Subaru Crosstrek PHEV coming before year's end (2018)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rothgarr
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Capitol Subaru (San Jose) called me yesterday to let me know they finally had some Crosstrek PHEVs in. I asked if I could test drive one today and was told yes. I showed up there this morning at the appointed time. The salesman told me "You know there's a $5,000 markup over MSRP, and that's non-negotiable, right?" I'll skip the rest of the conversation, but in short I said no, but I was promised a test drive. The salesman left to get the keys to another car blocking it, left me standing in the rain and wind for 10 minutes, then sent a young saleswoman out. She told me they wouldn't let me test drive it unless I agreed in advance to pay $5K over MSRP. I could have agreed, done the test drive, then walked away, but I didn't want to do business with them so I left. The salesman told me the reason for the markup was because it was the only one available. Basically, because they can. I still like the look and the features. Even with the markup, it's cheaper than the other things I'm looking at like the Volvo XC60 PHEV, but I figure if I wait 4 - 6 months there will be a lot more in the showrooms and no $5K markup. There's supposed to be an XC40 PHEV coming out soon, too. This markup was for the standard model, not the one with the moon roof. Fortunately, there are at least four other Subaru dealers within easy driving distance.
 
I finally got a chance to try one ... sort of. I made an appt. to test drive a brand new one that had just arrived a few days earlier at a different dealer. When I arrived to test drive it the 12 volt battery was dead because someone had left the lights on. They brought in a charger to start it up. Then it turns out the main (drive) battery was totally depleted. No one there knew you had to charge it up. I think they thought it was a regular hybrid. I sat in it for ten minutes with the gas motor running, charging the battery until it had enough juice to drive it to the back of the dealership where the 220 plug was. I got to drive it there and back it into a tight slot. That's all the driving I was able to do. It handled very nice through the lot. It was the upgrade package with the moon roof, which I didn't want, and they had a $5000 markup on it, too, at first, although when I walked out the door the manager came after me and offered to knock that down by $2500. I liked the car a lot, but I'm going to wait until there's more inventory so the markups are less, and I want to wait until I can compare it to the Volvo XC40 PHEV which is supposed to come out this year. That's supposed to have a longer EV range. I'm also having second thoughts about whether I want/need a new car at all, but I did really like the Crosstrek.
 
Russ said:
I finally got a chance to try one ... sort of... ... When I arrived to test drive it the 12 volt battery was dead because someone had left the lights on. They brought in a charger to start it up. Then it turns out the main (drive) battery was totally depleted. No one there knew you had to charge it up. I think they thought it was a regular hybrid. ...
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And this is why I decided will never buy a car like this from a manufacturer who is new to PHEV or BEV. If their sales or service teams don't even know how to start it or what kind of car it is, how can they be expected to answer questions or service it?
 
Wondering anybody ended up buying a Crosstrek PHEV? :)

I started looking at them. Though the EV range is short, it has a true mechanical AWD system, and it has a sunroof :)
 
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