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OK, this strikes me as one of the oddest defenses of a car brand that I have heard! Sort of answers the original question the poster put in, asking about reliability? Sort of rattles ME, as a first time Subaru owner.
I came from about 40 years of toyotas and Hondas, and one disastrous attempt with a Ford, into my first Subaru with the Impreza.
Never had to do any waiting when I started a car, just turned the key to full on and off I went, first time, every time. So its definitely a learning curve to wait until the dials quit waving at me. IF that is the worst idiosyncracey I find in this car and IF that ACTUALLY is all it takes, I am OK.
So far on another Impreza forum, only one person has said that has NOT solved HIS sporadic starting issue. There are a LOT of people chiming in with this issue/quirk on that forum. I think a bunch of us are testing the two step starting procedure as a solution. Time will tell. IF that is it, probably very few would give up the Impreza. Its just plain a fun, solid car to drive.
Nice to hear that its good odds Subaru fixed the headgasket issue. I gambled on that had to be hitting Subaru's bottom line hard enough to fix that glaring problem.
we drive these cars more than our 09 Cadillac CTS which sits in the garage these days....
On top of that Subaru is the #1 brand overall. So Impreza is the best from the best.
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120228/OEM/120229878/1283
Buyers with no tolerance for mechanical problems should stick with
Toyota or HondaSubaru or Mazda. :shades:This will come out in the April issue. The marketing value of this is *HUGE*.
Residuals on all your Imprezas just shot up a good 3-5%. KA-CHING! If they put the Impreza on the cover of the April issue, which seems likely, then make it 6-8%.
However, so far the "hold it in ON" solution is working for me, though it's only been less than a week of driving the car. It's hard to tell if this is really cold weather related, or if the fuel system is simply bleeding off too much pressure after a "long" (more than 12 hour) sit in the driveway. Glad to know I'm not the only '12 owner who is having this issue. It's only happened twice so far, but both times it happened, the car had sat for more than 14 hours and I didn't hold it in "ON" past five seconds.
Didn't the 2010 Foresters have this exact same issue? Wasn't it a software problem they recalled it for?
Question: I'm new to CVT, too. What is this car supposed to sound like? I've never had a Subaru. The car has a sort of high-ish sound when accelerating from a dead stop. Gradually as I drive the car, this noise occurs less and less and I don't hear it really when it's up to 20-30mph. Is this sound normal? I have no idea. Car is performing well in terms of power and pickup, though.
Glad to find some other '12 Impreza owners...
In any case, a month later I was told they been "awarded" the car (the factory makes a car and matches it with a dealership that wants that specific car), and I was kept pretty well informed for the rest of the month about where the car was and when it might arrive.
I can't remember where I read or heard this from (I think I read it in some Honda Accord lit) but I do recall that sometimes there can be a delay or longer starting due to the onboard computer calibrating the air/fuel mixture as well as some other possible start up items. Kind of like a desktop PC that goes through POST power on self test. So, this maybe what you are experiencing 5 seconds is not to bad.
It may be a while before we see a lot of 5 doors in stock on dealer lots, though. They're still short on supply and around me pre-sell most of them.
On my 2001 Outback I just leave the headlights on all the time. When I shut it off and remove the key the lights go off.
The owners manual that I found online seemed to say the lights stay on and you get a chime whne you open the door and the lights are still on.
Before leaving the vehicle, make
sure that the light control switch
is turned to the “ ” (off) position.
If the vehicle is left unattended
for a long time with the light
control switch set to a position
other than “ ” (off) position, the
battery may be discharged.
Even if the key is removed from the
ignition switch, the lights can be illuminated
by operating the light control
switch from the “ ” (off) position to the
“ ” or “ ” position. .
If the driver’s door is opened while
the lights are illuminated and the key is
removed from the ignition switch, the
chirp sound informs the driver that the
lights are illuminated.
If you are driving the car with the lights on, park it, and remove the key, the lights will turn off by themselves when they key is removed. Now, if you turn the lights off (on the switch) while the key is not in there, and then turn the light switch back to 'on,' the lights will stay on regardless of the key's presence (or yours for that matter!).
In that scenario, the chime will occur when you open the driver door to remind you the lights are on. If you opt to ignore it and walk away, you'll likely return to a dead battery!
On the other hand, if you buy the car, set the lights to "on" and leave them there indefinitely, they'll always be on when you put the key in the ignition and off when you take it out.
Does that make sense? I suppose I could make up a video demonstration on my own car (it's a '10 Forester rather than a '12 Impreza), but hopefully the explanation above is clear.
I'm almost positive that I somehow picked up a rock or pebble from the road (dirty winter road, no street cleaners) and it got caught in a wheel or brake caliper somehow. I went online to research this and came across an interesting comment from someone who used to work for a Subaru dealer and he said that Subarus are sort of notorious for picking up road debris occasionally this way. Anyone else had this experience?
In any case, it's said that 90% of the time, going in reverse will kick out the stone. I would guess that driving with such a squeal might result in nasty scarring to whatever is rubbing against a foreign object. Anyhow, glad that the noise seems to be all gone - it was very unnerving to hear in a brand new car!
I'm not sure that Subaru does it any more or less than other cars. Disc brakes are certainly more prone to them than drums were (hey, I still have two vehicles with four-wheel drums!), but that's about it.
The car is fun to drive though I wish it had just a bit more oomph off the line (have a Sport Premium CVT). Ive been pushing the car a bit harder since I hit 1500 miles and I must say it has handled well.
The tires handle well in wet weather but I havent had a serious storm yet, just some mild ones.
Last night I saw the Impreza commercial where the car is in the snow showing its AWD off. Looked like fun. My wife and I decided a drive to Tahoe is in our immediate future.
All in all, I am happy with my purchase.
NO problem with hard cranking, ever since she started turning the key to "ON" and waiting for the gages to stop waving at her. (and not touching the gas pedal!)
There is a theory that you only have to do this after its been sitting for a long time, like overnight, but its simpler for her to use the same procedure all the time, so its a habit and no more worries.
One person claims they had a hard start even with doing this. I can't confirm that he followed the simple instructions EXACTLY, and no one else seems to have had further problems. Yet.
My wife LOVES the car. Absolutely no regrets. We are currently getting about 28mpg with mixed driving. (Premium hatchback, CVT, basic 16" alloy wheels, approx 500 miles.) :shades:
The dealer that I have been working with decided to send me a letter in the mail (twice) congratulating and thanking me for making my purchase of my brand new Subaru Impreze Sport Premium with them. It goes on to say they hope I have many years of great adventures with the vehicle and to contact them is there is anything they can do to assist me with any upgrades or additional purchases. With one of them was also a Sample copy of their Customer Survey that has been filled out to show you how a perfect survey should look and that they hope that when mine arrives in the next week or so that I will be able to fill it out the same.
Thought it was kinda funny, but if I do happen to get the survey in the mail, that will be the icing on the preverbial cake.
Odie
Had you checked the oil level before now?
Industry standard is <1 quart per 1000 miles is OK, but I'd be concerned and document it now in case it is a real problem and especially if it gets worse.
I'm betting it's a one time thing.
6600 happy miles for me so far without any problems...
So, any pros or cons to taking this off the order? I'm thinking we don't want it as it is just more stuff to worry about under the hood.
Per cars101.com: All Foresters and Imprezas to have clean burning PZEV emissions starting with April 2012 production! No Fed spec Impreza or Forester orders will be accepted after March 1st.
On the Forester you got a bonus 5hp as well, so I happily paid extra for it.
I'm going to have a true temperature gauge installed if I can.
Thanks
I'm a little annoyed that the plastichrome covering on my car's badge flaked off the "PZE." That said, I can handle a little aesthetic blemish; I do drive a '98 Escort, after all! :P
Too bad it wasn't just the "P".
The Impreza (and probably the Forester) is losing the PZEV badge and being replaced with a sticker.
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