Goldstein Subaru — Attraction in Town of Colonie

Part I: Our car is (was) a 2009 Forester that we purchased and have had maintained at Goldstein. Wish I knew the name of the guy who moved us to the top of the queue, got our car fixed, and charged us nothing---because we'd had a recent oil change there, and the car was leaking oil so badly it had to be towed in. Who knows whether there was any connection?? In 12 years, their service has always been reliable and excellent, but anybody can mistakenly screw a cap on, or stick a plug in, slightly wrong.

Or any 12-year-old car can just develop problems!!

However, they certainly fixed it quickly and for free, and this is at a time when "regular" service waits are up to a couple of weeks, due to covid-related parts and labor shortages.

As I mentioned, I have 12 years of experience with Goldstein, so I will make this a longer review. In 2009 we purchased a Subaru Forester from them, although we also seriously considered several others. We chose Subaru because the car had the best combination of features, value and price.

For repair, Goldstein is farther from our house than I'd like (we live in Glenmont), but I learned something when, formerly living in Latham, I tried to have a Lexus dealer service my old Honda. Without going into the unfortunate details, it did not work, and I wasted money for the sake of "convenience." Taking it back to the original dealer solved the problem (Lexus hadn't realized my car was a fuel-injected model. Oh, my).

Good dealers understand the cars they sell.

Slowly, my resentment of the long (ok, it's really only 20 minutes) drive to Goldstein evaporated as I took in the ambience of the place. Everyone there was genuinely nice, unpretentious and ready to help. Their favorite charity is the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Menands, and you can bring in an extra bag of your dog's food, or your empty bottles and cans, to benefit the shelter. I do. I enjoyed the free coffee and popcorn, and even the hot dogs (no more, alas, and no more popcorn. Probably because of Covid. Still have a Keurig). I took in the diverse people and couples featured in their adds, plus all of the sweet dogs in the photos, too. There is a certain down-to-earth accepting atmosphere that is kind of a Subaru (or Goldstein) thing, that I grew to appreciate and even identify with.

Over the years, basically nothing has gone wrong with the Forester, which is why it hasn't occurred to me to buy a new car. I do always take it to Goldstein and follow their recommendations for maintenance (large gulp at about 70K and then 100K miles, when you replace, among other things, the timing belt and water pump). Each time I hit an expensive recommended maintenance, the shop's boss would look at me before scheduling it, and say "Are you planning to keep the car?" This is an important and honest question (I'm assuming if I were not, they'd offer me a trade, perform the service and offer it for resale). Then they give me a loaner, usually a nice, new Forester.

Did I say nothing goes wrong with my 12-year-old car? Um, let's see, the batteries had to be replaced on the tire warning light. Of course, the brakes have been replaced, along with a tail light or two. But not the double muffler so far (not sure what it is really called). I have about 127K miles on the car, so of course the tires have been replaced a couple of times. That's about it.

So when we gave our other car to our son, we bought a nice, a new Crosstrek there. It's beautiful--this time we did buy the warranty and maintenance (all those chips)--and I'd love to have those new safety features on a...nice new Forester.

I sincerely recommend Goldstein Subaru.

UPDATING my (long) review to say we did buy that new Forester in 2023, from Goldstein. All is well. I love all of the new features (backup camera, big screen, blind spot detector, keyless entry, bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, etc.) that my old Forester didn't have. Just had a maintenance checkup and of course, all was well.

Still a fan...

First time here for service with an appt. They're busy so be patient. Satisfied with my service advisor, Doug. Waiting area is busy but comfortable with free wifi and coffee. I didn't see any bottled water or snacks though. That would be nice because most of us are waiting 1 to 2 hours. I had to ask for a bottle of water and a nice man went to get me one. The cashier lady is busy fielding calls and checking out customers. They should have someone else field calls or hire another to help her.

2nd visit: waited in appt line almost 10 min. Finally door opens so line can move. All service advisors preoccupied and very busy. Paul was great though and typed out everything I needed. Wasn't pleased with the 2 hour wait with an appt but not his fault. The mechanics still overinflated my tires when it said in writing not to add air. My car was parked in the used lot at an awkward angle and an employee almost boxed me in. Bottled water and snacks would be nice if everyone is waiting 1 to 3 hours. They should have 1 person outside always greeting customers and taking car info. Spend the money for these extra things to keep customers coming back please.

11/29/24

It was moderately busy but was happy that my car was done in 1 hour. Service advisors too busy so your car is done but you wait an extra 15 min for them to get to your paperwork. Not their fault. They need to have 2 people doing the intake info so the service advisors stay at their computers. Also they ignore you, never smile or look up. They are just too busy and annoyed really. I feel like with certain extra help it could make their jobs easier.

3/01/25. Arrived at 755am for an 8am appt but could not get to the appt line because 8 cars were in the express line and a big sign was blocking the entry. We eventually drove around it. Doug was efficient, although he spoke loudly my address and phone number out loud (shhhh). If they could fix the safety of the entry to make it easier to get to the appt line that would be great.

5/30/25 I had an appt for an oil change and tires. They were not busy at all but my service advisor told me it would be a 5 hour wait. That was unacceptable to me. 3 hours max would have been ok. I will go elsewhere for my tires now. I only did the oil change and left.

9/12/25 The best option is to avoid Sat appts so I came on a Friday late morning. Saw many new staff. My service advisor, Julian was awesome. Acknowledged me right away even tnough he was finishing up another customer's paper work. Told me upfront pricing and a general time when my car would be done. My car was done in half the time, was very surprised. He explained everything they did and that my brakes were in the yellow at 6mm but not to worry yet. I also noticed a customer service lady named Karen that was friendly and helped people make coffee or chat with them. I thought this was a great idea since most customers are over 50. I still would like someone to greet you in the appt car line. It would get the cars in faster and make you feel...

My fiancé and I dropped off our 2017 Subaru Legacy over Labor Day Weekend for a NYS Inspection. We both knew it wouldn’t be touched until Tuesday and we were okay with that. I had changed out the battery that Friday, not thinking about it. Fast forward to Tuesday morning, I get a text message from our service advisor Paul, saying that the vehicle is being taken care of and if there are any questions to reach him through there. Standard stuff. Around 10:30/10:45 I received a phone call from Paul stating that our windshield wipers were bad and needed to be replaced to pass inspection. I was in the middle of something and gave them the go ahead. $60.00 for wipers. He then said that the car would be ready in about 30 minuets. I finished what I was doing and my fiancé and I made our way up to the dealership. At this point it was at least an hour since I have last heard from Paul. When I got to the dealership they said they were looking for our paperwork and going to close it out. I sat in the lobby for 40 minutes before Paul eventually brought over my paperwork and keys. It was at that point he informed me that our car failed the NYS inspection because I must have jump started the car. No, I replaced the battery on Friday. He said that he “Just found out it failed”. Goldstein Subaru then proceeded to charge me over $80.00 for wipers and a failed NYS inspection. The excuse was he wasn’t made aware of the failure until way after the phone call he made the first time. To boot, the tech scratched off the original inspection sticker. Honestly, I might as well of just set that $80.00 on fire. A little bit of communication goes a long way. Get the whole story before calling a customer to upsell a product that I could have handled outside the dealer for a fraction of the price. I’m appalled at the way everything was handled. I can honestly say I probably will no longer use any Goldstein dealership. Including Goldstein CJDR where I have my fleet vehicles taken care of. One bad experience and lack of communication is all it takes. I do admit, I changed the battery in the car, I’m not mad the car failed. I’m mad that they took me for a ride and didn’t give me the full story until it was too late and I was standing at the cashier. Do...