Mark Miller Subaru Midtown

Reviews 3

JA

Jack O

We worked with Dylan in the sales department. He did a very good job without the typical sales hustle and pitch. The Outback is a nice car. Subaru has improved them in recent years, so they made it onto our list of comfortable, safe, nice cars in this size range. However, they are not inexpensive. Government requirements for ever increasing gas mileage is messing up cars. Small engines with turbos wont last as long as a normally aspirated (carburetor) four or six cylinder engines. Plus they are more expensive to fix. The new CVT transmissions are not as durable or as easy to repair as geared transmissions, and they dont perform as smoothly. Subaru has done a pretty good job of making a decent CVT, but its still not a traditional transmission. Again, its about longevity, costs and driving experience. The government thinks it should only be about gas mileage regardless of the costs. Several car companies are now putting tires on vehicles that are very rough riding, noisy and poor in snow and wet conditions, but the tires have low rolling friction so they improve gas mileage a couple of percent. Check the tires that come with any new car, read the reviews on sites like Tire Rack, 1010, and consumer reports. Youll be surprised at what a bad set of tires come with a lot of cars. The government doesnt care if a few people die due to lost traction as long as the gas mileage across the fleet is improved. If you want a Subaru, then Dylan is a good guy to start the process with. All the dealers know what the other dealers are selling cars for so matching is common. If you feel the dealer you are buying it from will give you the best service, then that covers a minor cost difference. However, its a good idea to try and schedule a service appointment just to see how the process goes, who you get to talk to and what they actually know. You should also ask about the price for oil changes--regular and synthetic--replacement of brakes and rotors, alignment of wheels--especially on 4 wheel drive cars--replacement of a piece of item like an info screen or major sensor. perform a major tuneup, replacement of the CV boots, and windshield replacement cost including recalibrating the eyesight system since Subaru requires you only use their glass. (Yeah, I know everything is under warranty, but only for a little while.) And nothing is FREE. Everything IS factored into the price. Forget all the glad handing and greeting gloss in the showroom. A lot changes after the car leaves the lot. Scheduling service for an oil change is not a problem. However, a lot of service cant simply be scheduled by an app. Talking to a service writer, especially one that has been around the brand for along time, is often very important to getting the right repair on time the first time. Try to get one on the phone just to see what the process is like. At some dealers the only way to talk to a service writer is to drive to the dealership and find one yourself. Call the parts department and ask for prices on TPMS sensors, windshield wipers, eyesight cameras and oil filters, etc. Its a good idea to compare their prices to after market prices for OEM items. Make the price comparison to original Subaru parts only. You may be really surprised at how expensive new cars are to maintain. There are dozens of new sensors on cars and the sensors arent cheap to replace either in labor hours or parts cost. Its better to go knowing what to expect. We look at owning a car as a total experience that includes our satisfaction with the car, how many times it needs service, the speed and ease of the service, and the cost per mile of driving it. Weve had too many cars that were comfortable, fun or cool, but that were a pain in the rear too.

AN

Andrew Moran

I made a more formal complaint on other sites but here Ill be more down to earth. So I started off by coming to the U to work on my PhD in biomedical sciences from Southern California. I was wanting a new car and was recommended a Subaru dealership by USAA. I came into contact with Kurt Moyer after emailing Mark Miller and was looking to test drive some 2013 Imprezas with an all-weather package installed. I was impressed and got a decent deal on two Imprezas which I was eyeballing. I was allowed to test drive WITHOUT any proof of license and/or salesperson present which is odd since that is required in most states, including CA. Anyways, after test driving I managed to email Kurt again and put a deposit down on a vehicle to hold it for me until I make the final move from California to Utah. After moving to Salt Lake City, I called Kurt and told him that I was ready to come down and talk numbers with him. After getting to the dealership, the car which was reserved was an Impreza with an extra package added onto it at a higher price than what I had put on hold and nowhere near similar, except in model and year. This was the worst part of the experience since it was the "bait and switch" which I am all too familiar with when it comes to certain car dealers. They know that youre coming from out of town and youll need a car when you get there and will put another car in its place. This made me very weary of dealing with the salespeople. Fortunately they pulled out a 2013 Impreza in its place which was exactly the one I wanted. The only problem is it wasnt clean and porter didnt make sure to remove the adhesive from the door handles before presenting it to us. Ok, I can probably accept the first two mistakes but this third one was the biggest slap in the face: Kurt did not do his dealings with me and passed me to another sales associate. After being in contact with a client who is moving in from out of state AND is putting a substantial down on a car, you need to finish your deal with them. I didnt feel cheated on what I paid for the car or the car itself, I just felt cheated on the customer service. I have family which works at high end car dealerships in Southern California and after all the stories that Ive heard about various dealer tricks and shenanigans, this just takes the cake. Just save yourself the time and go to Nate Wade Subaru, theyll probably treat you better.

KE

Keane Horner

Bought my 2008 Impreza from their South Town location in 2011. MOST IMPORTANT TIP - Do not buy any "above & beyond" warranty with your used vehicle purchase, it is a sham. (For more details on the warranty, see below). I purchased this car specifically for the maintenance reputation associated with Subaru, a reputation that this car has failed to live up to. My frustrations finally boiled over after yet another routine oil change turned up costly mechanical issues. I understand that cars are not perfect, and are subject to wear & tear. However the amount of "wear & tear" Ive experienced with a car that has just over 47K miles on it is unacceptable. Averaging out my annual maintenance costs and projecting them over the duration of my auto loan, Im looking at spending around $4500 before the car is paid off. I found the business card of the service manager I had last dealt with and send him a lengthy, profanity-free, and well reasoned message laying out the issues I had experienced with the car thus far and my concerns going forward, specifically was my car abnormal (aka, a lemon) and to please explain what good the warranty I had purchased does me. I asked for them to respond in writing so that I had a record of what was said. Their response? Nothing. Two takeaways for the prospective customer: If you want a reliable car, buy a Toyota. Need AWD/4WD? Toyota makes at least 6 or 7 AWD/4WD cars. If you want honest & fair service in the Salt Lake Valley, go to Burt Brothers for the routine stuff and find yourself a specialist for the big ticket items. Seriously, I cannot say enough good about Burt Brothers. Back to the warranty for those that are curious - they will wow you with this list of things that are covered (which coincidentally never break down) and conveniently leave the most frequent "issue" items uncovered. The real kicker is that if a part that is covered under warranty breaks down, and as a result breaks non-covered parts in the process, youre stuck with the cost of repairs on the non-covered parts? Think of it this way, your brakes go out and you run your car into a tree. Would you be pleased if your insurance covered the brakes and nothing else? Didnt think so! I have already spent more than the warranty cost on uncovered issues, and hardly had anything that it does cover.

Other organizations