Easiest car buying experience I've ever had.
I wanted to get a 2023 BRZ in World Rally Blue. I stopped by the dealer on a whim in mid-March 2023. I test drove another BRZ with Jarrod. Loved it.
Asked about the buying process and if this car had any marks ups because some dealers are notoriously marking up its twin the GR86 upwards of $5k on the mainland. Jarrod assured me that Servco--whether that's Toyota or Subaru--doesn't do markups. The other car I was looking at, the 2023 Civic Si also had a $5-6k non negotiable markup by all three Honda dealers on island.
For me, the choice was simple. I left Team Honda which I have owned exclusively for 15+ years and moved over to Team Subaru.
Since you have to special order this car from Japan in the post-covid/tight supply chains new world order in 2023, I put down a deposit for a WRB BRZ a couple days later. Jarrod showed me my VIN & stock number for my allocation which had already been built. He even showed me that he put me on their internal Servco-wide spreadsheet to ensure no one else would snag that allocation. I left thinking my car would be ready in 2-3 months...
In May, I get a text from Jarrod with the stock number saying my car was finished with production and would be shipping from Japan soon. Confused, because the car I put a deposit on had *already been built*, I checked the stock number he sent with the text and the one on my order sheet and they didn't match up. What's the deal? Apparently, another customer got the allocation I thought was going to me because that person had put in their deposit sooner. None of this behind the scenes stuff was communicated to me until I asked about the two different stock numbers. I think they thought I wouldn't notice the difference in stock numbers. I did.
To be honest, I was really upset. Delays happen. I get it. Mix ups happen. That's ok too. But I should have been made aware of what exactly was going on. I wasn't informed of any of it. Had I not broached the issue, I doubt if they would have said anything.
If all the Honda dealers on island didn't have a markup on their Civic Sis, I would have went a different way. I was that put off.
So while the car was making its way here I continued to shop around and almost bought a WRX from the other Subaru dealer on island. But it was sold by the time I could stop in for a test drive.
There are only so many manual trans cars these days...
Fast forward to June and I get a text from Jarrod saying my BRZ is at the port and will be at the dealer in a few days.
I make an appointment at 10am on a Saturday. I did a quick walk around and test drive. The only thing we had to negotiate was my trade. They really lowballed me. I went back with a price that I wouldn't go below (in retrospect I should have said something a bit higher). They accepted the offer.
Protip: know what your trade is worth by going to any number of websites first & always ask for more because their finance manager or used car manager (whoever makes that decision) will lowball your trade. There's nothing untoward about this, that's just the game & dealerships for you.
Since I already had my financing set there was really nothing else left to do but sign the forms.
They didn't even try to push the extended warranties very hard.
All in all, a great, easy, quick process at the dealer.
Two hours later, I was driving my new BRZ home.
Despite the allocation communication hiccup, all other interactions between Jarrod, Servco, & me were great.
Very easy dealer to work with and I would 100% recommend anyone looking for a Subaru to give Jarrod and the folks at Servco Kaimuki a chance. read more