Admittedly, manual transmissions are a drag in stop-and-go traffic.
(Calvin and Hobbes) G.R.O.S.S. = Get Rid Of Slimy girlS
Happy owner of a 2002 Legacy Outback, 6 cyl, auto trans. We LOVE this car, plan to drive it forever or die trying.
I’m still driving a '97 Scooby Doo (Liberty Heritage sedan) that I got in 2003. Fantastic car, every who drives it loves it. My parents bought a 2011 Liberty based on their experience in mine but they still like mine better for comfort and handling.
My daughter is still driving her 1996 Impreza. She bought it new. We spent a month in a huge parking lot teaching her to drive the manual trans. I didn’t think the clutch would survive it. But it did. Doesn’t have much poop. If you want to pass a car, you have to turn off the ac. But it has been a great machine.
One of my most favourite cars I’ve owned was a 1985 Subie wagon I bought at barely a year old in 1986. Bullet-proof and awesome in the snow. Drove it for years.
I’ve been pondering getting a newer-used Subie wagon this summer - what years or models should I avoid?
**We are the Levorg from the planet Urabus. **
I’m super pissed about this too. I’ve been hankering for a WRX wagon for like a decade and I was going to buy myself one after the bar exam - and now I can’t. Maybe I can swing an Audi S4 (hah!)
I, too, waited the better part of a decade to buy a WRX and now it’s looking like the last car I’ll buy.
In addition to the eyewatering price tag, you are aware that the S4 Avant (wagon) is not available in the US, right? No worries though, Audi will gladly sell us yokels an Allroad instead. It compares favorably to the WRX in all the ways that matter: 50 less HP, 980 pounds heavier, all for only $15k more.
Yeah, that was the “hah!” part. They did sell them here up to the mid-2000s so maybe I’ll just buy an old one.
Yes, it is coming to the US as well. A wagon version is not coming to anywhere, however. And that’s all that matters.
Anyone ever owned a Subaru Brat? You know, the little mini-pickup thing with the rear-facing seats in the bed with the handgrips built in? I think that was the predecessor to the Baja, which looks almost the same but nixes the seats in the bed.
I always wondered what those were like.
I was sad the day I had to get rid of my 95 Impreza because the repairs needed to get it pass inspection, along with its other problems, wasn’t worth the cost. I now have a new used 2009 Forester Limited that seems to be worth the money. I still miss the little Impreza, but I needed something with more capacity than the wagon body.
What I really wanted was the old Outback design, which was just the Legacy wagon with an options package. Can’t get that anymore and I didn’t like the new Outback design when I test drove it. Or even an Outback Sport, which again you can’t get because of marketing departments and their goddamned “crossover” category.
Awful
The Outback Sport was just the name they gave to the 5 door Impreza with the base engine for a while. Sometimes it had some extra cosmetic stuff, but mechanically it was an Impreza wagon. So you can still buy a new “Outback Sport”, it’s just called the “Impreza Sport” now.
Probably the #1 thing I look for in a car, myself.
I would think the Crosstrek now fills that role.
I think so. I recall that the old Outback “Sport” had slightly more ground clearance than the stock Impreza, as the Crosstrek does now (but the “Impreza Sport” does not.)
I must respectfully disagree. The Outback Sport is still in the lineup, with a new name- the Impreza Sport. They are both just somewhat confusing names for the 5 door Impreza. Interestingly, the claimed extra .2 inches of ground clearance in the Outback Sport appears to have been due entirely to being fitted with 17" wheels instead of 16".
Interesting. Do we have a cite on this? (Not particularly important, just curious).
For sure, the old Outback Sport was at least marketed as more off-road capable than the stock Impreza, which the current Impreza Sport is not, as far as I can tell. But the Crosstrek is.