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Comments
Eddie Bauer was once the same as well; now it's just an extension of the Spiegel mail-order catalog.
This morning I saw a Buick Regal with a strange diamond-shaped logo on the taillight. Closer inspcetion revealed it to be a "Joseph Abboud Edition" model. Now I have to wonder what kind of market research led GM to conclude that Abboud buyers would also buy Buicks. (I will avoid the obvious jokes re Buick editions and products used by seniors.)
I've always been a little leery of designer "editions" going back to the days of the Bill Blass, Cartier, and Emilio Pucci Lincolns. Subaru and L.L.Bean make more sense to me, but I'm surprised that there's not more name recognition of that brand in Canada, given how close Bean's HQ in Freeport, Maine is to the Canadian border.
Ed
Ken
I like the LL Bean models but perhaps that's because I was familiar with that place even before they had a relationship with Subaru. At one store in VA they supposedly have a test pond where you can even test a fly.
-juice
Now if we had a Mountain Equipment Co-op around here, that'd be great. Until they sell out too...
Steve, Host
Sorry about your loafers Colin. How did your rim situtation turn out, BTW?
tom
I slosh out of the ol' Dodge quite regularly, only because there's no tube - just tank. Gotta be fleet on your feet!
Cheers!
Paul
Are they now recognized for their products or the scantily dressed females in their catalogs???
Jim
And they cost a small fortune.
-juice
~c
Sorta like if Subie ever starts selling re-badged GM's. ;-)
-juice
Patti
The greasy/oily look is beyond me, though.
~Colin
has had a few girlfriends in the 21-22 range
They also think that wearing boots and mitts and tuques looks stupid. But when I see them freezing to death in -20C while waiting for the school bus, I know what looks more stupid...
As far as I concerned this shows a total lack of respect for the people who paid good monet for a show.
Cheers Pat.
Craig
Is there a course of action I can take with Subaru? Although I have not paid for any of the repairs (it is under warranty), I believe this car will continue breaking down. I was told you were the subaru representative in this forum.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
I have taken care of this car. All maintenance work has been done according to the required schedule by my subaru dealer except the last oil change. There is no issue with the amount of oil in the car.
Thank you
I'm sorry about the issues, but you can count on us to do our best to make things right.
Patti
I sent the information you had requested through Subaru.com.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks again for your assistance.
We, too, had all sorts of trouble with our 2001 manual L model. Almost from the start, we had problems with shudder and gear grinding/engagement. Since 2001, we've gone through four new clutches, two TSB services and a total transmission replacement. They were all covered under warranty, but not without a lot of grief, letters to Subaru headquarters and, most recently, a month of the Forester being in the shop.
When the transmission started grinding again last week (six weeks after the transmission replacement), we called the dealer (an hour and a half away) and were told that maybe we should get a local mechanic to look at it at our expense. The shifter was actually frozen (definitely not temperature-related in south Georgia) in place for two days. We called Subaru HQ, and the representative said we should get the vehicle towed to a Subaru dealer, and maybe SOA would reimburse us for the $250 tow charge. The representative got a little testy when I asked at what point a vehicle could be considered a lemon. He refused to offer any help with a trade-in or some other token of goodwill to compensate us for lost time with the vehicle and rental car costs. The vehicle's obviously defective; all I want is something I won't have to put in the shop all the time.
Anyway, we weren't looking forward to yet another month without a vehicle, so the day after Thanksgiving, we went to the local Honda dealer and traded in the Forester for a new Honda Accord EX V6 coupe, which, with its traction control, handles the wet stuff as well as all-wheel drive, thank you very much. The fit and finish on my Honda ($27,210 MSRP, even though I paid FAR less) are far superior to the fit and finish on the 2005 Subarus with MSRPs hitting the mid 30s. Scheduled maintenance is also a lot less frequent and costly.
We've owned four Subarus, and we have had no problems with our 2001 Outback Limited Sedan, which we hope to keep for another five or six years. But there must be some sort of curse on Foresters. I know I won't be getting another Forester. Depending on how my Honda and my remaining Outback experiences play out, we might be leaving the Subaru fold entirely. How long can it be before there's an AWD hybrid Accord? That AWD Acura RL sure does look nice ...
I'll have to strongly disagree on this one -- we spent plenty of time test driving Accords when shopping for my wife's car recently, and the interior styling and fit and finish were definitely a notch below the 05 Legacy/Outback and the Acura TSX she ultimately bought. In fact, one of the things we disliked about the Accord was the interior, and it was nice to see the Japanese-built TSX had better styling, fit/finish, and quality.
I also think you are confused about traction control. It will definitely prevent wheelspin, but it does this at the expense of forward motion. It basically uses the brakes and/or cuts engine power to prevent wheelspin. While better than nothing, it's a long way from AWD. I am not putting traction control down (my wife's TSX has it) but just calling it like it is. If traction control were a true panacea, Honda wouldn't offer AWD models in it's lineup! In reality, traction control is a simple, inexpensive, and effective way to enhance traction (it uses the ABS sensors the car already has) but it is no substitute for AWD!
Craig
I've seen trim pieces that didn't fit well and headliners that were hanging down.
So I think that the quality of the products coming out of the Indiana plant is uneven.
Sly.
YMMV, but overall it's a very reliable vehicle. A few exceptions don't change that.
Traction control tries to make the most of what traction is available.
AWD increases the amount of traction available.
Between the two I'll pick the latter.
One magazine found that AWD with all seasons was more effective than traction control and snow tires combined.
-juice
That might actually be the other way around -- my understanding is that winter tires have the largest effect, followed by AWD, and then traction control.
Craig
Mind you, they said AWD with good all seasons...
-juice
I would gladly take real winter tires over AWD. ...however I happen to have both.
~Colin
Bob
they wear fairly fast because the tread is very soft. they also aren't very sporty because of a great deal of tread squirm.
I despise all-season tires because they don't do anything well. I use summer tires in the summer and winter tires in the winter. I did get through the past two winters with a Taurus SHO on really cheap all-seasons, though-- it's not like it's so dangerous you are guaranteed to have problems. Driving sensibly and with appropriate winter experience is the most critical thing, of course, above even tires and AWD.
~Colin
IIRC. Rochester gets lots of snow in the winter, and I thoroughly agree with Colin, all seaon tires do nothing particalarly well.
Cheers Pat.
SO what prompted your move to Rochester?
Craig
If you ever decide to give us another shot with a new Subaru, please call us first. I'll be in a different job at that point, but you can ask the Rep. to call me anyway. I'd love to make things right, but unfortunately, I know it is a bit late for that now. I would welcome the opportunity though!
Thanks and again, I'm sorry!
Patti
So do you teach? What field? I taught Math at William & Mary for a few years before going full time into research at NASA.
Feel free to answer over in "Meet the Members" so that we don't tie up Patti's forum any more :-)
Craig
Rochester gets tons of snow, right?
The problem I see with snows is that you have to mount them, and I mean the surprise storms you get in early December or late March. The DC area has had a couple of blizzards in March, and by then you would most definitely have removed your snows!
-juice
BTW - checked treadwear when I pulled the Potenza's off the OBW - I'll bet she'll get 35k out of them with no problem. On the other hand, I'll bet I won't see 25k with the F-XT's GEO's.
Hint - if you're looking for steel rims check e-Bay if Tirerack doesn't have them. Found two of three sets there. Also, sometimes the dealers hang on to steel rims when customers upgrade their wheels when they take delivery. Got the Forester rims from a dealer in NJ, got the Hyundai rims from a dealer in NY, both via e-Bay, and got the OBW rims from Tirerack.
Ditto the advice about practicing in the snow as soon as you can. Even with a Subaru's AWD you'll be surprised by how things can go bad in a hurry if you don't know what to expect. Driving in snow is a learned trait, IMHO.
Larry
Haven't heard from the dealer.
I'll till I'm contacted.
fbk
I wonder, because DC's blizzards have come very late.
-juice
March 17th. My daughter's birthday. :-)
DaveM
AWD with all-season tires BEAT front wheel drive with winter tires.
I always bragged about that to my friends and it is the reason I have never bothered to buy winter tires, so I know Juice is right.
AWD with winter tires is, of course, the ultimate.
-juice
-Frank
And the scenario Frank describes is true, but it would only occur if the driver makes a mistake in judgement and is driving too fast for conditions, i.e. you should drive slower knowing you do not have snow tires.
-juice
Steve
Looks like I need to get snow tires. They are so expensive!! Some of you said that they wear faster. How many miles do you expect them to last for?
If I show this discussion to my wife she will make me buy them.
Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get the service coupons from Subaru? I mailed in copies of the purchase paperwork along with the coupon exactly a month ago today but haven't heard a word from SOA. Any infor would be appreciated as my 7500 mi service is due soon.
Warren
So it all depends upon what you need to do and how much time you have available to do it. FWIW I drove for about 28 years with rear wheel drive vehicles that sometimes had snow tires, sometimes not, and front wheel drive vehicles with just all season tires and never got myself into a problem.
So snows aren't as much of a necessity for those of us who've been driving in the snowbelt for years, but for anyone just starting out, and with a good car they want to protect, they're a wise choice.
HTH
Larry