Subaru Baja

nippononly

the interior of the Baja is the same as that of the legacy and big outback, isn't it?

Isn't it ironic that a flip-flop has occurred, in that Soob sells the Baja fully loaded (even leather and moonroof, if I am not mistaken?) while Honda, the king of "doesn't n3eed any options, we just sell them one way - loaded" sells Element without even A/C...

These vehicles are so different they cannot be compared in sales. I do wonder if Subie would have sold more Bajas if they had come up with a fully opening flip gate like the Avalanche, rather than a pass-thru door.

bluesubie

"I do wonder if Subie would have sold more Bajas if they had come up with a fully opening flip gate like the Avalanche, rather than a pass-thru door."

The ST-X concept had this, but IIRC, there was some issue with safety.

-Dennis

ateixeira

Cool, 4 bales o' hay. :-)

The interior is actually close to the Outback's. They just used silver trim instead of plood.

I wonder how many people will buy Element DX models. $1800 for A/C, ouch. I bet 80% of them are EXs.

I'm not sure if a switchback alone would increase sales significantly. I visited my dealer this weekend, and they said it really needed the H6. That's what people were asking for first and foremost.

With the extender the bed size is useful, IMO. The perforated leather is quite nice, but maybe overkill for a utility vehicle. The moonroof is sort of smallish. The fenders flare out wider than the Outback's, kind of overdone up close.

I still say give us an H6 with that equipment, then offer a steel-wheeled, cloth, moonroof-less Value model for $20 grand.

-juice

barresa62

from one of the sales mgrs at my local Soobie dealer, the Baja will be available w/the H6 sometime in June/July 03'. Of course, it will be automatic only. After owning my 00'OB Ltd w/auto and H4 ("get along lil' doggy slow!), the lack of a H6 would be the only thing stopping me from seriously considering the Baja in it's present form. BTW, my comment about the H4 was well before I bought my WRX 5spd wagon. Now, my impression would only be worse I'm afraid. :-)

Stephen

ateixeira

The salesmen I spoke to said the same thing. They weren't sure about the date, but the H6 was planned, according to them.

-juice

nippononly

how long will it be before the H-6 FINALLY makes it into all outback models? C'mon...this is like when they put the 2.5 in them back in the late 90s. The outback is up to what, about 3800 pounds by now? it really needs the 6-cyl thoughout the line.

rsholland

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=2980245#post2980245

In January a cloth-seated Baja will debut, and next summer a Baja turbo (no H-6!) will debut! This info is from someone who works at SIA, and has the inside scoop.

Bob

rsholland

If SIA is already ordering turbo parts for the Baja, could a turbo Legacy also be in store for '04? Inquiring minds want to know...

Bob

ateixeira

OK, this is great news. SoA reacted pretty quickly to the low initial demand.

I say drop the moonroof from the cheapie base model, too. Get street prices to $19,999. $20k is a psychological barrier for some (it was for my first car purchase).

2.5l turbo must be the same one the Forester is getting!

And a good friend from college is shopping for a new Subie. His wife wasn't excited by the VDC, so she's leaning towards a Forester or Baja. Next summer she'll have turbo options on both!

-juice

cb70

option and maybe I can get the wife interested again!

nippononly

standard leather seats was a bit much for the base trim of any Subie model...

glad to hear they are going to do the turbo thing, but I wonder why they went this route instead of just putting in the H-6? Image. maybe? (Turbo more "exciting", "youth-oriented" than the H-6?)

Some car mag review I read recently used most unflattering terms for the 2.5 in Baja currently, something like "slow pig", which makes me laugh - it was only 5 years ago that they were saying the then-new 2.5 made the outback racy, and it is not like the Baja weighs a whole lot more than the '97 outback.

ateixeira

Perforated two-tone leather, too.

A turbo is probably easier to tune. I'm sure someone will offer a chip for $400 that adds 30 horses or so.

I hope it gets the revised clutch that the new WRX is supposed to get, to handle all that torque and weight.

-juice

rsholland

Or at least as official as unofficial can get.

I just got a PDF of the SIA newsletter from that employee who said the Baja was getting turbo this summer, and a cloth-seat option this winter. Sure enough, it's in there, in black & white.

Bob

ateixeira

E-mail it to me? Any other juicy info?

-juice

rsholland

Just a lot of plant stuff...

Bob

nippononly

for you Subie die-hards: I used to get the Subaru newsletter regularly, then all of a sudden a few months ago it just stopped. Do you know of anywhere where I can get signed back up?

paisan

Send that over to me if you still have it in e-mail.

-mike

rsholland

After I e-mailed it to Juice, I was asked by the guy who sent it to me to please not to send it to others. He was having some second thoughts about making this public. I thanked him, and told him that I would honor his wish.

Bob

ateixeira

That's OK, because I ran over, very quickly, to the lobby of SIA, and read and memorized that public copy! ;-)

Any how, the funny thing is that production was delayed at first because there was a shortage of cladding! Hilarious, they should have just built them without it! LOL

They also had a water pump problem, though it didn't elaborate. Let's keep an eye out in case any owners have water pump problems and maybe a bad one slipped by.

-juice

bluesubie

Nippononly -
Call up 1800Subaru3 and let them know. Could be a glitch on the mailing list.

IIRC, you are only supposed to get it for 4 years though.

-Dennis

ateixeira

I stopped getting it too. Called the 800 number, got one issue, then it stopped again. Oh, boy.

Now I get my dad's copy, which comes to the wrong address because of a mail mix up (we have the same name). So I gave up and just read his.

-juice

rsholland

dropped in November! Not a good sign... Better get that turbo here by this spring, not this summer!

http://www.media.subaru.com./

Bob

purduealum91

Man, that cant be good.

subearu

has sales from September '02 up still, fwiw.

http://www.autosite.com/editoria/asmr/svtruck.asp

-Brian

nippononly

that sales industry-wide just hit a brick wall.

paisan

Just found out from the NY/NJ Regional Distribution Company that ZERO, yep ZERO Bajas have been sold here!

That can't be a good sign.

-mike

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Pickups & News & Views Message Boards

bluesubie

Some of you guys called it and my dealer called it. But I didn't believe it.

Six months ago, my dealer expected moderate initial interest (mainly from former BRAT owners), and then a decline. I didn't agree with him or you guys. I guess I was thinking more along what sales would be if the Baja was more like the ST-X. I'll bet SoA is scrambling to make changes.

-Dennis

bat1161

Juice,

I agree with you on make a base model w/cloth seats, and no moonroof. The turbo would also be welcome, although I think the 6 would be just as good. I think they have to offer a locking tonneau cover as well. When I showed my wife the Baja, she didn't like how the back would be open for anything you are carrying. I guess it's that NY'er mentality that everything should be locked up.

Mark

p0926

Mark- I agree that SOA should offer the locking tonneau cover as an option. However, tell your wife to take notice of the next 10 pickups she sees. My bet is that every one of them will be open in the back. Or doesn't NY have pickups? :-)

-Frank P.

cb70

There isn't a single locking tonneau or cap available for the Baja yet. Very stupid oversight on Subie's part.

rsholland

Subaru needs a locking bed cover, as an option.

As I said many times, the Baja concept is great, but the execution is half-baked. In order to get it into production quickly, a number of issues were unresolved. SOA is paying for that now. It's a shame...

I just hope they don't get cold feet, and pull the plug. I still think it has a lot of potential—if the "content" and "capability" were better sorted out.

The styling doesn't help either. It screams "macho," but everybody knows that's a joke. It comes off as being a "dandy," or "midnight cowboy," instead of the "real thing."

Bob

bat1161

Frank-

Yes, even in NYC we have pick ups;some even have locking covers:-) My point, as Bob and Cory agreed with, is that the Baja needs a locking cover. I like the way the Baja looks, and I do not need a pickup bed all the time. That's why I would want something to securely cover the back.

Mark

p0926

Hey! I agreed that the Baja needs a locking tonneau cover option. I was merely pointing out that there's obviously plenty of demand for open-bed pickups so the Baja isn't alone.

-Frank P.

ateixeira

Yep, they'd better rush those changes. Summer is a long way off.

I bet they'll at least toss in a $500 or $750 incentive pretty soon, maybe on New Years' Day.

Don't cancel it - it still has huge potential. They should consider de-cladding it and dropping the cost of that from the price, too.

Baja isn't used to buy mulch in bulk, dumped straight into the bed. You could only squeeze about a yard in there, anyway. Big pickups can take 3 yards.

So yeah, a locking cover would be a big plus. My friend Julie wants one and that's her husband's biggest complaint right now.

-juice

jeff186

Any idea how much the cloth seats will lower (i assume) the MSRP. Here in NJ, seveal dealers are advertising the Baja for over $2000 off sticker.

rsholland

if the cloth-seat version will also be sans moonroof, so that it's the equivalent of the base Outback, in terms of content?

Bob

ateixeira

I hope so. My guess is leather will knock at least $900 off the MSRP. Delete the moonroof also and it might be $2 grand, $1600 at least.

-juice

jeff186

From today's paper...two different dealerships in northern NJ....2003 Baja...list MSRP $24,930, advertised price $21,995....seems legit as it's more than one dealer...each has more than a dozen in stock...

thebigkahuna

A local dealer called today to let me know that Subaru is announcing low financing .9% 2.9% 3.9%, and a Baja with cloth seats and no moonroof. Sorry if this is old news. He said he would have some in a week or two. I'll call him soon and ask for the MSRP.

jeff186

Good info, Kahuna. Several of us are curious about the MSRP on a Baja sans leather and the moonroof. Let us know what you find out.

hypov

p0926 Dec 5, 2002 10:07am

I think (remembered being told) it is NYC law that pickups cannot have an open bed - must be covered whilst in city limit.

-Dave

paisan

That's an old NYS law. Pickups had to have a cap or be registered as Commercial Vehicles. They repealed that about 5 years ago.

-mike

paisan

Yep seeing as No dealer in NY/NJ area has sold a Baja yet, I'd think that dealers would have significant discounts on them.

-mike

soobguy

If they want to move the Baja, add the all weather package. The goal was warm climate capture customers, thus Baja and not Vail, Nor'easter, Ranier etc. Baja= S.California with a sunroof and leather.

They could go after new areas while maintaining market strength with their core buyers in crummy weather areas... add the heated seats etc.
Of course they could make it more rugged roadable with HD suspension, mud tires, lo 4x4, and etc... make it a camping-skiing rig...

I think Subaru tends to forget who their core buyer is and the marketers get ahead of themselves. The Subaru person is a practical (wagon), value (depndable, safe etc), awd oriented person.
While they did great with the 03 Forester X/XS, take the 03 Legacy SEP for example. It's loaded up with sunroof, leather steering wheel, alloys... and that's the basic/affordable Legacy. Now does that make sense? The lower end buyer isn't looking to spend $900 more on frills, they want less money. Give me side airbags, and lose the sunroofs and a 6'5" person can actually fit in the car...

Just my .2c...

paisan

Haaaa I dunno but you'd have to do a lot more than just some bolt-on stuff to make it a RIG IMHO.

-mike

ateixeira

It is not old news - the moonroof delete option is something we've speculated about but didn't know until now. Thanks. Good news, IMO.

You may be onto something, the Baja is selling best in the Sun Belt states, traditionally weak spots for Subaru. Unheated leather in cold climates gets chilly.

You can order an L without the SE package, but you'll have to wait for it to arrive.

-juice

ateixeira

$22,394 with freight included at Fitz, plus no hidden fees. Yellow 5 speed.

-juice

bluesubie

Where are you getting your info from regarding no Baja sales in NY/NJ? Is that during a particular time frame maybe? I'm sure Flemington has sold several. Fido was one of the first.

-Dennis

paisan

As of last week @ the dealers meeting, and that reflected all sales of Bajas since introduction. I'm not sure if Flemington is counted into that region though, it could be just the Metro NY/NJ Subaru Dealers.

-mike