Cherry Hill Sun

Tag: Subaru of Cherry Hill

  • ‘It’s my favorite thing’

    Courtesy of EAG Advertising
    Subaru of Cherry Hill has become a “granting Make-A-Wish party” for a child in need through its partnership with Make-A-Wish New Jersey.

    For those involved, it goes beyond the sale of a car at Subaru of Cherry Hill.

    Once and/or even twice a year, the dealership has transformed into a “granting Make-A-Wish party” for a child in need through its partnership with Make-A-Wish New Jersey.

    “It’s my favorite thing we do with them,” said sales manager Haris Nashed.

    First there was Kabrina, 18, a cancer patient, whose wish to go to Hawaii was granted in 2022. The next year, 11-year-old Quinn, who suffered from a respiratory disorder, also made a wish to go to Hawaii. Last year, Erynn, 15 and suffering from a heart condition, wished to have a backyard shed transformed into a recording studio. The same year, 16-year-old Jaelyn, who suffered from kidney disease, also got her wish to visit Hawaii.

    The average cost of a wish is $12,000, according to Rosemarie Farr, vice president of development at Make-A-Wish New Jersey.

    “We’re tasked with raising all the funds for the grant wishes that we grant every year and also cover our operating expenses,” she explained. “Every dollar we raise goes directly to granting a wish and the operating expenses of the organization.

    “We get no government support and we get no other assistance … Everything we raise is through individuals, corporations, foundations and members throughout New Jersey.”

    That’s where Subaru of Cherry Hill comes in. The Subaru Share the Love Event Campaign is an annual program that runs through the holiday season, from late November to early January, Nashed said.

    “For every car sale, the customer gets to choose a local charity that they want to support,” he noted. “A retailer, that would be us, chooses two local charities for the customers, Make-A-Wish New Jersey being one of them.”

    The amount donated fluctuates every year with each sale, Nashed revealed, with Subaru of America matching up to a certain dollar amount for each charity. And for every repair order at Subaru of Cherry Hill, there is a $5 donation toward a local charity during the same time period.

    Subaru of Cherry Hill presented Make-A-Wish New Jersey with donations of $20,000-plus from the 2024 campaign for upcoming wishes on May 28.

    Make-A-Wish America has been in partnership with Subaru during the Share the Love Campaign since 2011.

    • Subaru of America Share the Love Campaign’s total to all charities (Make-A-Wish America, National Parks Foundation, ASPCA, Meals on Wheels America) since 2011 is $320 million-plus.
    • Subaru of America Share the Love Campaign totals to Make-A-Wish America since 2011 are $38 million plus.
    • The Subaru of America Share the Love Campaign total to Make-A-Wish New Jersey since 2011 is $2.8 million plus.
    • For four years, Subaru of Cherry Hill has selected Make-A-Wish New Jersey as a fifth charity, where donations go directly to Make-A-Wish New Jersey. That totals $60,000 plus.

    “Partnering with Subaru of Cherry Hill is really important,” Farr offered. “It’s important (because) those funds grant wishes for your neighbors, your co-workers, local children and families and the community.

    “That’s why we are so grateful to (Subaru of) Cherry Hill for helping us do that,” Farr pointed out. “We are also able to show them how we use those funds by bringing those local-ish families and their stories here (to the dealership) to let them know what they are giving … (These funds are providing) a life-changing experience to these families.

    “They can see it,” Farr observed. “It’s tangible. We love it, too. That’s our favorite part: the wish reveal.”

    Typically, Subaru of Cherry Hill partners with Make-A-Wish New Jersey once or twice a year with a wish grant.

    “We identify a wish to use with those funds (donated by Subaru of Cherry Hill),” Farr said, and a wish party is then organized to highlight the child’s wish, thanks to their partners Subaru of Cherry Hill.

    Dealers contribute anywhere from $100 to $150 per car and Subaru of America contributes $250 per car, Nashed said.

    “For us, this is how we move our mission forward,” Farr emphasized. “We couldn’t do it without partners like Subaru, and especially the local dealerships who choose us as a fifth charity so that people who buy a car can donate and have those funds go directly (to Make -A-Wish New Jersey).

    “They truly are a partner and it has been a long-term relationship,” Farr said. “It’s very important to us and we are extremely grateful for that.”

    And for Subaru of Cherry Hill, “it’s always a pleasure,” Nashed offered. “This is probably the best way this dealership gives back to our community.”

    At the granting wish parties, those at the dealership “get to see the kind of look of surprise on the wish child’s face.”

     “A lot of times we get to hear from the families about their story, which is always moving,” Nashed added. “We definitely have Make-A-Wish New Jersey to thank for connecting us with our local community and to be able to give the kids something they’ve always wished for.”

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  • Subaru puts ‘safety and reliability’ on a pedestal

    Subaru Forester

    Subaru just does things “a little bit different. A little bit better.”

    Just ask John Daqui, general sales manager, and Donovan Robinson, business development manager, at Subaru of Cherry Hill.

    Research over the years has highlighted safety features and technology that goes into Subaru vehicles from the Crosstrek to the Forester.

    “Subaru has always put safety and reliability on a pedestal above adding technology or making the vehicle look like everybody else’s,” Robinson said. “I believe it’s different. It just kind of trickles throughout the entire company, everything from vehicles that they make to their public community involvement.”

    When people are ready to buy a vehicle, they have an idea of what they are looking for. They’ve done the research so to speak.

    The Subaru vehicle has had a reputation for being extremely reliable vehicles, which they have been able to brag about, Robinson said.

    “When we are talking to our guests, it has to be upfront asking people if they had a chance to [research] information,” Daqui added. “It’s part of why buy Subaru.”

    At Subaru of Cherry Hill, the Crosstrek, a subcompact SUV, is the highest volume model that they sell.

    “It’s a perfect city car and we happen to live in a metro area five minutes from the city of Philadelphia,” said Daqui, who has been in the business for almost 40 years. “My wife and I live in Delaware… Other than having season tickets to the Eagles (football team), I don’t go into the city very often, but when I do, everywhere I look there are Crosstreks.

    “It’s small, all-wheel drive… Whether you are considering a car or refrigerator, you want something that’s reliable, you want good value and you want to know that your money is well spent.”

    The Forester, a larger subcompact SUV, follows in popularity with the selling points of utility, exceptional fuel economy good outward visibility, spacious interior to name a few points. It was built with “price in mind,” Robinson said.

    The front end, or sales, at Subaru of Cherry Hill includes 13 sales associates, three sales managers, and two finance directors as well as Robinson’s team of four.

    Daqui and Robinson are well versed in Subaru research. They essentially “sing it at the highest mountain top” day in and day out. But they want customers to see it for themselves.

    “[Some] 96% of Subaru vehicles sold in the last 10 years are still on the road today, more than Honda or Toyota brands.”

    Based on Experian Automotive non-luxury vehicles in operation vs. total new registrations for MY2014-2023 as of December 2024, Robinson said.

    “That says something about the reliability and overall durability of these vehicles. “You’ll even see reliability in trade-in values with Subaru retaining a higher trade-in value than most other vehicles.”

    Robinson, who is second generation working at Subaru, said he finds a lot comfort knowing that the product that he’s selling is something that he can stand behind.

    “It’s the only vehicle I will put my family in,” he said. “My mother drives a Subaru; my wife drives a Subaru. When my daughter is old enough, she will drive a Subaru. All of my family, sisters, cousins, all are Subaru drivers.

    “It’s a product that we can believe in. And beyond that Subaru is a good company. They have a lot of community involvement that makes it very easy to stand behind Subaru and Subaru of Cherry Hill.”

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  • Super Bowl champ worked with Cherry Hill Subaru to find right car for family

    Subaru of Cherry Hill Super Bowl champ Britain Covey, a wide receiver and punt return specialist for the Philadelphia Eagles, worked with the Subaru of Cherry Hill to find the perfect vehicle, a white Subaru Wilderness Forester, for the season. In the off season, his family – wife Lea and 1-year-old son, Nelson – live in Utah.

    Being a Super Bowl Champion and living in two places at once can be challenging. Finding a reliable vehicle for your family is part of that challenge.

    So when Britain Covey, Super Bowl Champion wide receiver and punt return specialist for the Philadelphia Eagles, needed a vehicle for his family, he reached out to Subaru of Cherry Hill.

    “At the end of the day, my wife liked the Subaru, it’s very reliable,” Covey said when they were discussing what type of vehicle to use for the season. “She had a Subaru in the past.”

    Covey lives half the year on the East Coast and in the off-season he lives with his family – wife Lea and 1-year-old son, Nelson – in Utah.

    Through Subaru of Cherry Hill, Covey was able to find the perfect vehicle for his family, a white Subaru Wilderness Forester for the season.

    “We were looking for a safe car,” he said, noting the safety features on a Subaru is what stood out the most from other car brands.

    “We reached out and everyone was so easy to work with [at Subaru of Cherry Hill].”

    Covey said he was so grateful to align with Subaru of Cherry Hill and help them with a number of community events from puppy donations and Make-A-Wish throughout the season.

    Heading back home with a Super Bowl win nonetheless, Covey said he would definitely recommend a Subaru for family and friends.

    “It’s so reliable to drive,” he said. 

    And like Covey, the safety features of Subaru stand out to those who choose to purchase or lease a Subaru.

    Just ask Nick Ferrara, who has been a delivery specialist at Subaru of Cherry Hill for eight years.

    When Covey decided on the Subaru Wilderness Forester, Ferrara was there to share everything he and his family were able to enjoy about the vehicle.

    “I’m a teacher more or less,” Ferrara said. “The customer will purchase their new car, work with the sales person, which at the point of end of sale, they are handed off to me.

    “I have the pleasure of showing them around the vehicles that are equipped with the latest technology. A little help from somebody like me puts them at ease with some of their new stuff.”

    For those not so tech savvy, it can get a bit overwhelming with the big touch screens and some of the safety features.

    “My job is kind of to walk them through and make sure they are set up for success.”

    Photo By Kathy Chang/The Sun Nick Ferrara (in hat), delivery specialist at Subaru of Cherry Hill, provides customers a rundown of what the vehicles are equipped with once the customer purchases a car.

    Ferrara is there to review the car on day of delivery and when the license plates come in, he is there to answer any additional questions the customers may have.

    “I sit with as many customers as I can,” he said. “I want to make sure they are getting everything out of their vehicle and let them know about some features they may not know they had.”

    A lot of times, a customer will buy a car and it’s “Here’s your keys, Bye!,” Ferrara relayed.

    Not at Subaru of Cherry Hill, Ferrara is there to spend as much time or as little time with a customer. He’s there to help set up the Subaru app for the vehicle.

    “He’s basically like a tech hero,” said Jimmy McCann, who works with Ferrara.

    “Every customer is going to be a little different especially of what their needs are,” Ferrara said, adding some people just want to keep it simple and others want the full experience.

    The 2020 Outbacks and Legacys were the first to have big touch screens and people were a bit hesitant.

    “There’s a lot going on,” Ferrara said, adding “there’s also easy ways to do things with voice commands and not having to distract yourself with the screen.”

    Ferrara is there to help customers trust some of the features and embrace the newer technology that is in the models now and he’ll go as slow and/or fast as one needs him to be.

    Patience is one quality that customers have noted about Ferrara.    

    “It’s nice to be in a position where I’m not selling anything,” Ferrara said. “My job is to simply help the customer. There’s no incentive.”

    Ferrara, who did start in sales, said his favorite part was showing customers the car. And ultimately the delivery specialist role, is doing just that.

    “I’m helping people at the end of the day,” he said. “I’ve spent so much time in the cars through different systems. I drive one myself obviously. All the little stuff that isn’t obvious, I have the time behind the wheel and can explain all the nuances [of the vehicle].”

    Ferrara drives a sport model silver Forester decked out with a roof rack and accessories.

    “If you are looking for the Subaru guy on the road with the bike rack and the kayaks, that’s me,” he said.

    All kidding aside, Ferrara, like Covey, was attracted to the safety features.

    “The eyesight system is my favorite safety feature,” Ferrara said, noting Subaru was the first to have the cutting-edge feature in 2012. “[The feature] is able to judge speed and those ahead of you and will adjust your speed.

    “At any given moment you are not paying attention … I had couple of instances out there … it definitely stepped in and did what it needed to do.

    “It has never let me down.”

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  • ‘The home team’ at Subaru Cherry Hill

    By Kathy Chang/The Sun
    The service and parts department of Subaru of Cherry Hill essentially supports the dealership’s sales department. Chris Sherman (left to right) is the service and parts department’s lead service advisor, Moneka Nop is a technician and Greg Eife is the department’s director.

    At the service and parts department of Subaru of Cherry Hill, each day is different. With 65 to 75 cars serviced Monday through Saturday, it’s important to have the right people in place.

    The Sun caught up with Greg Eife, director of the department, who has been in the business for 43 years and came to Subaru of Cherry Hill six and a half years ago. His department essentially supports the sales staff at the dealership with the after-care of a purchased vehicle.

    “We perform all kinds of repairs, (from) maintenance to warranty repairs,” Eife explained. “We build relationships so they (customers) come back and buy the next one. I’m a great believer in the word of mouth … Your reputation on the streets – quote unquote – is the most important thing.

    “So we work real hard on one customer at a time to build that, maintain that …” he added. “That’s the most important thing, and that we are fair. Sometimes car dealerships, service departments, can get a bad reputation …

    “My message would be, ‘Hey, give us a chance. We are not that.’”

    Moneka Nop is a technician and started at Subaru of Cherry Hill the week after Thanksgiving in 2024. She is in a role unusual for women and the only female technician at the dealership. And if you ask Nop, she doesn’t pay any mind to that. She just “likes what she does.”

    “I’m very proficient at what I do,” she said. “I’m good at what I do. I’m not as far advanced as the rest of the guys – not yet. I actually enjoy doing this stuff.”

    Nop was looking for a part-time job in 2019 when she applied at a Quick Lube. That’s where she learned how to do oil changes and tire rotations.

    “I learned on the job,” she recalled, adding that the job started getting repetitive, so she decided to apply to car dealerships.

    “I put in applications to many, many dealerships,” she remembered, “and to be honest with you, I don’t think they called me back because of my name, because I’m a female. But in today’s world, it shouldn’t be like that.”

    And after working for a year at another Subaru dealership, Nop came to the township dealership on a recommendation from a previous manager.

    “I work in the quick lane, almost the same as Quick Lube, but they have me doing a lot more,” she said. “I’m not just oil changes and rotates all day long. They’re trying to get me to become like (an auto) mechanic.”

    And that’s Nop’s ultimate goal – to become an auto technician.

    “You get to learn on the job and I love that about Subaru in general,” she enthused. “They teach you while you are here. They send you to school. They do a lot. You are valuable to them and that’s good that they make you feel that way.”

    And as for advice to females who would like to gain entry into the auto industry, Nop assured, “anybody can do anything as long as you put your mind to it. You have to make what you want out of it.”

    Eife oversees 35 employees who range from 18 technicians and six service advisors to a business development person, a shuttle driver, a parts person manager, an assistant manager and counter staff.

    “I oversee the daily operations of the service advisors and technicians and I have lead technicians and lead service advisors that report to me,” he said. “I’m in charge of our reputation, training personnel to that end. I also interact with the customers myself …

    “I love that.”

    As part of his role, Eife also is responsible for warranty compliance with Subaru. And with its national headquarters just three miles down the road in Cherry Hill, it means the dealership is “the home team.”

    “My job is to make sure that we fill the shop up and we can get (customers) in and out of here in a timely manner and fixes are done correctly the first time,” he emphasized. “We want to make sure customers are treated properly and the facility is right for them and everything is clean.

    “Reputation management is one of the big things with building and maintaining a team.”

    Chris Sherman – a lead service advisor in service and parts – said department staff has built a good crew.

    “There are good interpersonal relationships here, and it comes from the owner down,” he stated. “It’s a good environment. We love it. It helps with the cohesiveness, and customers see that too, when it’s a good environment.”

    “It’s fun, different every day,” Eife remarked of day-to-day operations. “It can be stressful.”

    That’s why training is key and – at Subaru of Cherry Hill – constant.

    “Technician training happens online, it is web-based,” Eife pointed out. “It also happens with instructor-led training at the training facility in Florence. “I do a lot of training myself when it comes to customer handling, financial matters, leadership training with leaders that work for me, HR (human resources) training and coaching.

    “Most of that is one on one,” he added. “Five days a week, I meet with staff and we speak about what is going on, what we can do better. We talk about goals, we talk about where we’ve been, and where are we going forward.

    “We train on stress management.”

    The leading and training aspect is what Eife enjoys about his role.

    “I love being a leader, I love setting up a workplace where people can grow personally and professionally,” he said. “I like to train leadership, to watch people develop from the beginning to their potential.”

    And over the course of his career, Eife has seen it all when it comes to learning and building.

    “Adaptability is crazy important in this business,” he offered. “Every day is completely different. Every customer is completely different. You train and hire employees and staff to that end. Not everybody can do it. You have to have the right people, which is the most important thing.

    “The most important resource is the right people.”

    Sherman agrees. And in his role, he is the go between.

    “We talk to the technician, they tell us what the need is and we translate that over to the customer,” he said. “I enjoy the customer aspect. I enjoy dealing with customers and situations and trying to help people work through things and doing the best we can for customers and making them happy and satisfied.”

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  • ‘We are so grateful’

    Photo Courtesy of Subaru of Cherry Hill
    Sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Koon (center), who has a kidney disease, was surprised with a trip to Hawaii at Subaru of Cherry Hill as part of the partnership between the dealership’s Share the Love Event and Make a Wish New Jersey.

    It wasn’t your normal day at Subaru of Cherry Hill.

    Green, white and gold balloons were hanging from the ceilings and there were two Polynesian dancers presenting the traditional Hawaiian Luau Hula dance. The dealership and Make a Wish New Jersey came together to surprise 16-year-old Jaelyn Koon with her wish to travel to Hawaii with her family.

    John Daqui, general sales manager at Subaru, kicked off the surprise celebration with a few words. Nicole Rivera, vice president of Make a Wish’s Mission Delivery, followed.

    “We are here at Subaru of Cherry Hill because they partner with the Make a Wish Foundation,” she explained. “As much as they are a dealership, Subaru has partnered with us and we have raised $21,000 through the Subaru Share The Love Event charity donations. Those donations enable Make a Wish New Jersey in “getting events like this possible.”

    “We’ve worked together on today’s special party,” Rivera told Jaelyn, as she was processing the surprise. “We wanted to share with you the decorations, make this whole dealership festive and give some joy to your hearts.”

    Jaelyn initially thought her parents had to handle some “mortgage business” and they were going to take family photos after with the family, including mom Adiwoa; dad J’quain; brother Josiah, 5; and sister Naomi, 3.

    Adiwoa shared her daughter’s challenging medical journey.

    “It was very unexpected …” she recalled. “A (kidney) culture test kept coming up positive when it should have been negative. My husband and I were both saying, ‘Something’s not right.’”

    After further testing, the couple brought their daughter to a nephrologist, a doctor who specializes in kidney disease. Jaelyn was diagnosed with FSGS, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a kidney disease causing scarring in glomeruli, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

    “What normally would take someone years to go from Stage 1 to maybe Stage 5, she went from Stage 1 to 5 in six months,” Adiwoa said.  

    That meant Jaelyn needed a new kidney. To make matters more challenging, the teen has a “very rare blood type in O positive.” It turned out her father has the same blood type, but because of high blood pressure, he was automatically eliminated.

    “(Jaelyn) went from 33% of her kidney function down to 3%,” Adiwoa explained.

    Jaelyn chose to do peritoneal dialysis, which is done at home. But for a child, the process is seven days a week, 10 hours a day. Adiwoa said her daughter was strong throughout treatment, which happend during COVID. In December 2021, the family received a call of a living kidney donor, a process within itself.

    “… The understanding is if they call you for a kidney,” Adiwoa noted, “you must be prepped immediately and get to the hospital, because it is a living donation, and with that they have to go through a different series of tests.”

    The initial call turned out to be a no go, but the Koons got another one. After 10 days in the hospital, Adiwoa said her daughter’s body accepted the kidney.

    “The surgery went very well …” she recounted. “It was a little struggle because she’s young, but she did phenomenal.”

    Adiwoa said her daughter hasn’t complained despite her medical journey.

    “She did not want to be a bother, even in her illness,” Adiwoa remembered. “When she started dialysis, her (younger brother) was 2 and I was pregnant with her (sister). She lived for her brother; she would get up and be exhausted. She would … do school online (because of COVID) and fight to play with him. She said she wasn’t going anywhere because she needed to be around for her brother, not even for herself.

    “That’s the kind of teenager she is,” Adiwoa said. “She’s not an average teenager.”

    And the Subaru gift, she added with emotion in her voice, gives her oldest daughter “a chance to just enjoy herself.”

    “It’s something she deserves,” she noted. “We are so grateful.”

    Rivera said Make a Wish New Jersey is fortunate to have Subaru choose its organization as its hometown charity through its corporate Share the Love event.

    “We have been so fortunate to partner with Subaru and grant over 2,600 wishes for kids just like Jaelyn,” she said.

    Funds – $250 to $350 for every purchase – during the Subaru Share the Love Event benefit a charity of the customer’s choice. The dealership has partnered with Make a Wish New Jersey and Ronald McDonald House Philadelphia for the events.

    Subaru owner Zaid Nasheed, said each year he is “blown away by the kids.”

    “It’s impressive,” he observed. “They show you how they feel … fearless.”

    John Daqui, general sales manager at Subaru of Cherry Hill.

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