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VIP Order From Beginning to End

119667 Views 253 Replies 79 Participants Last post by  Jim_in_PA, 
Panther5150
So, there seems to be a lot of questions surrounding the VIP orders with the Ascent. I think that I have read every thread about it on this forum and other places around the net. A ton of details are missing which I will try to fill.

I was hoping to use my wife's membership with ASHA to make the order BUT that ship had sailed and they are no longer partners.

SO, what to do. I didn't feel like using one of the other companies and waiting 6 months (some people experienced less waiting times either by mistake or luck or they were lying). Here is a list of Subaru partners: https://www.subaru.com/why-subaru/partnerships.html If you can wait that 6 months, join one of the $50 ones and kick back.

The go to company is ASCPA. Why? Because you can plunk down $500 and get immediate (sort of) service. So, what do you do? You go to their website and make a one time 500 donation to become a ASCPA Founder. https://www.aspca.org/founders

There is a link right there to the VIP program. So, you sign up, pay your donation, and then you can click on the VIP forum to get your paperwork started. But WAIT! The form asks for a membership number which you do not have yet. Bummer right? Nope, you just put "New Member" in that place and then send the form (I had to call their service number to figure that out). BUT, in addition to that, you need to send an email to the their VIP consultant at [email protected] with a cut and paste of your payment information (also had to call to get this info). This 2 step process will result in a super quick turnaround and they will email the Subaru VIP program with your information.

You will get an email saying that they will process your application in 2 business days. Forget that!!! Now, if you are in a hurry (and I was) you then contact the Subaru VIP program at [email protected] and confirm with them your ASPCA membership, the location of the dealership that you are going to AND the model you are looking to buy (don't forget that last part, I did and had to send another email). So, I put Lithia Subaru of Fresno, my ASCPA info, and the Ascent into my final email. They will then email a copy of the VIP letter to you AND to the dealership directly (I put attention to the Subaru consultant that I had already spoken with at the dealership to ensure delivery).

So, by the time that I walked into the dealership with my VIP form in hand, it became duplicative as they already had a copy and were ready to go.

Now, comes the part where you "negotiate" Haha...there is none! I checked ALL the numbers beforehand so I could monitor their actions and every single number penned out exactly the same.

I came in with the MSRP price of the touring and the invoice price. I then added the popular package #3, a trailer hitch, and door edge guards to it. I had the MSRP price of that and the invoice prices. So you do in fact get invoice price on the add-ons!!! They then added up everything and I got the exact same MSRP and invoice price. Then he took that invoice price and deducted 2%. That became my sale price. My out the door price in California added in 7.9750% sales tax, 80$ doc fee, and a whopping $590.75 registration fee.

The process was wonderful. The dealer was stoked to do it as it was easy for them. I was stoked to do it as it was easy and quite predictable for me. They appreciated that I had already prepared everything that I wanted with the vehicle ahead of time. They ran a soft check on my credit. There is a $500 deposit. My vehicle was ordered (Beautiful Abyss Blue Pearl). Delivery is in late October!

Please let me know if you have any questions because in my excitement I may have overlooked something and happy hunting!!!
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Cannibal869
Awesome summary of the general process. Thanks for writing this up!

I would add in that once you get to the finance office in the back to fill out the paperwork, be aware that if you intend to get the extended warranty plans that it would appear Luke currently has the best prices around.
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Big Superroo1
Yep, I did the same immediate $500 donation with the ASPCA. The process from the donation time to the VIP email in my inbox was 3 hours. I was impressed with the quick response from both organizations. We decided on a Touring model and provided the dealer with the options we wanted. The no negotiating part is nice as the price of the vehicle came in at invoice minus 2%.

The problem here in Florida is that almost every dealer charges a "dealer fee", which they have various names for, and unfortunately, this fee is legal if a dealer chooses to have one. This is mostly, if not all, profit and in my instance is an additional $799.50. Don't get me wrong, I understand the dealer needs to make a profit, and I was willing to let them have it. But it isn't like they aren't already getting money from Subaru via holdback and floor plan money, which, FYI, works out to a little over $1100 on a Touring model. So, by my estimate, if I did approved that, they were going to make almost $2000 on the sale. Which I think would be a nice profit on a new car.

However, there are more costs this dealer has added to pad their profit margin like, electronic filing fee $179.00; document stamps fee $166.00; new license/tags/registration fee $389.00 (I looked this up on DMV and it's only $304.25 at the max). Then they broke out separate line items that are part of the $304.25 registration fees for Florida, like the lien fee $2.00 and the lemon law fee $2.00. Finally, two other fees that Florida requires and are required are a tire fee $5.00 ($1.00 per tire), battery fee $1.50. Then the big one here, 6% tax rate. By the time it was all said and done, the final price (prior to down payment) was $300 more than the MSRP.

So, even though I got the VIP price, when I add up all there is $1233 of dealer profit on top of the money Subaru pays them to sell it. Probably not going to go with this dealer.
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pilot1226
That's great. Thanks for your detailed description on the process, maybe this is worth of a sticky post, @Robert.Mauro ?

I'm personally a partner of Leave No Trace because of my involvement with Cub Scouts, which is a great organization geared towards outdoor etiquette and responsibility.
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Panther5150
pilot1226 said:
That's great. Thanks for your detailed description on the process, maybe this is worth of a sticky post, @Robert.Mauro ?

I'm personally a partner of Leave No Trace because of my involvement with Cub Scouts, which is a great organization geared towards outdoor etiquette and responsibility.
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I love that organization and that was the one that I selected if I were to wait 6 months. I really love their respect for nature. In fact, its good to point out that no matter which route you go, you are helping support a wonderful cause. You really are becoming partners with Subaru in making the world a better place!
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Kyle Hinrichs
Is there a list somewhere beyond Subaru's site that has the discounts with the organizations? Seems to be three tiers for VIP pricing - $1K-$3K off MSRP, invoice, and 2% under invoice. I'd prefer to support LLS out of the listed orgs, but I don't need any official wording on the VIP program.
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Panther5150
Kyle Hinrichs said:
Is there a list somewhere beyond Subaru's site that has the discounts with the organizations? Seems to be three tiers for VIP pricing - $1K-$3K off MSRP, invoice, and 2% under invoice. I'd prefer to support LLS out of the listed orgs, but I don't need any official wording on the VIP program.
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I asked the ASPCA directly and they told me invoice minus 2. They seemed very familiar with the program and benefits and had someone who was specifically designated to handle it. I would call the organization and see if they have the information. Or, if that fails, send an email to the Subaru VIP program. They were very responsive to questions that I had.

As to your question though, I was not able to find a comprehensive list that specified the discount for each program.
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G
hello panther5150, thanks for this post. I had an additional question- you wrote that you were able to obtain the invoice pricing on the added parts to the base price. where were you able to find this?

I am excited to try this out as I am in the lookout for a new ascent. thanks!
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gosub123 said:
hello panther5150, thanks for this post. I had an additional question- you wrote that you were able to obtain the invoice pricing on the added parts to the base price. where were you able to find this?

I am excited to try this out as I am in the lookout for a new ascent. thanks!
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There are several resources: http://www.costcoauto.com and 2019 Subaru Ascent 7 passenger research webpage to verify details. I think truecar.com will as well.
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Panther5150
Yeah, I used the Costco list to get my invoice pricing information initially then I used the lists on this forum as well for confirmation. Costco had it all nailed down. Of course...tariffs...it could all change!!!

I don't know if this thread is out of date or not: https://www.ascentforums.com/forum/123-accessories-add-ons/1397-accessory-list-invoice-prices.html
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B
By following these steps it Took me an hour from donation to getting the certificate emailed to myself and my dealer of choice! Thanks so much!
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A
Ordered my Ascent today using this method. It did take me a day to get my letter, but I made the donation at 3pm EDT. ASCPA got back to me around 4 and Subaru at 9am the next day. Dealer had a copy of the letter when I walked in the door and their MSRP and invoice pricing matched exactly what was in the kbb.com site.
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S
Here’s a silly question: Do I have to donate through the Founders’ donation page or will the ‘normal’ one suffice? I just clicked donate from the ASPCA main site and donated $500, not knowing there was a different donation page for Founders. Anybody else do the same thing and still qualify for the VIP status?
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scalpel_ninja said:
Here’s a silly question: Do I have to donate through the Founders’ donation page or will the ‘normal’ one suffice? I just clicked donate from the ASPCA main site and donated $500, not knowing there was a different donation page for Founders. Anybody else do the same thing and still qualify for the VIP status?
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I just hit the big orange DONATE button and then the $500 button after that.
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adx said:
scalpel_ninja said:
Here’s a silly question: Do I have to donate through the Founders’ donation page or will the ‘normal’ one suffice? I just clicked donate from the ASPCA main site and donated $500, not knowing there was a different donation page for Founders. Anybody else do the same thing and still qualify for the VIP status?
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I just hit the big orange DONATE button and then the $500 button after that.
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Did your donation page show 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 or smaller values?
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scalpel_ninja said:
Did your donation page show 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 or smaller values?
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$500 was the largest amount. They did ask me to forward the confirmation email after I filled out the VIP request form. That just shows a $500 donation and says nothing about membership level.
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adx said:
$500 was the largest amount. They did ask me to forward the confirmation email after I filled out the VIP request form. That just shows a $500 donation and says nothing about membership level.
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Awesome, thanks! I became a bit paranoid as I haven’t received any response from ASPCA after sending in the request form. I just realized they are on the east coast. I guess a lack of response is to be expected as I donated and submitted everything around 4pm Eastern time.
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S
So I am ready to pull the trigger on a Subaru Touring model. The dealership that I work with says that they do participate in the VIP program but could not provide pricing. They said that they have not seen a VIP certificate for an Ascent yet. I tried to call ASPCA to verify if the Ascent was on the VIP list but was told that they could not provide any details until I became a member. I am a little nervous, can someone who has done this recently validate that they were able to get a certificate for the Ascent and that the price was actually 2% below invoice? Thank you so much for your help!
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zegilbert
[email protected] said:
So I am ready to pull the trigger on a Subaru Touring model. The dealership that I work with says that they do participate in the VIP program but could not provide pricing. They said that they have not seen a VIP certificate for an Ascent yet. I tried to call ASPCA to verify if the Ascent was on the VIP list but was told that they could not provide any details until I became a member. I am a little nervous, can someone who has done this recently validate that they were able to get a certificate for the Ascent and that the price was actually 2% below invoice? Thank you so much for your help!
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I was able to obtain a VIP form via ASPCA Founders membership. The price was 2% below invoice, but the form only designates which models are NOT part of the program. Subaru included the Ascent in the VIP program, HOWEVER, it is still up to the dealer's discretion whether to include a model that SOA did not explicitly exclude. Sounds like your dealer said they will honor the form for the Ascent - but that's what mine said initially, but then back-tracked when my inexperienced sales rep actually tried to make it happen. (they gave me $1,000 off for the miscommunication, so I came out slightly ahead...)

Bottom line - yes, you can get a VIP form that does not exclude the Ascent, and yes, the pricing is 2% below invoice - but get absolute clarity from your dealer that they will honor it before you jump through the hoops.
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Big Superroo1
[email protected] said:
So I am ready to pull the trigger on a Subaru Touring model. The dealership that I work with says that they do participate in the VIP program but could not provide pricing. They said that they have not seen a VIP certificate for an Ascent yet. I tried to call ASPCA to verify if the Ascent was on the VIP list but was told that they could not provide any details until I became a member. I am a little nervous, can someone who has done this recently validate that they were able to get a certificate for the Ascent and that the price was actually 2% below invoice? Thank you so much for your help!
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Just follow the steps from the OP and/or myself earlier and you'll be good. ASPCA doesn't determine if the Ascent is VIP eligible. That's up to Subaru's dealers. I emailed the ASPCA at [email protected] and told them I was interested in becoming an ASPCA member via the Subaru VIP Program. They told me to make go ahead and make my donation. So I donated $500, then got an email from the ASPCA thanking me. It included a link for a VIP Verification Request form to fill out. Once verified, they send it to the Subaru VIP Program. Then Subaru VIP emailed me and asked me which vehicle I was interested in (Ascent) and which dealer I wanted to work with. I replied and they sent me an email with the "VIP Program Retailer Visit Authorization" form. They also emailed a copy of this form to the point of contact at the dealer (usually the finance manager or sales manager, probably not your salesperson).
Hope that clarifies things! Good luck!
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