Topic: One in three Canadians surveyed unhappy with their car purchase, study finds

[mixmanmash]

The auto industry is particularly good at this, and the sheeple buy it.

The sheeple buy it for the same reason ppl buy shitty old houses for $500K in TO; stinking low interest rates.  It's no longer the product, but the payment.  Sooner or later it`s all going to end badly.

Agreed.  People focus too much on what the monthly payment is versus how much they have to payout in total.

[X-Traction]

I still think the devil is in the marketing.  After all, marketing got a remarkable number of people to smoke, given that smoking is so harmful and disgusting.

[revalations]

More people should buy Subarus.

Enlighten me. What's so all fire wonderful about Subarus? Lately, I've heard more bad than good about newer subarus. My brother in laws dad is a Subi nut, bought his first in 1980 and has had at least a half dozen since then, his most recent is a Forester that just had a new engine put in with 120 k on the clock. This car is driven by a gentle retired 64 yr old mechanical engineer. He said no more Subi for him, looking at a new Highlaner instead.

Furthermore, I was at the local auto show today. Some of the more cheap looking/feeling boring and bland interiors were in Subarus. Don't get me wrong, I think they've built some great cars and still do, but with makes like Audi that are improving reliability wise and so many others offering AWD cars, it would be hard for me to buy a Subaru just because it's a wagon or AWD. I guess I just don't feel the love some of y'all have for them.

[Fobroader]

More people should buy Subarus.

Enlighten me. What's so all fire wonderful about Subarus? Lately, I've heard more bad than good about newer subarus. My brother in laws dad is a Subi nut, bought his first in 1980 and has had at least a half dozen since then, his most recent is a Forester that just had a new engine put in with 120 k on the clock. This car is driven by a gentle retired 64 yr old mechanical engineer. He said no more Subi for him, looking at a new Highlaner instead.

Furthermore, I was at the local auto show today. Some of the more cheap looking/feeling boring and bland interiors were in Subarus. Don't get me wrong, I think they've built some great cars and still do, but with makes like Audi that are improving reliability wise and so many others offering AWD cars, it would be hard for me to buy a Subaru just because it's a wagon or AWD. I guess I just don't feel the love some of y'all have for them.

Go for a rip in a WRX/STi/XT model and then lets see if your opinion changes 

[mixmanmash]

More people should buy Subarus.

Enlighten me. What's so all fire wonderful about Subarus? Lately, I've heard more bad than good about newer subarus. My brother in laws dad is a Subi nut, bought his first in 1980 and has had at least a half dozen since then, his most recent is a Forester that just had a new engine put in with 120 k on the clock. This car is driven by a gentle retired 64 yr old mechanical engineer. He said no more Subi for him, looking at a new Highlaner instead.

Furthermore, I was at the local auto show today. Some of the more cheap looking/feeling boring and bland interiors were in Subarus. Don't get me wrong, I think they've built some great cars and still do, but with makes like Audi that are improving reliability wise and so many others offering AWD cars, it would be hard for me to buy a Subaru just because it's a wagon or AWD. I guess I just don't feel the love some of y'all have for them.

Go for a rip in a WRX/STi/XT model and then lets see if your opinion changes 

Lot's of people having engine failures in WRX/STis under warranty too.  The pistons/ringlands are not taking the beating.  They really should have just used forged pistons from factory instead of the cast ones.

[rrocket]

That's a lot of people who didn't come here to have us tell them what to buy.
It's their own damn fault.   

It must be all the guys who are driving the car their wife said they should buy.....

[Sir Osis of Liver]

More people should buy Subarus.

Enlighten me. What's so all fire wonderful about Subarus? Lately, I've heard more bad than good about newer subarus. My brother in laws dad is a Subi nut, bought his first in 1980 and has had at least a half dozen since then, his most recent is a Forester that just had a new engine put in with 120 k on the clock. This car is driven by a gentle retired 64 yr old mechanical engineer. He said no more Subi for him, looking at a new Highlaner instead.

Furthermore, I was at the local auto show today. Some of the more cheap looking/feeling boring and bland interiors were in Subarus. Don't get me wrong, I think they've built some great cars and still do, but with makes like Audi that are improving reliability wise and so many others offering AWD cars, it would be hard for me to buy a Subaru just because it's a wagon or AWD. I guess I just don't feel the love some of y'all have for them.

I've had three and they've been flawless with no unscheduled repairs. The reliability ratings on CR have been excellent. I turned in my 2011 Outback 3.6R for the 2013 XV and wasn't upside down after only 2 years into a 4 year lease. The interiors currently are pretty good, with simple, straightforward controls. The AWD system is, of course, excellent.

[blotter]

lump me in with unhappy... maybe that's because I joined this forum after my last purchase.
 


I call it the snowball effect.

I was starting to spend a lot fixing our old Forester and got cold feet.
The original plan was to buy the Legacy Wagon GT (back in 2009 when it looked best)
the sales guy was an idiot and off to Toyota I went.... one thing lead to another and we got a RAV 4 instead of that beautiful wagon.    Don't get me wrong, I did like the RAV but regreted not getting the car I really wanted.   The plan was lease and buy, but things changed and at least end decided to get the Matrix in the idea that it would be a temp lease and saves a bit of cash in between (gas / insurance)
THAT was a big mistake. 

I've been counting down ditching the Matrix and as some of you know a little OCD on what to get next.....  wanting to make sure there's no regrets this time around because it'll be a long term purchase.

[MarkStevenson]

lump me in with unhappy... maybe that's because I joined this forum after my last purchase.
 


I call it the snowball effect.

I was starting to spend a lot fixing our old Forester and got cold feet.
The original plan was to buy the Legacy Wagon GT (back in 2009 when it looked best)
the sales guy was an idiot and off to Toyota I went.... one thing lead to another and we got a RAV 4 instead of that beautiful wagon.    Don't get me wrong, I did like the RAV but regreted not getting the car I really wanted.   The plan was lease and buy, but things changed and at least end decided to get the Matrix in the idea that it would be a temp lease and saves a bit of cash in between (gas / insurance)
THAT was a big mistake. 

I've been counting down ditching the Matrix and as some of you know a little OCD on what to get next.....  wanting to make sure there's no regrets this time around because it'll be a long term purchase.

Just goes to show a dealer can really ruin sales of great product.

[blotter]

lump me in with unhappy... maybe that's because I joined this forum after my last purchase.
 


I call it the snowball effect.

I was starting to spend a lot fixing our old Forester and got cold feet.
The original plan was to buy the Legacy Wagon GT (back in 2009 when it looked best)
the sales guy was an idiot and off to Toyota I went.... one thing lead to another and we got a RAV 4 instead of that beautiful wagon.    Don't get me wrong, I did like the RAV but regreted not getting the car I really wanted.   The plan was lease and buy, but things changed and at least end decided to get the Matrix in the idea that it would be a temp lease and saves a bit of cash in between (gas / insurance)
THAT was a big mistake. 

I've been counting down ditching the Matrix and as some of you know a little OCD on what to get next.....  wanting to make sure there's no regrets this time around because it'll be a long term purchase.

Just goes to show a dealer can really ruin sales of great product.

absolutely.   The guy at Subaru was a total idiot.  He totally read me wrong from the get go.
I also hate one someone says something sucks.   If I tell you I'm shopping around, tell me why you're better than the other brand, don't just tell me it sucks.   I managed to ignore it all.  We got to the point he wanted me to actually buy it.  Full tilt pressure but near the end he offered I take the car home for the weekend.  The dealer is 45 minutes away so taking it for the day didn't work.   But after talking to the manager, offered only if I throw a $500 deposit.   I stormed out!  I was so pissed off not only to have wasted my time that day but I had been servicing my Forester at that dealership for about 4 years. 

What I should have done is storm into the manager's office....
oh well...

[SaskSpecV]

Just goes to show a dealer can really ruin sales of great product.

Absolutely.  And conversely, how a great dealer can make a customer happy even with otherwise mediocre product.  This is something that is rarely, if ever, mentioned in auto journalism articles but has such a huge impact on customer satisfaction.  I can't blame the writers, as dealership quality varies so much (even within a brand).

I'm weary of purchasing a Subaru just because I haven't heard great things about the dealer experience around here.

[blotter]

I'm weary of purchasing a Subaru just because I haven't heard great things about the dealer experience around here.

while we did service our Subaru, service was top notch.   This was all about the manager at the time.
everytime I came up, he give me his demo to hit up the mall with the wife to kill time.  Being we where from out of town that was great.  However, when he left, I never got a demo.  (the new manager offered but for a fee)   Sales.... well, you know how that ended up.

I almost want to make talking to service as part of my shopping experience.
since i'm no mechanic, I really want to rely on a good dealer.

[mmret]

Regarding the service vs sales thing, reminds me of this:

http://www.wired.com/business/2014/03/tesla-banned-ensure-process-buying-car-keeps-sucking/

Moving away from the franchise model / mentality will probably go a long way to ensuring after sales service is actually good. But remains to be seen if things will turn out well for Tesla.

[pi314]

I was ready to deal on an Impreza. The salesman was useless so I went elsewhere... I was going to go to St John but then decided on the Focus.
I considered briefly a few Kias. The service department in Frederiction is fantastic, but the new salespeople were useless... if the salesman was as good as the service, I'd have overlooked a few better products for a known quantity in terms of servicing.

[MarkStevenson]

Just goes to show a dealer can really ruin sales of great product.

Absolutely.  And conversely, how a great dealer can make a customer happy even with otherwise mediocre product.  This is something that is rarely, if ever, mentioned in auto journalism articles but has such a huge impact on customer satisfaction.  I can't blame the writers, as dealership quality varies so much (even within a brand).

I'm weary of purchasing a Subaru just because I haven't heard great things about the dealer experience around here.

Yup, I agree wholeheartedly on this. I had a couple Fords that I purchased in Summerside, PE. Not because the products I bought were fantastic, but the salespeople and service counter was excellent to deal with. No demo drives (I lived in town), but I always had a quick ride to work in their courtesy Flex.