Subaru Crew Cafe

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Comments

  • jfljfl Member Posts: 1,398
    Ed, could you clarify "...license-building Beck Listers and 904s."

    Is this in reference to Lister-Jaguar and 904 Porsche???

    Thanks,

    Jim
  • grahampetersgrahampeters Member Posts: 1,786
    G'day

    Funny but when you eat out regularly, it loses its appeal. I travel a lot and Judy would like to eat out more when I am home. From my perspective, the ideal meal is something light (perhaps a pasta dish or fish with salad) at home with a nice glass of wine and my wife and kids for company.

    As to the wine, we are blessed with a lovely range in Australia. This year is a severe drought and hence yields are down a lot although sugar levels are very high as is flavour. This has coincided with a period where total plantings are excessive in Australia so the current year will be fabulous both for quality and quantity, for Australian wines. Might even be able to send some overseas if you are really lucky.

    Vintage has been declared in the Barossa Valley and most regions will follow unless there is a really early frost which seems unlikely given that we are seeing excessive temperatures and no propsect of the El Nino breaking. Lucien will comfirm what a good year can do for good vines. Now all we really need is a bit of light rain and some botritus mould to get the sticky wines to fabulous taste levels.

    Maybe it is the year to go touring for sticky desert wines. Self levelling suspension is vital, obviously, if you are packing in the crates over the rear axle.

    Cheers

    Graham
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    I think the Studebaker XUV is about 18" longer than the Hummer H2.

    Bob
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    From the Avanti Motors website:

    The Beck 904 by Avanti: http://www.zipp.com.mx/avanti/beck_specifications.htm - Avanti Motors has teamed with Chuck Beck to produce a replica of the Beck 904 Porsche. Uses Porsche 911 drivetrain components.

    SVO Lister by Avanti: http://www.zipp.com.mx/avanti/lister_specifications.htm - Avanti Motors has teamed with Chuck Beck to build the Beck Lister Corvette. Uses Corvette drivetrain components.

    Ed
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    What time is dinner?

    Steve
  • jfljfl Member Posts: 1,398
    Let's see..."If you have to ask, you can't afford it?"

    Any idea what a Beck 904 would cost? The 904 has been my dream car since childhood days. Unfortunately, I've grown up. Kids in HS & college. No dream cars in the forseeable future. 8~(

    Jim
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    given the ocean of juice backing up down under, I am pretty sure you'll find it in your hearts to let us have a little bit of it! :-)

    [homer]Mmmmmmm......noble rot........[/homer]
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Just saw recently that the H2 Hummer has less interior cargo capacity than the last generation Trooper. Amazing how "big" you think it is, til you realize it's a waste of space.

    -mike
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    First it was Jeep suing GM because they claimed the front of the Hummer H2 was a Jeep rip-off...

    Now you have GM suing Avanti Corporation because they claim the Studebaker XUV is a Hummer H2 rip-off...

    http://just-auto.com/nd.asp?art=40266&dm=yes

    Bob
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Hmm if I were Jeep I would have sued that the REAR of the H2 looked like the Cherokee rear end, just enlarged.

    Funny thing I saw yesterday 2 H2s with External Tire Carriers, I bet that frees up some nice space for that 3rd row of seats.

    -mike
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Well, fooled me. Here I thought the Stude XUV was going to be a freshened H2. Doubtless this could put the latest iteration of Avanti Motors out of business. I take news of a revived Studebaker the same way I take news of a revived Washington Senators baseball club: I'll believe it when I see it. The latter will probably be easier to accomplish, however.

    Ed
  • hammersleyhammersley Member Posts: 684
    Graham: Somewhere back there, you mentioned Foresters being utilized as Fire/Medical vehicles. Supervisory? First response? Seems like they would be too small for patient transport. A far cry from the full-size Modular Ford diesel chassis that are currently in use here.

    Cheers!
    Paul
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That spare in the H2 is absolutely ridiculous, it kills any pretense of "utility" it might have. An outside mounted spare should be standard.

    mike - the 3rd row seat, not seats. Singular, there's just one!

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Inteesting links! Thanks!

    Bob
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    From a link that Dennis posted,

    image

      Cheers Pat.
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Not medical, but police; photos I took in Italy.

    image

    image

    Note the 16" US-spec WRX alloys on the Legacy and the last-gen US-spec Forester L steelies on the current-gen Forester.

    Ed
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Great links!

    If I'm not mistaken, all current Foresters—that use the 2.0 engine, as opposed to the 2.5 engine, in the base "X" trim level, still use the 15" steel wheels. North America, Australia and New Zealand, which all get 2.5 Foresters, use the 16" steel wheels on the base "X" models.

    Bob
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Thanks, Bob. The only other Foresters I saw in Italy were last-gen S turbos, which have the same 5-spoke 16" alloys as I have on my S.

    There was also an unmarked WRX wagon patrol car on display; it was loaded down with radar and other cop car goodies but otherwise looked like your everyday European continent-spec WR Blue WRX wagon.

    Ed
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Subies have yet to be discovered here as great emergency response vehicles, be it police, fire or rescue. I think there is a HUGE untapped market here in North America for Subaru marketing folks to explore. I know some of the ski areas use a few Outbacks as police vehicles, but that's about it as far as I know.

    Bob
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    Ed,

    Nice photos -- I saw the similar Carabinieri Subarus when I was in Rome several years back.

    Ken
  • grahampetersgrahampeters Member Posts: 1,786
    G'day

    Funny how these things seem normal after a while.

    In Victoria, our weather conditions vary from intense drought as we are currently experiencing to torrential floods, frequently with little pause between. As I look a the weather radar, I can see that we may get some relief from the current dry conditions in about half an hour when an intense storm cell will pass over us.

    In rural Victoria, the Forester GT is used extensively by the police in both plain wrapper and conventional police format. They are also used around suburban melbourne in plain wrapper version - fast and great handling.

    The Ambulance Service use them as rapid response vehicles, looking fr those Golden Minutes to get medice to accident victims. Melbourne has tramtracks which mean that many of our major roads have fast through trascks down the centre of the road but travelling on these can be lethal if you slip. The combination of rain and steel is pretty exciting when everything lets go. I can confirm that a Forester GT is the fastest thing you will ever see on these routes alowing a very rapid response time.

    One of the oddities of Melbourne is the back up service of the Fire Brigade to the Ambulance service. There is a fair chance that a fire officer can reach site before an ambulance and hence emergencies routinely turn out a fire engine as well as an ambulance. Firefighters are trained farily intensively in first aid and this reduces adverse consequences, particularly for stroke and coronary cases.

    I have not seen an Outback used for emergency services in Victoria although they are used in rural NSW where distances etc. are greater.

    Cheers

    Graham
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    You'll have to have SOA convince the Federal Gov to subsidize the purchase of non Ford/GM/Chrysler vehicles in order to see them used in any significant #s. That is primarily the hinderence on purchasing Japanese or German vehicles for police use.

    -mike
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    when you consider that your federally subsidized Chrysler $$$ are then headed to Germany!

    Steve
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    of seeing Subaru police/fire/rescue vehicles, is that it adds "credibility" and "legitimacy" to the brand. When people see Subaru emergency vehicles, they may say to themselves: "Hey, maybe Subaru really is a pretty good vehicle," because the police, etc. are using them. Subaru may not make a lot of money on selling these vehicles, per say, but spill-over sales could be HUGE.

    Now, to find a way get around the government bureaucracy...

    Bob
  • hypovhypov Member Posts: 3,068
    rig a few vehicles to police/fire/rescue specs and put them out at Auto Shows. Generate awareness of the general public that Subaru are in fact used and available as such vehicles. Use examples of vehicles from Canada, Australia, Italy,... to impress further.
    Even if the Federal Gov. doesn't take notice, I'm pretty sure the display would be etched into the consumer's mind.

    -Dave
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    SOA could easily do this to see if there is any interest, and/or build interest. Even if nothing comes from it, people going to car shows will an Italian Legacy police car, or an Australian Outback rescue vehicle. It would have nothing but a positive effect.

    In a perfect world, if Subaru can actually get these vehicles into the hands of local police/fire/rescue departments, that would be best, as the exposure to the public would be far greater.

    Bob
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    Had I known you were going to Italy I would have had you bring me back a set of those headlights that are on the outback.

      Cheers Pat.
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    I only saw one Subaru dealership in Italy, in Siena. Are they a direct swap?

    Ed
  • hypovhypov Member Posts: 3,068
    Gee Pat, if you have the part#, I could have my brother try to sniff it out in Italy. He lives in Italy. :)

    -Dave
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    The headlights would fit, maybe have to do a little wiring change but nothing insurmountable, I imagine they would cost an arm and a leg though, the regular GT headlight here in Canada is over $600 CDN.each with Taxes.

      Cheers Pat.
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Follow up with Dave, Pat. I don't know when I'll get back to Italy again; I'll most likely be in France sooner.

    Ed
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Sweet, note the headlamp washers and my old steelies on that Forester. Painted bumpers, too bad.

    In Cali I saw a lot of Isuzu Amigos on the beach in use by the patrols, I think it's much more accepted there. You probably won't see import brand vehicles near the capital or in rural areas.

    -juice
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    France is the same thing left hand drive same as us as is Germany also, if you get there it would be interesting to find out the cost,if it was within reason I would think about it.

      I actually e-mailed a couple of dealers in Germany but I never got any replies.

     Cheers Pat.
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    The headlamp washers would be easy to do, just a matter of sourcing the parts that would be the hardest part.

       Cheers Pat.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Love that name! It's what many native Africans call small pickups. Here's Ford's version of such a vehicle.

    http://www.blueovalnews.com/2003/trucks/foreign.bantam.021803.htm

    Bakkie would be a great name if Subaru were to ever offer a (real) small 4x4 truck, to compliment the car-based Baja.

    Bob (who is dreaming again...)
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    This vehicle, while at first glance, appears to be nothing more than a Hummer H2 rip-off, is actually much more—in every sense of the word! It's a much bigger vehicle than the H2. It uses running gear from the Ford Super-Duty pickups. It has sliding rear doors, like that of a minivan, as well as a Wagonaire-like rear moonroof. And to me at least, the front end styling hints (just a tad) of what Studebaker pickups looked like back in the early 1950s.

    What do you think Ed?

    http://www.theavanti.com/XUV.html

    http://www.zipp.com.mx/avanti/studebaker.htm

    Bob
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    "And to me at least, the front end styling hints (just a tad) of what Studebaker pickups looked like back in the early 1950s."

    Here are a few photos of 1950s Stude pickups to give you an idea.

    First, 1950:

    image

    The first minor restyle was in 1954; here's a 1955:

    image

    Finally, an ungainly fiberglass grille that was added in 1957. Here's a 1959:

    image

    In 1960 Stude launched the Champ, a pickup that shared its front clip with the Lark passenger car.

    Ed
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    but the bottom photo, the red/white one, with the sculpted brow around the headlight is what I'm referring to. The new XUV also has a similar shape to the headlight area. Also the front, at least in comparison to the rest of the body, has a slightly rounded feeling to it, somewhat like the early Studebakers. Again, I know I may be reaching a bit here, but I do see a (very) slight visual tie between the two.

    Bob (desperately trying to justify my earlier post...)
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    LOL, Bob. Don't take it the wrong way. I know a lot of the Studebaker Drivers Club folks are trying to find design cues besides the Wagonaire-like rear roof panel and the updated "lazy S" logo in the grille. This XUV beast may change to look more like the '50s trucks or the Lark-like Champ. :-)

    Ed
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    They could have at least called it a Connastoga Wagon. From a rugged, blaze-your-way-across-the-frontier standpoint, there's certainly a link; 1850, welcome to 2003. :)

    As a marketing slogan they could use:

    "What would Kit Carson drive?"

    Bob
  • originalbitmanoriginalbitman Member Posts: 920
    That 1950 Stude is nearly identical to mine. I have a '49 same color, same rims and hubcaps, mine has the chrome bumper option.

    Very nice looking trucks.

    bit
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That's old news, Bob. They used to make those in Brazil, in fact that magazine I showed you from 2000 has that exact model.

    They've actually already had a face-lift since then. The new front-end on the Fiesta is far, far more attractive.

    Sliding doors? My bad assumption - I thought they were suicide doors. I should have noticed the tracks. The H2 is too small inside for its bulk, so maybe this will utilize space better.

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    << That's old news, Bob. They used to make those in Brazil, in fact that magazine I showed you from 2000 has that exact model. >>

    Are you referring to the "bakkie" post? If so, my main reason for posting that was for that name&#151;which I love. If Subaru should ever decide to offer a "real" pickup or Wrangler-like vehicle, that would be a perfect name IMO.

    Bob
  • potenzauspotenzaus Member Posts: 29
    Hi,

    I currently have a 2000 Legacy GT in very good condition with 45,000 miles.
    I pay $360 per month and my payment ends for another 3 years.
    BMW has a current offer of $299 a month 36-month lease on 325i with 3,000 down plus taxes & fees.
    And of course it has free service and maintenance for 4 years or 50k miles.
    This is tempting for me cause I really like to try a BMW.

    Assuming the difference of the monthly payment is $60 (plus taxes),
    $60 * 36 = $2160 will be the overall difference of monthly payment (estimated)

    I would lose around +$840 in this case since the downpayment of $3000 for the lease (without adding the fees)
    minus the $2160 that I would save from the monthly payment for 36 months.

    I drive around 12k miles a year and I don't really modify my cars with after market stuff.

    Is this a good deal for me? Thanks for your inputs.

    P
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    A good deal? Only if you'll be content making $300+ payments for the rest of your life. In your calculations you left out the biggest figure... with the BMW lease you'll have nothing after 3 years but if you keep the Legacy you'll have a car worth around $8,000! You can then trade or sell it and use the cash to reduce the payment on your next car. Better yet, keep the payment the same but shorten the length of the loan. Consumer advocates will tell you (and I agree) that if you can't afford to pay a car off in 3 years, you shouldn't be buying it. With the longer loans, not only are you paying an exorbitant amount in interest but you're also upside down in the loan for the first couple of years.

    Sorry if it sounds like I'm lecturing but you did ask...

    -Frank P.
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    well let's see here... you're paying about $14,000 for the priviledge of driving a 3 series for 3 years, but no more than 12,000 miles per anum.

    let's see what a 3 year-old 3er goes for with 36,000 miles... hmm nada.com says with popular equipment you're looking at $21,500 trade in, $24,500 retail. say the 2003 325i you're looking at is an even $30k for argument's sake (they can be optioned far higher of course).

    so in effect, you have paid almost $14,000 for a vehicle that probably will only depreciate $5,000.

    sounds like a bad deal to me. they say leasing vehicles with high resale is the way to go because the residual is higher and the lease cheaper, but if this is the typical economics I'll be buggered if I know what the lure is. I do realize that putting only $3k down on that car with a 6yr loan looks a LOT worse than that $299/mo lease... but still I don't get it.

    -Colin
  • subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    Is this a BMW subsidised lease?

    My guess is that the residual of that 3-series is around $18k. So, it would be a bonus to him to purchase it at the residual price, rather than the market selling price (which in this case is $7k higher than his 'residual'). Even more, he could sell the 3 at that time, thus negating any extras he paid. That $7k could be used for the next vehicle lease. ;-)

    I've always read/heard that it's better to put as little money down on a lease. I suppose in this case you could say the $3k up front is sort of paying for the 'free' maintenance.

    You also may want to inquire with your local credit union. They sometimes have a package available that lets you get lease-type payments with an actual loan (sort of a balloon loan). You can walk away at the end, or pay (or finance) the remaining balloon).

    FWIW. YMMV.

    -Brian
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yes Bob, bakkie = picape in Brazil. They have the next generation of that Ford already for sale.

    Surely the GT would last 8 years reliably, or 5 more years. So yeah, 3 more years of payments, but then at least 2 years of total freedom from car payments.

    Two advantages - you could put $360 per month in savings, and after 8 years the GT would still be worth $6 grand or so. $360 * 24 = $8640, that's more than $14 grand you'd have saved up!

    Then you could BUY whatever car you want with such a huge downpayment.

    Long-term ownership will always make you come out ahead, without a doubt. You gotta break the cycle of getting the itch to swap cars every 2-3 years, in the long run that'll cost you a fortune no matter how they try to mask it with attractive lease deals.

    -juice
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    There are more statistics than you can shake a stick at telling you the cheapest way to own a car is to keep it for ten years.

      At that point you are ahead of the game and if you have maintained your vehicle well it is still worth money at that point.

      Cheers Pat.
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