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Would you buy Subaru again? why/why not?

20K views 195 replies 69 participants last post by  Earshot 
#1 ·
I absolutely am enamored of my WRX, it was my dream car and obsession from the time it came out in late '02 to the time I finally bought my '05. It was the the kind of car I always wanted to have when I was in high school....fast, fast looking, cobb stage 2, fat catback with exhaust tip, great audio system with CDT components and 12's....plus I was proud of the fact that I bought a nearly 30-THOUSAND dollar car, negotiated it all, etc. It represented adulthood and independence for me. I still love it.
But Subaru's misrepresentation of its vehicles sours the experience greatly to the point where I think I may rather have a Civic SI for my next car. It markets the Rex to a group of people who love to drive enthusiastically (not synonymous with "abusively"), yet it breaks when used for such purposes.
I went back to the dealer last week, about a year after I spent my 20+ thousand extremely hard-earned (100+hours/wk paramedic), they treated me like dirt, like some high school kid with his pants hanging off his ass, who had just appeared at the dealership and asked to go do doughnuts in their STi, yo.
WRX=love
Subaru=:sadwave:
 
#4 ·
yeah, dont shoot the messenger. (if that phrase even applies....shut up its late) Luckily for me ive never had to deal w/ a subaru dealership yet (hell i bought my car from a ford dealer. haha) but as far as the car itself goes, there isnt anything id give it up for, except for another one. give your business to another dealer who appreciates you
 
#5 ·
Hey, I am a highschool kid (my pants will sometimes hang off my ass) and I work more than anyone at my school. I am blessed enough to have a dad in the car business whom was able to talk a Subaru Dealership into giving him a great deal on a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX. I refuse to let him pay for the car because since I work I have the money to pay for it. Where I live people's parents will buy them anything and everything but I refuse to let that happen, I don't need it. My WRX was the best thing I have ever bought and will continue to be until 5 years from now (when I have a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi) I baby the car most of the time, but the power is there when you need it. If it were to break I would die but the Subaru dealership near me is my close friend and they can help me out.
 
#6 ·
It's one of those things that, unless you've gone through it yourself, it's pretty hard to relate to. From my perspective, it's very difficult for me to see any qualified, reputable business treating its customers like dirt...but I can certainly see the potential for that in the fast car industry (they do get a bunch of cocky HS kids trying to "joy" test drive). Of course, half the fun is showing up with a hat and backpack "looking" like you can't afford the car. Did that too.

When these awkward situations arise, sometimes I find it better and more liberating to stand your ground and call the person out on it...it's also much easier to ask for the Fleet Manager and tell them from the start that you're not about BS and you're a serious customer. That's the way I approached purchasing my '05 last year and lo and behold they would snap to attention when they realized I was a true customer.
 
#9 ·
To answer your question of the title of this thread. ABSOLUTELY!!!!! I would definately buy another Subaru again. I beat the living hell out of my 02' WRX on the dragstrip, through the twisties everyday to and from work, and plenty of reline shifts on a day to day basis, and it asked for more. I think Subaru's are built very strong and are up there with Toyota and Honda as reliable cars. But sadly, I won't be able to afford another car for a long time since I already have 2 vehicles which I am pretty happy with.

p.s. My dad maybe trading in his 01' GMC Sonoma for an Outback or a Forester very soon since my parents are moving to Carson City, Nevada. And that wouldn't have happed had I not suggested Subaru's reliablity and build quality.
 
#10 ·
I would buy another, but I probably wont just because hopefully by the time I purchase my next car I will be out of school and be able to afford somethinng else. But I see how you feel and I feel that same way about nissan. They way I was treated when I had my Z made me decide that I will probably never but another nissan again.
 
#12 ·
The only way that I would buy another Subaru would be if I become rich enough to own an STi as a fun second vehicle.

My WRX is definatley fun but it just doesn't have the build quality I was hoping for. The thing has like 10,000 miles on it and I baby the crap out of it -- and all it does is rattle at every flaw in the road, starts roughly, and something on the roof whistles loudly at 75+ mph which subaru won't fix because they say I shouldn't be driving over 65 anyways..

I must say that I love the car, but I expected more and my next car will be something more refined -- maybe a used Audi A4 or something of that nature. Not really sure, but I'd like something that felt a little more solid, and didn't develop rattles in the first 10K miles which the dealership won't even consider fixing.
 
#14 ·
I have been more than pleased with my 04’ WRX and the dealership. The car has excided my expectations for a 24,000 dollar car.

A few months ago my car had an SUV crash on top of my hood, it had well $6800 in damage. My car was over heating so I took it to the dealer and found out the body shop failed to notice the water pump was damaged and was pouring out water. I called the insurance and they where taking a time to get an adjuster out there, the dealer knew my situation of paying for a rental car out of pocket for the last 2 months. They decided to cover the pump under warranty instead of dealing with the insurance, they also covered my loaner car for the few days it was in their shop.

I was thinking of getting a Porsche Cayman since the accident but I am seriously thinking of saving the money and buying a LGT from a dealership that went out of its way when they didn’t have to.
 
#16 ·
No longer a good idea

I will probably not buy another Impreza. Poor paint quality, mediocre interior finish, and the worst offense: Subaru are going the WRONG direction in their development, giving little or not thought to fuel consumption. The hybrid-STi murmurs are meaningless when Honda have had a hybrid V6 for years now, and when Honda, Toyota, and Ford have all offered a variety of hybrid vehicles.

If (rather, iff) Subaru manage to fix at least one of the major flaws above, I might consider it (though frankly they are also getting expen$ive). I wrote them a love letter praising them on their paint quality already, and I am sure others have let them know too. I can just wait and see at this point.
 
#17 ·
SD_GR said:
I will probably not buy another Impreza. Poor paint quality, mediocre interior finish, and the worst offense: Subaru are going the WRONG direction in their development, giving little or not thought to fuel consumption. The hybrid-STi murmurs are meaningless when Honda have had a hybrid V6 for years now, and when Honda, Toyota, and Ford have all offered a variety of hybrid vehicles.

If (rather, iff) Subaru manage to fix at least one of the major flaws above, I might consider it (though frankly they are also getting expen$ive). I wrote them a love letter praising them on their paint quality already, and I am sure others have let them know too. I can just wait and see at this point.
definitely.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Todays hybrid vehicles are utter crap, it’s a good concept but they are not nearly as efficient as the hype says they are. To judge a company for not developing one like Toyota, Honda and Ford is crazy. Seeing that Subaru is not even 1/10 the size and budget of the three companies you named with these first attempt hybrid. Its like getting mad at Mexico for not installing fiber optics cabling like, Japan, Germany and the US.

I will agree that their paint is less than desired but I will sacrifice that for a well engineered engine and a great AWD system.

Their interior is decent enough for their cost, are you forgetting this is a 24-30k car. Heck even a Corvette has horribly flimsy and cheep interior and they are over twice the cost.
 
#20 ·
nSj77h said:
........why?
For all the things mentioned before.

Crappy paint quality, expensive cars, interior rattles, piss-poor customer service, ghetto dealerships, poor shifting, crappy stock tires, bad customer service, bad customer service, bad customer service.

I want an AWD performance car, or at least a performance car. I don't want an expensive rattle machine.
 
#21 ·
TacticalNuke said:
For all the things mentioned before.

Crappy paint quality, expensive cars, interior rattles, piss-poor customer service, ghetto dealerships, poor shifting, crappy stock tires, bad customer service, bad customer service, bad customer service.

I want an AWD performance car, or at least a performance car. I don't want an expensive rattle machine.
You said it brotha!

All in all, my wrx has been good to me.. I really cannot complain. It is decently fast, handles well, does good in snow (with the $400 tires I had to buy to replace the sh!tty stock ones), and is all around fun to drive. However, I find myself not being nearly as impressed by the wrx as I used to be. I mean as a stock car, the suspension is "so-so" and the power is decent enough to have fun with, but you have so many other cars that are faster and cars that you would never expect to be faster up top that certainly are.

Would I buy another Subaru? Probably not. I doubt I would get another WRX, and for me, if I were going to drop $30k+ on an STi I want a car that offer more refinement and class... and for me, the LGT is not quite what it should be. Perhaps is Subaru builds smoother trannies, gets better customer service, nicer dealerships, and can get their cars to break 20mpg then perhaps I would consider one if the future. They are built well, and damn reliable.... but just do not offer everything I would want in a car these days.



 
#22 ·
Since im in the poisition right now to buy another car, I may or may not.
I dont drive enough to have terrible complaints. My 2.5 year old wrx has 14k on it. The dealer prolly is the worst thing since jiffy lube, but a local tuning shop solves that problem. My dealer is good on warranty work, however the customer service is terrible. My new parts come in and I dont even get a call to tell me their in. They assume I know when things are coming in. O well, that stuff is free anyway. Not hurting my pocket any further.
 
#23 ·
slothy2020 said:
Todays hybrid vehicles are utter crap,
I disagree. The Toyota offerings, for example, are very strong IMO (Prius/Highlander). The Civic is the most transparent hybrid yet from what I can tell, as all I have to go on is whether there is an emblem in the back -- to the casual observer, the car is just like any other. Except (!!!) it pollutes less, goes farther on a tank of fuel, incorporates forward (or at least sideways) thinking, and taxes the environment less than my Impreza.

it’s a good concept but they are not nearly as efficient as the hype says they are.
One issue is the manner in which the EPA estimates mileage; this had been done using thermodynamics (fuel in, exhaust gas out) rather than a more direct approach. With a single motor type, this works well enough to get an estimate; however, when combining two motors and having one not produce any exhaust gases or consume any petrol, the calculations are off.

To judge a company for not developing one like Toyota, Honda and Ford is crazy. Seeing that Subaru is not even 1/10 the size and budget of the three companies you named with these first attempt hybrid.
Subaru will be judged against the firms that they (Subaru) chose to compete with, inevitably. If they cannot compete, they cannot compete, and any number of excuses, be it their size or their myopia, are just that -- excuses. Where is their hatchback offering? Where is their city car? Where is an all-new Justy, either AWD or FWD, to compete with the small Hondas, Toyotas, even Suzukis?

Its like getting mad at Mexico for not installing fiber optics cabling like, Japan, Germany and the US.
It is a matter of commitment. To use your example, consider that Korea has more widespread broardband access than the US, a country many times their size and GNP... Subaru are capable of very good designs and very progressive concepts, but they have not been showing this lately. Take the new WRX, for example. Since the days of Daimler it has been evident that increasing displacement increases torque and smooths power delivery. Big deal. Can they make a new motor, just as tractable as the old 2.0L, but with LESS displacement than the 2.0L? Anyone can get better characteristics with 500 additional cc; how about 200 (I am not saing 500, I am being generous) LESS? No? Why not? Why not put the energy into a more efficient motor with the same, if not better, delivery characteristics? Where is the innovation in simply adding discplacement?

I will agree that their paint is less than desired but I will sacrifice that for a well engineered engine and a great AWD system.
OK but you should not have to. I have two other cars much older than my Impreza, by two different makers, and both cars have better finish than my Impreza. Why not paint the car with some thought put into the materials and methods?

Their interior is decent enough for their cost, are you forgetting this is a 24-30k car.
I recall the cost clearly; that is part of the reason I am so critical of them. It IS a $25K USD car.

Suffice it to say that they need to improve their motors and their finish if they want another $25 from me. The Impreza is a very good car, but it has several points which I find annoying. I might forgive them in a sub-$20K car, especially if someone else paid the sub-$20K, but for my $25K they are going to get an earful at every chance. They deserve it, after all; without customer feedback, how are they going to improve?
 
#24 ·
DTR rex said:
You said it brotha!

All in all, my wrx has been good to me.. I really cannot complain. It is decently fast, handles well, does good in snow (with the $400 tires I had to buy to replace the sh!tty stock ones), and is all around fun to drive. However, I find myself not being nearly as impressed by the wrx as I used to be. I mean as a stock car, the suspension is "so-so" and the power is decent enough to have fun with, but you have so many other cars that are faster and cars that you would never expect to be faster up top that certainly are.

Would I buy another Subaru? Probably not. I doubt I would get another WRX, and for me, if I were going to drop $30k+ on an STi I want a car that offer more refinement and class... and for me, the LGT is not quite what it should be. Perhaps is Subaru builds smoother trannies, gets better customer service, nicer dealerships, and can get their cars to break 20mpg then perhaps I would consider one if the future. They are built well, and damn reliable.... but just do not offer everything I would want in a car these days.
Ditto on a lot of the things you've mentioned. It's not that I'm looking to sell it tomorrow (though I will be selling it in June for a personal reason I will post about sometime), but it's just not something I'mg going to buy again. It's kinda like that b!tchy hoe you dated one time. You learned a lot from it and as long as you come out alive, you realize it's something you had to go through and you're better because of it.

I know I would never settle for just the WRX again, and there are quite a bit of cars that can be had for $32K. I'm not totally sure what I'd go with for that money, but I have a few ideas.

I'd like to think I'm too picky and that's why I have problems with the WRX and Subaru, but it goes well beyond that. It's like you feel let down, like you were ripped off. It's still a nice car to drive, but it doesn't have that get in, sit down, and hold on feeling that it used to. It's not just getting used to the engine power.

I think having a BMW, specifically, would possibly give me that feeling. Sure, they're more expensive, but you do get what you pay for in that instance. There's something about turning on my old man's BMW that sends shivers down my spine. Perhaps I'll end up having complaints with that car, but at least I'll know everything will be taken care of in the swiftest and most professional way possible. And the paint on his 2 year-old 325xi is still in phenomenal shape. I've looked it over for chips, scratches, fading, etc. and have been hard-pressed to find some. This is also a car that isn't washed religiously either, as he has better things to do with his time (or so he says, I can think of no better way to spend time).

I have a very hard time loving a car that has a rattle the stealership says they can't find the location of, paint that's chipping and fading, a molasses-filled transmission, crappy tires and all the other fun things we love about the WRX.

W00t, rant over. :)
 
#25 ·
I said it before and I will stick with it that hybrids are a crap in their present state, they need much improvement to be the environment savior some hope they will be. Honda, ford and VW have standard cars that emit almost no pollution and get great gas mileage. (and doesn’t need a $2000 battery every 2-3 years)

IMHO, I am not worried about the emissions of cars 5 years or newer. Factories, tractor trailers, and the POS cars that I see on the freeways are the real danger. I rather see money going into hybrid tractor trailers. I would also like to see the government make driving more of a privilege than a right and make it harder for old broke down crap piles stay on the road.

25K is a low-mid level car not meant to be luxurious, most cars in this price range use the same materials for the interior have the same rattles. With my WRX I have had absolutely no rattles or interior issues. (maybe I’m lucky) This car had what I expect for the price range. In some ways it excided it, very few cars come with 6 disc changers at this price.

I 100% agree companies need customer feed back, and you have some valid points for improvement. It would be nice if they had a city car for the states, but that’s our fault for buying SUVs and big V8’s for so many years.
 
#26 ·
slothy2020 said:
IMHO, I am not worried about the emissions of cars 5 years or newer. Factories, tractor trailers, and the POS cars that I see on the freeways are the real danger. I rather see money going into hybrid tractor trailers. I would also like to see the government make driving more of a privilege than a right and make it harder for old broke down crap piles stay on the road.
That's an interesting point. In our great state, lawmakers have been unable to pass a law that mandates tarps for gravel trucks, much less stricter emissions control. Either one is a nuisance for me, but the tarps at the very least would have saved me a windscreen and several chips of the dozens my nose has...

25K is a low-mid level car not meant to be luxurious, most cars in this price range use the same materials for the interior have the same rattles. With my WRX I have had absolutely no rattles or interior issues. (maybe I’m lucky) This car had what I expect for the price range. In some ways it excided it, very few cars come with 6 disc changers at this price.
I think you've been fortunate. There are several pieces that are known to rattle, like the trim piece closest to the windscreen and a large plastic piece in the rear, on the right side behind the rear door, or the driver's seat belt that squeaks. In the US, we are all somewhat fortunate. Despite a poor economy, the average person can buy a car with only 1 year's income. Still, $25K is a good chunk of change, and I think a car costing that much such have interior quality comparable to, if not better than, a Honda Civic costing half as much. Ironically, in my particular car, the 6-disc changer you mentioned buzzes and rattles -- I think it's the face plate piece that shoes the frequency or disc number...

I 100% agree companies need customer feed back, and you have some valid points for improvement. It would be nice if they had a city car for the states, but that’s our fault for buying SUVs and big V8’s for so many years.
They used to make an absolutely brilliant, minimalist 600cc city car. As a matter of fact, every single Subaru I've seen that is below 1,000 cc, I have really liked. Are they exciting? No, not usually. But for minimalist motoring, for getting to work and making the least mess and costing the least, they were absolutely great. These never came to the US I don't think, and the truth is that the realities of the US are different. The distances here are huge, and the motorways almost demand at least 1.5L motors. Still, they could stuff the 1.6L they saddle the (heavy...) Impreza with in other markets into a Justy-sized vehicle, and I would seriously consider buying one -- even factoring in a $200 bargain-basement paint job from the maestro, Earl Sheib. What better for $3/gallon gas and traffic jams?

I don't mean to come across as totally negative. My bugeye was and is a brilliant car. The headlamps and nose arrangement not only remind me of the 1963 model Subaru, they mirror the air vents and clock pod on the dashboard inside. The motor is INCREDIBLY easy on oil, reflecting careful thought and design (the oil analysis numbers I've gotten indicate IMO that the motor ought to last indefinitely...). Everything on the car seems designed to come apart relatively easily, to help repairs and maintenance. There is a LOT of thought in the bugeye car.

This is what I expect and demand of them. I didn't buy any other car, I bought this specific car because I expect and demand the most from them. Whether it's reasonable or not, that's whay I want. Innovation. It's just disappointing when I see it elsewhere and not from them. I would like to buy a B9 for my wife, but the Highlander is quieter, has a more tractable motor, and comes as a hybrid. All this makes it difficult to suggest the B9 seriously. As for the paint, it's just silly how frail the finish is on 02 models at least.

Subaru was/is the "other" Saab -- a symbol of people that think differently, a symbol of well-meaning dorkiness at times. I think reliability, innovation, ruggedness, and progressive thinking ought to remain their hallmark, as that IMO is what got them where they are.

On another note, this Cabernet has a kick to it that I'm just noticing...
 
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