both of them in manuals are a little hard to come by around here and are in demand. Always funny how markets work like that. I wanted one until I realized I was going to be around $33-35k otd :eek1 Amazing cars from all accounts
Do Foresters still have the two second lapse between forward and reverse? I had one two years ago and that makes it impossible to "rock" them out of a stuck situation in snow. I got rid of it mostly because of that.
Little update: lots of driving today, all speeds in all gears, to you know, break it in It is nicely balanced. It does not need more power. I go around corners and dont even lift off the throttle. The steering is very precise. I also had to take out the Civic SI a few times today (more on that in a moment). You can really feel the dynamic difference going around the same turns by my house with front wheel drive versus rear wheel drive. I can also feel the lower center of gravity in the BRZ. It feels more like a go cart. I like it. Now, my Civic has done dog duty for the past eight years. He likes to jump in the back seat, and when i get rolling, will hop in the front and stick his head out the window. The first night he did not want to get in to the new car, but he did. He stuck his head out the window, all was good in his world. The rear seats of the bRZ are not flat, so my dog didn't want to go back there. Today, i opened up the passenger door, he got in and then jumped out the drivers side! He didn't want to go, which is weird because he loves to drive with me. I will put some folded towels in the back seats to flatten them out, if you will.
I was going to start a thread on my new Forester, but after a BRZ, what's the point? Beautiful car, good luck with it. Over the summer I was at a hill climb event in Vermont. One of the competitors had a brand new BRZ entered. When it came time for him to go, I noticed his licence plate was taped over. I asked one of my friends why, and he replied that dealers watch Youtube, too. Racing damage is usually not covered by warrantee. I think the car performed quite well, too.
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It doesn't take much snow to get one of these stuck, very little clearance and if there's any ice underneath, you're done. One wheel spinning in front and one in the back, typical "4" wheel drive nonsense. I'm used to that stuff but the inability to rock the car to get out is really a deal buster. A manual transmission would be a better choice. I carry a shovel now, something you Californians probably don't know how to use.
Several folks at work have picked these up. I need to spend time driving one (or at least riding-along during spirited driving), but my initial impression of a dealer ride-along is that I'll be waiting for the turbo. I'll be waiting for the convertible either way...just not sure if 200 hp is enough. Sounds like it is for you
I don't think my car will see snow here in San Diego :loll The first night I got the car, I sorta felt I made a mistake. I walked into the dealer at 8:30 just to look at it, they just unloaded it an hour or two before. He told me it would be gone by tomorrow night. I read all the reviews, but was still on the fence. I bought it anyway, just to not be the over analytical person I tend to be. I went out again late last night for an hour spin, it is very sweet and I do not regret my purchase at all. The stereo controls kinda suck, but maybe it is because I am just used to buttons you don't have to look at. It also came with 3 months of XM radio, kinda cool, and two or three years of free maintenance, which does add up.
I found you have to be careful with that "free" maintenance BS, at least with BMW. They pay for the oil changes on their "four years of free maintenance" program, but they wanted us to go 20,000 miles between oil changes. I told the BMW dealer to pull their heads out of their fourth point of contact and they did, but I didn't like the fact that I had to complain about it. If I ever bought a car with "free" maintenance again, I would negotiate the oil change frequency up front. Also, wheel alignment was not included (no problem about that), but anytime that car went anywhere near the dealer they told me I needed to have the wheels aligned, and they could only do it on "special" BMW equipment (read: a $300 wheel alignment). I doubt that Subie dealers are as larcenous as the BMW dealer, but I would be pretty leery of any "free" maintenance program. Finally, BMW puts 3 degrees of negative camber on their rear wheels, which wears tires prematurely. The dealer cost for new tires was $290 per tire (plus all the rest of the BS they charge for tires). I bought the exact same tires elsewhere for $160 per tire. I have mostly had good experiences with my Subie dealer. I have never had a good experience with a BMW dealer.
Subaru says oil changes @7500 miles, and the car comes with synthetic. Dealer stated just come in by July, if I don't put on the miles we can go by months. I was not expecting free oil changes, i usually change my cars synthetic at 8 to 10k anyway, so that's cool. I have not really looked at the documents, been too busy driving it. The motor seems to be loosening up a little (maybe it's just me) and according to the mpg computer, i am currently getting 25.3 mpg.
I think you will love the car. My WRX is great. I have a Z-06 that hardly gets used because the Subie is so much fun to drive.
Nice car! I've looked at them every time I've had my WRX 5 door in for service. My WRX has a bit more life in it and hopefully by then the STi version will be out.
I do love the car! Did your car come with a factory alarm, or just the immobilizer (you can answer here, or see my alarm thread) It did not seem like the car had an alarm, but I seem to have pressed some buttons and activated something, now there is a flashing security system icon on the dash. I read that these are not turned on at the factory, for shipping. Now I am wondering if the dealer did not turn it on, sells me on a an alarm, which is not installed, then when I bring it in for installation, they just press the buttons and voila, instant alarm! Help!
I've owned four Subarus, two with the same drivetrain config you had. In New England, where the top-selling nameplate on 40 towns in MA is Subaru. Never heard of this problem. But perhaps that's appropriate to another thread. What happens when you hit the door lock button on the FOB -does it chirp? On the norn\mal Subaru alarm it flashes rapidly for 30 seonds until it arms, then flashes every few seconds. On the WRX there is an alarm of sorts but no motion detector - that's optional. RTFM moment.....
that sounds like you had some kind of issue. I've got a 2006 forester and never had a gap between forward and reverse. i have only gotten it in deep enough to have to try to rock it once, and i was in deep enough i had to get out and dig a few feet around each wheel to get it going.