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Comments
I might take Raven (my Forester's new name thanks to Ross) out camping to Big Sur later next month. :-)
Ken
Coming up on my 1 year anniversary with my OB and have almost 17000 miles on it already. 1200 of that within the last 2.5 weeks! Time for a nice wash and polish this weekend as a reward.
Mark
You know like, instead of getting a reminder that says "Your xxxxxx... is due for service" it'll say "'Sandy,'Silvius', or 'Raven' is due for his/her oil change". How's that for personalized?
Maybe a name tag for the car too.
Hope the idea isn't as bad as the "6 Star General" joke.
I liked that wagon. It is awesome. I think that Europe is ahead of the US in terms of radical cars. My Dad's Renault has a little dial next to the steering column to adjust your headlights up or down. How cool is that? They have some funcky looking cars. And for having half as strong engines it seems that they all travel at an average of 150 k/h. I suppose the 94 Octane gas might help.
I definitly like that wagon. When is Subaru going to offer a 3 row seat. Even a removable one would work for my OB....
Renaults earned a truly awful reputation for reliability. They still sell them in Brazil, and my brother owned one (a 19, IIRC) and regretted it.
-juice
Ha ha ha. Renaults have an awful reputation in the Americas. They do great in Europe. My dad would never buy a french car here in the States. But over there he won't have anything else. They are extremely reliable and maintenace is a practically nothing. I tested the little dial with the car facing a wall and it was impressive! It is not even a luxury car. It looks like a focus somewhat. Hatchback etc. But it has all of the radio controls in the steering wheel for convenience........Subaru???? It is quite nice. I think those little convenience things make a difference. I wouldn't mind having them. Also I think there is a button on the dash that immediately connects to the nationwide traffic monitor. The winshield has a special place for the little gadget that allows them to pass Highway tolls at 40Km/h without stopping. Pretty cool stuff!!!!
We don't travel down there that much to justify 'buying' the I-PASS unit. I just bring 50 pennies to pay the toll attendant...
-Brian
Jim
You may want to consider a new development in East Palo Alto, between University and Embarcadero, to the east of the 101. It is called University Square. The prices are getting quite soft and the developers are getting ready to negotiate. We recently bought there and moved from the East Bay.
Daniel
-mike
Here in Melbourne, Australia, they have intoduced Toll pricing on the Freeways closest to the city centre about eighteen months ago. These are monitored by an E-Tag as you passs under gantries and the car is photographed at the same time. The opportunity has also been taken to instal speed cameras in a tunnel on the section closest to the CBD.
Pricing is about AUD 5.00 (USD 2.50)per day. However the bizarre thing is the discovery that for many users, it is smarter to use the existing main road network rather than the freeway.
I live 25km from my city office and about 5km from the nearest freeway entrance. However, that freeway entrance is also near the entry point to a main feeder route with phased traffic lights set at the speed limit. Hence, provided traffic density is not too great, the traffic moves at a steady 60-70kmh compared to a more erratic 70-80kmh on the freeway.
This translates to about four minutes on my commute increasing it from 28 minutes to 32. In bad peak hour both of these time blow out by 15 minutes or so.
In addition, once on the freeway, it is hard to get off, but the alternative route has options every 100 metres. Melbourne is set out on a grid pattern with major through roads about every 1.6km (1 mile) apart, aligned North-South and East-West. If one chokes, you just move across one road. The worst bit of the trip is the last three kilometres where the alternative is to drive around Albert Park Lake, the Australian GP course.
After eighteen months, I have still not got an E-Tag.
Melbourne is a great place to live!
Cheers
Graham
One difference, I kind of miss the more luxurious appointments in the OB Limited Sedan - but I'll give it up for the increased power. It can be a bit dangerous though. I had to pass 5 cars on a road that is supposed to be 55 mph and the lead car was doing 40. Normally, I wouldn't have tried to pass that many, but I breezed past them. After it was safe to get back over, I noted that I was at 90 mph (it didn't feel like it at all) and I had to step it down quickly.
Patti
Patti
Patti
Enjoy!
Ed
They gave him nearly nothing for the trade, but he was just glad to get rid of it!
Patti: any chance Subaru can give me a long, long-term WRX test drive? Say, for 6 years or so? ;-)
-juice
My out-going Forester ('01) was named Bobura (japanese for "Barbara" -- let's see if anybody gets this reference), while the new 02 WRX wagon name is planned to be "Shigo," another good japanese word that means:
1) a whisper
2) an obsolete word
3) feeling after death
plus the whole "she goes" similarity... for what it's worth.
Let's see, still 40 (but just barely), married but no kids, one dog (black Lab), been working with computers for over 20 years but never had a Mac, career military intelligence specialist (spare me the oxymoron jokes please), the Forester is my first Subaru, like to hike, bike and travel but don't do enough of any them, have received somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 speeding tickets in almost as many states and countries, but none in the past 12 years (and none that the insurance company found out about thank goodness).
-Frank P.
-juice
-Frank P.
http://isuzu-suvs.com/events/index.html
-mike
At this point, I'm *considering* an auto on my next Sube. Although having two automatic Subaru wagons IS kind of redundant. :-D
Dennis
Dennis: I asked my wife if she wanted an auto in her next car, since she drives a 5 speed now but a kid is in the picture. Much to my surprise, she remains faithful and insists on a proper manual trans, the way God intended.
Still waiting for that Blitzen...
-juice
Ed
Mark
More wagons I found: the Honda Model X is coming in some form for 2003, the 2004 Infiniti FX45 will have a fastback wagon shape, and the name of that Suzuki I was thinking of is the SX, also in 2003.
Honda will also have yet another sport wagon for 2003. Mazda MX Sport Tourer could make it in 2004. Mitsubishi will likely offer a sport wagon for 2003. Nissan will add one in 2005. Toyota may offer a WiLL wagon in 2003.
Enough wagons for you? The trend has started, my friends. Wagons are back with a vengeance.
-juice
PS Oops, maybe this should have been under Future Models
Does this mean that Subies are going to get cheaper with all of that competition??? Hmmm, hope not since I will loose value on mine. Juice the Renault story is funny!!!! Maybe he should get a Peugeut (sp?). Or a Citroen! However Citroens are quite expensive cars in Europe. What I would like here in the USA is those wonderful turbodiesel engines. These days turbodiesels accelarate just as fast as gas and consume much less. I don't want a Jetta TDI though!
The more AWD wagons that show up, means Subaru is going to have to work harder to distinguish themselves from the others. And by "distinguish," I mean better, not just different.
Bob
Imports carry some hefty taxes, so an Outback costs about $44 grand. You'd have to be rich to afford any Subaru, so they're pitched as near-luxury cars there. A brazilian-made Dakota crew cab costs about half as much. Funny, no?
Also, gas is about $3.50 a gallon, so light, small, FWD is almost mandatory. Diesel costs about half as much, so anything diesel costs 10% more and still sells well.
Honda and Toyota have opened factories there, so it's getting more competitive. BMW will build its Mini Cooper engines in Brazil, too, and I think Mercedes started making A classes there.
And Subaru? Well, perhaps due to the no-snow climate, they haven't really penetrated the market much. They'd really have to manufacture in Brazil and pitch the AWD for sand/beach driving to make a dent.
What would sell? A Forester or Impreza wagon with a small Isuzu diesel, made in Brazil. That's what it would take, IMO.
-juice
Nice write up. I'd love to hear what speeds you'll be hitting with a 5-speed.
Now, combine the power of the WRX with the amenities of the OB Ltd Sedan and we're in business.
Ken
-juice
Bob
You're the winner. The Bobura reference is indeed from the Barbara Streisand episode on SouthPark when she turns into "MegaStreisand" and only Robert Smith of the cure is able to defeat her. Goofy, yet hilarious, if you're into it.
Good call -- eric
I agree -- wish they would start dealing south of the border. I've had some good times in my ol' Forester in northern Mexico. I had one very close call with the rear differential once, got caught on a large rock, but other than that.... smooth sailing. I even plan on taking the new WRX wagon (arriving 9/8/01! Yeah!) into Mexico once in a while... although our 97 Outback sport will serve more of that function.
Viva Subaru!
Look at Mazda of Europe. Ford is only giving them V6 Tributes, and dealers are furious! 4 cylinders, better yet, diesels, are what they want over there.
Here, customers want the V6. You can't give away the 130hp 4 cylinder.
Also, size matters. The Legacy is a large car in Brazil. The Forester is a mid-size. Even the Impreza would be seen as a premium small car, not really mainstream.
I let my brother borrow Sandy a few times, and they loved how big (!) it was.
-juice
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/08/29/tire.safety/index.html
Dennis
Greg
-juice
Now hop on over to Forester topic and figure out the reference for my proposed Forester nickname.
Damn, make it mandatory to check tire pressure everytime they fill up, that's cheaper.
-juice
Gas may be expensive, but all the other car makers have the same situation to deal with. I just think Subaru's ruggedness and AWD make it an ideal car for "3rd World" conditions.
Bob
Tire pressures need to be checked when cold and with the car unloaded. Chances are people have driven some distance before getting to a gas station. I bet they also don't bother taking the passengers/cargo out of the vehicle either.
Also, many people probably use inaccurate pen-type gauges or even worse, the inaccurate built-in gauges at the air pump.
Ken
Juice - actually, I think I can help you out. Come to work for us!!!! You can get a new Subaru every year!!
Names - I suggested this on your behalf today. They may try to incorporate it on the Subaru site under the "owner's page" but I'll let you all know.
Tires - check 'em often. I'm a strong proponent of doing this. After all my reading and research on the Firestone issue, I firmly believe (NOTE: NOT A CORPORATE STATEMENT), that the issue/responsibility is with Ford. Firestone recommended a tire inflation rate that Ford didn't like (harsher ride/tip over concerns) and Ford recommended lower. More sidewall on the road surface = disaster.
Okay, so what else is new?
Patti
Definately like the new dual cupholders and postion of the heated seat switches in the '02 Outbacks. The new Outback red was a bit of a shock at first. It looked strange to see one in red (especially since ours is winestone). If I had to choose, I'd take a winestone one.
Unfortunately, I didn't take any of them for a drive. Mom & baby met up with me there and _dragged_ me over to the dealers' Honda section to look at Odyssey's. Fortunately for me, they only had one to look at and it was higher than what we'd spend IF we were buying today (it was $28k).
What did I learn today: the dealer has a boat load of Sube's (with tags on most of them saying "Must sell at dealer's cost - all below invoice, blah, blah, blah"). He'll want to get rid of them, especially as it gets closer to '02. Until then, we'll finish paying off some bills.
Mom did say the TS wagon looked nice ($19-20k) as we were leaving...
-Brian
The attached Autoweek article is interesting, looking at the decision of Subaru to sell the Opel Zafira (made in Thailand) as a Subaru people mover in Japan. Actually it is a clever car with an overall size about that of a Forester (maybe smaller) and a nifty third row of seats which folds flat into the floor behind the second row. Pity it has GM build quality. Have a look at the article for more.
http://www.autonews.com/html/main/stories0827/subaru827.htm
Cheers
Graham
Dennis
Keep up the good work, mate!
..Mike
..Mike