Wimbledon Court Diaries: Subaru

Well, it finally happened and I still can't believe it! For the past 6 years I have been looking at every Subaru on the road (mainly outbacks) and dreaming about how someday I would own one. I always imagined that I would get a used 2000-2004 outback. But I noticed that the price of them never really got cheaper and they were getting older. Erik convinced me last year to think about getting a new Subaru outback since they were not all that much more expensive then the old ones. I said that I would consider it, but that I really wanted to test drive them. Now if you have seen my Geo Prizm, you would know I was getting really anxious for a newer car. The Geo was a bare bones 1995 that we bought for $2,200. It now has 199,000 miles, no AC, and a cracked windshield, needs new breaks and new tires. We were hoping to sell it for $500-$1000 on craigslist if we were lucky. With winter coming and frequent visits to the beach, we decided it was time to start test driving Subaru's (plural?). I wanted to look at Carr Subaru in Beaverton because they are "salary salesmen". Last weekend Erik and I drove up there and test drove a 2011 Subaru outback in graphite grey. It had 6 miles on it, a moonroof, backup camera, and the all weather package. To be expected I fell in love. The problem: the price. They would not take my Geo as a trade in and they also could not get the car in our price range. The salesman was great, the sales manager not so great. He would not let us leave and I was starting to panic! Finally, after 3 hours of being there,I stood up and said we couldn't do it (he knew I was the one in love and a push over). We left empty handed and a little discouraged. However, Erik had made us an appointment at Capital Subaru to talk to the Costco sales rep. (If you didn't know Costco can give you some good deals on cars). Well it turns out Capital Subaru is also salary and everyone there is nice (and not pushy) their cars are also more reasonably priced. It just so happened they had a 2011 graphite grey Subaru outback with a moonroof, backup camera, and the all weather package with only 4 miles on it! It was meant to be. I was the first customer to ever drive the car :) Capital also traded in our Geo for $500!!! While we were in the process of getting the car Carr Subaru called and left a message saying they would take the Geo for $1000 if we bought the outback today. Guess somebody was desperate. We went with Capital for many reasons: they were nice, cheaper, and closer to home. So now Erik and I are proud Subaru owners and I have a feeling I will be a Subaru owner for life!