Subaru Crew Cafe

1193194196198199343

Comments

  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    That's part of the appeal the 300C has to me... low key.

     

    IMHO, the 300C is anything but low key!!
  • subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    not what I like to read about a WRX or any vehicle for that matter: http://www.jsonline.com/news/racine/jan05/289790.asp

     

    kudos to this kid for not getting killed I guess...

     

    -Brian
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    Kind of on the same subject... article in the local news today about a 20-yo who lost control while traveling at a high rate of speed and flipped a Lincoln Navigator end-to-end. Two occupants were ejected and killed and 3 more injured. The SUV was registered to a 16-yo girl (who was a passenger). They were heading to the local cineplex to catch a movie (it was the 20-yo's birthday). I read stuff like that and don't know whether to be mad or sad.

     

    -Frank
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101542

     

    Another bad sign for the ailing company.

     

    Bob
  • bigelmbigelm Member Posts: 995
    less bling as you notice on the pic. The seats are bucket seats with the SRT8 logo embroided in the seat...

     

    I really like it... let's see if and when the SRT8 AWD comes and how much.
  • dcm61dcm61 Member Posts: 1,567
    Mitsubishi's O'Neill out; Gilligan is the new CEO

     

    Gilligan becomes Skipper! ;-)

     

    http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/mitsubishi5e_20050105.htm

     

    DaveM
  • bigelmbigelm Member Posts: 995
    Maryann can finally hit if off... :-p
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Mitsubishi's O'Neill out; Gilligan is the new CEO - Gilligan becomes Skipper! ;-)

     

    In many ways Mitsubishi is just like the SS Minnow!!
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Here's a nice poem for all you guys.

     

    Be sure to scroll down to January 5, further down on the page as it opens:

     

    http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/docs/2005/01/03/

     

    Shifty
  • bat1161bat1161 Member Posts: 1,784
    Interesting to see what areas grew in sales, and which did not. Also, the size in growth (443% in North Dakota going from 7 sold in '03 to 38 in '04).

     

    Mark
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Thanks Shifty! :)

     

    Bob
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    I don't get their numbers. Up at the top they claim sales of 187402 - the best year ever. But in the lower chart they show a sales drop of 3% for the entire year with sales of only 170391. What gives??
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    The past few days I've put about 150 miles on my Evo in very slick conditions-- shallow snow, but thick ice. Things are beginning to thaw now and major roads are totally clear/dry, but side streets are still like skating rinks.

     

    In early November I had a set of 235/45-17 Dunlop Wintersport M3 mounted on the stock wheels. I've put over 2,000 miles on them in the dry and rain so far, and after wearing in a bit I really really like them. They are grippy enough to not totally ruin the sporty nature of the car, although of course their ultimate performance falls well short of the super sticky summer tires that came standard with the car.

     

    On ice the tires are excellent. I have absolutely no trouble braking, cornering, or accelerating. I haven't experience much deep snow so far, but I think they may give up a bit to the Pirelli Winter Ice Directional I had on my '99 Impreza RS. The center section just isn't as open.

     

    About the car-- it is magnificent. Considerably more capable than the Impreza RS was... far better handling, ABS and brake feel is the biggest difference. The Evo has (as do many newer cars) ABS with Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) and whatever that means, this car's implementation of it is superb. I have driven both with extreme caution and also at times 'tested' limits a bit... and never once has ABS engaged. It will let you slide a bit, and while doing so the car doesn't enter terminal understeer.

     

    Staying out of boost with the 8.8:1 CR 2.0L works great for very low traction environments like shiny slick ice, but you can actually use quite a bit of power in most conditions. I haven't used full throttle much if at all, but half to 3/4 throttle results in a decent bit of boost while clinging to the road just fine. :)

     

    Summary: very good tires for mostly-dry winter conditions, excellent car for 4 seasons. Hurray for dedicated summer and winter tires, down with "all seasons". :-D

     

    ~Colin
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    187k sales, good for them. The Baja bombed and that year was the 1 in the last 10 where they did not have growth.

     

    This year it'll be up to the B9 Tribeca to makes those sales grow a little more. What do you guys think? I think sales will go up at least a little bit.

     

    O'Neill was the guy that saved Hyundai. Wow, I bet that 100k warranty is out the window!

     

    Mark: now if they could only get 443% growth in the other 49 states... LOL.

     

    -juice
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Already? Wow.

     

    Saablazer is not distinguished enough.

     

    HHR looked better in concept/sketch form. Looks kinda cartoonish, no? Grille is about 6 times bigger than the B9 Tribeca's. The rest looks like the last gen Durango.

     

    Torrent is an Equinox clone, no better.

     

    That Spyker looks pretty wicked, eh? A little overdone, but nice.

     

    Jetta we'd seen. Golf face, yuck. And that mouth-agape front is on all VW/Audis from now on?

     

    I don't like they way they freshened the A4 either. Went down hill. It now has Forester head lights. I do like that glass roof!

     

    XC90 got a V8. Distancing themselves from Subaru, perhaps a little?

     

    Kia did a good job with that Spectra5. Doesn't look so cheap now.

     

    What's that roadster? Ventus? Venturi? The blue one with the V logo? Is that the Saturn Sky?

     

    -juice
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    Colin,

     

    Sounds like you're having fun. Ever try one of these:

     

    http://www.section8rally.com/treadin_thin_ice_rally_cross_1.htm

     

    Ken
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I hope their wi-fi equipment is reliable! They're just assuming it'll work perfectly. Good luck.

     

    Saturn should become the sales division. Let them train all GM sales staff and use their no-haggle policy on one or two of GM's divisions.

     

    They really don't have any unique product. Cobalt is a better Ion. Equinox is a better Vue. L series is gone. Sky is a rebadged Solistice. They really offer nothing special at all.

     

    Then again, 212k sales is still more than Subaru.

     

    -juice
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    I loathe that no-haggle policy. For one, they still sell extras such as extended warranties and accessories. Who would pay full MSRP for that stuff?

     

    Secondly, and far more important, is that if you are trading in a vehicle you have to negotiate the price of that as well.

     

    No haggle is just a trick to lull consumers into paying too much for a rebadged plastic Cavalier.

     

    ~c
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    You do, but a lot of females and less experienced negotiators like it. That's why I think some divisions should offer it and others shouldn't.

     

    The fact that their margins are higher allow them to offer higher trade-in values.

     

    GM essentially operates on an "invoice minus rebates" price anyway, for most cars, except a few popular ones.

     

    -juice
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Basically it sounds like an upgrade to what all dealers should have anyway - a computerized system with tech manuals, tsb's, and the such. The wireless part sounds like a good idea but this is an initiative being forced upon the dealers - I doubt ABC Subaru went to Cherry Hill and said "make us spend money".

     

    As for wireless customer access - great. I know most dealers already offer high speed access for waiting customers and the local Audi/Porsche place here in my town just added wireless.
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    The Aura sedan looks nice. Hopefully it'll be more 9-3 than Malibu.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    ateixeira, "Town Hall Test Drive Team" #141, 7 Jan 2005 12:51 pm

     

    If you thought Subarus were quirky...

     

    -juice
  • ladywclassladywclass Member Posts: 1,713
    yeah .. I know I'm not 'most females' ... I'm a better 'car haggler' than most men I know ...
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I'm referring to the demographics (more females buy Saturns that most other makes) and the Customer Satisfaction scores the dealers get. Happy female owners, most of them.

     

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Not as quirky as I thought, judging by the looks; but, hey—it's a Citroen! Quirky is part of the DNA! :)

     

    My guess is that many European cars, that we never see, are "quirky," which is why we don't see them here. They're just too weird for our rather conservative automotive tastes. I'm sure they're fine cars, however.

     

    Bob
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yeah, reminded me of nothing I've ever seen here. Yet it has several competitors in that segment that are very similar.

     

    What's also interesting is that they are called "minivans", and if you ask me they are more true to the name that the enormous vans sold here nowadays.

     

    Beyond that, they are large minivans, there is an entire segment below that, compact minivans like the Honda Fit and VW Fox and upcoming Golf Plus, Chevy Meriva also.

     

    Wish I'd driven more cars but it was a family vacation. :-)

     

    -juice
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    After a 4 hour download of some work documents over the holiday, we knew it was time to ditch dialup service.

     

    Local cable advertises 3+ meg service in our area, so we decided to go that route. Turned into a bust yesterday when the tech arrived. At about 500 ft off the road, the signal from the buried line is adequate for analog TV, but that is about it. So now we are waiting for the DSL package to arrive. But even here, the tech dept warned not to expect much more than average performance given the distance, and noise present on the lines.

     

    So yes, there is a downside to country living....

     

    Steve
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Hey, our house is close to the street and our cable gets plenty of interference. While it was fast a year or so ago, it's now consistently slow. In fact I think some DSL users might be getting faster throughput.

     

    DSL was a bust for us, that didn't work at all. They even buried new lines, dug holes up in my yard, but never got that working at all. Of course that was about 3 years ago so maybe the service is better now?

     

    The funny thing is I work on computers for a living, imagine the struggles of the average Joe.

     

    -juice
  • hammerheadhammerhead Member Posts: 907
    Cable was fast when not everybody was using it. Now that it's more popular, you're sharing bandwidth & all those little bits & bytes have to take turns.

     

    We got DSL here last summer, when they beefed up things between here & the central switching office. Didn't require any digging or new wires into the house. Even the slow (256k) DSL is fast for us, compared to our old dialup speeds, and way cheaper than cable.

     

    Cheers!

    Paul
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Cable was fast when not everybody was using it. Now that it's more popular, you're sharing bandwidth & all those little bits & bytes have to take turns.

     

    Bingo - cable modem speeds are great during the day because nobody's home. After 3:00 PM it really slows down - the kiddies get off the bus and start IM'ing each other. Luckily in my town there are 2 cable providers both doing internet on their own infrastructure so my neighbors and I aren't all sharing the same pipe.

     

    The problem with DSL is that your home has to be within so many feet of a central office - not as the crow flies but how your wire travels around corners and the such. The limit is 18,000 feet but those closer get more speed than those further away.
  • subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    Even with more people getting online to broadband cable around my area, speeds still are much better than DSL and you do get more bang for the buck on cable. Max speeds are capped here (for now) at 3mbit and for the most part I see those even after work. Plus, the cableco offers digital cable and VOIP now. I bet they up the max to 4mbit this year to help smooth things out, in fact many cableco's are doing this - uping the max to 4 or 5 mbit to help loosen the belt a bit.

     

    Remember to make sure your network settings are optimized for broadband and that your machine is clean of viruses and spyware.

     

    -Brian
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    Hmm... last I checked I was getting 2+ meg from my cable modem (I'll have to check again). I hate the cable monopolies but in many places, cable offers a lot more speed for the same price as DSL.

     

    -Frank
  • bigelmbigelm Member Posts: 995
    Where do you live cause up in the NE it ain't even like that. Cable may be 'alittle' faster but it doesn't justify the price. My DSL works just fine and it's cheaper, thank you! :-p
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Supposedly my cable system is capable of deliving 7Mbps. I've never checked it but it is fast.
  • bluesubiebluesubie Member Posts: 3,497
    My comcast connection sped up a lot when I upgraded from my 6 GB hard drive, 56K RAM pc. :-)

     

    That is after I waited for the cable guy for 6 hours to repair the outside line that had a really old, corroded splitter!

     

    -Dennis
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    My comcast connection sped up a lot when I upgraded from my 6 GB hard drive, 56K RAM pc. :-)

     

    Oh I can't wait. Santa dropped off an 80GB, 512MB RAM, 3.0 P4 HHT to replace my 2GB, 32MB RAM, PII machine. I presume it'll be a little faster!! Now if I could find the time to hook it up.
  • bigelmbigelm Member Posts: 995
    Wow, Santa came late for you... I've been running a 80GB with 1024MB RAM over a year now :-p
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Remember to make sure your network settings are optimized for broadband and that your machine is clean of viruses and spyware

     

    Followed your advice on that and still, speed is inconsistent. So I think it is the traffice. Last time the cable company came out here they blamed a cut line for the slow speed. I doubt that.

     

    -juice
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Yeah but Santa Mikey Dell charged me 1/2 the price it was last year with a faster processer. :)
  • bigelmbigelm Member Posts: 995
    LOL...what makes you think I paid alot :-p
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Didn't say you did? All I know is that I didn't pay alot!! :)
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    in our area is now Susscom, and they are adding new servers that will supposedly yield 5 meg performance. But you need to be within 200' or so of the pole. The 500'+ line they buried when the house was under construction (Spring, 1999) will not support even digital TV. Need new wire, plus maybe a midpoint amp. Too much money right now to address this...

     

    DSL advertises two services of 256k or 1 meg, but the tech figures maybe 75% of this out on a country road close to 3 miles from a switch, plus a further drop with the line to the house.

     

    Pricing is close (about $45), but in the end we really have no choice as cable is out. Offsetting this is we can drop our second phone line, and AOL. As DSL generally doesn't slow as much as cable with traffic, the actual net performance difference might be smaller than it initially appears.

     

    We went 'high zoot machine' this past summer.

    3.0 mhz P4 HHT, 250GB, 1024MB RAM, DVI graphics and 19" flat panel, TV tuner card w/tivo-like recorder, DVD burner, wireless keyboard, etc.

     

    Once the DSL is in, I get to set up the Linksys wireless lan....

     

    Steve
  • hammerheadhammerhead Member Posts: 907
    DSL used to have a 15,000 foot limit - apparently the tecnology improved to allow out to 18k, which is how we were able to subscribe. We were right on the very edge before the change.

     

    Cheers!

    Paul
  • hammerheadhammerhead Member Posts: 907
    We dropped our second line, but kept the second number (with distinctive ring) for the fax machine. Priced out almost identically: 2 lines + dialup + ISP = 2 numbers + DSL + ISP. My ISP was actually 10 bucks less per year for DSL vs. dialup ($180 vs 170) The faster DSL would be an extra $13/mo.

     

    Cheers!

    Paul
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    (The fact that their margins are higher allow them to offer higher trade-in values.)

     juice, regardless of how a dealer writes up the sales invoice, you never ever get more than wholesale for your trade in.

     

     It usually is average wholesale and the figure is based on what the dealer would pay for a similar car to yours at auction. So if a dealer tells you that you are getting a high trade in, thats pure BS.

     

     It is because he has skimmed someplace else it is all just on paper.

     

      Cheers Pat.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Your Privacy

By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our Visitor Agreement.