[pcampbell]

Every Subaru I've bought new I've gone through the gauntlet of the "financing guy" (regardless of whether you are paying cash, bringing in your own loan, etc.) where you are locked into a windowless room and insulted for not paying retail plus plus price for warranty, etc.

Is there a way to avoid this? I've been tempted to tell them nicely that if they try to sell me anything other than the car itself that I will walk out the door .

 

[Q-Man13]

Had the opposite experience in buying our Ascent.

If they know you're internet savvy and already researched everything they generally don't try to play those games in this era.

 

[Kevin Williams]

I just tell them upfront I'm not interested. If they try and push the extended warranty, I retort with, "Are you telling me this car isn't reliable?" That shuts them up.

But recently I've had everything including the price prearranged before I even get to the dealer. So it's just sign papers and transfer money and get out of there.

 

[rockthebeef]

Can you try a different dealer?

My first Subaru I bought at one of our local dealers. I went in for Costco pricing and was handed over by the internet specialist to a normal sales guy who was two weeks into the job. We started at square one where he quoted me MSRP! I haggled the old fashioned way to get it down a few thousand dollars. Then the Finance guy tried to sell me everything. All you can do at that point is say "no" to all of the products. That dealer sucked even though I got the deal I wanted.

I bought my Ascent at a different local dealer and had a much better experience. I worked the deal online and just came in to sign the papers. The Finance guy who wrote me up did not even try to sell me one product. It was weird and great at the same time. The first dealer lost all future business and my current dealer is my go-to.

 

[mtmra70]

My finance guy skimmed over everything, partly because I think he knew I was knowledgeable, but he was also closing a bunch of sales that day. I was shocked how fast it was actually and it was zero pressure.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

My finance guy skimmed over everything, partly because I think he knew I was knowledgeable

Same here....he is required to follow the script, but kept it to a bare minimum as we had already indicated we were just signing the "papers" (some signatures are electronic now) to complete the sale for the deal agreed upon and not purchasing any extended service contracts, etc., at this time. Our big wait last Saturday for the Forester purchase was for a finance person to actually be available...busy day for the vehicle business.

 

[TheLex]

I never stand for the finance guy sales pitches. I negotiate all my deals online with the internet sales droid first and get a a printout of the total cost including T&L. Once I approve this then I go in. I make the appointment stating clearly that I will be declining any and ALL finance guy sales pitches so don't waste my time. I emphasize that MY time is valuable and I need this transaction done in the smoothest most efficient way possible.

I've yet to have a finance guy try anything more than cursory sales pitch, after which I sternly remind them to save their breath. I'm NOT hesitant to be very stern about this. I'm not here to make friends. I'm usually done with the paperwork in about 15 minutes if that.

 

[packout]

Every Subaru I've bought new I've gone through the gauntlet of the "financing guy" (regardless of whether you are paying cash, bringing in your own loan, etc.) where you are locked into a windowless room and insulted for not paying retail plus plus price for warranty, etc.

Is there a way to avoid this? I've been tempted to tell them nicely that if they try to sell me anything other than the car itself that I will walk out the door .

That is really all you need to do. But you need to be willing to follow through. I used an auto broker so I avoided it.

 

[RobertD]

Great topic. I had similar experience as mtmra70 and Jim in PA. Just got the finance guy skimming quickly over everything.

 

[jmbgold]

For any New Englanders-------- Belknap in N.H- great prices -process a breeze-out of there in 5 minutes. Ask for Dave-Jeff Brown

 

[Avign0n6743]

I also had a great experience buying my 2020 Ascent in Waco, Texas. I had already figured out what I wanted, gotten better than the VIP pricing, and had low Internet quotes for the loan and warranties. When I got in with the finance person, I told them what I was willing to pay for the loan and warranties and got all of them locally (well under what they were going to charge me). Was signed off and out of there in 10 minutes.

 

[RainDog]

Is there a way to avoid this? I've been tempted to tell them nicely that if they try to sell me anything other than the car itself that I will walk out the door .

I'm with you, but I think "try" is too harsh. Maybe "pressure to buy?"

It's probably the finance person's job to try to sell things. Besides, in some cases they might really believe that you should buy something for your own sake.

I've had it both ways. With my first Subaru, the finance guy actually argued with me in trying to convince me to take a loan on his terms. With the second (different dealer and different state), the finance guy went through the motions (which I figured he was required to do) but didn't push anything. It was quick. I think it was particularly quick because he knew that I knew that the warranty he was selling was some third party thing and not from Subaru.

He did mess up my tags though. (and then fixed the situation)

 

[GaryInMI]

Was anyone else required to watch a 5 minute video in the finance guys office about how complicated new cars are and how expensive it is to fix them after the factory warranty expires? Apparently, if you buy the extended warranty and prepaid maintenance all of your troubles are over and life is good.

The numbers he quoted for these was absurdly high, over twice what I paid Dan at Liberty for the 10 year Gold Plus Warranty.

Prior to that, I had a great sales experience and since have had a great service department experience.

I have to admit that in the past, probably more than once, I've been suckered into buying something extra from the finance guy, but I always got him to throw in "free" floor mats!

 

[ratbag]

I hope you were able to tell him his price was absurdly high, compared to Dan at Liberty.

 

[GaryInMI]

I hope you were able to tell him his price was absurdly high, compared to Dan at Liberty.

This was a year and a half ago so I hadn't heard of Dan yet but I knew an absurdly high price when I saw one.

I politely said no thanks, he wasn't happy about it.

 

[RainDog]

Was anyone else required to watch a 5 minute video in the finance guys office about how complicated new cars are and how expensive it is to fix them after the factory warranty expires? Apparently, if you buy the extended warranty and prepaid maintenance all of your troubles are over and life is good.

Wow. That's one I haven't heard before. Maybe I just gave off a "don't waste your time" kind of vibe.

 

[TSiWRX]

It's probably the finance person's job to try to sell things. Besides, in some cases they might really believe that you should buy something for your own sake.

Both of these, spot-on.

A lot of this is dealership-dependent, and even with that dealership, the shopping experience can also be influenced by just how hard-line you are as the customer, paired with how eager the sales staff is to please.

If you are knowledgeable and/or simply have told them up-front that this is NOT going to be where you will be spending your time - that you will literally walk out on the deal right then and there - they should know better and not bother you at this juncture.

We've been with our dealership since 2005: we're on our 9th Subaru lease with them - and counting my in-laws, you can add another 4 more (about to be 5, since my FIL doesn't seem to like his latest Legacy for some reason). We're in-and-out for the paperwork signing and delivery features-orientation in less than 45 minutes (they came close to the 30-mark, with my wife's '19 WRX) and the time before, for my wife's '16 WRX, the salesman actually came to our house with the paperowrk and delivered the vehicle.

They know that I like to run numbers (I bring my spreadsheets with me), and they know that while I will negotiate, I don't mind letting them make a few bucks, either - everyone walks away happy. They also know that because my wife doesn't like the car-shopping experience, they need to keep things speedy. In this way, they guaranty that we come back, year after year. Everyone wins.

 

[djrussell]

The finance office was very easy for me. I was offered every product but a simple 'no thanks' to each of them had us moving on.
I did haggle with sales a lot on price. Mainly because it was kind of an emergency purchase and my own finances weren't in order to buy. It got to the point where they wouldn't even throw in the cross bars to close the deal. Maybe that communicated to finance and they didn't bother.

 

[columnshift]

Every Subaru I've bought new I've gone through the gauntlet of the "financing guy" (regardless of whether you are paying cash, bringing in your own loan, etc.) where you are locked into a windowless room and insulted for not paying retail plus plus price for warranty, etc.

Is there a way to avoid this? I've been tempted to tell them nicely that if they try to sell me anything other than the car itself that I will walk out the door .

broken record technique--they know you have a relationship with the sales person not with them they want to harvest high profit stuff- i always include a 3rd key fob as part of my negotiations even at cost is a deal (about $211) I give them info--i can buy extended anytime from subaru during the regular warranty period. NEVER buy 3rd party warranty they push "well you can finance it" then i ask them nice , then i tell them i'll leave but the best was this ---you know i will get a survey about my experience and your name is >>>>>> so how do you want me to rate you and finance??? subaru takes the survey very serious. when i bought my 2019 forester touring last april during my survey i gave great detail of the pushy finance lady. guess what when i bought the 2020 ascent in december she was sweet as honey, yes sir no sir and she even called and got me the $500 loyalty coupon. my sales guy told me subaru america AND the dealer owner take the survey VERY VERY SERIOUSLY

 

[packout]

Was anyone else required to watch a 5 minute video in the finance guys office about how complicated new cars are and how expensive it is to fix them after the factory warranty expires? Apparently, if you buy the extended warranty and prepaid maintenance all of your troubles are over and life is good.

The numbers he quoted for these was absurdly high, over twice what I paid Dan at Liberty for the 10 year Gold Plus Warranty.

Prior to that, I had a great sales experience and since have had a great service department experience.

I have to admit that in the past, probably more than once, I've been suckered into buying something extra from the finance guy, but I always got him to throw in "free" floor mats!

If a dealer asked me to watch a video, I would tell them it would need to be shown to my rear as I walked out the door never to return.