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Comments
Honda's are very good cars as well; as I rate Honda, Toyota, and Subaru all in the same category of top quality vehicles. The difference I see or hear in this case between the three are as follows.
Honda: Build like tanks, runs forever, but stiff ride and wind wind and road noise.
Subaru: Build excellent as well. Also, runs forever, little wind noise, but road noise.
Toyota: Build is execellent, runs forever as well, but no wind noise and little road noise.
Every car will have road noise on rougher pavements, there is no-way around it. But, I like Suabru's for the fact they are priced well for the what you get and also, not many in my area own one, so you can stand out while not following the crowd. I feel IMHO, the companies mentioned above, are the three best on the market. Again, that is my opinion only. I owned an Accord that had 212,000 miles on it and never had any problems, and when I sold it, I still got $
Honda, Toyota and Subaru have the highest resale values after three year on the market according to CR.
Why? Aerodynamics, it's boxier and taller. Plus it has an open cargo area (vs. an enclosed trunk in a sedan.
If you dig up the two comparo tests by C&D for the class, Forester scores the lowest noise levels of the bunch, both times.
-juice
Personally, I wouldn't rate this one of the Forester's strong suits. Subarus don't score particularly well in surveys like JDP's Initial Quality and my guess is that's because they tend to come from the factory with the occasional squeak or rattle. That's the bad news. The good news is that once you track down and fix those annoyances (which are covered under warranty), a Subaru will run forever :-)
-Frank
I am concerned about the Sub now...again, is the OB any better in the rattle dept.
Now, the only squeeks and rattles in the car are my joints.
Also, folks have metioned the roadside assistance saves them $60+ a year over AAA. I do not recall my AAA+ membership being that high, maybe it is. How does the Subaru coverage differ from the AAA coverage. Does it provide free tire service, lock service, fuel delivery. More important, if you breakdown on vacation no where near a Subaru dealer....WHAT DOES THE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE DO FOR YOU? Must you be towed to a Subaru dealer? Are they there 24/7?????
Yes, my wife gets all of the above. I think the towing limit is 100 miles, and you should be able to find either a dealer or at least a mechanic within that distance. The program is not operated by Subaru, so they will not restrict you to dealers only.
We were paying $71 per year for a AAA family membership, that adds up.
-juice
$0 deductible option is available throughout the 3 year, 36000 mile
warranty. Any dealer can sell it.
Gold Coverage - It has trip interruption, so in his scenario of traveling,
it would cover accommodations, up to $500 for lodging meals, etc.
Roadside assistance:
Road hazard tire protection
Sign and Drive service up to $100 (gas, etc.)
Emergency lockout service
24/7 availability
A dealer is recommended for repairs, but if one is not nearby, they will
authorize repairs at an independent shop.
Sounds good to me. My wife's is a Gold so if we ever break down, I hope the only Hotel near us is a Ritz Carlton.
-juice
PS E-mail me for more details, if you want.
(we do use the AAA discount quite often, might be worth keeping the AAA regular plan)
http://www.subaruwrxparts.com/security.html
http://www.business-solutions.us/projects/masterPortfolio/Subaru/www/other/home.cfm
Thanks.
Does the rear deflector install in a similar fashion?
By the way, I've seen the spoiler on several 2006 Foresters and it looks great. It looks better in real life than in the photos.
The only near disaster occured when I accidentally dropped a bolt into one of the holes in the tailgate sheetmetal...it took me about 2 hours to retreive it, and it was sheer luck that I was able to get it out. Had I not, it would have created a terrible rattle back there. Otherwise, the center punch, the drilling, the measuring -- all went smoothly.
B
Don't tell Bob that, he lobbied hard to have the switch all in one place. It used to be on the lower left dash and required a reach to turn it on.
-juice
Does the rear Deflector install in the same way?
We bought it from Dulles Subaru in Leesburg, VA and although our salesman was a bit of a braggard a$$hat, the overall purchasing experience was very good. We paid 26,800 for it (included compass/auto-dimming mirror, cargo net and rear bumber guard) before the accessories we purchased. Also got free lifetime oil-changes from the dealer. Not sure if our deal is the best ever, but in this area I think we did ok since it's about $350 under Edmund's TMV.
Anyway, the car is awesome and my wife (since it's going to be her primary driver) has already named him Mr. Thundercleese, in honor of the 7-foot tall battle robot neighbor from the Cartoon Planet show, "The Brak Show."
Steve, Host
-juice
Such generosity and sacrifice are rare - I am impressed!
tidester, host
Yeah back when SoA frequented these forums for ideas to forward to the Product Planning division, Bob was going full bore to have this changed. :P
I always thought the cruise control was perfect "as is". Now someone is accidently activating it!
-Dennis
Oh, and the Steel Grey Metallic is an great color and once the dealer's tinted the windows next week I think the car will look even better. We test drove the '05 version of the XT Limited last spring and my wife and I weren't really impressed with it's handling or ride (we were comparing it w/ the Outback XT), but since they've revised the suspension (and I think the steering box) the transmission shifts alot smoother and body roll is far lessened it seems.
In lieu of pulling the fuse, you might consider adjusting the steering wheel so it sits a bit higher. Or adjust the seat so it sits a bit further rearward so you won't be lifting your leg so high. Or lower the seat little bit.
I'm 6' tall, 155 lbs., with a normal reach and leg inseam. If I adjust the seat further down or back, or the wheel up, it feels uncomfortable and may actually be a bit dangerous since I won't be able to work the controls as well.
If you don't, it is driver error, every time.
We need to take personal responsibility for our driving. Not being able to find the brakes is not an excuse for causing an accident.
-juice
Subaru must take responsibility for design flaws, such as this poorly designed cruise control stalk, when they create an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of harm to the end consumer. Blaming the consumer for bad engineering is a cowardly way of protecting profits and share price.
It's time to recall and replace the cruise control stalk.
I've driven a number of newer Subies and have never hit the stalk with my leg. I will say this, maybe Subaru should consider the mounting angle on the steering column so that it is angled perhaps an inch or two or more higher, it would then be more out of the way from your leg. But change the design of the stalk, I say no.
You may want to try lowering your seat a bit so that your leg angle may be better? You might also try raising the steering column, if it's not already fully raised. These few minor adjustments may be just the answer? It's worth a try at the very least.
Bob
I don't think going 60 you can turn the wheel far enough to hit the stalk with your leg, turn it on and activate it without crashing the car.
Which in the end would be driver error.
You have to push it in to turn it on, then down to set it. I'm not sure it one motion does both, but it doesn't seem that likely to happen.
I wouldn't call it a "design flaw" until we at least observed a pattern of people activating cruise unintentionally. So far some folks only think it might.
-juice
I fully expect the next generation Forester to have more rear leg room, stability control, and Sportshift, at a minimum. More power from both engines, also. And at similar price levels.
Thank you, Toyota and Suzuki.
-juice
Bob
The 03 Forester was all-new. It kept the same wheelbase, but a lot of the structure was changed, for instance the front and rear bumper beams switched to aluminum, even the roof rails did.
The structure changed enough that the crash test scores improved significantly. The track got wider and the suspension geometry was revised. The engine was tweaked to get better gas mileage.
We recorded at least 8 things that changed that the Subaru Crew had lobbied for, mostly new features.
So not quite a clean-sheet design, but different enough to call it a redesign.
The 05 Legacy changed more, different wheelbase, track, structural components (lots more aluminum). It was pretty much a clean-sheet, minus the engine, which was tweaked.
Other subtle changes were phased in - throttle-by-wire, EBD, etc.
-juice
-Frank
That may change once all the Subaru models have gone over to their new look.
Bob
Also, is one of them less noticeable than the other? I don't want one sticking way out from under the bumber, so one that's more "hidden" than the others would probably be what I'd go for, regardless of Type I or Type II.
Just looking for some advice on this, thanks all!
Bob
For this reason I went with OE.
-juice
Steve, Host