Possibly upgrade time

[Z77]

Hi guys,

 

I will admit it's been a while since I have been active on here. I am now in my second legacy. I went from a 2011 premium model to my current 2017 sport. When I made the upgrade I had my car paid for and Subaru gave me great trade for my old one. The dealership is currently offering to pay off the remainder of my current sport and put me in a new 2021 sport at less per month than what I am paying currently. I only have a few months left till the car is mine. I have already told the dealership make me sell it otherwise I will keep it as I have no real need to upgrade (mind you they have attempted to give me an offer 6 times via email, snail mail and even now texting me). However, I have to admit fell in love with the xt and currently they have priced it out for me just a little higher than I want to be.

 

Sorry for the lengthy background. Here's the basic question: the dealership has played there cards that they want my car I am currently playing hard ball and almost have the pricing in range. For those of you with the new generation is the upgrade worth it? I feel I would only do it if I get the xt but curious for some input from those who own one.

 

Thank you in advance!

-Z77

[Stuff]

"they want your used car" is a trope that they really want to sell you a new car. I've had other car dealers/manufacturers send me the same thing over the years.

 

The XT is great but can drive you crazy. Turbo, CVT, and gas pedal sometimes battle each other. See if you can get an overnight/weekend test drive first.

[Ctrain7093]

Being someone that works for a Subaru dealer in the sales department they might not be lying. We are running short on used inventory and have been actively trying to reach out to try and get more used inventory where we have a history on it! I also recently traded my 19 Limited for a 21 Limited xt and I wouldn't go back. It is nice to have the power when you need it and the fuel economy isn't half bad!

[LBSypher]

Hi guys,

 

I will admit it's been a while since I have been active on here. I am now in my second legacy. I went from a 2011 premium model to my current 2017 sport. When I made the upgrade I had my car paid for and Subaru gave me great trade for my old one. The dealership is currently offering to pay off the remainder of my current sport and put me in a new 2021 sport at less per month than what I am paying currently. I only have a few months left till the car is mine. I have already told the dealership make me sell it otherwise I will keep it as I have no real need to upgrade (mind you they have attempted to give me an offer 6 times via email, snail mail and even now texting me). However, I have to admit fell in love with the xt and currently they have priced it out for me just a little higher than I want to be.

 

Sorry for the lengthy background. Here's the basic question: the dealership has played there cards that they want my car I am currently playing hard ball and almost have the pricing in range. For those of you with the new generation is the upgrade worth it? I feel I would only do it if I get the xt but curious for some input from those who own one.

 

Thank you in advance!

-Z77

 

I came to my 2021 Limited XT from an '08 Impreza STI that I had owned from new and heavily modified. I had a brief 6-month stint in a 2018 Forester XT Touring in between the two cars (just long enough to realize I liked all the safety / luxury features and its quickness but not the handling of an SUV). SUVs are great for trips, carrying a bunch of luggage, off-roading and so forth, but we have an Ascent and I realized that we didn't really need another SUV. I'm happier in a car with its handling characteristics. Is my Legacy XT even close to the performance of my STI? Nope. Not in the slightest. Is it as fun? It might be. I'm still deciding. I'm in my 40's now and I am really enjoying how great this car is when out on the town, on short road trips (we use the Ascent for the long ones), and even when carving up country and mountain roads. Oh and it's really great at commuting too! The ONLY things I wish it had were a chin spoiler and a low-rise wing to differentiate it a bit from the rest of the stablemates. Others have their lists of complaints about it (you can easily search this forum and find them), but I don't have any.

[tomk]

I would wait until Wednesday, the last day of the month and then tell them which car you want and exactly how much you are willing to pay for it. They will probably be looking to make their monthly sales goal and may be willing to take a small loss in order to make their goal.

 

Make sure you do your research on how much your trade is worth, put in the exact specs on your trade into Auto trader and see what other dealers are asking for your car. Obviously they won't give you the same amount but make sure they are in the ballpark with some room for them to make some profit on your trade. Also research any accessories, service plans, and extended warranties you may be interested in. If they won't come down to meet what your willing to pay maybe they can throw in these extras to help sweeten the deal, but if you don't know what the going rate is for them it can be very hard to tell if they are actually giving you a better deal.

 

I am a firm believer in getting the exact vehicle you want, even if you have to stretch your budget, within reason of course. I believe if you buy less car than you actually wanted you may end up trading up sooner than you wanted, which could end up costing you more in the long run.

 

Post which model you are looking at and how much they are willing to come down. I just bought a Touring XT for 5k off MSRP at the end of last month. I didn't have a trade so that kept the negotiation pretty simple, having a trade complicates it considerably, and gives the dealer more room to make profit.

 

I am pretty happy with my Legacy except for I feel it's pretty sluggish off the line with the CVT. But I only have 500 miles on it and am babying it while it breaks in. I also had to turn off the lane keep assist as my commute to work is mostly poor back roads and I got tired of it beeping at me everytime I swerve to avoid a pot hole, rough road or animal carcass. Now I have a yellow light on the dash to remind me I turned it off which I hate.

My wife's Ford Edge has a button on the turn signal stalk that turns it on and off which I think is a much better way to do it, and no annoying yellow light. I will turn it back on whenever I take it on the interstate, hopefully I can do that while in motion.

 

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

[LBSypher]

I will turn it back on whenever I take it on the interstate, hopefully I can do that while in motion.

 

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

You most certainly can! I have to switch mine partially on and off because a lot of my driving is on back country roads and the Blue Ridge Parkway which often doesn't have a line on the right.

[Z77]

Thank you guys for the input. I am defiantly going to keep you all posted. I will be going in on Wednesday to finalize negotiations. Wednesday night I will either drive home my current one or will be in a new xt. So far as *Ctrain7093 had said is what seems to be the case. The dealership has almost no used cars on their lot. But currently they are offering touring xt for 2k below MSRP so there is definitely room. And as far as the offer for my car they are 3k below carmax offer. So there's totally room in the cards. Edited March 26, 2021 by Z77

[tomk]

Thank you guys for the input. I am defiantly going to keep you all posted. I will be going in on Wednesday to finalize negotiations. Wednesday night I will either drive home my current one or will be in a new xt. So far as *Ctrain7093 had said is what seems to be the case. The dealership has almost no used cars on their lot. But currently they are offering touring xt for 2k below MSRP so there is definitely room. And as far as the offer for my car they are 3k below carmax offer. So there's totally room in the cards.

 

 

Over the last 20 years I have had CarMax appraise 3 vehicles for me and all 3 times they came back with ridiculously low offers. I don't know, maybe they don't like my taste in cars, but for the dealership to come in 3k less than them seems very weak.

 

My dealer offered me $4100 off sticker before I even stepped into the showroom, granted they did have about 10 .Touring models in stock Since they are only taking 2k off sticker makes me think they are really not very motivated to sell that car. Maybe things may change by Wednesday, but I don't see them coming down that much. Maybe they already hit their monthly goal since a lot of people are buying cars right now with their stimulus money and tax returns. I have also heard talk of a semi-conductor shortage causing manufacturing problems for new cars.

 

I would suggest checking out a different dealer and maybe getting your trade appraised at some other dealers to get a better idea of what it's worth.

Edited March 27, 2021 by tomk
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[dgoodhue]

Maybe things may change by Wednesday, but I don't see them coming down that much. Maybe they already hit their monthly goal since a lot of people are buying cars right now with their stimulus money and tax returns. I have also heard talk of a semi-conductor shortage causing manufacturing problems for new cars.

 

Agreed. The stimulus and the potential semiconductor shortage are factors in driving cars sales.

 

I ordered another brand new vehicle and I am waiting for it to come in. I contacted the GM of the dealership asking about the progress of the delivery. It 6 day to get back to me on the shipping date. He apologized, told me that it has been crazy, he told me his dealership sold more cars last week than the prior month. Obviously, one dealership doesn't mean all dealerships are like this, but if every dealership is busier than usually the demand isn't going to help lower the pricing if the dealers are selling everything.

 

The good new if that OP has a 4 year old car that is almost paid for. You can always wait until this passes to buy an XT.

[shockergeek74]

I bought a 21 limited xt a few weeks ago. Bought it on Friday, put 1800 miles on it the next week. Car now has 3500 miles on it.

I have been getting about 28-29 mpg on highway running 75-85 mph. My 19 crosstrek didn't start getting the advertised mileage till about 10,000 miles. Im waiting to see if this one does the same. Although I doubt I ever get 32 mpg running 80+ mph.

The cvt isn't as smooth in the xt as it is in the other models. Best way to describe it is its jerky at times. Nothing terrible but it is noticeable.

The power is a ton better in the xt. Its nice to pull out and actually not need 3 miles to pass someone.

The interior is great. The leather seats and all the soft touch areas is super nice. I drive a ton of miles for work so comfort is an absolute must. The touch screen takes a little bit to get used to. There is a ton screens etc to find what your looking for. Fortunately the button to turn on/off the auto start is on the main screen. You have to turn it off everything you shut the car off. I wish they we would default it to off or make it so it stays off after you turn it off.

Trunk space is good. More then enough room for my bothers and I, suitcases and work boots and gear for a week at a time.

The car rides exceptionally well. It soaks up bumps well.

Headlights are really nice. Personally I cant tell when the headlights turn, but they are bright. Very bright.

Personally I turn off alot of the stuff on the car. I get annoyed at the beeping all the time. So my car looks like I have 3 or 4 check engine lights on.

All in all I'm pretty happy with car.

I got it for a little over $2800 below msrp and 0% intrest. I didnt put any money down and with tax, title, fees, gap, etc. I was a little bit over msrp out the door.

 

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[svxy]

I think the thing you will take away from the trade to a newer model will be the transmission. I have have the luck of being employed with a company that uses Subarus as fleet vehicles so I have driven Foresters, Outbacks and Legacys from 1996 to 2020, and next month a 2022 and experienced the evolution of the CVT. As it evolved, it went from something that felt like a bad slipping clutch in a manual transmission to ones that will snap your neck back from a stop. I personally had 2010 Legacy and went to a 2020 Legacy Premium. I was expecting an even better, responsive CVT but unfortunately I was wrong. It's definitely a more sluggish CVT. I like to refer to my gas peddle as a volume control for the transmission because the more you push it the louder it gets and goes no where quick compared to the generation before. I test drove the XT and was not especially impressed with the performance of the turbo, but highly impressed with the better tuned CVT. It's more responsive and I thought shifted much better. I maybe in the minority here with my opinion, but it comes from decades of driving yearly upgrades of new Subarus. Edited April 1, 2021 by svxy

[Z77]

Hey guys, thank you for all of your input. As I said before I would keep you all updated with what I do. Yesterday I signed the papers for my 2021 Touring XT in black. I can't wait to take it home it was still on the truck. But my girlfriend test drove it and goes, "I don't know why you are spending the money on the turbo. Why not go with a premium or just keep the old car." Then she floored the car and with a huge smile on her face.... "NOW I SEE WHY YOU WANT THE TURBO!"

 

You guys have been wonderful and ended up getting even more trade from my old car then they were offering 2 months ago.