[TomRaz]

I did some searching but I could not exactly find what I was looking for, if this has already been answered please point me to that post.

Basically when I made my Solterra reservation on 2/8/22 I chose my local Subaru dealer whey i purchased my Outback from and they have not charged market adjustment fees in the past

I am not certain in the past year if that policy has changed

So when I get contacted about pricing for the Solterra if I am still interested and the local dealer wants to add on a market adjustment fee can I move my reservation to another dealer that does not ?

While I would like to continue to deal with my local dealer I do not want to be faced with paying thousands of dollars above MSRP for a market adjustment fee

What are your thoughts ?

Thanks
Tom

 

[326]

This is my fear as well! Had I known which dealerships were tacking on ADMs and which ones weren't, I would have picked the appropriate dealer during the reservation opportunity...even if it was a hundred miles away.

Contacting your dealer now before MSRP is announced or contacting Subaru of America directly may put some pressure on the dealerships. I need to remember that MSRP is "suggested" and the dealer can sell for whatever they want. Luckily, dealerships also rely on customer reviews and ratings so if they want to sell for more, us customers can inform the public of their practices.

 

[SubiGuy]

Hey @TomRaz, like what @Housemartin said, you'll want to do it before pricing comes out. Till then your $250 is refundable, according to Subaru:

Subaru Solterra Reservation Cancellations

Cancel your Subaru Solterra EV reservation and receive a full refund of your deposit.

www.subaru.com

"If you choose to cancel, your $250 deposit will be refunded.

Cancellations are allowed on Subaru.com until pricing is announced, after which cancellations will need to be made through your selected Subaru retailer. Refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to process."

 

[Whoabear]

This text is from the email I received when I placed my reservation (In America). This means you should be able to confirm all pricing with your dealer, then decide if you would like to cancel and get a refund. However I do recall seeing something about you cannot move your reservation to another dealer...which I think is the main question from the OP.

What’s Next
Once pricing is announced, expected between April-May 2022, you will receive an email to contact your preferred retailer to finalize your Subaru Solterra Retailer Reservation Opportunity. At that time, you will be able to discuss options and availability.

• Your Subaru retailer will answer any questions you have, let you know which trim and colors are available, and make any other changes you may need
• After finalizing your choices, your Subaru Solterra Retailer Reservation Opportunity will become an official factory order
• Your retailer will give you the choice of applying your $250 deposit to your Solterra order or having it refunded
• Even after you have finalized your Subaru Solterra Retailer Reservation Opportunity and ordered your vehicle, you will still be able to cancel your order by contacting your retailer

 

[TomRaz]

Hey @TomRaz, like what @Housemartin said, you'll want to do it before pricing comes out. Till then your $250 is refundable, according to Subaru:

Subaru Solterra Reservation Cancellations

Cancel your Subaru Solterra EV reservation and receive a full refund of your deposit.

www.subaru.com

"If you choose to cancel, your $250 deposit will be refunded.

Cancellations are allowed on Subaru.com until pricing is announced, after which cancellations will need to be made through your selected Subaru retailer. Refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to process."

I understand what you posted

I am trying to find out if I can move my reservation to a different dealer if mine tries to add market adjustment crap

 

[voxel]

When you custom order a Subaru... doesn't the dealer technically submit factory order with your name attached. It's their order.

This is the same system as Ford (reservation in your name but dealer submits factor order to Ford and owns the order). Kia uses KFOS which is similar too.

In short - dealer owns the order because if you bail on the order they are STUCK with the car. With the Solterra, it's an easy sell but I've heard of Kia dealers ordering FWD Tellurides in wintery regions and when the customer decided not to take delivery the Kia dealer was stuck with a slower selling Telluride (everybody wants AWD in snowy areas).

 

[voxel]

I am trying to find out if I can move my reservation to a different dealer if mine tries to add market adjustment crap

Can you even move dealers at all? Every dealer got a limited allocation of Solterras - so "moving" is only possible if the new dealer has allocations available (I don't think any do).

 

[bob E]

Can you even move dealers at all? Every dealer got a limited allocation of Solterras - so "moving" is only possible if the new dealer has allocations available (I don't think any do).

On the last day of the reservation period, I think there were still dealers with limited availability in the New England area. I could be wrong, but the last time I counted them, there were around twenty such dealers.

 

[JIm_in_PA]

I am trying to find out if I can move my reservation to a different dealer if mine tries to add market adjustment crap

My understanding is that the answer to that question is...no.

 

[TomRaz]

My understanding is that the answer to that question is...no.

Thank you

 

[Whoabear]

My understanding is that the answer to that question is...no.

Following the money and making some assumptions, it would seem when we made the $250 payments that went to Subaru of America and we selected a dealer. When pricing is announced, Subaru of America will send the $250 to the dealer you chose, and they will contact to finalize the order. So then the dealer can apply the funds to your order, or refund you directly if you decide to cancel. Assuming this is true in how this is being handled, that would explain a lot of complexity that may exist to transfer the reservation to another dealer and why it's not possible.

 

[JIm_in_PA]

Perhaps, but more than likely it's because each dealer has a fixed allocation of reservations and there's no 'horse trading' on these pre-orders.

 

[poodlemaster]

Yeah. My dealer is getting 26 which is far more than most, probably because it serves the entire north part of Vancouver Island. We are only getting 2 Base models, so the allocation has been made already.

 

[TomRaz]

Wow that’s a lot for your area

 

[Dodob]

Another angle on this... if one balks at ADM and decides to cancel his reservation, does this mean that the dealer no longer gets the allocation of that 1 car to them? If true, it gives an unexpected leverage: you can pose to the dealer that he either agrees to a "reasonable" profit, or no profit at all, as he is not getting a car to sell.

I am actually tempted to give SOA a call and clear this up...

 

[Crumas]

Another angle on this... if one balks at ADM and decides to cancel his reservation, does this mean that the dealer no longer gets the allocation of that 1 car to them? If true, it gives an unexpected leverage: you can pose to the dealer that he either agrees to a "reasonable" profit, or no profit at all, as he is not getting a car to sell.

I am actually tempted to give SOA a call and clear this up...

Unlike Japan, it’s illegal in the USA for a company to try and force a retailer of any product to sell it for MSRP. Some companies have ways to pressure the retailers. For example, an unnamed maker of children’s movies might cause shipments to be delayed, etc. I can imagine Subaru Corporate telling a dealership, “Of course we can’t force you to sell for MSRP, but it would be a shame if your floor plan suddenly got cut in half. Gee… I hope that doesn’t happen.”

 

[Dodob]

Just talked to SOA. The answer is: the dealer owns the reservation. If you decide not to go along, the reservation will go to the next person on the "waiting list", and so on. The dealer will get the car allocated to them one way or another. Also, the customer service rep said there is absolutely nothing they can, or will, do about the "marketing adjustments".

 

[TomRaz]

Thanks for checking, so basically we have no power over the dealer if they decide to add on market adjustment fees. Well I hope mine is nice to deal with, but time will tell. I am sure if I decide not to buy the car I am sure someone will

 

[Dodob]

Better not hope - only setting for disappointment. I am heading to my dealer over the weekend to build a sale order. I figure, I'll just go along and cancel everything after I had a test drive (sometime next year?) For 4 hours of my time, I believe I earned it

 

[astroboy]

I understand what you posted

I am trying to find out if I can move my reservation to a different dealer if mine tries to add market adjustment crap

I just wrote a letter to Subaru Corporate HQ in NJ asking if I can move my registration. I'll keep you informed of their response but I suggest you do the same. If enough people start complaing to Subaru of America maybe things will start to change. In another thread, I said it is time for most car companies to ditch dealerships and go to the online purchasing model like Tesla. Dealerships may sell used cars and can make money off of service but it is time to remove them as the middle man in buying cars. I was so upset that my dealership Peninsula Subaru tacked on a $5k mark-up that I filed a complaint with the BBB. They responded in an hour of the complaint posting. Here is the response "We have a market adjustment on all of our vehicles. As a franchise dealer we get to decide how much we sell our vehicles for. If the customer doesn’t want to pay the price we are asking we will return the deposit and put the vehicle back up for sale." I rejected that response as this was not a car on their lot. I went directly to Subaru to get this vehicle and Subaru responded with the price. Unless I wanted to add options which I didn't the dealership is just a place for me to pick up the vehicle and sign the papers. Like others have said, I wish I had called around and asked dealers if they planned on doing a mark-up and if so how much. That would have allowed me and others to choose a dealer based on price. Hopefully, Subaru of America will get enough letters that they reconsider the reservation system and allow us to change if we are not satisfied.