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Comments
Just from personal experience, I've heard more complaints of clutch chatter or weak clutches than I have about any problems with the automatics. Then again, maybe I'm hanging around in the Mods topic too much with auto crossers that drive 5 speeds.
BTW, I put my wife in a Bean, and she's just not into luxury right now. Weird 'cause she was last time we car shopped. She wants to try an L 5 speed. She also liked the CR-V better than the Highlander, go figure. I felt the opposite way.
We didn't have time to test drive the Subies - it was 10pm! But we'll try them Friday.
A 6 speed manual H6 combo would be a no-brainer. We'd get that all the way. Maybe in a GT.
-juice
I'm not sure how a shorter 1st gear would help with the chatter. I think it actually might make it worse since you'd be pumping even more torque at the pressure plate.
Ken
Yes my dream car is the H6 in a Titanium Pearl MANUAL GT wagon. I love SilverStone but the metallics on Subarus chip something aweful! Our 1996 L was wintergreen and after 3 years she looked like she had the worse case of ache ever! All the pearl really last great. If that car comes out, or should I say when, I would be able to stop myself from trading in the Bean. I think 2004 models(just 14 month's away)will have that engine! I bet ya!!
I wish I could overcome my Impreza heartache. At the dealer today, when getting the spoiler installed, i saw the WRX's and the OBS's. I liked the white OBS best! Same color as my ex-OBS and I love the light grey interior!
Trying hard to become a Legacy person after 5 years of owning 3 Impreza's. It is larger, safer and better for our family, so that is why we bought it. I will let you know how the spoiler looks. Just $250 for the spoiler plus the Dealer install. They come painted now!
Heather
The OB is a nice car, so to both of you, Enjoy!
Mark
The pre-2K Deep Sapphire looks blue'r.
-Dave
-juice
Greg
I was leaning toward the Forester back then but after test-driving the two, I knew the Outback was for me. Although the Forester was more "fun" to drive, the comfort level and layout of the interior of the Outback was much better(IMHO).
Happy Outback owner, Larry
I am getting more and more used to my Timberline Green Bean. She is really spunky! I like her light leather seats and he premium sound. I love the momo steering wheel and the off the line power! If she was a manual I'd be on happy person right now. Will I ever adapt to an automatic?
Heather
mike k
Kim
I believe grey interiors were also available with White (in 2001) but white would not be my first choice for keeping clean during Midwest winters.
Rob: not sure I agree with widwest winters and color. White actually stays fairly clean looking under all that white salt. Even my blue OB is mostly white by the end of the week :0 My first car was a white Ford Escort. It stayed cleaner than any dark colored car.
--jay
Heather
BTW, BLACK OUTBACKS RULE!!!!! LOL!!!!
Greg
I'll start- 2000 base OB in Deep Sapphire Blue, only 27050 miles.
Mark
-Brian
2002- Timberline Green L.L.Bean
This area (Northern CA) has over 75% Wintergreen and White.
Heather
Heather
deep sapphire blue
8400 miles
I also got the blue color because of the dark grey interior .
mike k
I found one of those "your speed is" signs and tried it at various speeds.
25 on the speedo was 23 on the sign.
35 on the speedo was 32 on the sign.
this does seem like 6-8% error, which does cheat us all on the warranty. I bet all Bean OB 02's are like this.
Did anyone take this problem to their dealer?
This explains why I have been surprised that everyone here in NJ is going 80 mph with me, on route 78. They really are going 73-75 mph!
Andy
'98 Forester L Acadia Green Metallic, Beige interior
'02 Legacy L Wagon Wintergreen, Medium Gray Moquette interior
Yep, that 2nd one we just picked up today! If you want to read the whole story, well, read all the posts in Subaru Crew for the past 2 years! But the test drive story is in Meet the Members.
We love the gray. We were both tired of beige and really wanted a change of scenery, so this was just the ticket. The fabric is soft, comfy, seems durable.
Paid just $17,827 plus tax. Better yet, no fees or add-ons. They even let us put $3 grand on a credit card, so we'll get 1% back on that, or $30. :-)
Now that is value that cannot be beat, period. The Camry LE we looked at, with no ABS, no AWD, no temp gauge, no wagon bodystyle, no rear disc brakes, and lots of other missing features ran $17,999 at the same dealership.
Did I mention we got 6 free oil changes and a free service loaner for life? And that price included carpets and keyless entry. It even had pinstripes but they did not charge us (I may remove them, not sure).
A CR-V EX would have been $22k and added only a moonroof in terms of significant features. Plus it didn't feel as substantial. The Highlander I liked (she didn't) ran $26k and up.
We also drove a Bean, and Heather, you have GOT to learn to appreciate that thing! Man, it is SWEET! The engine is so quiet you cannot hear it idle. I had to look at the tach. Even under acceleration it whispers! Sound insulation is fantastic. That thing spanks the Highlander silly in comparison. Much more refined power delivery, and so many features I forgot to even point half of them out to my wife! Loved those heated seats especially. She's pregnant so she was cranking the A/C, and probably could not appreciate them.
She went for the budget buy, so we chose the L 5 speed wagon. Still nice, refined and stiff chassis, roomy, quiet, torquey Phase II engine doesn't need to rev high to make power.
I like the Wintergreen, and would describe it as a mix of silver, gold, and green, metallic covered and clear coated. Very nice.
It was a great day. I am one very happy camper. Sandy has a new car-port-mate, and she's happy too. I think I'll give her a nice wash tomorrow so they match better.
:-)
-juice
Heather - wazis the brand new car? Aaargh in either case. Glad to hear you and yours were OK
I used the mile markers on the NYS Thruway as the basis for my calculations and found that the odometer reading was 2% high (50 actual miles registered 51 miles), and 5.2% low on the speedometer reading. I drove 50 miles at 70 mph and it took 45 minutes, 9 seconds which equals an actual speed of 66.4 mph. My tire pressures were at 32 psi which is a little higher than what is recommended, but it doesn’t seem that it would make that big a difference. I did this twice with the same results, but have not taken it back to the dealer yet.
I have used this method with several other vehicles and never had a significant error.
Very happy for you Juice! My choice was the L in SIlverstone manual, but hubby wanted that new H6 badly. I will grow to appreciate her more and more I am sure. Just not used to the automatic yet.
Heather
Glad your precious cargo wasn't scratched,
YetAnotherDave
Heather
I am new to this board.I have owned a 2000 OB
LTD/AT for 6 weeks and am in love with this car.
My previous vehicle was a 94 AT Grand Cherokee/RWD. This vehicle is wonderful compared
to the previous truck. I am single, with two
older labbies that love to come and play with
their mom....we do a few camping trips each year.
My OB wagon was purchased used. I bought with
leather seats. Where is the best recommended
spot to purchase the Subaru cargo mats that fit
in the way back/safety bars to keep the dogs from coming up into the back seat/roof rack
for additional storage and the cooler that plugs
into the cigarette lighters(I don't smoke-but
the cell phone charger does-LOL?)....
I have spent a quiet Saturday evening at home, sick and found this board...now will return to
reading about my favorite new type of vehicle.
I was turned onto this type of car by other
labby owners who have both multiple labs and
an OB wagon.....had to do it....my 12 year old
boy loves not having to jump into a truck any more....
Jane Harford
-Brian
Also Have anyone replaced the brake line with the metal ones by any chance? I read that the stock one is rubber and the metal ones are supposed to give you a better feeling and more stopping power.
00' Subaru Legacy GT wagon- Red with 31,000 miles on it.
While you are weighing that decision, two good sources of dog guards are http://www.subaruparts.com/ and
http://www.subaru-parts.com/
Welcome to these boards!
Steve
(single, non-smoking, outdoors-loving English setter owner, with no OB currently in his garage)
Bob
It is a pleasure to "meet" you.....and I even
own my own home(condo) that is which is also
very large dog friendly......
We live in Columbia, MD-halfway between Baltimore
and DC. I am happy to get to know other Subaru
owners.
I am going to look for more messages from you....
Jane, Levi(I am 11 years young-black male lab)
and Sandy(I am 5, yellow female and very spoiled).
For such a small state, Maryland is sure well represented here at the Subaru Crew! Bysides myself, there's juice (Potomac), Hutch (Jerritsville), Loosh (Baltimore), Chuck (tincup47) (somewhere in MD?), Mike Smith (Silver Spring), and Michael (declansdad) (Ellicott City).
Bob
that well represents our fair state.....
We'll have to meet up some time...that would
be fun....I do that already with my lab email
buddies frequently....
Jane
Last week, I traded-in one Subie for another:
1995 Legacy L 5-speed, spruce green, 65k
2001 L.L. Bean, wintergreen, 11k
I've been eyeing the new Legacy/Outbacks since they come out, and now I'm happy to say that I finally got one. I was looking at the Passat GLS 5-speed before digging deep down and realizing that I am a Subie Legacy/Outback person at heart. I have enjoyed my Bean so far. Plus we humans and our 3 doggies love the dual moonroofs.
Heather, I know what you mean about switching from 5-speed to automatic! I'm still adjusting to that and the much increased height of my Bean.
Here in North Florida, Subarus, especially Lecacys and Outbacks, are rare. So I smile with glee everytime my Bean gets oogles. In fact, right after leaving the dealer (Subaru of Tallahassee), we stopped by for dinner. We say two ladies strolling pass my new Bean; they must have liked it because they stood there for a few minutes looking at it, and even as they drove out of the parking lot, they slowed down when the passed by for one more look. Had several such incidences here in Tallahassee since then too.
What a contrast to more Northern and Western regions. We were in Albuquerque and Santa Fe two weeks back. In the hotel parking lot, literally every other car was a 2000+ Outback or Legacy, mostly in white!
I got my Bean from Subaru of Jacksonville, not Tally. We drove 2.5 hours to SoJax even though we have a local dealer in town and a few others within a 2-hour radius. I decided that SoJax knew their Subies, seemed reasonable and were friendlier.
I'm afraid I have been guilty of new car behavior lately, parking a mile off at the mall and such.
Glad it was only the bumper that got bashed up!
I crashed the old Camry once, lost a rear door and quarter panel and it just about made me feel sick to see her all bunged up, even though she was nearly 10 years old at the time. However, the repairs were top notch, so it worked out in the end.
Steve
I just locked myself out of the car yesterday at the fairgrounds. Wife and I went to meet friends to see the Cirqe du Soleil, got there late, hassled with the parking, and I managed to lock my keys in the car with the ignition still on and the engine running! (Yes, I'm a candidate for the boob-of-the-month club.)
While waiting around for AAA to arrive, I had plenty of time to consider the situation and try to come up with a reason. Placing my hand on the car, I couldn't feel ANY vibration at all! I could hear the exhaust purring, and the heat was very noticiable, but I couldn't feel anything while the engine was idling. With the AC on too. Wonderful.
Second nice thing was seeing how long it took the AAA tech to get into the car. This not being the first time I have had to call them to get into a locked car, I have watched before and been surprised how quickly one can get into a locked car without a key. Have even done it myself a couple of times on various cars. Not the Subaru! This guy worked for about 10 minutes trying to pry the window away from the door seals to slide his tool inside, without success. He finally got in at the bottom of the window, prying the window away from the door (or the door away from the window) enough to slide his tools inside to hit the power lock button and open the doors (and no damage to glass, seals, or paintwork).
My gripe (first for the Subaru after almost a year of ownership!): I remember now my Toyota power locks would not allow the door to lock when the door was open, and the ignition key was still in the ignition lock. The locks would just pop open again. Obviously this nice little feature is absent in our Subarus. Perhaps this would be a nice added feature in the future?
I'm using extra care to make sure I have my keys in my hand before I lock the doors now!
Steve
Luckily the boo-boo was made close to home.
To date I carry two keys; one technically attached to me at all times (i.e. pants).
-Dave
Also, where do you tie down the bow at the front the car? I have a rear hitch so that's no problem, but the front is more difficult as there are no readily apparent attachment points.
Thanks.
Will be good to know there is at least one other Bean in the area.. Take Care
Chuck B.