What's Your Favorite Car Dealership in Seattle? (Tacoma, Bellevue: for sale, 2015)

[homesinseattle]

I've owned Subarus for years. For me, it's Carter Subaru in Ballard. Great people, whether I'm there for sales or service, feels like family when I go in.

[Hemlock140]

We are mostly Ford fans, and have bought our last 3 from Bickford in Snohomish. No pressure, great service department, actually fun buying experience. They hand me the keys without even checking my license, and I can take an hour test drive without the sales person. Most recently the 2017 F150 was $46,800, I offered and got it for $35,000 without any back and forth, asking the manager or any other games. They also gave me more than I wanted for my trade.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I've owned Subarus for years. For me, it's Carter Subaru in Ballard. Great people, whether I'm there for sales or service, feels like family when I go in.

Porsche Bellevue, now part of Auto Nation. Used to be Barrier Group, including Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, and a fourth that might or might not have been Volvo. I've done a few deals there. Entirely different experience than some other dealers, I found many years ago.

Seattle Ferrari is another experience still. Haven't done a deal with them yet, though. They have an espresso in your hand within the first two minutes, a good sign. Depends what you arrive in, though (I am virtually certain they observe their own parking lot pretty carefully).

[annonymous0381]

Currently i dont have a car. If i ever decide to buy a car what is a good Hyndua or Ford dealership near northgate seattle?? I have heard bad stories about the Ford dealer on lake city way.

[thatguy950]

Originally Posted by annonymous0381

Currently i dont have a car. If i ever decide to buy a car what is a good Hyndua or Ford dealership near northgate seattle?? I have heard bad stories about the Ford dealer on lake city way.

There probably isn't one, maybe Kirkland is worth the trip.

To be honest I've, along with everyone I know, has had bad luck with all dealers in Western Wash, they tend to be extremely "snobby" (yes even Kia or Hyundai dealers) and very, very overpriced. I've found totally equivalent cars (new, CPO, used, etc) to be 10-20% less at dealers down in SoCal vs. Seattle. You can see the same trend on Seattle craigslist for used private seller cars too.

I've had ok luck with Mercedes in Bellevue in the past, but it's been a while.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I've owned Subarus for years. For me, it's Carter Subaru in Ballard. Great people, whether I'm there for sales or service, feels like family when I go in.

Buying a car in Seattle is like buying a $25.00 hamburger and fries at a 4 star gourmet restaurant. Yes, you will have your burger served on very fine dining ware and supposedly a top chef will flip the burger for you and toast your bun. However, by the end of the day, you probably could have went to some hole in the wall burger joint, got the burger served in some wrapping paper and a plastic tray, it would cost you like $10.00 and it would end up tasting even better than the burger and fries you had at the fancy restaurant for 3 times the money.

My point being that you can go ahead and pay more money at the car dealerships in Seattle or Bellevue where they are not hurting for business, many people who even come in and pay cash for their cars and where they give you very little room for negotiating. Or, you could drive down to the South Sound, like Puyallup, Tacoma or Olympia and get the same car for much less money. These dealers do not have the large number of dumb and wealthy customers who will buy a car for whatever asking price they have. As well, many Asian cars, like Mazdas, Toyotas, Subarus, Hyundais are significantly cheaper in the South Sound, because many dealers get special deals with the Port of Tacoma versus the Port of Seattle, where most cars are shipped to Seattle dealers.

I just bought a new Mazda CX-5 last month with all the bells and whistles for a fraction what I would pay at any dealer in Seattle or Bellevue. I'm thinking this time around I paid about $5000 or so below MSRP. It is ridiculous! I remember back in 2015 when I bought my first Mazda CX-5 , I went to all the dealers throughout the Sound. The dealers in Seattle were the absolute worst! I remember trying to talk him down in price and the car dealer said, "Oh, we really don't negotiate prices here, you might as well go down to Tacoma or Puyallup". I rolled my eyes and was like WTF!!! I've never experienced a car dealer who wouldn't negotiate on prices!

BTW.. I had the same experience when buying a new Toyota as I did with my Mazda.. Same deal with the rip-off dealers in Seattle versus the South Sound. And, please, if you are shopping for a Toyota, do not even think about going to Michael's Toyota in Bellevue if you want anything but to get ripped off and pay a premium. Yes, the dealership has marble floors, a coffee bar and little deli and all types of fancy amenities. So, is it worth paying the thousands more so you can enjoy the ambiance of the dealers who are laughing among themselves as they rip you off?

I appreciate all the suckers buying cars in Seattle. It just means I get way more smoking deals when I buy my car down here

[eqttrdr]

Originally Posted by Blondebaerde

Porsche Bellevue, now part of Auto Nation. Used to be Barrier Group, including Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, and a fourth that might or might not have been Volvo. I've done a few deals there. Entirely different experience than some other dealers, I found many years ago.

Seattle Ferrari is another experience still. Haven't done a deal with them yet, though. They have an espresso in your hand within the first two minutes, a good sign. Depends what you arrive in, though (I am virtually certain they observe their own parking lot pretty carefully).

+10000 for Seattle Ferrari.... great place... great service

[RotseCherut]

Going to a car dealer to enjoy their espresso, free champagne and amenities is not what many people would be looking for when asking about the quality of a dealership. In my experience, the fancier the dealership, the more likely they are going to give you the crappiest deals.

Ferrari dealerships are hardly what I consider a "normal" car dealership.

I was actually somewhat friends with a guy who was one of the dealers at the Ferrari dealership in Capitol Hill. He told me some funny stories about that place. One, is how many of these guys come in and pay cash and don't even drive these cars, but rather store them in their garages as collector items. Dealerships like these are not typical "car dealerships", where people buy a car as a means for their daily survival. These are places for rich people to blow their cash and enjoy the better luxuries of life. I would not call these "car dealerships". Some of the cars they sell are more money than houses in Seattle. Of course, they are going to have a nice ambiance, free champagne while you shop, marble floors, giant glass display cases. They are more like museums than typical car dealerships.

[annonymous0381]

When i used to live in the LA,California area many people would buy cars away from the westside and san fernando valley to get better deals. People would buy cars in thousand oaks,cerritos,el monte,west covina.

[thatguy950]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

Buying a car in Seattle is like buying a $25.00 hamburger and fries at a 4 star gourmet restaurant. Yes, you will have your burger served on very fine dining ware and supposedly a top chef will flip the burger for you and toast your bun. However, by the end of the day, you probably could have went to some hole in the wall burger joint, got the burger served in some wrapping paper and a plastic tray, it would cost you like $10.00 and it would end up tasting even better than the burger and fries you had at the fancy restaurant for 3 times the money.

My point being that you can go ahead and pay more money at the car dealerships in Seattle or Bellevue where they are not hurting for business, many people who even come in and pay cash for their cars and where they give you very little room for negotiating. Or, you could drive down to the South Sound, like Puyallup, Tacoma or Olympia and get the same car for much less money. These dealers do not have the large number of dumb and wealthy customers who will buy a car for whatever asking price they have. As well, many Asian cars, like Mazdas, Toyotas, Subarus, Hyundais are significantly cheaper in the South Sound, because many dealers get special deals with the Port of Tacoma versus the Port of Seattle, where most cars are shipped to Seattle dealers.

I just bought a new Mazda CX-5 last month with all the bells and whistles for a fraction what I would pay at any dealer in Seattle or Bellevue. I'm thinking this time around I paid about $5000 or so below MSRP. It is ridiculous! I remember back in 2015 when I bought my first Mazda CX-5 , I went to all the dealers throughout the Sound. The dealers in Seattle were the absolute worst! I remember trying to talk him down in price and the car dealer said, "Oh, we really don't negotiate prices here, you might as well go down to Tacoma or Puyallup". I rolled my eyes and was like WTF!!! I've never experienced a car dealer who wouldn't negotiate on prices!

BTW.. I had the same experience when buying a new Toyota as I did with my Mazda.. Same deal with the rip-off dealers in Seattle versus the South Sound. And, please, if you are shopping for a Toyota, do not even think about going to Michael's Toyota in Bellevue if you want anything but to get ripped off and pay a premium. Yes, the dealership has marble floors, a coffee bar and little deli and all types of fancy amenities. So, is it worth paying the thousands more so you can enjoy the ambiance of the dealers who are laughing among themselves as they rip you off?

I appreciate all the suckers buying cars in Seattle. It just means I get way more smoking deals when I buy my car down here

This all x1000

I've heard the "we don't negotiate" thing from all the Seattle area dealers (Lynwood to Renton), even though they're $5-10k!! over the same damn thing at a dealer in Los Angeles or San Diego (historically cheap places to live, right??). People up here are too afraid of trying to negotiate and often have rich parents in other parts of the world, so they just pay full overpriced value in cash and walk away. Buying anything around Seattle is a terrible experience.