Subaru Outback 3.6R Touring - how to improve?

Ask the Hackrs
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#1

Been working on an Outback 3.6R Touring deal for a month, and am struggling with it. Any suggestions to improve this? Residual dropped 2% June to July, and am wondering if that trend will continue in August with the 2020’s coming out. I’m getting “no” to much more discount this far. Location is Kansas City, MO.

Term : 36 months, 12,000 miles/yr

MSRP : $40,909
Sale Price : $35,951 (12.1% off)
MF : .0002
Residual : 56%
Incentives : $1,000 ($500 Subaru, $500 Chase loyalty)
Acquisition Fee : $595 (capitalized)
Capitalized Cost : $35,546
Due at signing : first month, dealer fees not including acquisition fee

Score : 9 years
Monthly payment : $395 ($363 before 8.6% tax in Missouri)

Calculator Link

#2

Do you really need the low profile roof bars, brown leather seats, and heated steering wheel? If not, I’d strongly consider a 3.6 Limited with Package 24 (Moonroof/Nav) instead. Lower MF, higher residual, and seemingly stronger discounts because there is more of them around.

That said, a 12% discount isn’t great. Other parts of the country are seeing 14-16% discounts before incentives, so I think you can push harder, especially on a limited.

If you don’t mind a drive, try reaching out to Grand Subaru in IL for a quote to compare. Might be worth the drive…

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#3

It makes me sound so pretentious and particular, but I really dislike the plastic roof bars on the <Touring trims. And I’m a sucker for the brown seats. :sweat_smile: For my zip, Edmunds showed the Limited 3.6R has a residual of 54% and MF of .00055 (which are both worse than Touring).

I could contact Grand, you’re right. I guess I’m a little baffled that the Subaru dealers near KC are still stuck on pricing even with the 2020’s coming out.

#4

Its even worse in NJ.

#5

Are you sure those numbers are right for 36/12? I’m pretty certain that Subaru MF and Residuals are national - the rates for 2.5 are that low but I could have sworn 3.6 was higher…

3.6 Limited for most everywhere (except your post, which I see on Edmunds) is .00015 and 58% for 36/12 which is better than the .00020 and 56% you have for touring.

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#6

Here’s a price analysis from Cargurus.com on an Outback with the same MSRP. I would contact a few of these dealerships and tell them you need a “Great Price” per cargurus and the base MF. There may be incentives for purchase that aren’t available for lease, but you should be able to have a dealership disclose that. Ask them for the sale price for purchase vs. lease and ask them to explain the difference. You can also use truecar to get a bunch of quotes by modifying the zip code to pull up different dealerships.

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https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/searchresults.action?sourceContext=homePageNewCarTab_false_0&newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&inventorySearchWidgetType=AUTO&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=c28435&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=64118&distance=200&searchChanged=true&modelChanged=false&filtersModified=true#listing=237432870

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#7

I guess I’m not sure, was just blindly trusting Edmunds. I requested those numbers from a dealer, we will see if they are open with them.

#8

I sent emails to all the major dealers in a ~4 hour drive (8 total), as well as Grand in Chicago asking for their best price, and referencing the CarGurus great deal price. We will see what happens. Thanks for the assistance, all.

#9

Not a lot of love in the region. I did get an offer from a local dealer to beat any other dealer’s lowest offer by $500. That would put me at the following. I’m fuzzy on what’s incentive vs. discount but at most, there is $500 of incentive in that MSRP discount. I would likely sign this for $34,500 sale price. Is going to the dealer and trying to get that last $500 - $1,000 off a good strategy? How formal of an offer is needed before driving over?

Thanks again…

Lease term: 36 months, 12,000 miles/yr.

MSRP : $40,909
Sale price : $34,951 (14.6% discount)
Incentive : $500 from Chase/SOA
MF : .0002
Residual : 56% ($22,909)
Fees : $595 acquisition (roll into cap cost)
Capitalized Cost: $35,046

Monthly payment : ~$379 (~$349 before 8.6% tax)
Due at signing : $579 ($379 first month, $199.95 admin fee)
Score: 9.4 years

Calculator Link

#10

It really doesn’t look terrible for a touring. To me at 14.6% you’re in the right ballpark if the region is not competitive.

Did Grand get back to you?

#11

I think most on this forum agree you should only go to the dealer with a deal that is finalized. This is especially true if you’re driving out of town. The 2 leases I’ve done, my closing strategy is to tell whoever I’m working with that previously, I had a bad experience with a car deal where items agreed to over the phone were changed when I arrived. Because of that, I ask for the General Manager’s phone number and email. I send the GM the details of the deal I’ve negotiated with a sales manager and ask that they confirm the deal. This way if there are any shenanigans, you have the GM’s agreement.

Here’s what I sent most recently for a deal I set up for a friend:

Hi <GM’s name>,

I’m glad we were able to come to terms that were acceptable to both of us. < Friend’s name > (cc’d - cell# XXX-XXX-XXXX) will be calling you shortly to place the deposit of $695, which will be 1st month, tax included, of $490, $180 doc fee, and $25 temp plates. Per our conversation, delivery to XXXXX (Town, State) will be free.

Here is the deal we agreed to:

Stock # : SXXXX VIN# : XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

New 2019 VW Atlas SE w/Tech 4Motion

Deep Black Pearl exterior on Titan Black Leatherette Interior with Captain’s Chairs

MSRP $42,970

Months/Miles 39 months / 15,000 miles/year
Residual 51% ($21,914.70)
MF - .00138
Tax rate (5.5% - zip XXXXX- XXXX County - Village of XXXXXXX)

Monthly including tax - $490

So total costs for the lease will be $695 today and then 38 payments of $490 (tax included).

Please reply to all and confirm the terms via email. < Friend’s name > will then complete the credit application online.

Thanks!

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#12

I’m waiting to hear back from Grand. I do feel that I have found the floor for my region, working with 3 different local Subaru dealers for about a month now. I think they are sick of me :slight_smile:

$380/month doesn’t seem too bad, fits the 1% rule with very little DAS. I’m going to try to get it in formal writing, will give the other two a chance to beat it, and will likely sign it (assuming the Grand deal isn’t significantly better).

#13

I dunno if this will work for you, but I told my car dealer (different make, different market) that I needed the price to be $XXX. I could not swing any more because I needed to get a mortgage. That was my “absolute all in number.” He said he was sorry but he could not go that low. I thanked him for his time. 6 days later, he called me “Can you come in right now and we can do $XXX just like you asked?” I said I’d be there in 30 mins and we made the deal. He said that he had sold 4 cars that day. So I guess he used my sale to hit some performance goal… it might work it may not. Best of luck!

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#14

Thanks for the advice. I have tried sending a specific price a few times with no luck. Maybe I need to wait longer in between!

#15

One year ago when I was in the market for my parents, Grand Subaru said that it was their company policy not to do out of state leases.

#16

Pretty surprised, but Grand finally got back to me and the sale price they offered was higher than my local dealers.

#17

Called the dealer today, planning to go tomorrow to finalize. He mentioned we were good, but also said they had some minor hail and the specific vehicle I’m after had some minor damage that they could/would fix. Anything to be concerned with? Sounds like grounds for at least a bit more discount, just not sure when it comes to leasing if that’s a bad idea.

#18

Make sure that anything they say they will fix is either done before delivery or is in writing on the “We owe” part of the paperwork. The only thing that can be enforced is the written contract. A good paintless dent repair guy can do amazing things…I’ve seen it myself on our Subaru Legacy…some of the best $160 I’ve ever spent.

#19

I try to stick to email and text as much as possible but have found that going in with my most aggressive asking price yields the best offers. Once you’re there they hate letting you walk out. So I name an impossible price and leave with their best offer in hand.

And if you’re patient, sometimes they’ll follow up and give you those last few hundred off.

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#20

@kcmo123 - How did this end up?