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Comments
A silly question, but is the engine warm? It will take a few minutes for the engine to warm up and for you to get hot air. If you still aren't getting warm air out of the defrost vents, you should have it checked out as that is definitely wrong.
MikeF
Thanks for kind words, but several here would replace skin with skull.
However, driving with 2-3 quarts short and with oil changes every 10-12K miles has not had a negative impact on my cars.
Yikes. I locked the engine of my first car up tight when it developed an oil leak and emptied the crankcase. Not pretty.
area to purchase a home in the Berkeley to Walnut Creek area (oxymoron), please let me know.
Look for a nice, conservative Republican neighborhood. Oops - forgot - there aren't any there.
Although, there were darling, tiny 2-seat 500 coupes. I couldn't find a photo of the particular model I liked best, but here's another (check the 3rd row):
http://home.planet.nl/~fredr079/fl-overig/f500-en.html
To bring this back to topic, the 600 was obviously the forerunner of the Forester in terms of sun roof size (the liner covering almost the entire roof would roll up)...
- D.
New White XT in the local lot has a nice sample of my DNA (drool) on the hood...
-srp
-Frank P.
The optimal year for selling a vehicle depends in part on how well or how badly that make and model retains its value. But as a general rule of thumb, the longer you drive any car, the lower its lifetime average per-year TCO (total cost of ownership) becomes. This is because loss of value from depreciation is greatest in the early years, and tails off to very small annual losses in value in the more distant years.
Most cars, given reasonable maintenance, are prefectly capable of providing reliable transportation for 80K to 100K miles - often more - before any major repairs become likely. At the average driver's typical 12K miles per year, this suggests that from a pure reliability standpoint, there is usually no need to replace a car oftener than every 6 to 8 years. Replacing a satisfactory car sooner than necessary is usually an extravagant proposition. Those who can afford it and to whom owning the latest model is important, willingly accept the added cost.
While I could afford to replace my cars every year, my priorities and frugal nature dictate otherwise. So, I instead typically keep them for at least ten years - even longer if the car continues to be satisfactory.
I will probably keep the XT longer.
Ken
No kidding. The highest trade-in offer we received on our 1-owner creampuff loaded (AWD, airbag, ABS, etc) '91 Grand Caravan with barely 100K miles was barely 5% of its original $23K purchase price.
It's worth more than that to me, as a tow vehicle or mass-mover of people or cargo exceeding the XT's capacity. So I kept it and worked out a deal with State Farm where we suspend all of the insurance except comprehensive between very infrequent uses. We restart full liability, etc. each time we use it, and then suspend again afterward. This way, it won't cost more than $100/year to keep it around. We probably won't put more than a few hundred miles a year on it anymore, so at that rate it'll last forever - and save wear and tear on the Forester for the heavy jobs.
So, what I'm wondering is when does the big hit resale nose-dive occur - i.e., if I were to sell earlier than 10+, when do I sell to minimize loss? My gut says expect a precipitous value drop after 3 years/36K/end of warranty. But I reckon there must be tables on this sort of thing. And of course, hopefully all this ends up moot and the XT and I fly off into the sunset like a couple of Canada Geese. Thanks guys!
-srp
-Frank P.
First I have heard of the XT getting raptured up along with believers! I like the idea though :-)
John
I think akasrp is getting carried away with thoughts of goosing his XT.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid97/p0f00d489543df8d210b3- 846a1f65cc9e/fa0e4d5a.jpg
-juice
And you drive all night and then you see a light
And it comes right down and lands on the ground
And out comes a man from Mars
And you try to run but he's got a gun
And he shoots you dead and he eats your head
And then you're in the man from Mars
You go out at night, eatin' cars
You eat Cadillacs, Lincolns too
Mercurys and Subarus...
From Rapture Blondie 1980
now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
-srp
They weren't being sold outside Japan much before that. My wife had one before we met, probably a '77 or '78. Wow, were they homely back then. (Subarus, not wives).
I'm not sure if you're following the new Legacy GT intro, but the preliminary specs are out. The GT uses a "reinforced" 5MT, probably similar to what the XT uses. The ratios, however, are:
1st 3.166
2nd 1.882
3rd 1.296
4th 0.972
5th 0.738
Final 4.11
How does that compare with the XT?
Ken
All I know is that the XT final is 4.44. Sounds like the new GT will be a better cruiser. I know this is off topic but...I read in another discussion that you want the Auto in your new GT. What's your reasoning? Just curious and trying to decide for myself. ;-)
-Ian
2nd 1.882
3rd 1.296
4th 0.972
5th 0.738
Final 4.11
The XT's 5-speed ratios are:
1st 3.454
2nd 1.947
3rd 1.366
4th 0.972
5th 0.738
So, compared to the XT, your numbers for the Legacy indicate that its 1st gear is 9.1% taller than the XT's, its 2nd is 9.67% taller, 3rd is 5.4% taller, and 4th and 5th are identical.
Its 4.11 final drive is 8% taller than the XT's - but the effective overall ratio will also depend on how the tire diameters compare. If the Legacy offers 17" wheels, then its tire diameters may well be as large as the XT's tires even if the Legacy uses a lower high-performance tire profile. So: Assuming similar tire diameters, the Legacy's overall gearing will provide 18% taller 1st, 18.5% taller 2nd, 14% taller 3rd, and 8% taller 4th and 5th.
I would have been far better off waiting for (and paying more for) the Legacy. <sigh>
Let's see about gas mileage. It's lighter and more efficient than the old Legacy.
-juice
Not to cause you buyer's remorse, but the GT will get 215/45/17's.
-Dennis
Wow - that's an extremely low profile, lower than I'd want. It's not easy to reduce NVH using such short sidewalls.
Moreover, by my calculations, that tire is about 9.4% smaller in diameter than the Forester's 215/60x16. That means the Legacy's entire 8% advantage from its taller 4.11 final drive is more than cancelled by its ultra-low-profile tire, even on the larger 17" rim. The Legacy will actually spin (slightly) more RPMs per mile than the XT. Really dumb. If they were going to use that tire, they should have gone to the WRX's 3.9 axles at the very least.
I never finance cars, so 0% wouldn't matter unless there's a cash-rebate alternative. The Legacy GT wagon will probably cost about $30K, and a used XT probably won't bring more than $20K. Too much difference for me, unfortunately.
Alternatively, I bet the tranny from the new Legacy would drop right into the Forester. I wonder what the cost would be though.
Quotes I got months ago indicated that swapping in used WRX parts to convert the transmission and rear diff to 3.9 ratios would cost between 2 and 3 thou, parts & labor.
-mike
The A/C still comes on in sub-zero weather when I turn on the front defroster. I'd like to replace the automatic POS with the old manual climate control system.
I get a lot of lifter noise with a cold engine under moderate acceleration. Service guy says that this is normal for Subarus and is okay as long as the noise goes away after the engine warms up.
Ken
I'm a pretty happy camper right now...the car only had 10 miles on it when I showed up and was in perfect condition (as you would expect). I know I'm not supposed to go over 4k rpm but its hard to contain myself...I find myself trying to peg my accelerations between 3.6k rpm and 4k rpm now ;-).
This now becomes the triathlon vehicle and my enormous dog even fits adequately with room for a future friend (but smaller friend!). My 2yr old daughter loves it and is in awe of the sunroof (as am I).
I'll certainly be posting my thoughts (both positive and negative) here as I gain more experience.
Thanks for all the great information posted here!
overtime
SWMBO is vehemently anti-car alarm. Can a dealer remove or disable the XT’s factory security system? If so, your thoughts on the wisdom of the local boys tinkering under the hood and playing with wires.
And how does window tint (20-35%) affect the auto-dimming mirror?
-srp
ps: congrats on the silver pony, overtime!
-mike
Probably about right; too bad, because the new Legacy 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ratios are very big improvements. Too bad there isn't also a 6th, about 25% or 30% above 5th, though - that would be perfect.
Tempting, except: A WRX swap would do nothing about the uncomfortably large step between 1st and 2nd, and any conversion of this sort would void the 3/36 and 5/60 warranties. Also, I'd be leery of a used WRX driveline; those cars seem to be bought mainly by people who drive the cr@p out of them.
-mike
Can't say; we dropped to about 10 above in Portland yesterday evening and overnight, and the temp readout tracked that. That's plenty cold enough for me, brrrrr. I froze my @$$ late last night closing off all of my foundation vents to prevent pipe freezup. Too late to drain the sprinkler system <sigh>.
The A/C still comes on in sub-zero weather when I turn on the front defroster. I'd like to replace the automatic POS with the old manual climate control system.
FWIW, I never even try to use the automatic settings anymore. I definitely needed defrost/deice at 5am this morning in 10-degree weather. I was able to get HUGE volumes of very hot air from the windshield-base defroster slots. Here's how I set the system, in case you want to see whether it works for you: (1) Temp dial rotated to max heat. (2) Fan dial rotated to max, though I backed that off before long to reduce the noise and to avoid roasting my face. (3) Mode dial rotated to the rightmost (defrost) position. (4) Tapped the upper button within the mode dial, which apparently puts all airflow to the windshield (cold feet, but can't have everything). (5) That last setting turned on the A/C compressor, which I didn't need, so I tapped the A/C button to turn it off.
With these settings, I got huge amounts of air to the windshield, and as soon as the engine warmed up it was very hot air. In due course this de-iced the entire windshield except for the uppermost leftmost corner. Maybe the slots don't extend quite far enough out to the outer ends of the windshield? Meanwhile, the electric rear hatch defroster did a dandy (albeit slow) job of de-icing the back glass.
By 10 am, we have another 3-4" of snow, and predictions of freezing rain/black ice arriving soon. With no studded tires yet to handle ice, I'm not going to hang around work much longer.
The mirror on my WRX still worked fine with 35% tint. As long as you have light coming in from the rear, it should still dim I believe.
Ken - Another website is gathering info on the auto-climate control problems to forward it to SoA. The guy organizing it said it performs nothing like the auto system in his VDC.
-Dennis
John- Re. 0% financing: My thoughts exactly. By paying cash you're actually losing money!
srp- Are you the one who doesn't like the auto-dimming mirror? 20% tint definitely reduces how much the mirror dims but the end result is about the same. If you're watching out for cars with light bars on their roofs, then turning off the auto-dim function is still your best bet. It's been years since I had to worry about such things but I swear, if I make it a whole year without getting a speeding ticket in the XT I'll consider myself extremely lucky!
-Frank P.
I've owned my XT, so it is especially stupid to have the A/C always trying to come on.
A/C units need to run every once in a while to keep them lubricated. I wonder if that is why Subaru is so aggressive about turning it on all the time.
It really is just a minor irritation but I just don't like people complicating my life by trying to stupify things.
Ken
Even the riffraff. <sigh>
overtime
I thought you might have been the one who wrote that he wasn't getting anything but cold air out of the windshield defroster slots, so I wanted to say how I got all the heat I could handle.
THE GOOD:
1. The engine has loosened up very nicely. It seems to run smoother every day, and I am always (pleasantly) surprised at its seemingly inexhaustible desire to scoot. I've made a conscious effort for the last few weeks to run every gear out to 4000-4500 rpms, and my gas mileage has actually gone up about 1 mpg. I'm getting between 19 and 20 with about 50% heavy stop and go commuting.
2. The heater and AC (on manual), the heated seats, and visibility all rock.
3. The grin factor is the highest of any vehicle I've ever owned.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD:
1. The stereo is so-so at best (even for an OEM unit, and especially for an "upgraded" OEM unit).
2. The unlit rocker for the door lock kinda irks me. The window rockers are lit - why not the lock button? The button is small, my arms are long, and I still have a hard time finding it in the dark.
3. When the window lock button is activated (to keep a certain 3-year-old from rolling the rear window down), even the driver can't operate the other windows until the switch is turned off. On every other car I've owned, the driver's switches overrode the lock button. Weird design - bit of a PITA.
4. Why, when SOA went to so much trouble to differentiate my XT from the X or XS by painting it a "monotone" Cayenne Red, did they go to the extra trouble of painting the side view mirrors, B-pillar, and a stripe on the rear hatch some kind of weird grey? Strange design choice, if you ask me.
SUMMARY:
I am very pleased with this vehicle. My complaints are mostly nits. I never expected a 24k car to be perfect, but the XT delivers a lot of bang for the buck. Color me a happy camper.
-Frank P.