Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Most popular vehicles
Popular New Cars
- New Acura MDX
- New Acura RDX
- New Audi Q5
- New BMW 3 Series
- New BMW X3
- New Buick Enclave
- New Cadillac Escalade
- New Chevrolet Equinox
- New Chrysler 300
- New Dodge Challenger
- New Ford Edge
- New Ford Escape
- New Ford Expedition
- New Ford Explorer
- New Ford F-150
- New Ford Focus
- New Ford Mustang
- New Honda Accord
- New Honda Civic
- New Honda CR-V
- New Honda Fit
- New Honda Odyssey
- New Honda Pilot
- New Hyundai Elantra
- New Hyundai Santa Fe
- New Hyundai Sonata
- New Hyundai Tucson
- New Jeep Compass
- New Jeep Grand Cherokee
- New Jeep Wrangler
- New Mazda 3
- New Mazda 6
- New Mazda CX-5
- New Nissan Altima
- New Nissan Maxima
- New Nissan Rogue
- New Porsche Cayenne
- New Ram 1500
- New Subaru Crosstrek
- New Subaru Forester
- New Subaru Impreza
- New Subaru Outback
- New Tesla Model S
- New Tesla Model X
- New Toyota 4Runner
- New Toyota Camry
- New Toyota Corolla
- New Toyota Highlander
- New Toyota Prius
- New Toyota RAV4
- New Toyota Sienna
- New Toyota Tacoma
- New Volkswagen Jetta
- New Volvo XC60
- New Volvo XC90
Popular Used Sedans
- Used BMW 5 Series
- Used Chevrolet Impala
- Used Chevrolet Malibu
- Used Chrysler 200
- Used Dodge Charger
- Used Ford Fusion
- Used Ford Taurus
- Used Honda Accord
- Used Honda Civic
- Used Hyundai Elantra
- Used Hyundai Sonata
- Used Tesla Model S
- Used Toyota Camry
- Used Toyota Corolla
- Used Volkswagen Jetta
Popular Used SUVs
- Used Acura MDX
- Used Acura RDX
- Used Ford Edge
- Used Ford Explorer
- Used Honda CR-V
- Used Honda Pilot
- Used Hyundai Santa Fe
- Used Jeep Compass
- Used Lincoln Navigator
- Used Mazda CX-5
- Used Nissan Rogue
- Used Subaru Crosstrek
- Used Subaru Forester
- Used Tesla Model X
- Used Volvo XC90
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
It's a pretty badge with the little green leaf on it, so I don't mind it there. I just like shiny rather than dingy, cheap plastic.
How many (if any) people can honestly say they have broken 20mpg on JUST the city driving portion of driving? Seems like even with the pile of excuses bandied about, a car should at least be able to achieve 25% below its EPA city rating of 27mpg?
As it is, my car is hitting 14-15 mpg, separating out the city portion, which is 48% below EPA city, and hard to believe a bit of break-in and summer gas is going to double my gas mileage.
So far, the Impreza is getting worse city mileage than my 4WD Honda Element. That is not what I was expecting. Maybe a miracle will happen and "break-in" will double the gas mileage.... :confuse:
My '03 EX Element with wider heavy tires(Nokian WR), might drop down to 18mpg with my wife driving it on her "soccer mom" type errand runs and very short commute that is getting 14-15mpg in the Impreza. I am still waiting for a couple people to say they have broken 20mpg ONLY on City driving portion of driving. Hard to believe the EPA test was able to squeeze out 27mpg with their city protocol. Maybe there is hope, eventually??
If you have some "expressway" type stuff mixed into your city commute, that might help significantly. My wife's worse mileage is when she is doing all the suburban 25-35mph zones, and I would say the temps have been above 45degF ambient for that mileage.
Now BEST case in my '03 4WD element is about 24mpg, so its a pretty short swing from worst case to best case. (that would be doing long summer freeway runs with a bunch of 74mph driving included), and Impreza really likes to stretch its legs and run, so there it runs away from the Element, even if its not getting close to its 36mpg rating.
And I should point out the Impreza is much MUCH quieter and smoother running and fun handling. A different world there, even with my new KYB shocks in the Element. On the other hand, you can put a LOT of crap in an Element.
I notice a lot of Element owners seem to be buying the new Impreza. Thats interesting. (I am Honu over on the Element forum, FYI)
My first fill up driving in the Seattle area (282 miles with about 75 of that being 60mph + on I5 or 520, the rest in city stop and go, 20-45 (some HWY 99)) got me 22.62 avg. The first tank was certainly on the low end at first but crept up to the 22.62 avg. (I would expect that with a brand new engine needeing to be broken in a bit).
I know that Car and Driver in their review got 22 avg in their driving test (35 degrees, mainly city driving) so I sort of expect my in town driving to be in that 22 range (not what I was hoping for but Seattle is hilly and I was getting 12-14 on my '06 Pilot).
I know short trips really kill on MPG on most cars, cold weather makes it worse, not sure if our weather is considered cold though. Can you park it in a heated garage overnight?
Certainly your 14-15 is way under what it should be! I totally feel your pain!!!. The sticker on the car says 27 / 36 but if you look closely the 27 city has a lower end of 22 (small font!) right there on the label - so for me I am totally "in range" at 22. You are not. I would take it to the dealer and ask them to take a look - to me it really seems like you are way under what you should be - I expect there are any number of new parts in these cars that could potentially be defective and causing an issue. We do have that lemon law in Washington State although I think it's way to early to say you have a lemon! Take it to the dealer, have them run a diagnostic on it - should totally be covered by warranty I am sure.
seaflipper, I saw your numbers "elsewhere" and with that 75 miles of freeway, I can come up with a very plausible scenario (going from memory of my calcs last night) that you could be getting 17mpg city with 26mpg freeway to get that "mix" number. Still not even breaking 20mpg city, which is a little scarey even with zero miles on a "high mileage" car.
I am in the Seattle area and we garage both our cars in a cozy garage. The Impreza has the LRR original tires on it, NOT winter tires. the 14-15mpg CITY was noted after racking up 500miles. I expect SOME improvement, but almost doubling it to the EPA 27 seems like a reach. I was hoping for 22-23mpg city, which should not be unreasonable on a 27mpg rated car.
I did not see the fine print! Was that on the window sticker? I haven't seen that on ANY literature or online anywhere. We special ordered our Premium CVT PZEV so didn't see a window sticker. Are you sure that wasn't referring to the manual transmission rating, which is lower than the CVT?
anyway, i've been researching the different trim lines and usually do my own "compete for my business" bidding system in the past with dealers, but i wanted to solicit experiences from forum members who have bought their impreza in the San Francisco Bay Area. it seems there are some horrific reviews about all the dealers, and i wouldn't mind an inside scoop of what to expect in relative pricing and issues with the various different ones.
thanks for sharing any experiences.
BUT, since most dealers are sleazy, its really a lot about getting the best deal and for that there are fantastic tools available.
Dare I suggest a website called edmunds.com
This is an excellent tool if you use it right. Make sure you put in your zip code(suprising how many people forget this) and ALL details and options. That includes PZEV which is required for CA. This will pop up a "Fair market" curve for your area. Then offer the low end of this or invoice, whichever is less, and be prepared to walk out at any point in the transaction if they slide in any extra fees or pricey tricks. And start hitting dealerships, over the phone or e-mail if you are in a rush.
Of course in WA, and it might be the same in CA, ALL dealers slip in a "Documentation Fee" which they say is required. Its not, but its virtually impossible to negotiate out, so find out the legal max for your state and figure that into the total cost of your offer, assuming it will be slipped in.
Remember.... They rack up the most profits on all those packages and options. They love people that load em up. We had to special order our stripped down Premium CVT with only the All weather package (NO nav, sunroof, $500 floor mats, or expensive to re-tire 17" wheels)
IMHO
YMMV
yep: i've consulted the edmunds tools, in the past, usually do the initial shopping by email: i have them give me a bid for their best price. that has worked well for Hondas since there are so many dealers. there are fewer subaru dealers out there, so i'll probably get less responses.
i have to laugh about the whole options thing although admit its the thing i hate the most about buying cars these days...you get sucked into things you don't want. i too will likely want a model like yours and maybe even without the all weather package if i can find one. the nav is a nicety, but way too expensive considering i can buy a garmin for $100...not integrated, but a lot cheaper.
Could not upload my phonebook on older Imprezas, however.
The 2012 Forester and 2013 BRZ use the same NAVI unit as the new Impreza.
Bob
I think I got a fair deal.
I used costco's auto buying program, edmunds.com (TMV) and truecar.com to determine what I should be paying for my car. Of the three, I think truecar.com had the lowest prices.
I ended up purchasing my 2012 Impreza Sport Premium CVT for $500 below invoice before taxes etc. That was with no options.
This was probably the easiest sales the salesman had in his career. I had been fortunate enough to test drive the car the week before I ordered as another dealership had car that someone preordered but did not want. Unfortunately for me and that dealership, it was not the model I was looking for or color. So basically, I walked into the dealership in RWC, asked for the Costco price (at the time I was not exactly sure what that was) and he told me. He then knocked off another $100 because I would have to wait for the car. Whether or not that was hot air did not matter as that was the lowest price I had seen anywhere so I placed my deposit (not all dealers needed a deposit BTW) and 3 weeks later I drove my car off the lot (3 weeks earlier than expected!).
And for those that may be wondering why I did not buy the car from the dealership that I did the test drive at....they were not part of either the costco.com program or truecar.com program. Their price was higher.
I had to do that once. I had worked out a price of $300 under invoice on a car (long distance), but the dealer called back a couple days later and told me one of the other salespeople had "sold it out from under him." So, he was going to do a dealer swap and get another car in for me, but it had the homelink/dimming mirror. The price was still $300 under invoice, but the total price was something like $150 over the previous price. I told him I didn't want to pay more for some superfluous junk that had no value to me, and eventually he came around and sold the car for the same price as the one without the feature.
Of course, if the dealer doesn't want to sell you the car, there's very little you can do to change his mind. :sick:
thanks for sharing. i wasn't aware (due to a lot of negative feedback from before) that Costco pricing would really help. for me right now, Truecar is in the same ballpark as Zaps.com which gives me right around invoice but a smidge over. it's nice to know that the RWC dealer is one to consider.
it'll be interesting to see where dealers come in for me on this. it doesn't seem there is anything going on right now for the dealer except the dealer holdback which means if i somehow got your deal, the would be making barely over $100 on the car. i wonder if they would bite on that...
I keep trying to post the picture but I can't, I can email you a link if you want to see it, updated: you can find all the 2012 Window stickers on Cars 101 here: http://www.cars101.com/subaru_windowstickers2012.html
If I was averging 26 on those 75 hwy that would leave me with 21.6 on the 207 city miles assuming I'm calculating it right!
well I have to admit I did not look over the window sticker that was stuffed in the glove compartment. I really did not expect to find small print there that shows up NO WHERE else. Sure enough.. on that website photo of the sticker it says 22-32 for City mileage.
I can't wait to get that 32 city and 43 highway dangled as a carrot on the sticker.....
My real objective here is to determine if I should be taking my car into the dealer as MAYBE defective or just grit my teeth and figure what is, is. We are going to run another tank through, which is happening way too quickly, and then will run it by the dealer.
I am also wanting to warn people looking for a city car that this may not be the car for them. This car likes to stretch its legs and it shines as a freeway commuter. City....not so much. Caveat Emptor.
We sold our 2000 4 cyl Accord today which was getting better to or equal what we have been seeing so far on the Impreza.
But for better or worse we are committed to the Impreza now.
Our Accord had a cassette deck and not even a single CD player. I think it would be impossible to pry my wife out of the Impreza, no matter what the mileage, now that she has her smart phone connected on hands free blue tooth, and her ipod cranking through the stereo.
Her solution is that she is going to quit telling me what the mileage is and toggle the display to a non-mpg screen. :shades:
I liked that screen when I hit 99.9 a few times. I stopped using that screen after seeing it drop to 4mpg going up a hill....D'oh!
It could be worse. I have just put a Garmin Ecoroute HD into my Toyota Kluger and saw a moment today where it reported 267.9 l/100km as I accelerated away from traffic lights. I have no real idea, but it is well south of one mile per gallon. On the bright side, average mileage is about 10 l/1000km or about 28mpg (British)
Cheers
Graham
Taket he check from the insurance company and buy the wreck back from them before they take it to auction. I assume you still have access to it, so you can get quotes from good body shops -- be sure and ask around, lots of hacks in that business! -- and go from there.
You do not have to do what the ins co tells you; I was in the opposite situation years ago and took $$ from the ins co instead of repairing the car, then sold it to a body shop. It's up to you, you just have to figure out what makes sense.
Also be aware that body shops will likely quote you a lower price -- 20 or 25% at a guess -- than what they charge the insurance company. One owner explained it to me on a small repair: "If it's the ins co, then every little take this off, put this back on is a charge. If it's you, then you pay for the repair, but not every little thing along the way. It adds up."
Good luck,
-Mathias
What nails it is that the mileage is lower than the same behavior/driver/route in an Element, which is not a fuel-efficient car. Something's wrong with the Impreza. Or with the math.
Is the 15mpg figure hand-calculated properly? Onboard computer doesn't count; one fillup doesn't count either. If it's repeatable, something is seriously wrong with the car.
Does the Check Engine light come on when you turn the ignition on? It's hard to coneive of an OBD-II car to be that far off and the electronics not picking it up.
It needs fixed, as we say in the auto business.
Cheers
-Mathias
Also, the phonebook upload may not work with every phone. Up until now you couldn't upload the iPhone's phonebook. I still don't think you can upload it on Legacys, Outbacks and Tribecas.
Bob
I use to have an outback I know to change a flat you put in fuse to turn the car into FWD. So I check the fuse box and didn’t see to see a FWD slot, did Subaru took that option away or the Impreza never have that option?
So now when I drive get up to speed quickly and just let off the pressure on the gas paddle. So far my Onboard computer avg is at 25.8 and keep going up. When I first got the car with only 14 miles on it. The AVG was like 10.
i'm likely going to go with them. just need to think about the logistics of what to do about my salvaged car and transportation in the 6-12 week wait time frame...hopefully on the low end or less.
yes, i could pursue that route although i'm not psyched about having to register it as a salvaged title...
getting close to pulling the trigger on the Impreza after driving one this weekend along with the other competitors. it seems like the best of the bunch to me in terms of what i value in that size/price range.
Thanks for the info. I'm not in a hurry, so I won't be swayed. I'm mostly excited to get the car so I can get in and out of my hilly neighborhood when it snows, but that won't be happening again this winter, so I can be patient. I've been really pleased with how un-pushy my salesman and dealership have been.
Can someone tell me one thing, though? Is the destination charge INCLUDED in the MSRP or is it separate? My salesman told me it was (but he's obviously new to the job), and when they filled out a "Pricing Summary" for me (not a signed contract of any kind), it was added on extra. I just left him a message to call me about it, and I'm pretty sure it was due to his inexperience (he didn't write the pricing summary), but just in case someone higher up was pulling something, I want to be prepared when he calls. I've read it can vary between manufacturers, so if anyone who recently bought this car remembers, I'd appreciate your input.
I hope it all works out.
You may have mentioned it before but what model Subie are you looking at? Options?
Roof rails look to be similar enough to my old Outback so all my Yakima cross bars and attachments will still work.
We ended up with the standard federal emmisions vs the PZEV. I'm not sure long term if there is any issue there. It will be one of the few non-PZEV ones. But maybe I saved ~$300.
Also somewhat concerned about the sport model, since the XV-Crosstrek might just replace the Sport?? Arn't they the same excpet for the rasied suspension? All of us "Sport" owners may end up with unique cars. Might not be bad.
Almost zero premium and limited models at dealers in MN/WI. Very few base models as well.
Bob
what kind of mileage are you seeing driving around the bay area? (i figure you would be a good indicator compared to people reported low mileage in the colder climates)
It turns out that upon closer inspection, they didn't double-charge me. I hate to be so darned suspicious, but I distrust car dealers so much. These guys were wonderful to deal with so it didn't *seem* like they'd do that, but then, being so nice, they might get away with it with an unsuspecting customer. What happened was that they simply broke the price down in more detail on that statement - the base price, the cold weather package, the destination charge. I'd been negotiating with one figure for all three and just got confused when I saw the separate charge, but it all added up the same. By the way, the destination charge is always the same, regardless of where the car is sold, according to several sources I've read, including edmunds.
Those sources are wrong. For most cars, that is true, but not all. Here's an example from mazdausa.com (bolding added by me):
* MSRP excludes $795 destination charge, tax, title and license fees. Total MSRP includes $795 destination charge and additional costs for vehicles equipped with available packages, options or accessories. Destination charge $840 in Alaska. Vehicles displayed may contain optional equipment at additional costs. Actual dealer price may vary.
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/QuoteRequestStart.action
in the SF Bay Area (CA), there are a fair number of sedans out there, but limited models are more scarce. for the hatchbacks, lots of base models, only a few Premiums, and only 1-2 Limited models out of the a very large mile radius including 6-7 dealers.
i was told 8-12 weeks although 6-8 is typical, so i'm curious what you encountered.
Have ticked up slightly to 18.3. About 200 miles driven, all in city/suburban. The car is now on its second tank of gas.
I'm hoping for the 22 eventually, but I'm resigned to never seeing 27, with the streets I have to drive.
One clever thing is the -/+ indicator: Eventually you start trying to game it. It becomes tempting to leave your foot off the gas on a hill and coast down if the speed is acceptable. Whatever works, baby. MPG is MPG. If you're getting to where you want to go at a speed you want to go, who cares if you've got your foot on the gas?
Im a little disappointed with the mileage but I do expect it to go up very soon with warmer weather, though it hasnt been that cold has it... and such. I must admit though that I am probably driving a bit on the fast side but I find it difficult to keep it under 70mph when Im on the freeway. On days that I do, yes, mileage is better.
I have just over 3k miles on it and will be going in for my first oil change within the next week. That may help mileage too.
I have a roadtrip to Monterey coming up soon and that will be my first "long" run on the freeway. Im curious to see what the avg mpg is on that trip. I will keep you posted.
Driving a Sport Premium, CVT
When ordering one how long has your wait time been?
Dealers in MN, have maybe 1 base hatchback and maybe 1 or 2 sedans. I watched the dealer do a search for a premium 5door, and there was 1 within 350 miles. If we removed the all-weather package, then we found lots of them in Texas and Oklahoma.
I think its somewhat a double hit up here. #1 they are selling well, and #2 Subaru just hasn't shipped as many to this region.
The fuel economy, quality, and handling have been outstanding. I doubt I'd be as happy with any other vehicle out there, so waiting 10 weeks was a small investment in a better ownership experience.
Best of luck to you!