2008 Forester - Price quoted.... Opinions

Try invoice + no more than $500.

Edmunds stuff matched up dollar for dollar with the Consumer Reports New Car service numbers when I bought my car 6 years ago. The consumer reports pricing matrix though was much mroe usable while comparing cars on the lot with different options/colors. I'd strongly recommend throwing the whopping $20 or whatever bucks at it if you are set on a new Forrester.

I was able to bargain well below invoice on my vehicle, and eat well into the 3% holdback the dealer gets on these cars when the sale closes. Don't expect to get all of it of course, but you can do better than invoice.

My credit union's car pricing service started me out at invoice +$50 for instance.

Unless the new Forrester is in a great huge demand in teh middle of summer (doubt it), I bet you have some room to push downward on that price. But like anything, it's a tradeoff of how much you enjoy negotiating and want the car vs how important th enext several hundred bucks are.

I greatly enjoyed negotiating my new car purchase, playing 2 nearby dealers off each other, etc. There are few other purchases where a commodity item is involved where the buyer can have such perfect knowledge of what the seller has paid for the item.

Where you ultimately purchase though should be near you with a good service dept so you can get the soft benefits of getting the car serviced there (free rental cars are often a "bought it here" perk), and over the service life of the vehicle, those can be worth several hundred to ya.

Good luck, and have fun. Also bone up on the helpful tips at

which can give you insight into all theannoying ways dealers will try to get into your pocket with extendedwarranties, dealer add-ons, incentive financing, raping you on yourtrade in, "talking to the manager" and such crap. Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA

Some parts of CT are notorious for getting "top dollar". Go into Stamford, Danbury, or cross the border and go into New York and get a price or two from other dealers. Your quoted price is high!