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New girl from Boston

6K views 90 replies 24 participants last post by  rage-wrx 
#1 ·
Hey there WRX owners, my name is Brittany and I do not currently own a WRX, yet, but decided it would be beneficial to join your forum and learn from everyone's experiences. I currently own a 03 Mitsubishi Eclipse and am part of their forum club3g.com, so I understand the basics of how the forum works. If anyone wants to point me in the direction of which section will educate me about the best model and options that would be appreciated! Thanks a lot in advance everyone! :wave:
 
#59 ·
hehe.. I like to joke about my hatch being the "shaggin wagon" vs "daddy wagon" though I've been known to call it either one depending on who's harassing me about it.

I've brought all kinds of stuff home in it and more than a few times had my x's 90lb american bulldog calling dibs on the rear seat area (seats folded down) along with our gear in the very back. All of us fit comfy on a few trips from Virginia Beach to Albany NY and back.





I do highly recommend you get a doggy hammock or something along those lines or you'll have doggy fuzz all over the car in short order. GS's are better at hair clean up vs the abd's.. but.. vacuuming up doggy fuzz is no fun either way you shake it.

Love my hatch :D
 
#62 · (Edited)
The GSD is the worst breed in terms of shedding I have ever seen. For perspective, I have owned up to four dogs simultaneously and attend at least one dog show or trial a month - usually two or more.

Get a cover for the rear cargo area of the hatch and get the bumper protector. Also get a crate for the GSD. It is not safe to have the GSD free in the car and the seatbelt attachments are not practical in my experience.

Edit: For less shedding from a dog stiil suitable for agility, herding, or schutzhund you could consider a malinois. Smaller than a GSD by the standards. Different personalities too though. I would still get the hatch and a crate anyway.
 
#63 ·
I've owned 3 GSD. All of which had no real shedding issues. As long as you groom them, they're just like any other dog. As far as the crate thing goes... no. I am a pretty firm believer of not caging up an animal in a small pin. I have grown up in Tx my whole life and have realized if you "respect" a dog more, and let the dog be free and dog-like (well disciplined of course), they will in turn look up to your more as their owner and friend.
 
#65 ·
I fully support crating dogs...certain types of breeds need it.
 
#64 ·
The crate is more to keep them from flying around the car in an accident. Its a good Idea.. but in a smaller vehicle like ours and with a large breed dog its really hard to do AND give them enough room to move around comfortably. For traveling in Elise's car (00 accord) we actually had a harness for CJ that strapped into the seat belt. He could sit and look out the window or lie down comfortably while we were on trips. Would have used it in the wrx but he managed to chew it apart a few days before the trip. .. he was good for stuff like that. Best behaved dog I've ever had, but wicked separation anxiety problems. lol.. anything that smelled like us that he could get to while we weren't home he'd either hide.. or chew on.

He traveled really well though. In the position he was in the pic I posted he had a panoramic view of everything going on around the car. He was quite pleased about that :D
 
#66 · (Edited)
If you let the dog be free and dog like in the car it will become a 40 kg projectile in the event of an accident and will be injured, injure you, both, or worse. This has to do with physics rather than philosophy. There are some local orgs that at one point lobbied for mandatory restraints for dogs in cars and they made very valid points IMO.

You allow yourself the benefit of a safety system despite the potential of a restraint somehow becoming dehumanizing. I would consider allowing your canine companion a similar benefit. They cannot be free and dog like if they are not alive after an incident.

I still prefer the hatch because five doors are better than four.


I do envy your low-shed GSDs though as I have never met one.
 
#67 ·
it will become a 40 kg projectile in the event of an accident and will be injured, injure you, both, or worse. This has to do with physics rather than philosophy.
This goes for nonliving cargo as well.. Cant see from the pic but If I have the seats down I strap everything in with cambuckle tie downs. Was a passenger in a buddies truck and we lost the LF tire .. rappid deflation, likely a blow out.. but he couldn't correct the truck veering off the road and into the ditch (winter time, plowed right into like 5ft of snow in the ditch.. we went from 40 or so to 0 just about immediately). His tool box that was in the far back (fullsize bronco) wasn't strapped down and on its way through the truck it broke the corner of my seat and damn near dislocated my shoulder before going through the windshield. .. after that, I strap or bolt EVERYTHING down.. Sedan owners aren't exempt here either. I've seen more than a few wrecked cars where stuff blew through the back seats and into the passenger compartment because loose and not properly secured.
 
#69 ·
Never in my life have a met people who strap down object inside of a car. Haha. Maybe that's because i'm small town/country raised. Only thing we ever strap down is usually objects in the back of a truck which could fly out due to wind resistance. Other than that, nope, never. I doubt I'll strap much down inside of a car too (objects that is, people of course need seatbelts). lol. We'll just call this "to each their own".
 
#71 ·
You'd be surprised at what can cause your death if its not strapped down and you crash your car. A large dog could easily be the deadly force.
 
#70 ·
True story:

A friend of mine was working with his grandfather moving some furniture. After loading the truck, they both thought the other had secured the load. My buddy was driving down the freeway and lost a shelving unit out the back, causing the car behind him to swerve and was hit by another car. The driver of the swerving car was killed on the spot. He was a husband and father of 5. See the article here: 2 sentenced after loose truck load caused fatal crash | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News | Local & Regional

I make sure to secure everything when driving my truck. It doesn't take much time to throw a web-style bed net on before heading out. You never know, it could prevent what happened to my buddy.
 
#72 ·
Besides, the initial reason given against a crate was for the dog's sake, when in fact the dog is hopefully (for the humans, not the dog) going to be the only mammal in the vehicle without any benefit of a safety device - no belt, no nothing. The humans will be strapped in, the dog won't. Even if the dog does not hurt a human occupant, it can still itself be hurt.
 
#75 ·
You guys have a really good point. I didn't realize how dangerous things in the trunk can be until a couple of weeks ago. Was riding in the back seat in my friend's A3. He had a car battery in the trunk. He had to slam on the breaks and the battery hit my seat. It hurt and it didn't even go through. I can't imagine if we were in a crash and that battery just flew through the car.
 
#77 ·
A small rubbermaid container, or something similar, is a gret thing to have. Especially for me when I go to the beach all the time it keeps the sand out of my trunk.
 
#79 ·
White, hands down. Looks the best and doesn't show the scratches and chips that Subaru paint seems to get just from looking at them too hard.
 
#81 ·
Go with World Rally Blue. WRB for life!

The paint on the hoodscoop of my 2002 started chipping and flaking off about 6 months ago but that's after 149k miles. Even with that many miles, the WRB is still an eye catcher. Very nice to look. It is, IMO, a little more of a cop target just because it literally grabs your eyes. (Maybe that is just me because I own one...)

I used to work at BMW of Seattle and Mercedes was right across the street. It always amazed (and disappointed me) that most of the cars came in either silver, white, grey, black or slightly different shades of each. There's already way too many neutral colored cars out there. The WRX should stand out. That's just my opinion and no offense to the owners of white, silver and black WRXs. They're awesome too:thumbup:!!
 
#82 ·
Ya I'm a fan of the blue. I have recently grown to liking white with black accessories. But, I agree and love how the blue jst stands ot like no other. Chad likes black more than I do, my dad has a black Corvette and we just can't seem to keep it clean, EVER
 
#83 ·
White is best!
 
#85 ·
Black is suck.

They should bring back sonic yellow. I don't think it would look the same on the newer models though.
 
#87 ·
If you are talking about the 2011 then

Like Subaru says-"Subaru, rattling you since 1983."

Also ,some experience a crazy turn signal issue.So far nothing else has been reported other than some strange sounds & smells.
 
#91 ·
The paint is pretty bad.The colors are great but quality of the paint is terrible.Breath on it and you might scratch it.It is inevitable.Rocks on the highway put dents in your paint but even minor mishaps can cause scratches.Which is why I got a clear bra.
 
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