Nathan Thompson | Page 7
General Manager
Autonation Subaru Carlsbad
5500 Paseo Del Norte
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Dealership Experience
18 yrs, 4 mos
Industry Experience
18 yrs, 4 mos
Languages Spoken
English
88 Reviews
Write a Review88 Reviews of Nathan Thompson
January 18, 2020
Unhappy with the manager's deal and the buying experience. To begin, we heard multiple times from many Subaru employees that the result of the 5-Star Survey shows up only for the car salesperson. They told us To begin, we heard multiple times from many Subaru employees that the result of the 5-Star Survey shows up only for the car salesperson. They told us that if we liked the salesperson, we should give him a high star rating and put the experiences you didn’t like in the comment section. We disagree with this! This is not a true reflection of the overall customer service or your dealership. In fact, it could penalize the salesman if a different department had poor performance. If an incorrect poor reflection of a certain person or department is a concern, perhaps your dealership would benefit from a survey for each department. Your business could develop a survey or each dealer department; dealership; salesperson; manager, finance department, parts department, service department, customer service, etc. The best part of our Subaru buying experience was with our salesperson, Justin, and with your service department representative, Seth. We give them both 5-Stars! The worst part of the experience was with the manager, Rob, and the finance department employee, Jaime. We will explain our buying process so you understand our negative opinion with Bob Baker Subaru Carlsbad. We went to the dealership on three separate occasions and met with Justin, the salesperson. He was patient, answered questions, and took us on test drives of the Forester and Crosstrek. Justin had a pleasant demeanor and never became frustrated or pushy, even when it took hours for us to decide out which vehicle to buy. He is an asset to your sales department! My father purchased a Forester from Subaru a year ago. He started with his local dealership, Bob Baker Subaru Carlsbad. The manager offered $3,000 off the MSRP of the Forester. My father asked for them to throw in an extra key fob, but the manager would not agree to this. So, my father ended up purchasing the Forester from Subaru of El Cajon with $3,500 off the MSRP price. So armed with this knowledge discount, we were ready to purchase a new Forester. On 11-18-19, we negotiated with the manager, Rob, for the best deal on a Forester with the MSRP price of $29,725. We had our $500 Costco Buying Discount and 15% Off Accessories Rebate with us. Rob offered $2,459 off, which was lower than I expected. When Rob asked what I wanted to pay, I told him my father’s deal of $3,500 was reasonable. Rob would not budge. He told us he would offer us a good deal on our accessories instead and honor the 15% off Costco Rebate instead of us having to purchase it afterward. He offered us the proposal for the final out-the-door cost of the Forester for $31,034. We agreed to it, thinking this was the best deal we could have gotten. Then, we met with Jaime in the Finance Department. We discovered the Fog Light Kit had not been added to the proposal. Rob had made a mistake when he entered the accessories to our purchase. We gave him the printed list of the seven accessories we wanted and he took it with him to do the computer work, but he inadvertently did not include the fog lights. This was, perhaps, an honest mistake; however, we agreed on the final price, based on the vehicle and accessories we discussed, which we thought included the cost of the fog lights. We got into a disagreement in the finance office because we believed the dealership should own up to the mistake, add the fog lights, and honor the final price, as agreed. The finance person, Jaime, became a little hot-headed with us, which started a big argument. We were ready to get up and leave the dealership and go buy the Forester elsewhere. Rob attempted to de-escalate the incident and told the rest of us to leave the office, so he could talk to Pauline alone. Rob told her he would take $100 off the price of the vehicle for his mistake and asked her to pay the cost of the fog lights. Pauline agreed. At this point, we just wanted this to all end. Pauline quickly signed the paperwork to buy the car and we left. It was not a pleasant experience. That evening, Pauline looked over the paperwork and thought the sales contract did not show the proper accessory amount. It appeared to us that we had been overcharged $167.71. We also thought we were overcharged for the price of the accessories, when we were told we were getting a 15% discount. That evening we looked online at the dealer’s parts department and saw the prices were much lower there! Rob’s offer was way higher than it should have been. It left a bad taste in our mouth that we weren’t getting a good deal at all. I went back to the dealer on 1-20-19 to the Finance Department to talk to Terry about the overcharge. I showed him the screenshots of the dealership’s parts department prices for the seven accessories. I worked with Terry, who was professional and had a pleasant demeanor. We reviewed the overcharging discrepancy regarding the accessories: MSRP Advertised Price on Subaru Website without installation or 15% off = $1,159.00 MSRP and Retail cost with installation $1,471.23 with 15% off = $1,250.54 Rob’s Deal with installation = $1,117.38 Parts Department Price on 11-18-19 without installation or 15% off = $864.52 Then I spoke with the finance manager, Nathan, and told him about the discrepancy with the sales contract and showed him the screenshots of the lower price of the accessories. He was very accommodating and asked how it could be remedied. I said, $167.71, which would amend the difference between what we paid and what we led to believe we were paying. Nathan worked on revising the sales contract and adjusted it to show a refund of $253.21. Pauline and I were content with that despite the previous negative interaction with the dealership. He said he would reimburse the amount on her credit card when we came in for our accessory parts installation. On 12/5/19, Pauline and I returned to the dealership to have the accessories installed and to sign the sale contract. We had an 8am appointment and were told it would take 3-4 hours before we could pick up our vehicle. We ended up picking it up after 4pm, which ended up being 10 hours! We dealt with a very friendly service department representative, Seth (I think). He was very motivated and eager to help us and even with the long delay, he kept us updated over the phone. Terry wasn’t working on 12-5-19, but he left a message with Luis, to help us in the Finance Department. Everything on the sales contract appeared to be in order and Pauline and I were satisfied. Pauline signed the papers. Luis told us her credit card would be reimbursed for the $253.51, within 24 hours. One week later, the reimbursement had still not been applied. I called Terry on 12-12-19 and he was able to refund the money the next day. In conclusion, overall, we were not pleased with Bob Baker Subaru Carlsbad. The management did not give us a feel-good deal and there was too much headache and hassle with all the negotiations. When someone asks where we bought our Forester, we would steer them away from your dealer and strongly suggest they go to go to a different dealership. It’s unfortunate because we truly love the Forester! Unsatisfied customers, Liz Weber and Pauline Scarano More
Other Employees Tagged: Jason Field , Zach Lenfesty, Robert Simon, Terry and Luis (Finance)
January 10, 2020
My go-to dealership for all my Subaru cars. I have been buying my cars from Bob Baker VW Subaru for a couple of decades and have both financed and leased numerous vehicles from them in this time I have been buying my cars from Bob Baker VW Subaru for a couple of decades and have both financed and leased numerous vehicles from them in this time. I have always found their sales and finance staff to be excellent and have never felt rushed or pressured into buying a vehicle or options. My time is very valuable to me and I would not be loyal to a dealership where my time was not respected and my patronage appreciated. Bob Baker VW Subaru have always made me feel like a valued client when buying vehicles and when I need a service appointment. I just leased a 2020 Subaru Outback from them last week, having traded in my Forester. I love my new car and I really appreciate the time Terry (the salesman) spent explaining the different options available in this model and thoroughly explaining all the new features that Subaru models offer. As always, I left feeling very happy with my lease deal, my trade in value and, most importantly, my car! More
Other Employees Tagged: Terry Heitger
December 04, 2019
Bob Baker Subaru. - my new leaase Tommy Kaiser at Bob Baker Subaru made our car buying/leasing experience great. We got a get car and a great lease in a friendly environment. We have Tommy Kaiser at Bob Baker Subaru made our car buying/leasing experience great. We got a get car and a great lease in a friendly environment. We have been to this dealership for years and they have always treated us well and maintained our cars without any problems. More
Other Employees Tagged: Tommy Kaiser
December 04, 2019
Bob Baker Volkswagen Subaru. I purchased vehicles from Bob Matson before and are extremely comfortable with him. He did a good job in getting me a good price on an excellent vehic I purchased vehicles from Bob Matson before and are extremely comfortable with him. He did a good job in getting me a good price on an excellent vehicle. He was also very patient with us and walked us through the entire process. He allowed me time to do a thorough test drive and understand the vehicle I was buying. He gave me plenty of time to move everything out of my trade-in vehicle and gave me a complete walk around of my new car. I know he gave up a lot of time on a busy day to take good care of me. We also rely on your excellent service department and always have our vehicle serviced at your dealership. I'll be relying on who we feel our personal service advisor Zach to keep good care of my new vehicle. I have a lot of choices of dealerships and client advisors to affiliate with. I was getting emails from all the different Subaru dealerships in the area. I wanted to make sure I bought my car from Bob Baker and Bob Matson. This is our third Bob Baker vehicle More
Other Employees Tagged: Zach Lenfesty, Robert Matson
November 15, 2019
Excellent the purchase went well, Hugh was great to work with. The car is very nice and luxurious. Costco purchasing plan was a good help on the price the purchase went well, Hugh was great to work with. The car is very nice and luxurious. Costco purchasing plan was a good help on the price More
Other Employees Tagged: Hugh Stewart
November 14, 2019
New lease Luiniery “Batista” was a very nice, knowledgeable and relaxed sales person. He made the whole process enjoyable and less stressful. I would definitel Luiniery “Batista” was a very nice, knowledgeable and relaxed sales person. He made the whole process enjoyable and less stressful. I would definitely recommend him to anyone. More
Other Employees Tagged: Luiniery Batista, Robert Matson
October 31, 2019
professional, always adding value Sales management here are experienced professionals, work to make things right if deal mechanics, etc. are not what was expected. Armando is reasonabl Sales management here are experienced professionals, work to make things right if deal mechanics, etc. are not what was expected. Armando is reasonable, friendly, and struck a fair deal. Nathan went above and beyond to make sure we were happy post-sale, knowledgeable about the vehicles and the industry, and overall genuinely superb professional. More
Other Employees Tagged: Armando Rodrigues
August 28, 2019
Excellent Service The dealership and the sales employee who sold us the car were so helpful, kind, and professional. I would not have my car without them! The dealership and the sales employee who sold us the car were so helpful, kind, and professional. I would not have my car without them! More
Other Employees Tagged: Joshua Perry
August 16, 2019
Well worth the trip Our experience with the Sales men Jason and Tommy was better than we expected. They were Courteous and easy to talk to. They answered every question Our experience with the Sales men Jason and Tommy was better than we expected. They were Courteous and easy to talk to. They answered every question we had and we believe Jason worked very hard to get his Manager to accept our offer. The Finance man Louis was also very pleasant and did a fine job of explaining each part of the Contract. More
Other Employees Tagged: Jason Field , Tommy Kaiser, Finance "Louis"
August 14, 2019
wonderful service We were looking for a Tiguan and found it at Bob Baker. The service was amazing. We always had the feeling of being helped and understood. We recomm We were looking for a Tiguan and found it at Bob Baker. The service was amazing. We always had the feeling of being helped and understood. We recommend the dealership. More
Other Employees Tagged: Joshua Perry
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