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Comments
Bob
New one looks nice. The styled steel wheels actually don't look bad, and their color actuall matches the paint. Plus, now even the base steelies are 16" in size. You can probably skip on the alloys, IMO they already look good.
You guys sure do have a thing for silver!
-juice
About the "silver thing" - hubby is dead set for silver, but I was really ready for a red car this time. However, that beige interior that comes with a red exterior is a bit too light for my taste, and probably not as practical as a grey one.
Plus, Crystal Gray was right there on the lot, and to get me a red one dealer would have to do a dealer trade. So, we'll continue with the "silver thing" for now.
Get 4 more and you'll have Seven Silver Soobies.
-juice
To be honest, it’s hard to compare S Premium 2001 with all the options vs basic 2006.
Main difference is PRICE. My 2001 S+ was >$26K out of the door in 2000, and this baby was only $21K (after all fees and taxes added my county charges 8.75% sales tax – is it a highway robbery or what?) in 2006. It’s almost like deflation, in terms of $$$!
Driving
Here I’ll need a bit more time, to make a final judgment. F2001 S+ is very smooth in terms of automatic transmission, very quiet, maybe because (with 151K mi on it) it’s very well broken in!
F2006 feels a bit rough around the edges, but then it only got 90mi on it and also has more rugged tires and heavier steel wheels. F2001 always had somewhat “mushy” brakes. Service folks looked many times at it but could not find anything wrong with it. F2006 feels a bit more decisive on the braking even though it has rear drums not disks like F2001.
Turning feels about the same. Steering wheel is a bit fatter on F2006. I have small hands, so I’m still adjusting to new feel of the wheel.
Comfort
A/C works about the same, I could not tell much difference between 2001 and 2006 models: both have powerful A/C. I don’t care much about climate control, and I’m perfectly happy to manually adjust the knobs.
6-disc CD changer – 2006 X can only play 1 cd. As I like listen to audiobooks on long trips, I’d like to potentially upgrade to in-dash 6-disc CD changer, but OEM one is almost $500 plus labor, and I’ve been told it might be better to shop aftermarket.
Seats – I always felt seat cushion was a bit too short on Forester 2001. I think the same still holds true for 2006. But lumbar support on 2006 is better, more pronounced. Upholstery on 2006 is very simple, and I’m a bit concerned it may not hold up that well, especially on the side of the cushions where it’s quite thin. We’ll see. The upholstery in 2001 was really nice velour, has a great feel to it and also proved to be quite durable. I’ll miss heated seats on bad weather days, but overall I have not used them that much.
Moonroof - I never liked to use moonroof on my F2001, so this is something I’m happy not to have on my F2006.
Convenience
1. I love net pockets on the doors in 2006 (instead of plastic pockets in 2001), and a small net by central column of the dash.
2. Will miss (a bit) back seat pockets.
3. F2001 allowed for only 1 net to be installed in the cargo area. Fortunately, F2006 allows for 3 or 4. Will definitely install ALL the possible nets in the cargo area. I found net in the cargo area to be sooo convenient for shopping!
4. Central console and armrest is now a standard feature – NICE!!!
5. The fuse access area (to the left of the steering column) also used to be a small storage pocket in F2001 that I used to keep a garage opener. Now it’s just fuse access
6. The storage on the top of the dash is deeper now (good! more CDs to fit), but sides are not padded as before, so my CDs rattle a bit. Will have to think of a soft holder for them or something.
7. LCD clock next to CD storage is a bit too dim.
8. Not sure if it’s worth $$ getting the auto-dimming mirror with compass. I’m thinking maybe sink that money into a GPS that plugs into 12V outlet. What do you think?
Looks
1. To be honest, I liked 2003-2005 looks a bit more, but this one is nice too and it grows on me.
2. I wish Subaru kept the simple unpainted plastic cladding and bumpers on the base model – I felt they gave a car a rugged “go-anywhere” look. Now even splash guards are painted. Oh well.
(probably wouldn't do for me to go look at Legacy/Outback!)
If the upolstery wears out, you could always add leather later!
Instead of getting a cd changer you could upgrade your stereo with one that just has an aux input jack and hook up an iPod. You'd have hours and hours of music!
I just got a Subaru owner coupon good for $500 off a new Subaru- did you get one? If I had gotten it a month ago I might be driving a new Subie too!
Have fun with your new car!
tom
Some comments - I got a WRX 6CD for something like $150 off E-bay, check the classifieds over at Nabisco. The harness fits plug-n-play, piece of cake. You do have to take part of the console apart, but it's not as hard as it sounds, and much easier than doing it on a Legacy (I did wifey's car too).
NAV? Go for it. Here's my summary of the unit I chose:
ateixeira, "Navigation / GPS Systems" #259, 4 Aug 2005 1:08 pm
-juice
Nice report. I think the fact that you percieve few differences and more similarities shows how Subaru decided not to mess with the Forester formula.
You could probably swap he 2001 wheels onto your new ride since the lug patterns are probably the same. Or, I bet you could find someone trying to sell their stock 16" wheels for another Subie for cheap.
I'd recommend getting an aftermarket stereo. Looks like yours comes with a single-DIN unit so lots of choices for you! How about the speakers? Are they easily accessible as with the 1st gen Forester?
Interesting comment about the tranny. You may want to wait 1-2K miles before making the final comparison.
So, what's it's name? :-)
Ken
Even with the X model, it's single DIN, but if you removed the storage container beneath it, then you have room for a double DIN stereo, like the stock X Limited.
Above, he got the hood for the extra instruments and added a NAV screen. I would try to fit my Garmin c320 in a similar manner.
-juice
The Mazda Club Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
-juice
My GPS was very useful, we found free street parking only about 2-3 blocks away, not any farther than the pay parking lots! :shades:
-juice
Cheers Pat.
Just came back from Subaru country, Alaska. My wife and I were there for 10 days (Denali and cruise); every place we went I saw Subaru's
Mark
Happy Birthday to Sandy
Happy Biiiirth-day Dear San-deeeeee
Happy Birthday to you.
9 years today and still lovin' it.
-juice
do you count from the date of purchase or from the date of manufacturing?
-juice
I'm not sure why, but he hissed the entire time. :confuse:
-juice
Bob
The gray hair on his face used to be brown.
With long hair he looks bigger, almost a mid-sized dog. At his peak he only weighed 12 lbs. He's thinned out and just under 10 lbs now. When he gets a "puppy clip" like this one you can see how small he really is.
Arf!
-juice
What's that in CR-V years? ;-)
Ken
Anyone remember the Hung & Tung show? Those were the Hyundai guys that owned Santa Fes and were basically dillusional about their rides.
-juice
I wonder what happened, that we don't see those heated debates "Make X vs Make Y" anymore? I'd venture these hypotheses:
a) moderators are more strict now :surprise:
b) all participants have grown up
c) people found other boards to vent
or is it just me?
-juice
Just kidding, Hutch. Plus Toyota is a partner now, sort of.
-juice
I do miss the friendly competition though. I'll pass on the name-calling, but the heated arguments were lots of fun.
To Kate's hypotheses, I'd say it's A->C.
Ken
It wasn't just the silly claims (one kept saying the SF was better because it was Taller, seriously), but also the poor grammar and use of multiple exclamation points !!!!!11!!!1!eleven!
I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't actual Hyundai employees from Korea with only a basic understanding of English, trolling basically.
One of them was actually tolerable but as a duo they were Abbott and Costello.
-juice
Funnily enough, I was pondering the absence of the sideshows from Edmonds recently - sorry but you folk probably call them carnivals. There are many positives to this - we don't have "interesting" sex fiend trolls for example - a major improvement!
The Hung and Tung show was wonderful, heaping praise on the virtues of the Hyundai Santa Fe and its ability to access really out of the way spots. Somewhere along the way, I saw some photos of the supposedly out of the way deep sand.
hung0820, "Suzuki Grand Vitara vs Subaru Forester vs Hyundai Santa Fe vs Jeep Liberty vs Ford Escape vs Saturn Vue" #1367, 26 Jul 2001 9:14 pm!keywords=allin%3Amsgtext%20hung0820
At the risk of implying that Australia is more macho than most locations, the sand looked little worse than my mum's driveway.
Hung Travis (hung0820) last posted in about 2002.
I don't think Bill Tung has posted since about 2002 either.
I think one was a displaced Hong Kong Chinese guy and the other probably Korean. They were nice guys and missed. I did however wonder about Bill's real name. Bill Tung was the name of a Hong Kong horse racing commentator who appeared in some movies, including as Jackie Chan's Police Chief in Police Story series.
Cheers
Graham
Hung & Tung could have been the sequeul. Leave your brain at the door, please.
-juice
The comparison topics are linked (usually) to all parent discussions, so a Forester vs. Santa Fe discussion should show up in the Forester group as well as the Santa Fe group for owners to find. Obviously we've missed linking some, like the one above, but they do show up in a Make/Model search and most members seem to browse discussions with that tool, at least initially.
The new Santa Fe looks like a nice SUV though, and Hyundai certainly has made a lot of improvements over the years. I think the Hyundai Sonata I had for one day was assembled better than my Camry Hybrid. My Camry has a few squeaks and rattles and misaligned interior panels (and mine was made in Japan too)
My LGT was well assembled even though it was an early build, I think also better than my Camry. Maybe Subaru can teach Toyota something about assembly, and Subaru can learn something from Toyota about making the cars a little quieter.
tom
-juice
tom
That's Lexus' thing, though, and Toyota's to a lesser extent. But I like to be able to hear and feel what's going on.
The H6 models have more insulation, on those it makes sense. But on, say, a WRX? Naaa.
-juice
It's quiet around here, I guess everyone is on that final summer vacation? Any fun road trips?
-juice