I have a commitment to sell 10/100,000/0 under $2000 from a dealer five hours drive away, despite many local dealers available in my area.
Purchasing Subaru Gold Plus extended warranty from out of state dealer?
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That doesn't seem legal Jim as it amounts to restraint of trade if both the local dealer and the distant dealer are selling the exact same contract. Secondly the dealers are independent businesses and not part of Subaru so they can't be prevented from selling whatever they want for whatever price they want. For example if a woodworking equestrian from Philly wanted for whatever reason to buy a Subie in Arizona, Subaru certainly couldn't prohibit that. It's laughable, so why would a factory service contract be any different?
The gold plus plan is a subaru product, and as such they can configure their distribution network anyway they want.
Interesting question. The SoA VSC, as I understand it, isn't an "in stock, inventory product". Rather, when one is sold, the F&I guy/gal gets on the computer and enters the data, including the customer's address of record. If SoA wanted to be hard-nosed, I suppose they could red-flag a purchase when the retailer's location and the buyer's address were X number of miles apart.
In practice, I believe the issue is more of a policy suggestion than a hard and fast rule. I can't imagine either SoA or the local retailer turning down a $2K transaction.
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Well so is a Forester or an Ascent a Subaru product and you cannot tell a dealer he can only sell a car to a person from a certain state. Once a dealer or a distributor takes possession of a product (not just cars) he can do with it what he likes. I agree with Packard it's probably a Subie policy but if a dealer wanted to sell an out of state policy he can legally do so. Whether that gets him crosswise with SOA is another story.
John, I suspect there is a difference between a "thing" (the vehicle which is titled) and a "contract" which is what the Subaru Gold Extended Service Contract is when it comes to how the manufacturer can control marketing. Dealers act as an agent for Subaru for the contracts, but the company still "owns" the contract. Vehicles are sold to the dealers who in turn sell them to consumers. Somewhere in that mix, there are varying powers.
BTW, nice to see you here! Welcome to the Ascent forum.
J
BTW, nice to see you here! Welcome to the Ascent forum.
J
I think it boils down to the fact that VSCs traditionally are Cash Cows that selling dealers want to protect. Some other out-of-state dealers are eager to make a quick $100 bucks or so by investing 5 minutes on the computer keyboard.
The fact that VSCs are not a piece of physical inventory and must be bought and sold in real time by the dealer muddies the legal waters. It could be that SoA can say that it is "against corporate policy" to sell the contract to a dealer who's customer is X miles outside of the "Prescribed Territory". This could be an interesting legal case if contested. Much different than if a customer from NY wants to buy an Ascent sitting on a dealer's lot in AZ.
"Once a dealer or a distributor takes possession of a product (not just cars) he can do with it what he likes". that is precisely the difference. the dealerships are never taking possession or buying the gold Plus plan. they are simply selling the contract which they are not a party to. Completely different than a vehicle.
I can not see Subaru caring. It is probably more about satisfying an interest of the dealerships. My guess is that the only time Subaru would get involved is if a dealership complained.
And this, I suspect, is the key. It also smacks a little of collusion among local dealerships, but IANL, so what do I know?
I purchased the 8 yr/80K mile Subaru warranty for $995 on my 2018 Outback, from a dealer in Connecticut. I guess pricing has increased. I still use an out of state dealer to purchase the extended warranty on my Honda.
My Subaru dealer didn't sell the SoA warranties, but rather their own warranties at much higher cost. When the finance guy told me they wouldn't honor the warranty if I didn't buy the warranty from them, I told them that would be between him and Subaru. I not only bought the warranty out of state, but bought the car our of state (different state). I carefully read the warranty (it is a contract), and saw nothing in the wording that would require me to buy from a specific location or dealer for SoA to honor the warranty. Later, when I required warranty repair, the same dealer never mentioned that I bought a warranty from another out-of-state dealer.
I would call SoA (1 800 subaru3) and inform them of this situation, it is total BS. If this dealer wants to keep their franchise they MUST perform warranty repairs, regardless of where the car or warranty were purchased. This sort of unethical crap needs to be reported and stoped.
He should. The service guy's living depends on warranty work. The dealership's GM & owner should be told, as well as SoA corporate. Someone should be in the unemployment line soon.Yeah that is shady. That also makes me want to tell the service mgr at that place what the F&I guy was pulling.
I am in CA and bought from a dealership in AZ. You can look up my posts and see what I paid and the contact info for the dealer. After I signed and paid, the warranty was noted in mysubaru account and tied to car. There is no indication that I bought it from another state. What happens if I do buy in the same state but then move to another state. No way can SoA deny the warranty.
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