Toyota could learn from Subaru...

When I go in to pick up my truck I'll be scheduling my appointment for around 5:00pm on a Saturday. I'll bet they do it my way!

 

Same here, on my second visit to sign all the papers and things, I was outta there in about an hour. They did offer all those extra “protection packages”and ext warranty, I just said no then did the insurance and...

 

Interesting. Here it seems to be newer domestics and just about anything from VAG.


Weirdly on our Forester XT, it uses no oil (newer FA motor) but has had some expensive cam timing wheel replacements because the VVT sensors are ultra sensitive to contaminates in the oil. Basically with a friggin' 6qt system (for a 2.0l), the OCI is 7,500im in the manual but is realistically shortened to 6k max.

 

My 1990 4x4 stick shift Nissan Pathfinder (w/o ABS!) was light-years better in the snow than my current 2016 non-turbo stick shift Impreza. This thing is just too light, the AWD doesn't really matter. My guess would be that the Forrester is probably the best Subaru in the snow, what's your experience been?

 

I've noticed this as well. I like Subaru just fine (despite my first car being a 91 Justy) but there's definitely something up with their lights. It's wild.

 

They skimped out on decent lightbulbs because of all the free quarts of oil they've been giving out

 

The best dealership experience I had was a sketchy run down buy here pay here lot in Houston. (No I did not finance with them.)

I test drove the car (96 Mustang Cobra), signed maybe 2 or 3 forms, gave them a stack of cash, and they gave me the keys ... and the TITLE! In and out in 30 minutes. And no waiting 30-60 days for the title to show up in the mail.

What is it with "proper" dealerships needing you to sign a giant stack of paperwork even if you're not financing, buying the extended warranty, etc. Whatever happened to, I give you money, you give me keys & title.

 

They are nice almost got one!

 

Yup!

 

The new ridgeline facelift has me feeling all kinds of fuzzy inside

 

Breath of fresh air.

https://www.toyotaofcoolsprings.com/nationwide-lifetime-warranty.html

 

My wife drives a 18 Subaru crosstrek premium. We live in N GA mountain. I wished my truck drove as good as her Subaru. Steer is perfect. The cvt transmission is always in the perfect rpm to go up and down the mountains. Engine is very responsive. Apple car play in a 18. Heated seats,reverse camera crystal clear with moving lines, oil filter on top of engine,never slips in rain,sleet,snow,gets 32 mpg. I am sure there is more but it’s not my Dailey driver. When we purchased it was a very easy smooth process. If they were to build a truck I am sure my wife would upgrade.

 

The dealership finance guy....
My interpreter immigrated from Bosnia - took her 7 years to do it legally but she did it.
She'd been working for the USGOV at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and so had saved every dime for 7 years...a considerable amount of money.
She wanted a new small car to begin life with here so I took her to several dealerships of various makes - winding up at a Chevy dealership as she had decided on getting a Cruz, which has actually turned out to be a very good little car for her for the past 6 years.
Anyway, in helping her navigate the process of car buying I said to the salesman 'First off let's establish that no one is going to take advantage of her and sell some bullshit $500 floormats, etc...'.
He said 'No problem'...and it wasn't. Only small hiccup was she thought it was OK to bring in a sack of cash - $14,000 in $20s - for the purchase and after I explained the advantage of establishing credit she instead secured a loan at the bank and paid it off in 4 months.
Recently bought a 2020 Subaru and the finance snake tried about 3 times to sell me some truly ridiculous extra stuff - that resulted in a 'I don't want one single thing more than I've already agreed to'.
Moral of the story is know what you want before you go and be firm on what you want - if you establish a 'no bullshit' clause right from the beginning it's been my experience they won't hard sell you...you're mileage may vary.

 

After the dealership found what I wanted, I was in and out in just over an hour. They advertise a "No Bull" philosophy and to my surprise, it was true. Only one "no" to each of their questions was required.
Other dealerships in my area, no so much.
Our company had Subaru's for fleet vehicles (just to transport people around). We'd put 150,000 miles on them and trade them in. Pretty good reliability with all the ones we owned, but don't see myself in one. I'm a truck guy.

 

My two wrx were beasts with winter tires. I could pin it into corners and slide the whole way through and release the throttle and have full control. The Forester isn't as much fun because automatic, but is nice and planted. The forester is an XT so has the turbo and it is actually a joy to drive. Makes my truck feel like such a slug

I actually told the gf the other day in a snow storm that we're taking her Forester over the Tacoma. The Tacoma is honestly the worst vehicle I have ever driven in the snow even with 4x4 and all-terrain tires. I had a 2000 Camry FWD V6 with no name all seasons that was better; No lie!

 

I’ve never had a dealer try to sell me an extended warranty
However I get phone calls every day about them

 

Really? My aunt and uncle owned a Crosstrek and they traded it in within 3 months. Does not handle our mountain passes well. No balls. They said they almost died because the thing couldn't pass semi's on our passes. Vail, Loveland, Independence etc. Nice little vehicle for scooting around in some snow though.

 

It's the dealership not the manufacturer. I bought a Toyota car and I made clear I wasn't interested in any extras...my wish was respected!

 

When I got mine there was no price negotiating we did all that by email. I knew to fees and out the door price.
They did try to sell me up on the menu of options. I would not be Interested in most of them not leaving much to sell to me. I did not get any of the prepaid maintenance, no wheel protection, key warranty plans or anything like films or coatings. I told them I was probably doing routine maintenance on my own after Toyota care.
They actually only suggested to 84/100,000 platinum warranty. The price was a little high. I got a few hundred off the price and bought it. Even doing a credit app to beat my credit union pre-approval, test drive just to be sure the truck was ok and waiting for detail to clean it while we started paper work I was in and out in just over an hour..

 

Soooo that leaves you available then? I can relocate to a hub right in your town so no long distance relationship issues.