Carter Subaru of Shoreline — Local services in Shoreline

Anyone who is looking for a new or used Subaru I highly recommend that you reach out to Carter Subaru in Shoreline. What started as a extremely frustrating experience with the “Subaru Customer Advocacy Contact Center” (a central agency not connected to the dealerships/out of their jurisdiction) lucky ended in a positive experience thanks to the professionalism, follow-through, and great customer service from Carter Subaru in Shoreline, WA. Long story short, I was dealing with a ton of back and forth concerning a warranty issue on my older Crosstrek that took about a month. Both Melisa Yattaw and Benny Colobong (with the Service Dept.) both made sure that I was in a loaner car for the duration of the ordeal, checked in with me frequently, and helped me wrangle the folks in the central warranty department. Ultimately, we decided to trade my older Crosstrek towards something a bit bigger and newer. Melisa and Benny personally passed me on to Alexander (Sasha) Mednikov. He first contacted us and we discussed our interests, budget, etc. and I explained that we had a trip coming up and were unable to come in to look/purchase until we returned. He was not at all pushy and completely respectful. We set up a time after our trip on a Sunday to meet. We showed up Sunday and Sasha followed exactly the guidelines for what type of vehicle we were looking for in our budget and promptly showed us some viable options. In sales myself, I really appreciate it when budget/features are truly listened to/respected and there is no “push to get something bigger/more expensive” just to make a larger sale, you don’t show items way out of budget, or push to get some particular car sold off the lot (bad past experiences at other non-Subaru dealerships with this) etc. We ended up really liking a 2023 Outback Onyx Trim with very low miles. We sat down and Sasha outlined potential monthly payment options for our favorite and another similar used vehicle we liked. Fast forward a couple of hours and we left happy with a monthly payment right where we said we were comfortable with a car that is exactly what we wanted/perfect for us. The experience with Sasha was fantastic. To top it all off, he was very personable, friendly, and a joy to work with. Working with him truly felt like we were “on the same team” which is exactly how a “sales process done right” should feel. Sasha even followed up the following day in an email thanking us and asked me to text him a picture of the “maiden voyage with our dog” that you see here.

Thanks to Carter Subaru in Shoreline, this family stayed a Subaru family vs. going somewhere else. Turning a bad experience around to a happy customer and ultimately keeping the...

Despite Carter Subaru being an actually good dealership, they just do not seem to actually want to sell any cars anymore? I went in to the Shoreline Location at 11:30 am on a Friday with a budget of $10k-13k and the sales representative acted like he was just trying to leave and clock out for the day. His attitude was that of a person that would rather be anywhere else but where they are now. After telling him what I was looking for he offered me something that I really did not want for a price that seemed too high. He genuinely gave me the impression that he wanted me to just leave, so I politely told him that I was sorry but I just was not interested in the ONLY car he claimed to have (even though Carter has many locations with inventory he could have tried to check with even a quick search in their systems.). And as soon as I told him that I was going to go to a different lot he profusely thanked me, and he seemed like he was just utterly relieved that I was leaving. I wasn't rude to the guy, I have never met him previously so I was confused why he was clearly trying to get me to just leave.

Then the next day I decided to call Carter Subaru to just ask them if that was normal because Carter Subaru has been nothing but good to my family for nearly 30 years as well as most of my friends families as well. And they were very helpful, but then they hit me with something that was just ridiculous, they told me they refused to sell me a car unless I FULLY insured it first. Even though I was going to pay cash, $100 bills. No financing, no nothing, just a straight across sale. They refused to sell me a used car unless I fully insured it even though I was paying cash.

If they want to sell cars then they shouldn't put nonsensical and frankly arbitrary barriers like this in place. I understand this for financed vehicles, but once I pay it off fully it's mine to do with as I please. Sorry Carter, you lost my business. I wish Carter well and hopefully one day they return to selling cars because they were one of the best in the entire state. Sad to...

In late 2021 I purchased a new 2022 Outback Wilderness Edition from Carter Subaru of Shoreline. I love the car. I drive it as advertised and it performs exceptionally well. In the first week of February 2024, I noticed that the car had significant oil leaks. I scheduled a service appointment with Carter Subaru of Shoreline. They diagnosed the leaks as coming from the upper and lower oil pan seals, valve cover, & cam seals. The engine had to be removed to make the repairs. The technician damaged other parts in the process and as a result the repairs took longer than expected. All repairs including damaged caused by the technician were covered under warranty. Following repairs, I drove my car to Stevens Pass to go skiing. Upon arrival at the pass, the smell of burning oil and coolant was coming through the heater vents into the car. I called Carter and returned the car for inspection. The service manager informed me that the engine had not been cleaned during the prior service. They cleaned it, road tested the car, and assured me that it was clean and safe to drive. I picked my car up and drove it less than 50 miles when the high pressure fuel line failed. I had my daughter in the car with me when this happened. When the fuel line failed it caused gasoline to be sprayed throughout the warm engine compartment, filled the car with gasoline fumes & dumped gasoline into the storm-drain near Green Lake . The car was subsequently towed back to Carter Subaru. The cause of failure, as noted by the service manager, was that the technician had not properly installed the fuel line when they reinstalled the engine during the previous service. Carter repaired the fuel line and cleaned our car. Gasoline odor is still coming from the heater vents. This ordeal is now in its seventh week and it has yet to be resolved. Carter has done nothing more than offer apologies. I have lost all trust in this dealership and their service department. They have made my car unsafe and have cost me and my family significant...