicle apart, they try to extort you to pay much more. When faced with someone who actually knows something about the vehicle, they just become rude and hostile. Extremely unprofessional operation and I would never do business with them again. More

Got in touch with them using Consumer Reports new car price service (live in Metro West). Not only did they give me a grate price (about $500 below true dealer cost), but they were able to locate exactl price service (live in Metro West). Not only did they give me a grate price (about $500 below true dealer cost), but they were able to locate exactly the vehicle / color I wanted when others couldn't get it. I would highly recommend them. More