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Comments
Is there something I can clean the surface with to get the rid of the slippery-ness? Bob L.
One idea is to use the anti-slip mats used for carpeting. They're washable too.
Ken
Fabric and craft stores will have velcro that you can stick or sew on to hold things like the liner in place. Mine tends to stay put.
It is very worn, however. I beat it up pretty badly, so had I known about that $19 promotion I would have bought a new one, maybe two! :-)
-juice
Another idea is to buy seat covers for the back seat. They make them for the split seats at a number of websites. They will cover the back of the seat as well as the front although they are not as rugged as the floor mat I use.
Becky
OK, so I lost 2 months, but what a great deal! Every cent counts. Woo-hooo!
Anybody else learn of any other benes once they became SUBARU owners?
-K
http://www.subaru.co.jp/forester/lineup/lineup_x_backpack.html
I thought of doing something like that with some thin sheets of aluminum. I don't know about plastic, because when you slide something in there it would probably gouge the it and leave a lot of scratches, unless it was a really hard plastic. I was looking at one of those floor thingies that sit underneath desks so you can roll your chair around. For about $70 you can have a piece that might fit pretty closely and it has those spiky bottoms to keep it in place.
For the spare tire cover you could probably screw it into the two aluminum rails, but you'd still have to back it up with a piece of plywood or something to make it stronger. The only problem is there isn't a lot of room underneath the floor for support. Mine is bowing too, but not so much that I really care. I thought of reinforcing it with some 1/4 inch aluminum, but it's not worth the hassle and the added weight. The seat backs should be easier, it's already pretty stiff to begin with so you won't have to do much.
Anyway, I just ended up using the cargo cover like everyone else. Even then, I take it out sometimes and cover everything with just a blanket because having a non-carpeted surface makes everything slide around too much.
Oh yeah, subaxtreme makes a little table that replaces the spare tire cover, like in the CRV. I bet that would be stronger than the stock cover, and you'd have a table too.
Gene
I have just come back from the launch of the Forester XT Down Under. Oficial launch is Saturday but existing owners were invited to a preview tonight.
I think the only major difference to the US is the fitment of a full size spare. That means that the luggage cover will not fit across the below floor storage but ensures that you can actually get home when the tyre gets punctured. Mini-spares are not popular here as distances to a repairer can be huge.
Of course, only dealer staff have test driven the XT so far, but they were in raptures One guy I sppoke with reckons its more fun than a WRX and actually feels like a real car, I'll be interested to try it out for myself.
5 colours offered, all in monotone. None really grab me although I could go for the huge sunroof. Perhaps though, I will wait for the new Outback which debuts here in September.
Cheers
Graham
I see the Oz-spec XT is available with a "Luxury Pack." I'm assuming that means leather seats and a moonroof? Is that available in both 5-speed and automatic? Also, does the 5-speed XT get the dual-range tranny?
Bob
Cross Sports is also slightly lowered. I think that's what Ed and Ken were hoping for here. Me? I'm glad it kept the stock ride height.
-juice
Ed
-juice
Leo dC
Leo-
I pack two liners in the WRX wagon. Slide the second one over whenever I fold the seats down to stow stuffs i.e. tires
-Dave
Greg
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=6251&sid=17- 3&n=156
Honda and Toyota - no suprise except that their repair rates actually improved.
I continue to find it interesting that Buick does so well. And quite frankly, I'm really surprised Subaru scored below average. Are we just anal and more likely to bring in our cars
for "insignificant repairs or are dealers "finding" repairs for us?
Addressing Bob's questions; Yes the Aus spec XT gets a huge moonroof and leather in the Premium Pack. This comes in Auto and Manual.
The XT comes without the Dual range transmission. Not sure that it would make a lot of differnece because the power band is so wide.
The space saver spare is growing into quite an issue. The local motoring associations are swinging toward lobbyning for space savers to be illegal as they make the car unroadworthy if fitted.
Oddly, if the spare is in the spare carrier, the car is legal, but when fitted to the car, it is not. The law is an [non-permissible content removed], isn't it?
Rereading the above, I realize that for US citizens, that should read " The law is a mule!" which loses something in translation. Ah, the joys of the English language
Cheers
Graham
PN: hmm, do you think a Buick owner pushes his car as hard as a Porsche owner does? Or even a WRX owner?
I think a lot of that has to do with demographics. Buick owners' median age is approximately [Dead - 2], or somewhere in the 70s (really, it is).
You can't compare that to a track driven WRX or 911, there's just no way. Of course they would require more M&R.
Graham: that statement sounded better the first time!
-juice
Mike
I'll be very interested to see how the all-new Outback deals with this situation. The spy shots I've seen suggest a still larger 17" wheel. I hope they've designed a spare tire well that's large enough to accommodate a full-size spare with the new model.
Bob
Len
A Group N Forester was also entered in Safari and Acropolis in 2002, driven by Kailesh Chauhan with co-driver Frank Gitau. I haven't been able to find a photo of it.
Edit: You can see a small portion of the 2002 car here: http://www.kenolkobil.com/viewnews.php?news_id=61&itemtitle=K- ENOL+LUBES+SPONSOR+LOCAL+PAIR ; I wonder if it's the same car?
Ed
I think they are different. The first one is an original Forester, MY1998-2000, at least in the US. The 2nd looks like a MY2003, the headlights and grille are different.
-juice
Steve, Host
Before I get myself stuck, I am wondering if the program gets one anywhere near Invoice + makes for a pleasant buying experience.
Really gettin a baaad case of XTitis!
-srp
My experience with the Costco program is that you can do a lot better by striking your own deal elsewhere
I'm sure we'd all appreciate a primer on your buying strategy.
-srp
When I got no reply from the 6th dealer, I checked their website and found an e-mail address for their Internet Fleet Sales Manager. I sent him an e-mail version of my standard letter. He immediately replied offering $200 over invoice. I countered with $100 over, he accepted, and the deal was done. All that remained was to intercept his inbound 5-speed silver XT in time to have it configured at the port of entry exactly as I wanted (adding two Popular Equipment Groups and rubber mats, deleting the expensive, pointless rear spoiler, and adding the column-mount boost gauge), all at dealer cost.
Total price out the door: $23,978. Easiest car buy I've ever experienced. The internet sales guy at the dealer couldn't have been more helpful, more laid-back, or less high-pressure.
It took about 1.5 weeks longer for the car to arrive than I expected, but I gather that's because I wanted mine configured 'just so', which slowed it down.
jb
-juice
I agree that that's the (Costco) theory... Reality (in my case) was altogether different. No one at the Costco-referred dealership appeared to know anything whatsoever about the XT other than that it was 'coming'. The price they quoted was at best middle-of-the-pack. The rep hardly ever called me at the points where new XT information got disseminated; I always had to call and drag it out of him. His sales manager was a complete jerk on the two occasions when he inserted himself into our conversations. The ONLY thing that dealership has going for it is that they're on my route from home to work, and for that reason alone, that's probably where I'll have my XT serviced (unless their service department turns out to be as inadequate as the sales department). In that case, I'll stick with the suburban dealership where I bought my XT through their internet sales manager in the smoothest, most hassle-free, most mutually-respectful car-buying experience I've ever had. He was a competition driver who knew more about cars than I do. I rarely learn anything about car I'm interested in from conversations with salespeople, but I learned from him. That their selling price ($100 over invoice) was also three hundred dollars lower than the next-lowest quote I received was the delicious icing on the cake. Completely painless, completely satisfactory, and the best price around. That's an impossible-to-beat combination.
I doubt I will ever again bother seeking a Costco referral for buying a car. It was a total waste of my time and an exercise in frustration.
Similarly, I requested a quote/referral from one of the Internet auto-shopping services. Although Portland has no fewer than 6 Subaru dealers, they referred me to one in The Dalles, Oregon, far from where I live. Buying from them would have required at least one several-hundred-mile round-trip. Their price quote was $600 over invoice, and so far as I know they haven't yet received a silver 5-speed.
Also, a program like Costco is probably better for a model that isn't so new. No-haggle prices for popular new cars will tend to be optimistic (for the dealer).
-juice
I just checeked and the Australian Outback is fitted with 215/60 16 tyres including the spare (on a plain steel rim). With full tread depth, it is very tight to squeeze into the spare wheel well and there is a slippery plastic sleeve that slips over the edge of the tyre nearest the tailgate, so the wheel will slip down against the carrier. Otherwise, the sticky rubber would tend to stick against the carrier's edge.
Given there is still clearance above the spare at this size, I think a 225/60/16 tyre would also fit into the carrier. It would certainly be worth trying a tyre carcass or even a wheel off your car to checak just what will fit.
Cheers
Graham
Len
Not sure about the Oz-spec Impreza, as i didn't see any spare tire info on the web site.
Bob
Graham, care to comment?
Bob
jb
bit
It's not just the Forester. I believe the Canadian WRX wagon can be had with the Premium Package that only US-spec WRX sedan are offered. Only now is the AWP available on the WRX (sedan w/PP), whereas the Canadian WRXs had this standard from day one. Are WRX owners in Wisconsin or Vermont any less likely not to want heated seats than their Canadian counterparts? I just don't get it...
Bob
The comparison to Canada and USA is probably close. The countries are socially very close and there is a Free Trade agreement between them (although tariff and quota levels are very low in both, compared to the USA). Australians find it very easy to live and work in NZ and New Zealanders like Australia so much that Sydney actually has more Kiwis (the joke reference to NZ citizens) than NZ's second largest city. At the time of Australia planning to becoming a nation in 1901, it was thought more likely that NZ would join the Commonwealth than Western Australia. It is a very friendly country and particulary easy for me. My accent is soft by australian standards and sounds like a nnative of the Canterbury Plains, a rich farming area near Christchurch in the South Island. I can drink in NZ pubs without being challenged over the ruugby results. Rugby is rather more important than religion to NZ citizens and the whole ofice wil stop for analysis of the previous night's game. Not following rugby is practically a criminal offence.
The prime difference between Australia and NZ is regulatory. Australia has very tough motor vehicle design regulations on all cars, whether locally manufactured or imported, whereas NZ allows grey imports from Japan. That makes the NZ market ripe for imports that are beyond registration age in Japan (I think that is 3 or five years) and also allows for imports of new exotica like Nissan Skyline GT-R and STi WRX. Getting parts for these can be tricky but it certainly makes for some interesting vehicles on the road. The contrast with fifteen years ago could not be more strong. The relaxation in trade barriers came after major economic reform in 1986. Until then, very high tariff and quota barriers meant that most cars were ancient and British. I think it was the last repository of the orld's Morris Minors.
The main differences in Subaru products is that NZ is a very small market with only 3.9m people (although they do have 80m sheep) in two fairly large islands which are biggere than the United Kingdom which squeezes in 56m.
The market size means a limited range of products but the locals love hot cars. Legacy GT's have been routinely available in NZ in a period where they do not make it to Australia. Forester GTs are also popular. Every Subaru that I have seen as I travel in New Zealand has looked well travelled - Not worn but certainly enjoyed. The climate, particularly in the South Island, calls out for a snow capable car. The West Coast of the South Island basically rises up hard from the ocean into steep ice capped mountains. There are a couple of places where the glaciers come down to the sea and it is quite possible to go ice climbing and then swimming in the Ocean in the same morning.
The driving is something else. NZ drivers are pretty appalling and Australians driving on country NZ roads do so at considerable risk. A lot of the roads are also very rugged because of the mountainous country. One of the scarier trips of my life was finding the whole NZ rally recce coming toward me. Foresters and WRXs are nice, but I don't want to see them on my side of the road, sideways.
NZs size also makes it a good test market for any potential new product. Volumes are not high and shipment from Japan fairly quick. Thus they already have the new Legacy GT http://www.subaru.co.nz/news/index.html?id=519
It quite makes me jealous.
Cheers
Graham
Bob
Does anyone know if the 2.5l engines in the 03 Outbacks are supposed to be "exactly" the same as in the 03 Foresters? I just did both oil filters today, the one in my 03 Forester and my wife's 03 Outback and noticed the area around where the filter screws on is slightly different. I thought it was the same in engine in both. Not that it matters, just curious.
Thanks
Larry
Does anyone know if twiter kit (which is available in US - for US market) will fit Australian model Forester 2.5x. For some reason it is not available here in Oz. I do know that wire harness is there (behind the side mirrors, under wedges) but is it connected on the other side at the stereo ?
Thanks in advance......Vitaly
I've learned something too.
Vitaly
And yes the cables are pre-wired to the deck. Makes a noticeable improvement.
Makes it easy to remove when I can justify moving to the XT..once they sort out all the gearing!
Vitaly