Buying a subaru? save $250 / $500 (or $750?) !

We had a wonderful family outing, going to two auto shows in 3 days.

I would like to share some interesting information that may potentially save you some money if you are in a market for a new Subaru.

Subaru at the New Jersey Auto Show

The show runs from January 28 through January 31, 2010 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, 355 Plaza Drive, Secaucus, NJ 07094

Having been to NY Auto Show, this NJ show was somewhat of a downer in that it only had may be 40 cars or so and no manufacturer representatives were onsite (meaning everyone who had cars there were dealers). Carpet was kind of dirty and lighting was dark. Bonus was that for the price of $5 admission, I received 1 year subscription to Motor Trend magazine for free.

Looking for deals, I found Lynne Subaru (Bloomfield, NJ) who was handing out $500 coupons that you can present to the finance manager AFTER making your best deal. So if you are close by, stop by to snag one.

Admission Cost: $5 for for adult; kids free

Parking: free

Subaru at the Philadelphia International Auto Show

This show runs from January 30 through February 7, 2010 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

Much larger than the NJ Auto Show, it had over 100+ cars. I asked representatives from Toyota, Mazda, Ford, Chevy and Jeep about manufacturer coupons / auto show discounts, they all said none were available. Yet, when I approached Subaru folks, they took my information and sent me an email containing the $250 coupon!

I have to wonder, here is a manufacturer with two very popular cars (Forester, 2009 Motor Trend SUV of the Year, Outback, 2010 Motor Trend Car of the Year) offering $250 discount coupons yet other competitors with not-so-popular models don’t have any?! Come on!

Side Note 1: Iif you decide to go, make sure to visit the Chevy section for a cool looking Stingray!

Side Note 2: I would like to thank an older gentleman who approached us at the elevator and gave his two extra tickets without saying a word and walked away. Because we already purchased our tickets online, we ended up giving them away but wanted to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR RANDOM KINDNESS, whoever you are!

Admission Cost: $10 for for adult; kids free

Parking: $27 (for 2.5 hours, yikes)!**

Coupon: $250

Oh yeah, if you decide to prepay your parking at one of those kiosks, make sure to take your receipt AND YOUR VALIDATED PARKING TICKET. You need the VALIDATED TICKET, not a receipt to exit the parking lot!!!

Final Tally

So, the ultimate question is can I combine the $500 coupon from a dealer with $250 Subaru Coupon? I don’t know, but Subaru’s coupon says it cannot be combined with any other coupons so the dealer may try to slime his way out of it. Either way, we had a blast and if you have the time, definitely go check it out!

By the way, I am writing this as of Saturday, January 30, 2010. As you know dealers are closed on Sundays (at least in PA/NJ/NY). But don’t despair! Subaru representative told me that if the month end ends on a Saturday, they extend the monthly quota to the following Monday. That means if you can snag one of these coupons tomorrow (Sunday), you can potentially get a good deal from Subaru dealer who is anxious to meet his quota on Monday, February 1, 2010 and use the coupon on top of the deal.

I’d say shoot for $300-400 under invoice for Forester and $300-500 under invoice for Outback, the present your coupon(s) for additional discounts. Also, for maximum leverage, don’t be shy about asking for large discounts on Subaru’s extended warranty plan. If you can get it for $100 above their cost, I would recommend that you purchase it at the same time.

If you found this article to be helpful, send me an email at info at allthumbsdiy.com and let me know! Good luck with your purchase!

PS. With just over 700 miles on my 2010 Subaru Outback, it has surpassed all my expectations! I love it!