[cjkenton]

So the plan for today was for the wife and I to go into our dealership and order our Ascent YYEEAAAAHHHHH. However...before we left, my wife had a thought. If we were to wait until after the Ascent comes into the dealerships, say September, would the price start to drop? And if so, how much. Honestly I was pretty upset that she brought this up on the day we were going to place our order, what a bummer. But she did have a point.

Looking for opinions on this. If there is a chance we could save a couple grand, then its worth it. So I actually called a few dealership all over the country (Subaru and others) and tried to get honest thoughts from sales peeps. Answers ranged, obviously this a subjective thought. I was hoping for some feed back from all of you just to see if it swings one way or another. I know this is sort of a mute point for those who have already ordered.

Of course, I understand that one of the biggest downsides to not pre-ordering is not getting the exact vehicle I want. But, I'm not really looking for anything to out there anyway. Believe me, the thought of waiting longer sucks, but if its worth it, that's ok...I guess

 

[R P]

When I bought my Crosstrek last fall, I did much better with a pre-order than a car on the lot. The reason was that the dealer knew the one on the lot would sell right away anyway, and was not incented to give much of a discount. Crosstreks were (and still are) a hot commodity, and don't stay on a lot very long. But with a pre-order, there is actually less overhead for the dealer, and they were willing to discount more. And the more they can sell, they get better allocations and invoices from Subaru, too.

But of course, as always, you need to shop around. Not every dealer has the same thinking, and they do compete with each other.

 

[jacket4256]

you will get a better deal on a pre-order since it more than likely is a sold car when you order it, since when you pre-order it you are buying the car. Also I believe that this care will be hard to come by sitting on a dealer lot for at least the first 4-6 months. Also from what I am gathering on here people are buying cars at or close to invoice not gonna get much better on a brand new car.

 

[GHP1]

So the plan for today was for the wife and I to go into our dealership and order our Ascent YYEEAAAAHHHHH. However...before we left, my wife had a thought. If we were to wait until after the Ascent comes into the dealerships, say September, would the price start to drop? And if so, how much. Honestly I was pretty upset that she brought this up on the day we were going to place our order, what a bummer. But she did have a point.

Looking for opinions on this. If there is a chance we could save a couple grand, then its worth it. So I actually called a few dealership all over the country (Subaru and others) and tried to get honest thoughts from sales peeps. Answers ranged, obviously this a subjective thought. I was hoping for some feed back from all of you just to see if it swings one way or another. I know this is sort of a mute point for those who have already ordered.

Of course, I understand that one of the biggest downsides to not pre-ordering is not getting the exact vehicle I want. But, I'm not really looking for anything to out there anyway. Believe me, the thought of waiting longer sucks, but if its worth it, that's ok...I guess

They will be at dealers in June

 

[Carl Abrams]

If we were to wait until after the Ascent comes into the dealerships, say September, would the price start to drop? And if so, how much. ... So I actually called a few dealership all over the country (Subaru and others) and tried to get honest thoughts from sales peeps. Answers ranged, obviously this a subjective thought.

Well, here's my subjective thought, which is also based upon discussion with my sales management team.

When the local market finally starts to show some need for discounting the price, then we'll start doing so. Until that time, we're not. We've gone through this with Outbacks, Foresters, and Crosstreks, where the demand exceeded the supply. Yes, they will eventually make more of them. But until that happens - and at this point in time we simply do NOT have a clue as to how long that's going to be, whether it's a year and a half like it was with the Outback, 9 months like it was with the Forester, or is still going on with the new Crosstrek (which we are discounting, but not that much) - then that's when things will change.

Keep in mind that just like every other Subaru, there's still not a huge mark-up in the Ascent, and we don't have rebates. And it's still priced less than what we thought it would be.

 

[Burutoo]

You will end up paying more for a unit on the lot (assuming you can find one). At least this is my experience locally and have been told the same by my sales rep. I’ve pre-ordered all my Subaru’s since 2011 and have gotten below invoice on all including the ascent. Your mileage will vary of course based on location but the reasoning I’ve been communicated is that the dealership is willing to make a smaller profit on ordered veh as there is no cost to them to insure and store as inventory on their lot. It’s a sold order so there is less admin and other costs to them vs a vehicle on the lot. They pass those additional costs over to the consumer plus they typically assume if someone is buying off the lot vs waiting for an order they need a vehicle sooner and are ‘willing’ to pay more for it. How true this all is I don’t know but I’ve always felt like I got a great deal without having to negotiate or feel nickle and dimed. Good luck with whatever decision you make!

 

[Sparkland]

The best way to save money would be to wait to buy a slightly used Ascent, under 10,000 miles, even under 5,000 miles. My son saved $8,500 on his 2016 WRX ($38,000 MSRP) when he purchased one with only 3,500 miles on it.

 

[Jason]

Its going to be the exact same price. The advantage of preordering is you get exactly what you wanted. You also don't have to pay for any fluff that a lot of dealers and even Subaru (splash guards, floor mats, etc) will add to the car before it arrives.

From my experience it will take at least a year for the supply to catch up to the demand enough for dealers to start discounting them.

 

[Carl Abrams]

The best way to save money would be to wait to buy a slightly used Ascent, under 10,000 miles, even under 5,000 miles. My son saved $8,500 on his 2016 WRX ($38,000 MSRP) when he purchased one with only 3,500 miles on it.

Probably the only way you're going to find an Ascent with that few of miles is a retired service loaner.

Also, you're talking about a hard loaded, Limited WRX, with every bell & whistle on it. You can also buy a brand new one for $28,000 that has the same engine and performance, that you know hasn't been abused, because that's the problem with the sports cars, someone will buy them and then ride them hard and put them away wet.

 

[jacket4256]

Probably the only way you're going to find an Ascent with that few of miles is a retired service loaner.

Also, you're talking about a hard loaded, Limited WRX, with every bell & whistle on it. You can also buy a brand new one for $28,000 that has the same engine and performance, that you know hasn't been abused, because that's the problem with the sports cars, someone will buy them and then ride them hard and put them away wet.

hey don't be talking about my girl that way :tango_face_wink:

 

[Sparkland]

Probably the only way you're going to find an Ascent with that few of miles is a retired service loaner.

Also, you're talking about a hard loaded, Limited WRX, with every bell & whistle on it. You can also buy a brand new one for $28,000 that has the same engine and performance, that you know hasn't been abused, because that's the problem with the sports cars, someone will buy them and then ride them hard and put them away wet.

I agree with you, but there are many people who plop down the money on a vehicle and then regret it for whatever reason (price, not enough legroom, the seats hurt their back, not enough cup holders, lack of performance, won't fit in their garage, wife or husband does not like it, etc.) and immediately trade out to somewhat mitigate their loss.

As far as my son's WRX, his brother bought the base model WRX and as you mentioned, they are the same vehicle except for the leather and the safety features. We did see quite a few used WRX's that were in bad shape but the dealer wanted "new" money, so we jumped on that deal when it came around.

As least with the Ascent, you won't really have anyone riding them hard being family cars. It will be interesting to see when the first "used" ones hit the market. I am guessing there will be a few toward the end of the year or immediately into the new year.

 

[Carl Abrams]

As least with the Ascent, you won't really have anyone riding them hard being family cars.

I think you'll be surprised about that.

Since the ECU is going to be a Subaru standard (in other words, able to be tweaked), we've already got some people here planning on putting COBB access ports in and doing tuning on the turbo, so they can squeeze an extra 5 - 50 hp out of them. It wouldn't take much for the car to end up putting out 300 plus.

Of course, I'm also a member of the Oklahoma Subies Facebook group (closed group) which has more than 2,000 members and our guys DO have a bit of a tendency to tweak their rides just a little. (Or a lot, if you take one guys STI into account ... last time I talked with the owner, it put out more than 900 hp at the wheel.)

 

[Tishers]

I just cannot take myself to the point of pre-ordering a car where I have not test driven a model yet. Nor am I so motivated to be the first one on the block; it just happens that my Merc has 180,000 on it and I am ready for a new vehicle that I can car-camp in.

That brings up a bunch of other unanswered questions regarding the Ascent when comparing to an Outback;

It is a much larger and heavier vehicle; how much will this impact performance. Even with a turbo 2.4?
Is it going to be as capable of AWD when all four wheels are not flat on the ground?
Can it pull at altitude or will it just come to a stop, roar the engine and look silly?
Will the CG (center of gravity) change its road and offroad behavior?

Every Ascent video out there shows it tooling down the road, faa, laaa, laa, laa.. Hauling groceries and then suddently (gasp!) it drives for a short distance on a gravel road.

I am not looking at painting a number 11 on the roof and being competitive on the off road circuit. Nor am I going to be a mercenary towing service, driving around in blizzards looking to pick up an extra $20. But I would like to see the Ascent do something like a hill climb without stalling, flipping over or getting bogged down by a motor that cannot pull two and a half tons of weight.

There are too many unknowns right now. With things unresolved and leaving us waiting for months for answers there will be some who just decide to go to a different manufacturer.

Do they think that "nineteen cupholders" is enough to hold my interest? Frankly its an embarrassing marketing bullet point.

 

[jd33]

I just cannot take myself to the point of pre-ordering a car where I have not test driven a model yet. Nor am I so motivated to be the first one on the block; it just happens that my Merc has 180,000 on it and I am ready for a new vehicle that I can car-camp in.

That brings up a bunch of other unanswered questions regarding the Ascent when comparing to an Outback;

It is a much larger and heavier vehicle; how much will this impact performance. Even with a turbo 2.4?
Is it going to be as capable of AWD when all four wheels are not flat on the ground?
Can it pull at altitude or will it just come to a stop, roar the engine and look silly?
Will the CG (center of gravity) change its road and offroad behavior?

Every Ascent video out there shows it tooling down the road, faa, laaa, laa, laa.. Hauling groceries and then suddently (gasp!) it drives for a short distance on a gravel road.

I am not looking at painting a number 11 on the roof and being competitive on the off road circuit. Nor am I going to be a mercenary towing service, driving around in blizzards looking to pick up an extra $20. But I would like to see the Ascent do something like a hill climb without stalling, flipping over or getting bogged down by a motor that cannot pull two and a half tons of weight.

There are too many unknowns right now. With things unresolved and leaving us waiting for months for answers there will be some who just decide to go to a different manufacturer.

Do they think that "nineteen cupholders" is enough to hold my interest? Frankly its an embarrassing marketing bullet point.

I think that we get the point.

You are waiting to order. ?

 

[Carl Abrams]

It is a much larger and heavier vehicle; how much will this impact performance. Even with a turbo 2.4?
Is it going to be as capable of AWD when all four wheels are not flat on the ground?
Can it pull at altitude or will it just come to a stop, roar the engine and look silly?
Will the CG (center of gravity) change its road and offroad behavior?

It's going to drive like a larger and heavier vehicle. It's not going to tool around like a Crosstrek, but it'll basically just be like a slightly larger Outback.
Having AWD without all four wheels on the ground is nothing new to Subaru. It's only 7" longer than the Outback, so if Bruceyyy can do THIS with his Outback, I'm quite sure the Ascent can as well.
It's a turbo, so it'll do better than the Outback at 14,000 feet off road.
And what CG change? It's going to be MAYBE 1" higher than we already have with the Outback. But with the longer and wider wheelbase, the stability triangle will still be well below what it is in a Land Cruiser or Land Rover.

 

[cjkenton]

It's going to drive like a larger and heavier vehicle. It's not going to tool around like a Crosstrek, but it'll basically just be like a slightly larger Outback.
Having AWD without all four wheels on the ground is nothing new to Subaru. It's only 7" longer than the Outback, so if Bruceyyy can do THIS with his Outback, I'm quite sure the Ascent can as well.
It's a turbo, so it'll do better than the Outback at 14,000 feet off road.
And what CG change? It's going to be MAYBE 1" higher than we already have with the Outback. But with the longer and wider wheelbase, the stability triangle will still be well below what it is in a Land Cruiser or Land Rover.

That's a bad ass video. LOVE the BF AT's on the Outback! Looks like he lowered his PSI as well. Well done.

 

[Nemesis099]

I just cannot take myself to the point of pre-ordering a car where I have not test driven a model yet. Nor am I so motivated to be the first one on the block; it just happens that my Merc has 180,000 on it and I am ready for a new vehicle that I can car-camp in.

That brings up a bunch of other unanswered questions regarding the Ascent when comparing to an Outback;

It is a much larger and heavier vehicle; how much will this impact performance. Even with a turbo 2.4?
Is it going to be as capable of AWD when all four wheels are not flat on the ground?
Can it pull at altitude or will it just come to a stop, roar the engine and look silly?
Will the CG (center of gravity) change its road and offroad behavior?

Every Ascent video out there shows it tooling down the road, faa, laaa, laa, laa.. Hauling groceries and then suddently (gasp!) it drives for a short distance on a gravel road.

I am not looking at painting a number 11 on the roof and being competitive on the off road circuit. Nor am I going to be a mercenary towing service, driving around in blizzards looking to pick up an extra $20. But I would like to see the Ascent do something like a hill climb without stalling, flipping over or getting bogged down by a motor that cannot pull two and a half tons of weight.

There are too many unknowns right now. With things unresolved and leaving us waiting for months for answers there will be some who just decide to go to a different manufacturer.

Do they think that "nineteen cupholders" is enough to hold my interest? Frankly its an embarrassing marketing bullet point.

I can understand not wanting to be the first on the block. My current vehicle is a 2005 Xterra bought the week they were first available. It has been a workhorse over the last 135K miles without any real issues due to it being the first off the production line. Subaru has better QC in my mind so I'm not worried.


Performance: My Xterra has a 4.0 V6 in it and has power numbers similar to the 2.4 in the Subaru (2.4 creates torque lower in RPM). I have loaded my Xterra with 15 bags of 50 lb bags of mulch (750lbs) and had no real power issues. I have also towed a 21 ft boot without any issues including pulling it out of the water. Yes I'm sure the engine will rev more but I bet it handles it just fine.


AWD: Subaru has one of the best AWD systems on the market. Only vehicles I think can compare are Jeep and Land Rover (Debatable if this is AWD or 4WD). It will be more capable than the AWD found in many other CUVs including the Explorer, Pilot, and Traverse.


Altitude: Turbo engines were originally designed for planes so they could get more altitude without loosing power. An H6 would be a lot worse due to the power loss. I notice a power loss in my Xterra when I'm up only a couple thousand feet. This is one of the reasons I'm excited about a turbo instead of a NA motor.


Center of Gravity: Subaru vehicles have a lower center of gravity when compared to anything else on the market due to the boxer type engine so even if it is raised up it will be better than any competing vehicle!


I agree there are a lot of unknowns and as I have only driven one CVT vehicle for all of 3 minutes I'm really curious how the CVT will be. As far as everything else it seems like you are looking for excuses.


I will say that if the deposit I put down was not refundable I would be waiting as well and it was the first question I asked. So if I test drive it and think this is not for me I can just walk away and get my $500 a put down back. If the dealer near you are saying non-refundable I agree waiting makes more sense.

 

[husker_soze]

I can understand not wanting to be the first on the block. My current vehicle is a 2005 Xterra bought the week they were first available. It has been a workhorse over the last 135K miles without any real issues due to it being the first off the production line. Subaru has better QC in my mind so I'm not worried.


AWD: Subaru has one of the best AWD systems on the market. Only vehicles I think can compare are Jeep and Land Rover (Debatable if this is AWD or 4WD). It will be more capable than the AWD found in many other CUVs including the Explorer, Pilot, and Traverse.

Center of Gravity: Subaru vehicles have a lower center of gravity when compared to anything else on the market due to the boxer type engine so even if it is raised up it will be better than any competing vehicle!


I agree there are a lot of unknowns and as I have only driven one CVT vehicle for all of 3 minutes I'm really curious how the CVT will be. As far as everything else it seems like you are looking for excuses.


I will say that if the deposit I put down was not refundable I would be waiting as well and it was the first question I asked. So if I test drive it and think this is not for me I can just walk away and get my $500 a put down back. If the dealer near you are saying non-refundable I agree waiting makes more sense.

I did the same thing when we bought our first and only minivan ('96 Honda Odyssey). We made a deposit and had to make 2 color selections. If your first color of choice doesn't come in the truck and the second does, they gave us the option to take it or wait.

My only concern right now is the CVT, as I've not had a vehicle that had one. And the reviews have been a mixed bag.

 

[Nemesis099]

I did the same thing when we bought our first and only minivan ('96 Honda Odyssey). We made a deposit and had to make 2 color selections. If your first color of choice doesn't come in the truck and the second does, they gave us the option to take it or wait.

My only concern right now is the CVT, as I've not had a vehicle that had one. And the reviews have been a mixed bag.

Never made a deposit on the Xterra. I literally pulled into a CarMax that sells Nissan and had the only Xterra with Side Air bags within 300 miles and purchased it on the spot. I needed a car right away as I was about to turn in my leased '02 WRX. I actually called up before to make sure it was in stock and they said they had to check if it was prepped yet.


I drove my sister's outback for a few minutes and didn't even realize it was a CVT. I plan on going to the dealership to test driving one just to see how it is. I'm really hoping they get demo models soon so I can actually test out the Ascent.

 

[cjkenton]

I know this is a mixed bag of opinions but when I placed my order, the dealer (in CO) guaranteed me that they will get an Ascent for a few days in May and it WILL be available for test drives. Of course he is a car dealer (sorry Carl) so I'm not holding my breath.