I had a great buying experience with this dealer. Three weeks of searching for Subarus in the 4K range left me with a long list of nightmare test drives and lying, snaky car dealers. In exasperation, I had given up and decided to arrange things monetarily so I was able to go private party. I drove up to Ft Collins on a whim, as a last resort, not expecting to find a decent car in this range from a dealer. But I figured that since the afternoon was free, I'd be better off looking than not, so I drove up there.
Jeff was great to work with and willing to stay late to meet me, which I appreciated since I got there right past their closing time, even though he had somewhere to be. I was surprised to find several possibilities that appeared to be in good mechanical condition on the lot. The cars were nice, some with a few cosmetic dings, but appeared to be pretty solid. They had addressed and fixed major issues and were willing to tell what they had done to each one.
Due to my previous "education" courtesy of a slew of other car lots, by that time I had approached them as a pretty informed buyer. I made sure I got a Carfax, got it checked out by an independent mechanic, knew the issues well that this particular model dealt with, knew what years/models were affected by the recalls and what needed to be done as a result, etc. I came informed, but it was a breath of fresh air to deal with him after getting everything from attitude, to pressure, to outright lies/fraud and mechanical nightmares from a lot of other places. But that's another post. I appreciated that he treated me with respect and was more than fair in his negotiations and dealings. They bent as far as they possibly could and I appreciated their efforts to do that.
What I appreciated most about this dealer was their customer service. There was one issue that they agreed to do the work on as a condition of purchase, and when I got it home, there was a noise that cropped up right after. I called them up and they were willing to have me bring it back in so they could check it out. It turned out to be a separate issue that I was aware of when I bought the car, which was part of regular maintenance - which I had them repair, since it would have to have been done anyway, and they discounted it and saved me about $150.00 off what other shops would have charged.
I wrote this review a week or so ago, but decided to wait and see how they handled the request to inspect the car, before posting. During the time we weren't sure what the issue was, and whether it was as a result of the earlier work, they were terrific. They were willing to look at the car, willing to back their work, and never had an attitude.
There were a number of dealers I dealt with previously, both on small lots and at large reputable dealers, that were not even willing to give a passing glance to diagnose the issues on what was referred to over and over by different dealers derogatorily as "a four thousand dollar car." I realize that people are in business to make a profit, and that they can't spend an eternity fixing every little button and dial, but the request that the car should RUN or at least that I should be able to make an informed purchase, seemed to be too much to ask from many of these places. Not so at this dealer. I don't expect a car in that range to be perfect, but having it be mechanically sound seems to be a reasonable request. They were fair in their dealings,told me what they could and couldn't do for the price, were one of the only dealers I visited who actually cared about the mechanical condition of the car and did not become defensive when I pointed out something, like some others had.
What I found was that the dealers who did care and were committed to selling decent vehicles were out of this price range.
This was one of the best experiences out of about 25 dealers selling cars in my range in the metro Denver/Boulder area.
Cutting Edge is not yet aware that I am writing this review.
I am very happy with the Forester. There are a few cosmetic issues on the one side but I can probably address those on my own, if not they don't bother me that much because I absolutely love this car. It runs like a dream. It has the heated seats which I love, some nice amenities, it's very nice, it's a great car. I have mentioned them to several people and would also feel comfortable coming there for repairs, I would absolutely buy another car from Jeff but hopefully this one will last awhile. =) That's why I invested in a Subie. Thanks Jeff! read more
