Well, since my last update, I've been checking out used Outbacks. As someone mentioned previously, 2010-2012 Outbacks are few and far between. Most of them are Quebec vehicles. 90% of the Outbacks in Ontario are in Ottawa. Anyways, we've been keeping an eye on Autotrader and kijiji.
Autotrader has changed quite a bit since I was last looking for vehicles(about 7 years ago). Now it seems, the majority of listings are factory dealers and used car lots, rather than private sales.
Anyways, not too many Subarus around here. Owen Sound Subaru(the closest dealership to me) had one overpriced 3.6R. There were quite a few in the GTA, but my reasoning was that I would gladly pay a couple thousand dollar premium for not going to the GTA(no offense to the city). It's quite a drive, plus I hate traffic and dealing with rude salesmen.
Luckily my wife saw 5 Outbacks at Stratford Subaru, all within our price range. We jumped in the car last weekend and drove down to check them out.
After spending 5 hours at the dealership kicking the proverbial tires and negotiating, we found that there was little negotiating room on 2 of them and one was the Limited edition, and was marked up because of the extra features. I didn't really feel like paying for the Limited features, since the only real feature I really wanted were the heated seats.
The third Subaru that was there was a baby blue, and was in good shape, but the wife hated that color
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The last Subaru was Crystal Black, Premium, with 104,000 km. It was listed at 20,000, and I negotiated down to 17,500(which is pretty much the average price of a 2011 with 100,000 km on the clock). I don't think I got an amazing deal, but I didn't feel like waiting any longer to buy. The price was decent, the vehicle was in great shape mechanically, and body was good, with just a few minor dings to add character.
I had the dealership throw on a set of Hankook Ipikes to handle the Bruce County powder, and they threw in a vehicle undercoating, trunk liner and winter mats for free.
In all, our purchasing experience at Stratford Subaru was excellent, and our sales rep, Craig, was friendly, respectful, extremely patient with us, very kind, and polite throughout the whole sales process. In the end, my wife and I both walked away happy with a great vehicle! I would recommend Craig to anyone looking for a used Subaru. They have lots of Outbacks and Foresters on the lot.
I'm happy we finally got something after all that time looking. We drove down to Stratford today to pick it up. On the way back, the weather was pretty blowy, and the wife was happy for the Hankooks and heated seats!
Thank you all for helping me to make up my mind, and it's such a relief to not have to think about it any more.
Jeff
