Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

ateixeira · July 2001

Sales up more than 70% since 1990 and climbing. Can't argue with that.

Plus, the WRX arrived after those sales figures. So imagine the potential.

-juice

rsholland · July 2001

I see more TV ads for Subaru than any other brand. For such a small manufacturer to put such a large portion of their marketing budget into TV is remarkable.

Bob

rangerron7 · July 2001

He, He, He -almost feel out of my chair.
Thanks juice!

nygreg · July 2001

car companies over the past 20 years - Subaru, Honda & Nissan according to CU.

-Greg

ateixeira · July 2001

In their annual car issue, Subaru ranked 7th in long-term reliability, behind only Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and each of their luxury brand-mates.

And ahead of every European make, plus everyone else. Not bad.

-juice

nygreg · July 2001

the spread of the reliability. Subaru is pretty tight which indicates high reliability from car to car. They just need to work a little harder on initial quality.

-Greg

kens · July 2001

Wasn't it "whoopty-do for my Subaru"? ;-)

Ken

fandc · July 2001

Ford had those in the early sixties.

Vacuum operated wipers.

A great idea at the time, except that going up a long grade they would become slower and sloower and sloooooower ....

Stopped at a traffic light, they would go berserk.

Glad it wasn't my car.

lark6 · July 2001

Hey, glad I get something right once in a while. I remember "whoopty-do for my Subaru!" as shouted by a Clara Peller ("Where's the beef?") - like elderly lady as not being in a Subaru ad but in an auto parts supplier ad (Pep Boys, NAPA, Carquest, I don't recall which).

fandc: I had a '62 Falcon with those vacuum wipers. Hated them especially in summer when sudden thunderstorms popped up. One good thing about that car was it was where I learned about engine braking, having driven it around on rural dirt roads without benefit of a working master cylinder.

Ed

ateixeira · July 2001

That's right, Kate. But those were hardly memorable at all. I think that was the low point (around 1990) in sales. They tried to go mainstream.

-juice

nygreg · July 2001

my Business Week correctly, around that timeframe Subaru installed a new CEO (?) who made the critical, and correct, decisions. One being to go back to a niche market and another one being to go with AWD on all vehicles, including ours.

Greg

kate5000 · July 2001

My Loyale'92 was pretty memorable.

Actually, 1989 was a record sales year for Subaru in US, when they were as mainstream as it could get, and that record held up until 1997 or even 1998. I think several factors contributed to low sales of 1991-1993, such as diminished popularity of wagons, AWD did not become trendy yet, obsolete boxy styling of the Loyale model, etc, etc. Whatever it was, I was surely glad to buy my Loayle in 1992 with a huge discount!

paisan · July 2001

The other popular Marketing Campaign was the Joe Isuzu one. I think it won some awards and helped Isuzu hold on for 10 or so extra years.

-mike

nygreg · July 2001

Do you go around making believe you were hit by "other" SUVs backing out of their garages???

;-)

-Greg

ateixeira · July 2001

That was George Mullen, I think. Brilliant guy, it's too bad he left.

Joe Isuzu was hilarious. The new ads are OK, but not as good as the originals.

Side note: one of my neighbors has been wanting an X5 for months, but she drove an Axiom and almost bought it. She still might.

-juice

kens · July 2001

I like that Joe Isuzu commercial where he drives up next to the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the huge boulder attached to the front. It keeps cracking me up when the thing slams back into the JGC's fender.

Ken

paisan · July 2001

And they just started a great lease/finance deal on the Axioms as well.

-mike

kate5000 · July 2001

That commercial with JGC and the Axiom. Although I don't like styling of the Axiom. Trooper is much nicer.

drew_ · July 2001

Tell your neighbour not to buy an X5 until they completely fix the problem that is causing them to spontaneously combust with the engine off, and the with the vehicle parked in the garage:

See this. He was lucky that his house didn't burn down completely:
http://www.eliteviews.com

Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards

ateixeira · July 2001

Yeah, I should warn her, LOL.

BOOM. What was that? Our X5 sponteneously combusted.

Gee, and we thought check engine lights were bad!

The way they're handling the recall is going to hurt them. It's the opposite of what Lexus did (scramble to fix the problem, even visiting remote owners).

-juice

pattim3 · July 2001

What great knowledge on this board! George did a great job in turning the company around. He is a very personable and intelligent person and we miss him. Our new Executive Management group was really groomed by George so they are doing a good job of carrying the torch.

Patti

grahampeters · July 2001

G'day

Actually, I should indirectly be extremely grateful for Ford's love of vacuum wipers. They got me my first car.

A mate of mine had a 1956 Ford Consul when I was at Uni. It was decrepit, even by the standards of most uni student's cars. Amongst other highlights, it lost a wheel coming home one night, the wheel making it down the mountain (in front of us) before we realized the problem. Its steering was interesting and the tyres as bald as... It did however have a high domed roof improving the vision when we took in the drive-in movie sitting atop it.

It had an asthmatic four cylinder with a nasty vacuum leak which meant the wipers worked only when you took your foot off the accelerator. The technique was soon mastered; Accelerate, throw clutch in, foot off accelerator and turn on wipers. A quick examination of the scenery and then repeat the exercise ten seconds later.

Canberra, where I did my first degree, is high in the Australian Alps and rarely rains except at night. It does however have rather a lot of smallish mountains and one of the amusements available to students was cruising these mountains, determining the number of loving couples one could shift from these vantage points by a slow drive-by. Canberra is Australia's answer to Washington and there is about as much to do after dark if you are broke and bored.

As luck had it, Mum had a conference in town and, carless, I borrowed my mate's Consul to collect her from the airport and drop her at her hotel, across one range of mountains. From a cloudless night, a monsoon like storm appeared as I drove across the mountain range.

The Consul, labouring uphill had no wipers so I went through the usual routine. Mum was horrified, a reaction heightened when I asked her to pass a cloth to wipe off the water streaming up my legs through the holes in the floor.

I was unphased, as this was normal for the Consul but when we reached her hotel, she called for a stiff brandy. She was not impressed!

When I next went home, I got a good offer; a decent car for myself if I promised never to travel in any bombs again. Who could say no?

I've never told her that when leaving the hotel, I coasted the Consul downhill in neutral (the synchromesh was very iffy) and tried to turn left. The slow spin this created resulted in me turning, not the 90 degrees I expected but a gentle 450, ending up in exactly the direction I'd intended, but having seen the whole intersection first. I needed no persuasion to give up travelling in bombs.

The Consul died soon after, so decrepit that the wrecker charged its owner to take it off his hands.

My, it takes you back!

Cheers

Graham

miksmi · July 2001

ateixeira · July 2001

That's a fun story.

I think we're spoiled. These are the good old days. We whine when even a simple part fails to operate perfectly.

-juice

FrankMc · July 2001

in 1995. This was the low point after their strong sales in 1989.In 1996 they moved to "all AWD" and the outback was really pushed. It has been straight up since then.

Frank

Karen_S · July 2001

Great story! So descriptive. I could visualize your Mum's expression.

I recommend that you post this also in the News & Views The WORST Vehicles I've Ever Owned. :-)

KarenS
Host
Owner's Clubs

ateixeira · July 2001

Sorry, my calendar was off by a few years. But I'm pretty sure the "What to Drive" ad campaign was during the low sales period.

I know there are a lot of GT and RS fans here, but let's face it, the Outback saved Subaru, and still pays the bills.

-juice

nygreg · July 2001

as the WRX will bring needed visability to the Impreza line and Subaru in general. One other point to note is at that time the look of Subarus improved quite a bit IMO and more stylish and up to date. I look at the pre 00 OBs and pre 02 imprezas running around now and have really come to like them quite a bit. How come I didn't before? Marketing? Head up my b__?

Greg

jimmyp1 · July 2001

Do you have the ability to address the speculation, in the following link, as to the rarity of the 1994 Turbo Legacy? Or can you put me in touch with someone who might? It seems like the numbers for that year have to be somewhere.

http://www.prioritysail.com/subaru/

Thanks,

Jim

paisan · July 2001

I've personally seen at least 2 dozen of them in my subaru travels.

-mike

drew_ · July 2001

...at 6-7pm Pacific/9-10 pm Eastern. Hope to see you there!

http://www.edmunds.com/chat/subaruchat.html

pattim3 · July 2001

I'll see if I can get you actual numbers on Monday, but I know it was a lot more than 12. It wasn't considered limited production or anything, but I'll see what I can find.

Patti

pattim3 · July 2001

Great Story! I've printed it for my both of my son's so that they don't even think of trying that!!!

Thanks for brightening up our day!

Patti

paisan · July 2001

Hey patti, could you check on production #s for the XT6 also, and for that matter the SVX too? As long as you are gonna dig up the production #s. Thanks.

-mike

jimmyp1 · July 2001

I'd be willing to bet the svx is even lower than my car if Patti says mine wasn't a limited production. There are a couple nice examples on ebay right now. I can't believe how low the miles are. Have a great weekend everybody.

jim

paisan · July 2001

for the XT6 are 4K units over the 3 years it was offered here. The SVX was 15K units over the 4 years it was offered.

-mike

jimmyp1 · July 2001

My first thought, when I came across that guy's website, was, "the dealer must have meant 12 THOUSAND units" so, maybe Patti will give me some closure on this issue. I'm surprised at the 4k number for the XT6. We lived, as you've seen, in the resort areas of Colorado, which has to be the highest per capita Subaru/Jeep ownership area in the country, and I did see at least a few XT6's. It was the XT6 that was N/A, and the XT4 that was Turbocharged, right? Have you seen those SVX's on ebay? That's really amazing to me. Such pristine condition and low miles.

Jim

paisan · July 2001

The XT looks like the XT6 but thats where the similarities end. XT came in both NA and turbo. Here's a quick rundown:

XT:
1.8l NA or Turbo
Part Time 4wd or FWD
No air suspension
4-bolt lug pattern smaller brakes, etc.
smaller tires, rims etc.

XT6:
std 5-lug pattern 14" 205-60-14
AWD or FWD, 5MT with center locking Diffy.
H6 2.7l engine
Air-suspension std. on AWD models
Electric Power Steering Pump (no belt driven PS pump)
Different suspension components (larger sway bars, etc)
Fog lights std on XT6, not available on the XT

A quick look will show a lot of XTs and since the body was the same on the XTs and XT6s you'd never know the difference unless you actually saw the XT6 or the fog lights.

-mike

lucien2 · July 2001

on the cover of Autoweek today. I want one more than ever. Patience, grasshoppa.....

Looking forward to starting the new job on thursday. Juice, it is sales, but not the "close-the-deal-on-the-back-9" kinda thing. I know a lot of the restauranteurs in question already, and there is little in the way of "pressure" sales I need to do. Basically I'll be calling them, bringing samples by, taking orders, making sure my company is taking care of them, etc.

Otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it, as I am note really the "sales" type either, as you say.

So, does anyone have any PDA recommendations?

tincup47 · July 2001

Wholesale foodservice? What Company?

lucien2 · July 2001

Wine, baby, wine!

I'll be trying to rustle up by-the-glass placements and such.

p0926 · July 2001

Bought my wife a Palm M-105 for her birthday. No complaints thus far.

1subydown1togo · July 2001

Good luck in the new job...Serge

miksmi · July 2001

I'll call you about the PDA. As you might expect, I have opinions, too many to post here.

..Mike

dsackman · July 2001

Lucien,

I would suggest this baby as a PDA: http://yahoo2.sundial.com/modules/yahoo/bundles.asp?bundle_id=57

It uses the PALM OS and includes the telephone as well. Voice activated for safe usage while driving, Internet access to keep up to date with what is happening here on Edmunds. This is a great tool, maybe a bit big and heavy, but with great features.

Daniel

(I do not sell PDA's or phones)

dsackman · July 2001

Lucien,

I would suggest this baby as a PDA: http://yahoo2.sundial.com/modules/yahoo/bundles.asp?bundle_id=57

It uses the PALM OS and includes the telephone as well. Voice activated for safe usage while driving, Internet access to keep up to date with what is happening here on Edmunds. This is a great tool, maybe a bit big and heavy, but with great features.

Daniel

(I do not sell PDA's or phones)

lark6 · July 2001

All,

I got an invitation in the mail today to go to "Jeep 101" in the Philadelphia area in August. Has anyone here ever done it? How was it? Did you learn anything there that made you a better Subaru driver? (It's not as if I'm going to buy a Jeep.)

Ed

rsholland · July 2001

I did it a couple of years ago with my wife and son. It's a fun time.

All the Jeeps were automatics. I drove a Grand Cherokee and a regular Cherokee. There was no time to take the Wrangler out. Too many people, and the lines were too long.

Kept it in low range and 1st gear all the time. Let me tell you, that is one "low" gear!

First we traversed a long grade sideways, as if you were driving the side of a mountain sideways. I remember traveling over rocks, across a log bridge, and through a water area. The best part was climbing a very steep hill about 2 stories tall, and when you get to the top (you can't see over the other side because the vehicle is pointed towards the sky), you then go down the opposite side (which is equally steep) using NO brakes. You're letting the low gearing control the vehicle. it scared the h**l out of my wife when she did it. She closed her eyes and prayed! I also saw an interesting demo on how to winch a vehicle out of a difficult situation.

It's a fun time, you'll enjoy it, and it's definitely worthwhile going to, even if you have no intentions of buying a Jeep. Let us know what you think of the new Liberty under these conditions.

Bob

lark6 · July 2001

Well that's what they want me to drive - the Liberty. I think that and the Grand Cherokee will suffice - not interested in trying the Wrangler.

Ed

dsackman · July 2001

I gave my lemon '99 Jeep Grand Cherokee back and bought a Forester. Why bother about the Jeep 101? It is just a big marketing thing. They make a big thing about doing the Rubicon here in California, Yeah right! There are no outside observers on that one. Stay away from Jeeps!

Daniel

Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

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