I knew in March of 2014 that my wife's next car would probably be a Subaru, as her 2005 Nissan Xterra (named Ruby), although running perfectly, would be turning 11 years old in 2016. I was already looking online and comparing compact SUV's, and the Subaru Outback and Forester had the highest IIHS safety ratings. I joined a Subaru Outback and Forester forum in March 2014 and began reading and listening to other Subie owners.
Fast forward to March 2016 and the Xterra was still running great with 97 K miles. But it was time to retire Ruby and get my wife & child into a newer, safer vehicle. I began a "hard target search" and immersed myself in online reviews, magazine reviews, Subaru literature and YouTube videos. I also made a 36 column spreadsheet comparing compact SUV's, and the Forester & Outback were decisively at the top of the list. My wife put the kibosh on the Outback but stated she liked the Forester.
My sister had recently purchased a new Outback based on my extensive Subaru research. She advised me that sales manager Mike Romagossa at Bryan Subaru had worked with her in an attempt to get her a Tungsten colored Outback. Mike sits near her at the Saints games and she vouched that he was a really good guy. So I made it a point to introduce myself as I knew we would be getting a Forester soon.
Before my visit, I went online on Yelp and saw that Yelper Jennifer B. worked for Bryan Subaru and bought a Subie from them, as did Yelper Jen L. I reached out to them, and they both highly recommended salesperson Rex Bubacz (pronounced BOO-bock) at Bryan. Now I had my preferred dealership and all that was left was to negotiate a good deal. Upon our arrival at Bryan, we met with Mike Romagossa and he introduced us to Rex. Rex is not just an "ordinary" salesperson. He is a certified Subaru salesperson, which means that he enrolled in several online courses to become a subject matter expert (SME) on all things Subaru. It was immediately evident that he was definitely a SME, as there were no questions that he could not answer; and I asked a lot of questions. He is also a Subaru Summit Peak Performer, which means that within his sales district, which includes Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston, TX,; he is ranked 3rd in vehicle sales, which is no small feat. Rex is the Clark Kent of salespersons. He has a quiet demeanor and a subtle sense of humor that immediately puts you at ease. However, his professional appearance, product knowledge and honest approach to sales assures you that you are in good hands. Even though we wanted a Forester XT Touring with the 250 HP turbocharged 2.0 liter engine, we also test drove the 170 HP 2.5 liter naturally aspirated engine for a benchmark comparison. And there was no comparison, as the XT turbo blew us away. Rex was very informative on the 2 test drives, especially just before we began each drive, as he explained a lot of the vehicle's features. However, during the actual drive, he was quite unobtrusive and let us enjoy the experience; and only made pertinent comments as they relayed to a specific vehicle feature. I'll go on the record and state that Rex was the main reason, but not the only reason we decided to purchase our car at Bryan.
Once we negotiated a fair deal, we ordered the exact vehicle we wanted and waited for it to arrive. Now it was time to meet with the finance manager, which is usually a very uncomfortable and sometimes frustrating experience. However, Business/Finance Mgr. Andy Daigle sets a new standard on just how easy it can be to buy a car. Since we had already negotiated a price with Rex, and received a top tier financing rate based on our 800+ credit score, we walked into Andy's office, signed all the required paperwork, received copies of everything we signed and were out of the door with our new Subaru keys in LESS than an hour. Talk about a refreshing concept. Kudos to you Andy.
When we were ready to leave, we were escorted to our new vehicle by David, who for lack of a better term is a concierge delivery specialist. Normally, at other dealerships, this is done by your salesperson. He walked us through nearly every feature of our new Forester XT Touring (named Scarlet) and helped my wife pair her phone via Bluetooth, as well as demonstrating how the touchscreen stereo & navigation worked, how the X-Drive system worked and how the three different transmission modes (with paddle shifters) worked. Bryan Subaru was a pilot program for this service and I think it should be adopted by all dealerships.
Lastly, although we did not get to meet Service Manager Mickey Rhodes and his staff, we did receive a complimentary factory scheduled maintenance plan for 2 years / 24 K miles. Therefore, we'll meet them soon enough. I like to support local businesses and Bryan has been family owned and operated for 61 years; so it was a pleasure to support them. If you are in the market for a new Subaru, go to Bryan and ask for Rex! read more