Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

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Comments

  • amsbearamsbear Member Posts: 147
    You're welcome!

    BTW, We celebrated our sons first Arrival Day (aka. Gotcha Day) on May 30th.

    Alan
    98 OBW Ltd
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    Tell me more! Emily's Gotcha Day is June 18th (China).

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

    Okay, can I have a translation, please? I have no idea what a Gotcha day (or even Arrival day) is.

    Perhaps it hasn't made it down under yet

    Cheers

    Graham
  • dcm61dcm61 Member Posts: 1,567
    Graham,

    Gotcha Day refers to when an adopted child officially joins it's new, loving family.

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

    Ah, it all makes sense now! definitely worth celebrating

    Cheers

    Graham
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    Gotcha day (the day we got you...) = Birthday. For some kids, it is a very different, distinct day worth celebrating!

    Steve
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    We have friends that are adopting, and we've been named the Godparents.

    juice, the Godfather, I'm a made guy too, paisan! LOL

    Any how, that's a cool way to refer to that date. We'll be picking them up at the airport (baby is coming from Russia) and I'll make sure to point that out.

    -juice
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    ...at the chat tonight.

    Just kidding. Inside joke - if you were at the chat last week, you'd know that after Patti showed up people joked about me getting an XT this week to keep attendance up! :-)

    -juice
  • nygregnygreg Member Posts: 1,936
    No chat for me tonight. I'll be at the Springsteen concert! Tailgating with a little wine and cheese.

    Greg
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Gotta get the pinky ring Juice! :)

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

    You still have time to pick up a new XT and live up to your words. ;-)

    Ken
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    After hearing that the Canadian XT does offer that moonroof with the XT, I'm definitely waiting. If it comes, it'll be tough to resist!

    -juice
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Wow, we had a full page of names, we were 2 away from having to scroll down to see all the names!

    Apparently is was ladies' night too, there were at least 4 women (not counting all the Forester owners, who are automatically lesbians, LOL).

    You could hardly keep up! Most people were just reading and hardly got a word in edgewise.

    If you've never done a chat, imagine this board at warp speed. Or at the pace of an XT instead of an normally aspirated Subie. :-)

    -juice
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    You never shared - overseas or domestic?

    Steve
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    Sorry I missed the chat. It was a very hot day here in the Bay Area and my wife wanted to seek the air-conditioned shelter of the local shopping mall.

    Around where I live, only a handful of homes have air conditioning since it's only a handful of days that require it.

    juice -- I'm with you on the moonroof and MT combo. Heck, throw in the leather while you're at it too, but that would be my ride.

    Ken
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Ken: when that arrives, Brian, you, and I will be in line at our dealers.

    No central air? That's roughin' it. We have central air, and got a secondary window A/C unit in our bedroom just in case! :-)

    -juice
  • amsbearamsbear Member Posts: 147
    Sorry about that. I missed a few days of participating due to some extra busy times here at work. This work thing is so inconvenient.... it prevents me from joining the OCD club too ;)

    Anyway, we adopted Shane from Korea and he arrived on 5/30/2002 at around 3.5 months old. Actually we got the assignment in mid April 2002 and at the time the agency said to expect his arrival to be in 3-5 months. Well 3 weeks later they call to tell us he is coming the very next week. We had just begun to accumulate all the necessary baby gear and had to really kick things into high gear.

    Its been a whirlwind ever since.

    Alan
    98 OBW Ltd
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    I agree that it was a stupid decision to not offer the premium package with the MT. Still, I think it's going to hard to resist not getting the 04 XT and just adding an after-market (albeit smaller) moon roof. I'd hate to wait another 12 months only to learn that it still won't be an option on the 05s either.

    Well at least thus far I've managed to resist taking an XT for a test drive, as I'm pretty sure that will seal my fate. I've only got so much willpower and even without the test drive it's steadily diminishing ;-)

    -Frank P.
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Actually that was one of my favorite features! No leather, no moon/sunroof.

    Not that it's a sportcar though, so you do have my sympathy.

    -Colin
  • bat1161bat1161 Member Posts: 1,784
    Last Saturday I was at Flemington for regular service. Met Dennis while waiting for my car. While there I looked over the XT. They have one that everyone must be testing: it had 247 miles on it, along with a lot of road grime on it. It is a White Premium Auto. When asked if I wanted to take it for a test drive, I told them no for two reasons. 1) Not a 5 speed. 2) I don't want to be tempted, especially after everything I have heard here and over at N****C.
       The dealer said he wanted that reaction- once you drive it, it is hard to resist. I asked about the Turbo Baja - he said they will probably be in around January. Now that is something I want to try, again in a 5 spd.

    Mark
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    That's great! Nice to know that we are not the only family on this board. Korea delivers, China is self-service. ;-) We trekked to a fairly remote highlands area of Hunan when Emily was just shy of 4 months old. 7 years later, we are all anxiously waiting for our assignment to travel back for 'little sister'. If it wasn't that SARS delayed paperwork processing, we probably would have tickets-in-hand. Still hope to be on a plane before the end of the year.

    Steve
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    It has *got* to become an option. I can't believe Canucks can get them and we can't. They even teased us with a show car equipped just the way I want it!

    Cloth is fine, actually I think the fabric they chose is particularly nice. I'd take Ecsaine, too. ;-)

    -juice
  • bluesubiebluesubie Member Posts: 3,497
    Mark, I actually asked about the turbo Baja as well.

    Just think about how Subaru's line-up will look by fall of '04. :-) Turbos everywhere!

    -Dennis
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Grilled Turbot everywhere! Yummy!

    -juice
  • ladywclassladywclass Member Posts: 1,713
    I have a '93 Olds Cutlass Ciera with about 165,000 miles on it. I have had this car since it was a little over a year old with less than 30,000 miles on it. It has been well-maintained through oil changes, and preventive maintenance since I bought this car in '94. It has had several parts replaced over the last 25,000 miles or so, including the water pump and alternator. It has no rust (since it spent most of its life in Texas). It has been driven by my daughter the last few years. The transmission has died, and I think it's still worthwhile to fix and keep awhile longer. We have been given a price of $1200 to rebuild the transmission. Does this sound reasonable? I'm trying to figure out if it is worth trying to 'coax' this car in first gear to another garage to have it looked at, or just have the work done near home. It would be warrantied for 12mo or 12,000 miles.
    If anyone has any ideas on this .. I would surely appreciate it ...
    (glad I have the Outback .. lol)
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    That seems pretty cheap, last time I had a $1200 FWD tranny job, it didn't last very long :(

    -mike
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    If you otherwise like it, sure. $1200 for a year of usage is worth it. That is 3 car payments, so even if something else breaks more than 3 months from now, it wasn't a bad investment.

    If you want, go over to Real World Trade in Values, and ask the experts what it's worth right now. Probably more than $1200, private party sale.

    If it becomes a pattern, i.e. another problem within those 3 months, then get rid of it.

    -juice
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    This is a Cafe topic, no offense.

    But the car isn't worth $1200 in its current condition for sure. Doubtful if it's worth that when running well...

    I would source a transmission from a salvage yard with as low miles as possible then purchase, flush, install.

    -Colin
  • subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    Well, I finally got an answer from SOA:

    I have been advised by our Technical Services Department that the automatic transmission in the 2004 Forester XT is the same one as used in the other 2004 Forester models. All of our automatic transmissions are electronically controlled by the TCU. The wording of this transmission as a 'direct control' automatic transmission is the only change. The transmission has not changed, just the 'titling' of it.

    Thanks for the opportunity to be of assistance. If you need any future assistance, please feel free to contact us again.

    Best wishes,
    J. J. M.
    Subaru of America, Inc.

    I think we all knew this, but just needed to know what they were trying to do with the 'direct control' name. So, it's nothing other than the 'normal' 4EAT. No VTD either.

    -Brian
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    I say shame on SOA for stooping to such cheap marketing tricks.

    -Frank P.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    I agree. Here we all thought there was some new engineering breakthrough, only to find out it's nothing more than a marketing ploy.

    Bob
  • subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    Not that the 4EAT is bad, it is a good tranny. But why didn't SOA put the VTD in the XT or even the sportshift from the GT? *shrug*

    -Brian
  • cptpltcptplt Member Posts: 1,075
    they started using that term for ALL of the new Foresters (check their initial press releases on their website) but it is different from previous 4EATs, its something to do with some new electronic control of shift points. For some reason some of people took it to mean a tiptronic etc type thing which it isn't.
  • dcm61dcm61 Member Posts: 1,567
    The 2004 Forester brochure only mentions the "direct control" for the XT. X & XS exclude any reference to direct control.

    DaveM
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I could have told you that Direct Control didn't mean much after one test drive. In fact they should stick to using the label "Adaptive" so the owner can hope it is indeed a learning curve to blame for hesitations before shifting.

    It's good in that is it very durable and can withstand 300 HP reliably (STi levels of output, yummy), but I still wish they'd tune it more aggressively by default.

    -juice
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    What a race....

    Steve, Host
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    Steve- Gee thanks for spoiling the surprise. (By that I mean watching the tape-delayed coverage on OLN tonight).

    -Frank P.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    All I said was "what a race." I don't see a spoiler there :-). Besides, I don't own a TV so I have to get my news fresh.

    I promise I won't divulge any standings tomorrow....

    Steve, Host
    (woohoo!)
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That would be big for Subaru, especially since Croc Dundee did so well for so long. Sales grew every single year from 1995 to 2001, and only stalled (slightly) in 2002. Name one other spokeperson with those kind of results.

    Lance has big shoes to fill, winning the Tour would be a heck of a way to start.

    -juice
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    Steve- For future reference:

    Subject: Today's stage of the Tour de France

    Text: What a race.

    Frank P.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I was thinking it ended Sat. - really 5 more stages to go after tomorrow's rest day.

    Steve, Host
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    "Lance has big shoes to fill, winning the Tour would be a heck of a way to start."

    Whoa there. Lance has already proven himself by winning what is one of the worlds toughest races in any sport four times (not to mention coming back from death's door after a bout with cancer). Now those are big shoes to fill.

    -Frank P.
  • bat1161bat1161 Member Posts: 1,784
    Just my .02, but I agree with Frank. He has already proved himself. Now for No. 5 :-)

    Mark
  • jlemolejlemole Member Posts: 345
    Steve, I'd call you a Luddite, except for the fact that you work with computers :-)!!
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Absolutely, but what I'm saying is that it would be the first time after becoming Subaru's official spokesman.

    Think about the timing - the ads are all over the place. In fact they are especially prevalent on the Outdoor Life Network, the channel that's covering the Tour.

    Subaru's marketing would look brilliant.

    -juice
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Killed it in '99 although the better half keeps dropping hints about dvd and movies.

    You guys are way more entertaining. But I may have to go visit my friend with OLN tonight....

    Steve, Host
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    Steve- Sounds like tonight's broadcast might even be worth recording and saving for posterity.

    -Frank P.
  • nygregnygreg Member Posts: 1,936
    After my first real ride on my bike Friday, I have a new appreciation for Lance. Hope I get a chance to view the race tonight.

    Greg
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I was inspired to take my 11 month old for a ride. My daughter loves to ride behind me, now my son does too. :-)

    Reminds me, where's Don? How is Marianne?

    -juice
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    IIRC, we have a couple of crew members who are in France to watch the tour firsthand (lucky devils).

    -Frank P.
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