Subaru of Clear Lake

Entire Experience I recently went in to buy a new car on December 18, 2015 at Clear Lake Subaru. It was 8:30pm when I arrived and was greeted by Jacob Lopez. I explaine I recently went in to buy a new car on December 18, 2015 at Clear Lake Subaru. It was 8:30pm when I arrived and was greeted by Jacob Lopez. I explained to him that I was interested in the 2016 WRX or STI. I test drove the WRX and it lacked the power that I was looking for. I, then, wanted to test drive the STI and was told that I had to get my credit checked prior to doing so. I haven't bought many cars before, but it sounded odd that they needed my credit report for just a test drive. Anyway, the test drive went well and loved the STI. The only thing that I did not like was the color. I wanted a white car, but they did not have one at this particular dealership. Jacob, then, introduced me to Dallas Hardwick. Dallas was the main sales representative that handled the negotiation process with me. I explained to Dallas that I would not negotiate unless I could get a white STI. He promised me that they would have one brought over by tomorrow morning from another dealership as long as we finished negotiating that night. I trusted his word and we negotiated until we came upon an agreement. I do not have many great things to say, but I will say that he gave me more money for my trade in than I thought I was going to get. We also agreed that I could use my trade in as collateral (deposit) until the next morning; when I will be receiving my new car. Dallas told me that I will be receiving a phone call in the morning, around 9 or 10, to come and pick up the car and finish the paperwork. The next morning, around 11, I finally called someone because I did not receive a phone call at all. I was told that they were “busy” and that is why no one had called me. They said that they were still working on getting a car from another dealership and it should be there before 5 pm (because they closed early that day, 12/19/2015). This was not a big deal, however, it was frustrating. I, then, called every hour until 4pm to make sure that they were doing their job. However, there was no progress made and it seemed as if they were avoiding me completely. Therefore, I drove to the dealership to see what was going on in person. When I arrived, both Jacob and Dallas were busy with other customers, so I spoke to Thomas Woods, the sales manager. Tom informed me that they could not make a trade from another dealership. He said that I have two options: buy the STI that I test drove, which was silver, or wait until the white STI from the factory comes in on January 13th. The benefit to waiting was that he promised me that it would have “absolutely ZERO miles” on it. He also said that the car would have the same packages and have the same deal (price) that Dallas and I had negotiated the night prior. I agreed to wait because, to me, having the color car that I want is extremely important. Before I left, I had to put a $500 deposit to reserve the new car and to get my old car back until it came in. Also, I made sure to receive a copy of the negotiation contract for my records. One good thing that this dealership did was get my car in earlier than promised; Five days early (January 8, 2015). When I went in to finalize the contract, I found out that the car had nine miles on it. Not “absolutely ZERO” like promised. You may think that I am being nitpicky, but the STIs motor has a very sensitive break-in period that I wanted to be in complete control of. I was informed, by Jacob, that three miles were because they have to do a post-delivery inspection to make sure everything was running. This included them driving it around the I-45 feeder ramps which is a three-mile circle. Another three miles were on there from the pre-delivery inspection done by the Subaru factory. Neither one of these things would have been a problem if I were told beforehand and would have been expecting it. Before we went to the finance department to finalize purchasing, we sat down with Jacob to make sure the negotiation contract was correct. It was not. Unfortunately for Subaru, I remembered to bring my copy of the contract we had agreed upon and signed. I was not receiving the same trade in value as previously agreed on, the taxes were not aligning, the discount was not the same, the monthly payment was higher, and the adjusted price was wrong. We had to sit for an hour before Tom came out and finally decided to match what I had on my original contract. During this hour, I was on credit karma on my phone because I was alerted about another credit check. In this hour, they had done three more hard credit checks in addition to the one done back in December for the test drive. When I asked why this was happening, I was given the answer of, “I don’t know.” Jacob had nothing to do with this. He was just the middle man and I do not blame him. However, I am angry and disappointed because it seemed as if they were trying to pull a fast one on me. When I asked Tom about why they did not have my contract correct in the first place he informed me that they had “lost” it. I know this to be incorrect because there is no way they could have gotten close to the numbers agreed on without having something to reference. While fixing these errors, Dallas came over and grabbed the keys and said that he was going to fill up the car with gas. I assumed they had a fuel pump on site, but when I saw him drive off the lot I wanted to know where he was going. Jacob informed me that they get gas from the Shell right by the dealership. This added another 3 miles to the odometer. Not only that, but there was no telling how he was driving the car on the way to the pump. You are not supposed to exceed 4,000 RPMs in any gear. This is hard to do on the feeder of I-45, even when being careful. I do not understand why that was not done during the post-delivery inspection in order to keep the mileage as low as possible. In summary, I had a terrible car buying experience. When my family is ready for a Subaru this coming March, I cannot wait to drive passed Subaru of Clear Lake on my way to the Sugarland or Katy dealership. I also sent my buddy to the Subaru in Sugarland where he purchased his WRX. His car buying experience was much better than mine. Pros: Jacob Lopez is a great middle man and very helpful. More money for my trade in than expected. Car arrived sooner than expected. Cons: Everything else. More

Initial Service As Advertised Came in for the first 6 mo./6K mi. oil & filter change + tire rotation and decided to wait after remembering a much nicer than usual customer lounging Came in for the first 6 mo./6K mi. oil & filter change + tire rotation and decided to wait after remembering a much nicer than usual customer lounging area on purchase of my vehicle. Alex greeted me on arrival and estimated my wait time at 1.5 hr. before seeing me to the waiting area. Just as I recalled, a long counter stocked with premium coffee, bottled water, energy bars, popcorn, etc. stood out so I grabbed a light breakfast as I headed to the seating area. Two large flat panel TV's had the days news on but I elected to get caught up answering email. After awhile it surprised me when my name was called to the service desk. There was my washed car through the glass and It had taken less than the time stated. The shop mechanic explained what was done and I soon was on my way. Best of all there was no charge! More

Great dealership to buy from, they'll really help you. We went to a couple other Subaru dealerships but Clear Lakes immediately impressed us. Courtney was fantastic to work with - personable, professional, We went to a couple other Subaru dealerships but Clear Lakes immediately impressed us. Courtney was fantastic to work with - personable, professional, knowledgeable about Subarus and helped us get the price we wanted. Buying my Forester was an incredibly pleasant experience, I trust them so I feel like I can go back to them with questions and servicing. I'd recommend Clear Lake to my friends and family. More

2016 Crosstrek This has been the best vehicle experience ever. From my sales associate, finance manager, service manager, and GM all are great people. I felt like we This has been the best vehicle experience ever. From my sales associate, finance manager, service manager, and GM all are great people. I felt like we were all family and now we are all apart of the Subaru family. This will be the first of many vehicles from them. More

2016 subaru wrx I went in on a Saturday eveneing just to look around and see what was available from subaru on their new models. I was greeted right away by Luis Peña I went in on a Saturday eveneing just to look around and see what was available from subaru on their new models. I was greeted right away by Luis Peña , he asked me what i was interested in and quickly pulled up my options on the computer and anwsered my thousand questions with a smile on his face the whole time , once i decided which models i wanted to look at then we went outside to the lot and he showed me the color options amd trim models. Next was test drive then paperwork as i fell in love with the wrx i test drove. The whole visit was great and much more enjoyable than any dealer I've ever dealt with . I highly recommend Luis Peña to anyone and everyone i know. More