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Comments
also thinking about getting the Forester 2 cup holder for the rear, Subaruwrxparts.com say it definitely fits a WRX, just wrong color - only comes in grey. Anyone done that yet??I know some people have gone to England to get the WRX ones but thats a little excessive!
Whats the low down on the clutch shudder fix, seems some people are happy and some not so happy after the fix. Mine is getting to be a daily first thing in the morning thing.
Hmm, wish I could ride in a WRX with the mods to boost the low-end, wonder if it is enough for me...
-B
The fog lights, as is, don't do a whole lot, except light the area just in front of the car, so I figured I wasn't going to notice much difference - which I don't. It does alter the look of the car however, which you may or may not like. I think it looks cleaner with them on. I really got them after a rock decided to shatter the drivers side fog. I didn't want to have to go through the insurance claim again.
Of course, the next rock that decided to hit my car put a nice dent and scratch on the hood.
John
I have been extremely happy with the replacement. Not only do I no longer have any shuttering of my clutch, but the shifting has become much more smooth.
Anybody actually have either a subaru or hiddenhitch hitch on their wagon?
Don
A friend of mine picked them up a dealer for me in the UK, but SPI Motorsports carries them:
http://www.spimotorsports.com
He also picked up the rear cupholder for me as well. Some dealers might ship it. IIRC, someone purchased one here:
http://www.acekensington.co.uk/
Cost is 40 pounds and you can see it on subaru.co.uk. You can see the foglight covers there as well.
One of these days I'll take some pics.
-Dennis
Yikes!! can that be right? Looks like I'll putting in an order for those lenses ASAP.
I found that it's better not to use the tool, as I snapped one of the side clamps of the cover trying to force it in. It still holds pretty well even though it's broken.
As for the price of a new foglight, this is subaruparts.com price:
$115.60 Fog light assembly-front right
$115.60 Fog light assembly-front left
$15.20 Bulb-head & fog light h3,12v-55w
$6.24 Bracket-license lamp
$8.17 Bracket-fog light front right
$8.17 Bracket-fog light front left
$27.00 Socket complete-fog light front
So retail price + labor = expensive. :-)
-Dennis
John - are the STi mesh covers a glossy or matt black? My car is black anyway so I probably won't need to do any painting. I may get the replica ones which don't have the STi logo and are a hundred bucks cheaper!
Funny but clutch was ok today, but then it was also 80deg! When I go for a major service will have them check it out.
Seems like there's some gliche on SPI's OnLine Catalogue that I can't get my order through
-Dave
Anyone care to share their thoughts and experiences about the following?:
Short throw shifter - I figure this is unnecessary but might be nice(?) I've read that there might be some vibration issues with the unit.
Auto-dimming rear view mirror - Almost useless? I might be wrong - the WRX is low-slung and may be prone being blinded from behind by SUV headlights like my Civic Si was.
Alarm system - yuck. I hate these noisy things. Might be a nice break on the insurance though.
The rest of the equipment in the car is stuff I want (armrest, cargo goodies, crossbars).
I cannot wait to get my WRX!
-jim
premium sound still sucks in my not-so-humble opinion, but if you liked it in another soob on the lot then by all means... I'd personally save the money and install a real system, but then again I own a lot of $ worth of home and carfi, so is that a surprising opinion?
-Colin
Auto-dimming - I passed on that. Thought they were bulky and in the way of my line of sight. Remedied the SUV blinding with tints.
Alarm System - Like you said. But you can permanently silent arm/disarm. That's just about the only good thing about it, besides an insurance break.
Premium Sound - not the best, but tolerable.
-Dave
17000 miles on my 2002 5mt, and running strong! I just recently put in a K&N air filter and Continental ContiExtremeContact tires (16"), and loving it! You will too!
One suggestion to red owners: replace the stock orange corner markers with clear ones (~$30), it will improve the look of your vehicle dramatically.
It would be fun to know how many bug-eyed wagons total were produced for 02-03, and how many in each color. My guess--about 16,000 total (of which must be about 12,000 silver ones like mine ;-)
Auto-dim: It works well, but takes a second to react to bright headlights. If you are going to tint your windows (which would be a good idea with a wagon) then the mirror is a bit redundant.
Alarm: Might as well since the keyless entry that comes standard is more than half the alarm system anyway.
Ken
I hear what you're saying about going aftermarket with the stereo, but if there's one thing I know it's this: I will NEVER upgrade the audio system once I drive off the lot! I know this because it's been my intention on a number of vehicles I've owned and it simply has never happened. That goes for tinting, too.
I guess once I spend all that money on a new car I get cheap for a little while. During that period I learn to live with what I have and I never get around to customizing anything. At least I know that about myself and can take steps so I don't suffer with the stock audio system (as I am now with my Forester, which I intended to upgrade and never did - not even by adding the tweeters!)
So my motto is this: Older, wiser, and no customizer!
Sad but true.
-jim
I tried the regular shifter during my test drive and found it to be more than adequate. Actually, the whole car was perfect except for the color - black
I've had a black car before and no longer have the energy to keep one clean. Silver looks good dirty!
Dealer says the car should be there tomorrow barring any unforseen problems (they're swapping with another dealer so for all I know someone else bought my car tonight and is driving it home!). If all works out, I plan on taking the car for an extended test drive before purchasing it. One of the things I'll be looking for is the NVH coming through the STS. My Civic Si had a rather "communicative" shifter which I found to be acceptable. We'll see.
Thanks to all for you input. I'm trying to stay objective, but I've got a real itch to get this car!
-jim
Tint: get in touch with leeberbs @ NASIOC. He does tints for the Tri-State. You could arrange for him to come to you.
Everything else: keep your eyes peeled on "For Sale" their [NASIOC] classified. You could come up with a steal, like the MOMO steering wheel w/airbag for $75 I got for the L
-Dave
-mike
It didn't need any aiming either - I actually think the replacement is better aimed than the other original light.
John
After having owned two black cars, I've had it too. I want my next vehicle to be metallic dirt.
So tomorrow might be the big day -- how exciting! A silver WRX wagon does sound pretty tasty to me.
The upside to having everything done by the dealer in terms of options and upgrades is that 1) you can bundle it in with your financing (if you're not paying cash) and 2) it's covered by warranty.
Ken
Re the auto-dimming mirror. I love it mainly for the compass. It saved us from going the wrong direction in the Catskills last fall. I recently tinted the rear with 35% (leeberbs) and the mirror still does it's job dimming from the bright lights.
If a car has some options that you do not want, the dealer should throw some of them in for free.
My friend got a free spoiler because he didn't want one.
Ken - You're that close to getting a new car?? Cool!
-Dennis
Also, what does a good tint job cost these days? (all windows I assume?).
He slowly dips his big toe in...
-jim
My wife and I both had 50% installed on the front windows and a few folks here have gone with 35% on the front.
We got a deal on both cars so I'm not sure on what your cost would be.
-Dennis
I'm assuming that you haven't been ticketed for your tint. I figure no police officer is going to pull me over for tint, but they might issue a ticket for tint if I've been stopped for other reasons.
Of course I haven't been pulled over for more than ten years, but I figure the WRX might change all that!
-jim
I'd put up some pics of Pebbles over in Photo Gallery.
I got tints and clear bra done by lee. Tints are 35% all around except windshield. You can see that at certain angle it's dark, whilst another it appears light. With the wagon, going 50% front should appear like 70%
Dennis-
I got the gliche fixed and made the order. Thanks
-Dave
(Makofoto's) Silver WRX wagon
I believe this car won a show prize at the Rim of the World rally.
I'm getting there. With child care costs looming ahead of us, we need to pay off my wife's car first before I get my new ride. It should be less than a year from now. The WRX wagon is on my shopping list.
Ken
So I guess Lee does good work, eh?
Look at me, lining up the tint guy before I even hear from the dealer that he has it.
The wait is KILLING ME!!
I should know within two hours. tick...tick...tick...
-jim
My dealer called to inform me that the swap manager at the other dealership "was processing the paperwork, fell over and broke his leg and was rushed to the hospital."
I've known my dealer for over a year and trust him (as far as you can trust a dealer), but this stretches the capacity of my imagination!! Is he lying to me? Are they lying to him? Is my WRX CURSED!? It boggles the mind.
We're going to try again tomorrow. Assuming no one is decapitated by the paperwork, that is. Now THAT would be a paper cut!
I'm so bummed.
-jim
Usually, they will let the car sit for a while to let it cool down, then try it out.
Also, have you noticed any improvement in that peculiar tranny deceleration noise many owners report? (Sounds like a rough-edged exhaust note when you back off the throttle, only coming from the tranny.) Thanks for any feedback you may have on this.
I went with 35% all around on the SVX, no problems so far.
-mike
Anyone have a tow hitch on their wagon? I need to carry bikes and I use the roof to transport the bike trailer so I am thinking of a hitch carrier but I'd like to know if a hitch actually fits.
Don
The sales manager should have stepped in and taken over the paperwork. My sales guy was out when my car came in, but the manager processed everything himself.
Dave - Good news about the covers. Make sure you're very gentle because they snap easily.
rexaroo - I was using OEM gear oil. Previously, I used Amsoil (regular synth, not Series 2000) in my OBS. I'm very happy with both. The decel noise improved a little. A day after I put in the Motul, there was a post about GL4 and GL5 on nasioc's Transmission Forum. It's an interesting post and talks about the tests used for gear oils.
Don - Enjoy your wheels/tires! Do a search in the general WRX forum on nasioc for posts about hitches. I think there may be a couple of people here. Not sure though
Gosh I'm blabbing this morning. :-)
-Dennis
Some very reputable mail order places I've dealt with are performancebike.com and nashbar.com. Both of these companies sell the usual brand name stuff, plus some stuff they put their own name on. If Performance puts their name on something, it's generally very good. I can't say the same for Nashbar, but they are still a good company especially if you stick to name brand items.
If I get pulled over, I plan to act stupid and hope for the best(my specialty). Many minivans have very dark OEM tint on the back windows. I'm going to try the line that the car is a wagon and the rules are different. Hopefully I don't have to try it out any time soon.
Shortly after I learned of the TSB for this issue, and on a morning when the problem manifested, when I got to the office I called my service rep and contrived a little story about how the misbehaving clutch almost caused me to get in an accident when it bucked the car across an intersection just barely ahead of cross traffic (it could have happened
At that point, it was "OK no problem, lemme order the parts and put you on the schedule." Now it probably helped that they had heard of the TSB and had actually just performed the work on another car that week. At any rate, they quickly waived the requirement to demonstrate the problem for them (and rightly so, IMO: after all do they think we're making this stuff up???)
We had the dealer put Valvoline synthetic in our Forester not too long ago, and the results have been surprisingly good. Almost like having the OEM oil in there, with a nice, cushy feel to the shifts.
It's so good, in fact, it makes me wonder if the dealer DID put OEM in by mistake. Oh, well, guess I'll have to change it myself next time to be sure. The quest for the perfect tranny fluid marches on . .
Paradise Garage. Some surprising results on the Mobil 1 so far.
There are probably thousands of cars out there that don't shudder. Why should Subaru replace the clutch on a car just because someone knows there's a TSB and wants their non-shuddering, but half worn out clutch replaced at 30K?
What they probably should do is assume the life of a clutch is, say 60K, and pro-rate early replacement if you come in with an un-reproducable shudder at 30K. Say give you the parts, you pay for labor, or something like that.
One other comment, I am making an assumption that the WRX's 4-cyl boxster engine, though at higher compression than the Camaro's is probably tighter, or finer machined, since the Camaro's block is an old design while the WRX's is a new design (also knowing Japanese's processes for engine building vs. the U.S.).
If this is the case, is it reasonable to assume the WRX's engine would contaminate the oil less?
The Camaro's V8 seemed to polute the oil.
Sorry to hear about the let down. Frankly, I don't buy the broken leg story one bit. It would certainly test my confidence in the dealer if I were given a story like that.
Do you absolutely need to have the vehicle right away? Another route is to have your dealer order one on allocation. You'll end up waiting 6 weeks or so, BUT you'll be sure you're getting a untouched vehicle.
Ken
We'll see how it all works out. My dealer swears that he was told by the other dealership that their Swap Manager had broken her leg. He recounted his response to me and it was exactly like mine -- he didn't know how to react. He simply asked if the car would be ready the next day and was told that it would. His reaction seemed genuine as did his apology for the disruption in the process.
I've spoken to him today and it looks like everything is proceeding on schedule and I should be getting the car tonight after work. If the car looks to be in good shape AND the mileage is not too high on the car AND the test drive is dreamy, then I'll move ahead (still not sure about the short-throw shifter - hope I like it!). If the deal I worked out with him stays intact, then I'll buy the car. If anything goes wrong then I walk and start exploring other options. It should only cost me my $100 locator deposit (which they haven't cashed yet).
My experience with this dealer and his dealership have been pretty positive -- I have bought one car and referred two friends who bought and were treated well. So I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. But I'll be walking in with a great deal of caution because, after all, it is still a dealership. It's sorta like having a pet shark!
I WILL NOT GET CAUGHT UP IN THE NEW CAR ETHER!!
(I hope)
-jim