Nate Wade Subaru

I have purchased two Subarus from Nate Wade, unfortunately I will not be back after how I was treated at the service department. I found all of the service techs rude and unhelpful (or they just ignore you). The service advisor James Anderson also completely ignored me. I called after I left (without my vehicle being serviced) and the girl on the phone after I told her what happened said «okay…» And could be bothered to help me either. I’ve never been treated like that before and I will not be back.

Short and sweet: Subaru’s are a good vehicle; Nate Wade Subaru knows that and as a result have lost the drive to truly sell their product. I have been a Subaru owner and recently sold my Legacy to upgrade into something newer. Nate Wade claims to be the oldest dealer in the West so they have a reputation.
After visiting Nate Wade several times I learned that they were very willing to let me test drive cars alone. Just choose the car, hand them your driver’s license and on you go. This is where the «low pressure» sales begins.
Upon searching vigorously for a new car for quite some time I finally located a 2015 Subaru Forester XT; which for the price seemed like a good deal. I looked at their website and learned that the car had been a certified Subaru vehicle; however, had been branded as a lemon due to some issues with the turbo which Subaru fixed.
I overcame the «lemon stigma» or owning a branded title vehicle and was ready to buy. I told the salesman I wanted it and offered a little less than what they asked for since they were asking clean market value for the car rather than low book value for the branded title.
After waiting for a response for nearly 6 hours they finally texted me back saying they would come off by $ 900 off the sticker price. I thought that seemed fair enough and immediately went to the dealership. I was a little discouraged at this point because I had been waiting all day for them to tell me yes or no on the offer.
As I approached the vehicle from the rear with my father I noticed that the truck lid had some rust going from the bottom of the lip all the way across. I imagine that someone had opened the trunk, backed up into something hard and as a result crumpled the corner of the truck lid. This eventually led to rust creeping almost all the way around the trunk lip.
The «Certified Subaru» cars as well as this one claimed to have a 150 point inspection. When I told the salesman about the rust and damage he was surprised to find the damage. He didn’t even know it was there; they were advertising it in perfect condition with only a branded title for the turbo issue.
When I told him that I would have to drop a little more off the price he told me he would ask his service department manager. He came back with a grin and said that they would split the price to fix it with me or touch it up with some paint; not even fixing the actual damage. I told him that was not acceptable and he said that they already knocked off $ 900 so they weren’t willing to do anything more.
The point of this review is notify buyers that they should never settle. Not even if it means getting into a good car like a Subaru. I was dead set on getting into another Subie but as luck would have it I ended up getting into something much nicer and for less than the Forester. I would always reconsider buying another Subaru but not from Nate Wade. They proved to me, in this specific incident, that they have lost the hunger to sell a good product to their customers.
I feel as if they have a somewhat pretentious or arrogant attitude into thinking that they don’t have to sell a hot product like a Subaru. I’m sure the head-​shed at Subaru would disagree with this sort of uninspired thinking. Refinement, ingenuity, and being one of the top car makers does not grow from an idea that you don’t have to do your best for your customers; quite the opposite in fact.
To Nate Wade, remember these are Subaru’s you’re selling; not Ferrari’s. If people wanted to be text messaged or told they’d split the cost of repair prior to buying the vehicle they would probably go to one of the used car lots down the street (no offense used car lots). Good luck and maybe you’ll heed an unimpressed customer’s advice; or maybe you won’t…

These guys helped me out of a really bad situation. I appreciate everything they did for me. They listened to my needs and over delivered. The purchase process was smooth and quick. Thanks guys!

This was our first car purchase in 15 years, and it was about as pleasant as you could ask for. We worked with both Nick Westover and Nick Smith. NW Subaru gave us a fair price and it was a no pressure/​no hassle sale. Would definitely recommend them to anyone. There’s a reason they’re the oldest in the United States. We’ll be coming to them for our second Subaru purchase again in a few years.

Nick Smith was great to work with. I emailed in all my questions and he took care of everything I needed. I did not feel pressured at any point. Love my new car!

I bought an Outback from Josh and the entire experience was smooth, easy and fast. I had called a couple of the other Subaru Dealerships and was insulted at a trade in offer from the South Town Dealership. Nate Wade gave me a good high trade for my Cross Trek and gave me a rock bottom price on the Outback.
Josh made the whole process totally comfortable. Nate Wade runs a totally different style of car dealership. If you want to know why just visit them and see how it works. No shark salesman, on hands owner, a full dealership that works together and meshes together flawlessly.
I recommend them to family and friends and all who have bought there understand why and also recommend them.
I worked with Josh and was totally happy.
Thanks again Josh and Nate Wade Subaru!!!

Working with Nick Smith was easy and quick. We went through the Costco auto program and were immediately contacted by Nick. We were able to go into the dealership that night to look at and test drive the Forester like we wanted. After reserving the car we wanted with a 100% refundable deposit we took about a week to decide if that was the car for us. We never felt pressured into it. We decided to go with a lease and have no regrets. So far it is a great car and has been a good relationship working with Nick and Nate Wade.

I bought a pre-​owned certified legacy from Nate wade Subaru in 2013. In 2015 fall, I needed to relocate for my job and decided to sell it back to these guys. Both my purchase (Craig) and sale experience (Rob) were positive. Pricings were reasonable when compared to KBB. I like my car very much, I guess that’s the perks of having the guaranteed comfort from the fact that it’s certified. The guys are pretty relaxed and not pushy. Managers do in fact return phone call (not emails) after doing their homework when asked about my check for my sold car, which I got it within a week when the bank release the title. So pretty prompt. If I were to live in salt lake again, I will purchase a car from them, but find my own financing from credit unions or such instead of from them (~ 2% points lower outside).

I had a great buying experience at Nate Wade and have loved my used 09 Impreza. Service Dept. though, not so much. I initially got my oil changed there and loved the free homemade cookies, but stopped going because their oil changes were just so expensive relative to Jiffy Lube. I haven’t had any issues with my car at all for the past 4 years. Then last week my clutch started making a high pitched whining noise every time I pushed it down. Turns out it was a bad throwout bearing on my clutch. Pretty common with 09 imprezas and WRXs actually. The crazy part is that the part is only $ 50, but the labor is around $ 600. After talking to several mechanics around the valley, almost all agreed that for all that labor work it was smart just to replace the entire clutch kit while they’re in there, which is an additional $ 300 or so. I got five quotes, all for around $ 1200. Nate Wade service dept. quoted me at $ 1000, which surprised me, I even had them email me a copy of the quote. I went to schedule an appt. and the nearest opening was a week and a half away. So I scheduled and rode my bike to work for a week. Then finally when I drop it off, I get a call later in the day saying that they need to replace the flywheel and that will be an additional $ 280. Every other mechanic I talked to had already included that in their initial quote! Haha. At that point though they’ve already started the labor so what am I going to do? I say go for it. They tell me the battery needs replacing, and it did struggle last year in the cold, so I say just do it. The guy says it will be around $ 80. I go to pick it up and my bill is $ 1524! They ended up charging me $ 120 for the battery instead of the «around 80» they told me on the phone and $ 51 for labor to change it. What was a $ 1000 quote on the clutch kit turned out to be closer to $ 1300. After taxes there you go, $ 1524 total. It reminded my of my only other Nate Wade service dept. experience a couple of years ago when I got an AUX jack installed. They charged me $ 75 dollars more than they quoted me for! (they did refund me after I complained).
I get it, labor and parts are expensive on cars, that’s how it is. I just can’t help but feel like I’m getting ripped off with these little things, like they squeeze every last little bit out of me that they can. If money is not an issue, then go to Nate Wade for repairs, I think the work is quality. But if you’re looking to save cash, I think you should go elsewhere. That’s what I will do next time.

I called their service department rep to schedule a meeting with one of the service advisers. She was doing her job to help me, I totally understand. She wanted to answer questions that I already know and I mentioned her that I do not have time to repeat the story. She also promised me that she will ask service adviser to call me. I did not receive any call and I decided to drive to their service department to find out that service adviser was gone. It was such a wastage of time and to me it feels like they do not pay attention to their customer’s time.
— (Follow up) I left my car to do timing belt, tensioner, water pump, Thermostat, Thermal gasket, because their service adviser was friendly to me. But I will write more about my experience post-​maintenance. What I noticed is their manager cares about these reviews and I hope my review will also help you guys.
I am going to write in more detail after I validate the quality of service and quality of parts they replace (I am used to cross verifying every mechanic’s work by taking to another mechanic– personal habit not anything against Nade Subaru). My next post will also have my phone number, my website, my email and my twitter if you want to speak with me in detail. So far I rate them good. But it could go up or down.

2^nd time coming in to visit Nate Wade. Just like the first time, it was low pressure, spent as much time as I wanted with the car and showed me my options and answered all my question and concerns. Would never hesitate to recommend Nick Smith of Nate Wade Subaru. Very friendly, personable and always available, Nick Smith treated my wife and I like friends versus being your typical dealership customer. Very happy and pleased with our entire experience!

Nate wade subaru will forever be the the place we go to for new and used cars! Their service and attention to detail were phenomenal and would highly recommend them! We thought Nick Smith was great and answered all of our questions!

I visited Nate Wade Subaru for my first time today, hoping for professionalism and an oil change. When I arrived, there were a lot of employees standing around playing on their phones. I was ignored for a good 5 – 10 minutes before someone finally approached me and said, «what do you need?»
While I waited for him to look up how long it would take for an oil change, 2 employees standing close to me were bad mouthing a customer for having asked when the repair would be done. They said, «He fucking asked us to do the work — he doesn’t have to fucking stay here while we repair it. What the fuck does he expect?»
There is absolutely no excuse for unprofessionalism of that caliber. That customer is paying their salary and Nate Wade Subaru should employ technicians that value their jobs, the customer experience, and the success of the business. Needless to say, I took my car to another Subaru dealership.
EDIT:
A representative reached out to me (you’ll see his reply below) with a copy+paste style reply. This generic reply speaks volumes about this company and how they do business.

Somehow I took a car in for major service (brakes, timing belt, manifold widget arm realignment) and escaped for under $ 700. At no point was I sold rust-​proof undercoating or tire elasticizer. I was, however, given free fruit and beverages. For these reasons I will shell out over $ 600 and dole out four stars. I am a weak fool.
I hate cars.

I purchased a Legacy in November of 2013 and am really happy with my experience with Nate Wade, so much so that I recommended my mother a few months back and she bought a new Forester.
Our salesmen were John and Nick Westover. Seriously, there was zero pressure and they were always attentive even though it took us about 2 months to buy the car. They also sold my mother her car and she had an equally great experience. If I buy another Subaru, it will be from Nate Wade.

I’ve never had a good experience with this dealer ship. First time I went in with a brand new month old car that had a flat. They didn’t tell me if they were replacing the tire or fixing it till after the service was done. When I left there I noticed scratches on the hood of my car. It took over two months to get them to buff that out. When it took it in for that I then found a chip of paint missing off the door! They tried to blame me for it even!
This is a horrible place and business. They are slimy as can be. Too bad too because it brings down the good name of Subaru.

I like the oil change express lane here. You can go anytime and while you are waiting they have free wifi, drinks, coffee and places to work. The service is friendly and efficient. They often wash the car as well.

Bought a car here. Easy experience. But using the service department has been mildly terrible across several visits. They’re reasonable fast (when they get it right and want to get the work done), but the hours don’t work for anyone with extended work hours and I’ve never had any luck getting them to call me back about scheduling appointments. Extremely frustrating.
The «10 minute oil change» cited by another review might have been a fluke as I showed up today 20 min before close, was told that wasn’t enough time to change my oil and was turned away. So I guess they aren’t particularly quick, and «open until 3pm» really means «functioning employees until 3pm, and not a minute later!»
On a previous visit for a check engine light I picked up my car, drove a quarter mile away, and had to turn around and drive back because the problem hadn’t been fixed. Only saving grace was they lent me a car. But I’m pretty sure it was covered by that stupidly expensive warranty I bought.
Still waiting for a smooth experience with the service department here.

I worked with Dustin in our first experience trying to buy a car. I was looking to invest in a newer year Subaru with decent mileage to replace 97 legacy outback with failed transmission.
I spent time searching listing sites and consulting with family or friends with used car buying experience to get in the know. After lots of pricing online, searching preferably for private sellers, I visited a couple of places to test drive a few, but hadn’t yet found one to solve my situation.
The right price for a used car under certain mileage sometimes means it has major problems like structural damage from accidents that never made it into Carfax, or isn’t actually a used car when carrying a branded or rebuilt title but being priced the same as deal or discount.
We learned we had to be really particular about clear title and even with nothing worrisome in Carfax, some bad reviews of the particular place that had the car we wanted tipped us off to do an Auto Check before making the final choice to buy. Had to give up on that car due to the accident and structural damage in the Auto Check.
After all the effort spent to research and test drive without success, it was starting to get exhausting. The search went on and Dustin was the one to respond back to me for pricing on a few used Impreza and Legacy for sale at Nate Wade.
The Legacy Limited looked like they had just gotten it shortly before I showed up, as it was waiting in their detail queue still plastered with stickers and dirt. On test drive we found an engine stumble, which he mentioned they could fix in their shop. They had done belt replacements, oil change, and a recall service likely right before it went to the detail queue, but our test drive was probably the first time it had been driven since they got it.
Just to be sure, I wanted my mechanic to check it out for any other repairs or concerns before deciding to buy. He offered to do so when quoting me the costs to repair and renew the older subaru.
Well, he found some oil leaks and likely the source of the engine stumble. Despite taking care of the fantastic interior, the first owner had not really maintained the vehicle. The original spark plugs had not been replaced, engine needed to be decarbonized, one shock/​strut struggling and leaking– the hazard is risk of loss of control of the vehicle in quick reaction steering situations.
Along with a few smaller concerns, bottom line he advised me to ask them to fix some things on it with the price they were asking, very close to clean retail which would mean a car in near perfect maintenance.
What I liked about the pricing though, on their site & car itself a certain price was listed, but Dustin’s initial response had an internet price that was knocked down some already. I can see their strategy was to make sure the car didn’t stand out and attract attention as a deal, giving them the freedom to offer a buying experience to the right kind of buyer.
Being a first time buyer, I was very open with him about my need for his help and expertise to get the right deal and most importantly the right quality to make it a good investment. My pitch was I was ready to buy the right subaru ASAP, just hadn’t received the right help so far. Dustin effortlessly worked to get to know me and connect, which I can recognize as the mark of great service as an IT & customer support professional myself. He called this the Nate Wade way.
He advised me that they rarely see a used car like this one because people just don’t want to let go of them, so he was really excited about it. He took the time to make sure no one had bought the car before we took it on the first drive. He did some obvious salesmanship, but he pointed out at several points that he wasn’t just pulling sales tactics regarding how quickly this kind of vehicle was out their door and sold. It is truly a fantastic car, with the nicest interior of any car I have ridden in. It drove as amazingly as the other subarus I had tested, except for the engine stumble.
Besides how he treated me, I was also extremely impressed with what he did for me in response to the mechanic’s concerns I came back with. I don’t think he was expecting me, the first time buyer, to come back and haggle or ask them to fix things on the car with my purchase. I did not hardline any pricing offers, I just wanted to know if they could do any of the oil leaks or the strut as part of my purchase.
We agreed that some of the worries you would find for any used car for sale, wear/​tear, incidental maintenance to take care of soon after purchase. Of course the stuff that mechanics make their money on finding.
He not only got the price down a bit more, to a level I felt was closer to the «real value» their experienced people had determined, but he got the engine worked on again in the shop to clear up the stumble and some of the maintenance that had not been done by the first owner. Extremely pleased

I didn’t purchase my Subaru from Nate Wade but they still treat me like an all-​star customer. I’ve been going to Nate Wade on and off for years for parts and services. I say off because I was dumb and wanted to save money so I went elsewhere for oil changes. This other place apparently didn’t know how to do it and put my oil pan in the wrong way. Never again. I will continue to go to NW for my oil changes because the higher cost is worth the correct placement of my pan. It also doesn’t hurt that when I was in last, about a week ago, it took them about 10 minutes despite being busy. 10 minutes! Plus I got a couple of fresh-​baked cookies!
The staff is nice and the waiting area is hands down one of the very best. Big open seating with tables as well as a lounge area with TV. You can get all kinds of beverages and snacks that include fruit and popcorn. Currently, there is a small yellow Subaru van that I want to call my own.