Subaru Crew Cafe

ateixeira

Wow, a lot of people were denying that would happen. The Scion tC essentially replaces the Celida, but all I heard about that was denial, denial, denial.

That was a really hot topic on the Scion boards.

MR2 never got the VVT-Li engine, which is a shame. Now the Lotus Elan will get it instead, but at $40k. MR2 could have been great with it.

Instead they did the SMG, which was just awful.

What a shame.

-juice

volkov

Did anyone else read the fine print? 24K GBP is the projected damage - that's about $45k US. I know that prices are steeper in UK, but that's a serious amount of coin for a fancy Mazda 6.
For fair comparison, the WRX runs about 19k pounds or $36k, and that's before you buy that overpriced Euro petrol.

locke2c

a far more equitable comparison for a variety of reasons is the STi. in the UK the STi is 24k GBP, and USD$32,700 here. so I would believe that a Mazda 6 TT/AWD would run USD$30k-$32k... not $45k

~Colin

ateixeira

What's the price for a Legacy GT limited there?

-juice

volkov

You misunderstood my point. Read again.
I wasn't projecting USDM prices, I was commenting on what UK residents will have to dole out.

locke2c

oops. yes, the get stuffed royally over there. my IT peers in London just about choked when a few of them were in town and found out I drove an M3 and had a 1000cc sportbike.

~c

rsholland

http://www.theautochannel.com/F/news/2004/07/16/204277.html

rsholland

http://www.cardesignnews.com/news/2004/040716citroen-c4/index.htm- l

locke2c

I have no earthly clue why anyone would ever join a class action suit. The lawyers are simply the only ones that ever get any satisfaction out of them.

PS Bob, do you change the oil in your daughter's CR-V or does a servicer? just curious because if you did I was wondering if you had an opinion about how easy / difficult it is to spill the oil and the difficulty in cleaning it up properly to avoid fire.

~c

rsholland

That way, if anything happens, it's their butt, not mine.

I guess to answer your question, no I have not been under the car to check it out, or to see what's involved.

BTW, we're following this very closely, and most important, my daughter is well aware of the situation. Just keeping our fingers crossed, that's all we can do.

Bob

locke2c

Bob I think she'll be perfectly fine if she just drives a short ways after the oil change, then gets out and opens the hood for a brief sniff. If enough oil was spilled to start a fire, surely you'd be able to smell it cooking on the hot bits.

It really wouldn't surprise me though if dealers are now just spraying off the undercarriage after a change to ensure that nothing happens.

~Colin

ateixeira

I beat you to it, Colin, I actually contacted Bob and offered to change her oil, for a couple of reasons: a) to make sure her oil change was done properly, and b) to take photos of the area to try to guess what might be happening.

Lawyers are an easy target, but let's face it, Honda is really dragging their feet. One CR-V owner sued Honda and won, not full damages, but DOUBLE the damages due to Honda's negligence. They would not even respond to her certified letters.

Maybe we'll see a recall as a result of this action, if so that'll benefit folks.

-juice

locke2c

Under similar circumstances, I don't know that I'd change the oil. Even if you *did* do everything perfect let's say there was a totally unrelated fire. (You have better odds of winning the lotto, I know.)

That would put you in a tight spot, eh?

~c

ateixeira

Pretty much Bob's thinking, he wanted the receipt to cover all bases.

I'd still be peeking under the engine, but I'm paranoid. Just ask all the people following me.

-juice

rsholland

The last thing I would want is for juice to get in the middle of an unfortunate situation. I appreciate the offer, but under the circumstances, it's best to let the dealer do this.

Bob

rsholland

if we had just waited one more month...

As we know, hindsight is always 20/20, but if we could have waited just bit longer (until this really became a big deal), she'd more than likely be driving a Subaru. Oh well, I did my best...

Bob

bigelm

Very classy wagon compared to the Magnum....

But the 300C looks better in sedan form, IMHO.

locke2c

Other than this fire thing possibly hurting your resale and I'm not even sure about that, I don't see that the CR-V is a bad choice in vehicle at all. I know you wanted the Forester, but hey, it's not like you ended up with something really awful.

I think this fire thing will be resolved through procedural change. I can only guess it might be the filter being in a location that makes it difficult to avoid spillage when removing it... worse comes to worse, you could install a remote filter kit.

~Colin

rsholland

this fire issue is the only thing to have rained on our new car parade. Other than that, the car has been great. While it's not my type of car, the more I drive it (which is not that often), the more I appreciate it. It does grow on you for sure for what it does well.

Bob

rsholland

is also aluminum.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2004- /01/20/emaccord.xml&sSheet=/motoring/2004/03/02/ixmot.html

Bob

p0926

While I must admit that part of me is enjoying seeing Honda squirm trying to deal with this issue (Hey I'm a Subaru fan!), the number of instances versus the number of CRVs sold is miniscule so I don't think Bob (or his daughter) really have much to fear.

-Frank

paisan

I may go over to the dark side, not quite the darkest side but you guys will hate me...

Looks like next year I'll trade/sell/etc the Trooper and the SVX for a 2003/2004/2005 Denali XL 1500 AWD. With 2nd row Buckets in Black with Grey Leather interior.

-mike

locke2c

I'm not the least bit shocked. Nor do I feel any compulsion to deride, flame, etc.

~c

subearu

yeah, you do need a tow vehicle, that would fit the bill.

-Brian

p0926

Well at least you're staying in the GM family :-)

-Frank

damish003

Mike -

At least it's an AWD...could be worse. No worries, no one will hate you

-Dan-

bat1161

Mike-

You still have the Legacy, plus with all your work on Subaru's you can never desert. On the other hand, does this mean you would be driving the Legacy on the 48hrs?

Mark

rsholland

I thought, if you were getting a truck, it had to have a DuraMax diesel?

Bob

rsholland

can evolve from frumpy and odd-looking vehicles, to distinctive and great looking vehicles, so can Subaru.

http://www.cqql.net/bmw.htm

http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2020919.002/audi/1.h- tml

Bob

rsholland

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=7324

locke2c

daily driving a duramax diesel would be miserable. plus for all the more paisan is towing, I'm sure a 1/2 ton gas v8 could handle it without problem.

~c

rsholland

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=7320

rsholland

Colin, I agree. It's just that Mike has always said that if he were to get a truck it would be a diesel.

Bob

locke2c

He says a lot of things that I don't necessarily take literally.

~c

rsholland

reportedly will have a "Lazy Susan."

From what I can gather, this will be an under the floor storage area which is under both the front seat and middle seat area. If I understand it correctly, this storage area can be rotated, hence the Lazy Susan name, so that part of it will be under the front seat, and inaccessible. That inaccessible area can be then rotated, so that it would be accessible when needed.

Sounds like an ingenious idea!

Bob

http://v3.espacenet.com/textdes?DB=EPODOC&IDX=WO2004020248&am- p;am- p;RPN=JP2004142725&DOC=d1a86118cf8a42fdb6742de9b158ffcf76&amp- ;amp- ;QPN=JP2004142725

bigelm

I will hate you if I don't get to pimp in dat wit sum dubs!!! LOL!

rsholland

'05 Acura RL photos!

player4 "2005 Acura RL" Jul 20, 2004 3:12pm

As you may recall, it comes standard with "Super Handling AWD," SH-AWD.

Bob

locke2c

I think the concept was a more comely car. The new TL looks nicer, for sure.

~Colin

rsholland

I think the concept was a more comely car.

Well concepts usually are. Also, keep in mind the audience for the RL is more likely older and more conservative than the TL's.

Bob

kens

Nice scoop, but I'm not sure if I like the looks very much.

Super-Handling: Honda's got to get a bit more global in their product and feature names. Sounds very Japanglish to me.

Ken

locke2c

I've seen a good number of the new TLs and come to think of it, none of the drivers have been grey haired.

Of course, I'm starting to show a little white myself. It's a good counterbalance with my babyface.

~c

hammerhead

Cool! Another Suburban in the Subaru Crew family!

Cheers!
Paul

lark6

While the front end retains what has become Acura's corporate look, the rear looks very much like the last iteration of the [moment of silence] Olds Aurora.

Ed (who knows Bob H. bristles every time I say someting reminds me of something ;-) )

rsholland

Ed (who knows Bob H. bristles every time I say something reminds me of something ;-) )

LOL! No I don't!

Actually I told juice that I can see a little bit of the Chris Bangle Butt (7-Series) in the new RL's rear, the way the tail lights and rear deck meet—and that got his shorts all wadded up in knot!

Bob

paisan

Well I realized last weekend when 7 of us squeezed into a WRX and the SVX to go away for the weekend that if I get a bigger tow vehicle it should seat at least 7+ as most of the time on trips I need to take that many people. Would have had a more entertaining trip if we were all in 1 car. So that knocks out the Crew-cab Pickups as they can only seat 4-5.

If I can get a burban in Diesel then I'd jump on it in a heartbeat. Most likely I'll get the Denali XL in Late Summer '05 and buy a used 2003 or 2004 model. Hopefully in a few years they'll have a diesel Burban.

8100lbs towing capacity with the AWD 6.0 in the Denali so that will work even for a 2-car trailer.

-mike

locke2c

oh surely there's no way 7 people-- and to use your term, Mike-- "paisan-sized" people would fit in a Denali even bringing nothing but the shirts on their backs. with luggage and/or gear... heh.

~colin

robr2

The back reminded me of the Maybach.

c_hunter

I know you have a good grip on the big picture, but make sure to weigh the need for 7 passenger capacity carefully. I know a lot of people with Suburbans and the like who only truly use the capacity 1-2 times a year. The rest of the year they drive around with 2-4 people tops (sometimes those are small kids) and get horrible gas mileage. As my wife always reminds me, we should not be planning our car/house purchases to accomodate those 1-2 times a year when we have guests or go on a trip with family. I think it's fairly typical to break up large groups into 2-3 vehicles for family/group outings. Yeah, you'd have more fun (or less fun in some cases) with one big vehicle, but at what cost?

Craig

rsholland

as they scored below the national average on this JD Powers report.

http://www.jdpower.com/news/releases/pressrelease.asp?ID=2004065

Bob

subearu

I just got a survey to fill out regarding my F-XT purchase from them. I was pleased with my dealership experience and VIP program too. I'll be sending it in this week.

-Brian