Anyone ordered accessories from the Subaru UK? Looking at their website, they have some really cool OB accessories -- namely those stainless steel plates that go on the door sills and at the rear gate. I'm sure they would fit, as those parts of the car should be the same regardless of country, but I'm just wondering how easy it is to get parts from London. High shipping? Royal pain? Just curious.
Get the rear hatch grab bar option. Not only does it make closing the hatch easier, you can use it to attach a bungee cord rather than using the wiper.
My largest roof load (but not very heavy) was 6 sheets of vinyl soffit, 16 ft long! Bendy stuff and I had to keep my speed under 50 kph to prevent it from folding up on itself. It scratched the top of the rear spoiler too, even though it was not resting on it.
Brian, I saw some cool stuff there too. I really like the chrome skid plate accent for the front bumper. Unfortunately, the UK Outback has a different front bumper than the US version (at least for now; the UK bumper looks like the rumored 2003 US front styling design). I'll have to make a closer comparison of the two styles to see if the skid plate would fit on my car. Otherwise, this could be an interesting metal-shop project . . . .
If enough people were interested in getting parts and accesories from the UK, we could do a group buy to save on shipping. They do not have online ordering, but it should not be difficult to get in touch with a dealer over there.
I love your name. My brothers boat carries the same.
If you want, please call our 800 number (1-800-SUBARU3) and give your vehicle information to a Rep. Ask them to review your file. I have a great booklet printed by the National Insurance Institute about air-bag deployment. There are so many factors.
Your Subaru's air bag system has a check built in. If the system detects any kind of problem (even interuption to the computer), the air bag warning light stays on once the car is turned on. If it was not on at the time of the accident, it was working right. The amount of $$$'s associated with the damage is not a good indicator.
I'll second the use of the gate latch trick - used it many a time on my OB Wagon and previous Blazer. When the gate is open, you can also jam a bungee hook against the latch mechanism and it will automatically close around the hook - as simple as can be.
Brian, your suggestion of using the tailgate latch as a tiedown spot was excellent conceptually, but the execution as you described doesn't seem to work (at least not on my '02 OBW). Turning the key locks the external handle, but does not move the latch hook. But it gave me an idea: I pushed the bungee metal end up into the tailgate latch as the striker hook would as if the gate were being closed. Sure enough, when the position 'sensor' moved up far enough, the 'hook' snapped down closing the space and providing a loop to tie to. Lifting up on the exterior handle popped the hook back to the 'open' position.
At some point someone posted a message regarding the comfort of the heated seats in the Outback versus the regular ones. They mentioned that they were noticeably more comfortable (more padding?). Can anyone share their experiences? I do not necessaily need heated seats since I think cloth seats are fine year 'round but comfort certainly is an issue. Also does anyone have any experience purchasing a Subaru "program" car. These are '01s with 8-15k mi. and are sold at substantial discount. Thanks for any input.
I got a 92 Legacy program car, it had 6K mi on it and I saved almost $5k back then when I got it in 93. Of the 3 Legacies I have purchased, this one has given me the least trouble! Still have it, use it as my spare.They are well looked after at the factory and the price was certainly good back then.
I pulled apart the rear driver's side door on my Bean this morning, in an attempt to re-align the window glass a little. The interior door panel comes off pretty easily, but it took me about 30 minutes to get it off as I had to figure it out with no guidance or instructions, and I was taking it easy to avoid damage. Long story short, you have to take out the screw in the armrest, pull out the power window switch bezel and remove a screw hidden behind it, and remove the trim ring around the door lock/handle. There is a screw hidden behind the door handle, but it does not need to be removed (it attaches the handle assembly to the door frame). Then, release about 8-10 retainer clips around the sides and bottom of the panel, and lift the panel up and off of the door. The hardest part was removing the trim ring around the door handle and the power window switch bezel. They were in really tight, and I had to carefully pry them out with a screwdriver. A side note: the Bean appears to have upgraded speakers with poly cones and foam surrounds. They actually look pretty good, better than most OEM speakers I have seen.
Once I got into the door, I spent about 20 minutes figuring everything out. As an engineer, I love getting into unfamiliar designs as seeing what they did. In this case, it is a remarkable packaging job, as all of the components for the window mechanism had to fit through two 6" diameter holes in the frame and be assembled inside the door.
There were many adjustment points for the window, including the glass angle, vertical stops, and anti-rattle pads. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to adjust the horizontal position of the glass. Looking at the design, I think Subaru must absorb the horizontal tolerance into the rather wide molding/gasket around glass. There's at least 1/4" on each side, so the glass can be off by 1/4" either way (towards the front or back of the car) and still fit. In my case, the glass too far back by about 1/8-1/4", and looks off-center compared to the other side of the car. Given the design, it looks like something that is within Subaru's design tolerance, even if it seems "off" to me. I can live with it, since there aren't any issues with wind noise or leakage, which is the important part.
I also re-mounted the rain gutter molding on the driver's side, as it was a bit askew. Again, I think Subaru's design is cool. The molding is a stamped plated steel and plastic assembly that butts up under the rain gutter channel stamped into the car body. It is held in place with about 12 screws, and slips onto a "tongue" molded into the rear window molding for alignment. The gutter molding also serves as the mounting track for the rubber gasket around the windows. To fix the gutter molding, I just had to pull back the rubber window gaskets, loosen up the 12 screws, and re-align the molding. Piece of cake. What I like about this design is that it would be easy to replace the gutter molding or the window gaskets if they ever get damaged or worn out. I did notice what looks like a rock chip in the molding, but it's a minor issue. My wife laughed at me when I showed her. She obviously doesn't understand OCD.
I gave the Bean a good wash today with dish detergent, and will wax it with Klasse tomorrow. We put a coat of it on my wife's 626 today, and it did a nice job. Very easy to work with. As a gesture to all you other OCD nerds, I will be sure to wax the wheels, but only the outsides!!
I used Klasse for the first time on my wintergreen VDC about 5 months ago; I have really been pleased with the durability and the continued shine with just washing. I didn't clay it first, but wished I had. You might consider that if you haven't before. On my WRX, applying Klasse over an already silky smooth finish was really a breeze.
Yep, I also don't do the inside of my wheels, or the door jambs either.
The only difference between heated seats and those with heat is—heat. There's no extra padding. The heating element has two setting: warm and warmer.
As to extra comfort, think of it much as you would an electric blanket. If you like an electric blanket, you'll probably like heated seats too.
My OBW's heated (cloth) seats came as part of the All Weather Package. I've always found cloth seats to be fine year round, but I wanted the heated outside mirrors and wiper deicer for safety so I figured that I'd just ignore this 'unnecessary' extra. However, in the month that I've had my Subie I've grown VERY fond of the bun warmer on cold mornings here in NY. It's a great comfort feature! (And I don't like electric blankets. ;-)
So far over 31 days and 2253 miles I can report that I love this car. There is 1 feature though that I miss from my 96 Taurus wagon -- being able to use the power windows for a short time after I've turned off the engine or at any time with the ignition in the accessory position. And I wish the key fob included a button to release the fuel door. I still forget to flip the release before I leave the car to gas up, so I get an extra walk around the car each time.
Well just when i thought that I had finally got a car with no problems, my 2001 Outback LLbean's paint is pealing of the bumper? Any one else with this problem and how did Subaru respond??
Can anyone share their experience with real time gas mileage on the Subaru Limited Outback wagon with 6cyl. and automatic trans? I'm considering purchasing the LL Bean Outback wagon and would like to hear from those of you with the 6, as to what real time mileage is. I live in NE Pa with plenty of mountains and slippery roads.
Mike: the Klasse worked great. I had originally intended to just use the sealer coat on my Bean, since it's pretty new. But, the sealer was streaky when I applied it, and hard to buff to a uniform shine. I figured maybe it was reacting with something the dealer put on the car during prep. So, I ended up just putting a coat of the all-in-one cleaner wax on the car, and it looks fantastic. The Timberline Green color looks great with a shine. If I had more time and energy, I would follow up with the sealer wax, but enough is enough for now. I'm tired and sore!
I did the wheels, but it was a pain with all those spokes. Even cleaning them is a chore -- much more difficult than the wheels on my older base Outback. Hopefully, having the wax on there will make future cleaning easier.
A question for all: do you wax any of the glass window surfaces? Klasse says their product can be applied to glass. I put it on the sideview mirrors, and they look nice. But I wasn't sure about putting it on the windows. Any thoughts? By the way, I did put Klasse on the headlight and tail light lenses with great results.
For doorjambs, you can mix a few squirts of almost any liquid cleaner wax into a gallon of water, and just wipe them down whenever you wash the car.
James: I've only had my Bean for about 1 month (about 1500 miles on the car now), but have been getting 22-24 MPG in mixed driving, about half of which is city driving. This is about the same mileage I got with my H4 Outback, so the H6 is doing pretty good by me.
I am going to wait out for the 2003 LL Bean, and am hoping that the improvement in 2003 model will include a HID lamp head light since japanese model already has HID lamp head light. For the future model, SOA need to put the outback on Jenny Craig program to trim about 200 to 300 lbs without sacrificing safety. That will greatly improve fuel efficiency. Or, that is the price you have to pay for the AWD. When will the 2003 model be out?
I guess I expected more from my 2.5L Outback Wagon (2000). It has averaged 21.5 miles per gallon since I purchased it new. 30K at this point with 85% coming from highway driving. Use Texaco regular unleaded. Oil and filter changed every 3K. Tires at factory setting. No roof rack. Located in Seattle area.
I get between 21 and 24 mostly highway and 19-20 if I stay in the Sierra foothills on my 2001 Outback VDC Wagon. I burn premium in mine as recommended and have 12000 miles.
James, I average about 22mpg on my H6 VDC in mixed driving; 27 on my one trip to Colorado from Texas. I will be going to Florida next week so I will get another good highway read.
Craig, I highly recommend putting on a couple of coats of the sealant (between washes) on top of the AIO. I only used an ounce of the sealant each time; it took about 30 to 40 minutes for each application. That gives both durability and a deeper shine.
I was bored at work tonite and read back the posts and I came across a post from you saying I called you dave instead of steve .If I did I am sorry about that .I know this is a little late but forgive me . Also thank you for your explainations of my problems from earlier posts .
Question on your post on 12/03/01 you stated that you were going to take your wifes car in for its 30k service . You stated that you were going to have the engine knock looked at again . Was it looked at and were they able to fix it . Also what kind of knock was it ,meaning was it only cold temp related , did it go away when warm ,was a knock or more of a ping sound . the reason I ask is that I have a engine knock in my my02 outback wagon only on cold days and it disappears when the engine is warm .It seems also to be dependent on the amount if time I let my car warm up in the morning . If I let it warm up to normal operating temp no knock , but if I don't it knocks untill fully warm . Thank you in advance Mike K
With 8-15k miles, it's a used car, plain and simple. Just make sure it's priced accordingly. I think to sell it as a demo, the mileage limit is lower (6k rings a bell). I'd knock 15-20% off the invoice price for it.
Craig: waxed only the outsides? You slacker! ;-)
Actually, remember that ice can get stuck in the wheels and throw them off balance, so the wax serves to keep ice from sticking to the insides. But it's easier to do that when you rotate the tires.
Side note: I saw a BMW video in the snow and the wheels were encrusted with snow and ice. Shame on them.
Hope you got pix of the door's insides, for future reference.
Brawnydog: first I've heard of it. Demand a repaint of the entire bumper.
A. Chee: you could probably find an aftermarket HID assembly for the Outback today, if it's not offered from the factory. Also, Pam from iSR Performance will import any part from the UK, if it's offered there. 2003s ought to arrive around September.
I'm happy to report that the engine knock has completely gone away. There were 2 problems: 1) An actulal engine knock which was correct after they reset everything. The knock was much improved, yet, the car was still making a mild rattling sound (when cold) but different than the knock. This time it was a rattle and not a knocking sound. I failed to hear it because of the cold knocking. See #2. 2) There was a loose heat sheild. One of the techs at Lou Fusz Subaru/Mazda found and corrected the problem and said he has seen it before.
I'm not sure which problem you are having but it seemed pretty easy to correct when diagnosed properly.
Our H4 OB Ltd. get 17 city and 24 highway. Its been as low as 16 city and as high as 29 highway (but not in about 1 year).
Anyone have any details on the 2003 Legacy Outback due to be intro'd in Chicago Feb 6 or 7?
The front facia may change - anything else?
New head lamps?
Just speculation here but if they came out with a Legacy GT limited Wagon with the H6 and leather I think that would be a strong seller. Basically the LL Bean car in Legacy rather than Outback guise.
They may never do it but I think it would be strong. I actually prefer the clean, un-cladded look of the Legacy wagon. But no leather or H6 there sends me up the line to the LL Bean Outback -- the least expensive place to get those options.
I can only speculate that US models will get the same cosmetic tweaks the Japan/Europe/Australia market Outbacks got for 2002, which was a new front fascia, headlights, and tail lights. There were also suspension changes and a new flywheel, as someone else (Graham?) mentioned. You can check out the pics on the Subaru Australia website.
I agree, a GT wagon with an H6 and a 5-spd would be sweet.
I prefer wagons, too! It's easily worth the extra cash. :-)
Subaru has to be careful with the Legacy, because it already sells in 1/3rd of Outback volumes. The H6 would be good, but pricing is critical. It must cost less than the LL Bean, not more.
The real question is will we see a Legacy turbo or the H6? I heard the manual trans didn't fit with the H6, but who knows. A 2.5l light-pressure turbo would be very appealing to me.
So we'll see. An auto-only H6 added to the Legacy lineup may not do a whole lot for sales. The GT must have a stick, period. It fits the car's character better.
I don't know what they changed with the suspension, but the flywheel change would be to either make it lighter (easier to rev, more responsive) or heavier (smoother). I am not sure if this was a change for all the engine lineups either -- it may only be for the H4 since the H6 is relatively new.
Out '9 Legacy L wagon's auto trany sometimes holds onto top gear for a second or so before releasing it when on the highway and you release the gas. The ATF only has 20,000 miles on it and at proper level??
Anyone know if the bumper cover over the tow hook on the front of the OB comes pre-painted. When hitting that dog over the holidays, I lost the cover. Local dealer says the part only comes in gray and needs to be painted. I am having a hard time believing I can't get it already painted since all OBs have the Titanium-Pearl bumbers.
While I don't claim to have an idea of what sells in the automotive world, it seems to me that Subaru could make a go of selling a luxury/performance Legacy sedan or wagon that isn't an Outback. The Legacy-based Outback is often shopped against the Volvo XC and, now, the Audi allroad quattro; the UK magazine Car even compared the Forester S turbo favorably to the XC and allroad. It would stand to reason that a luxury/performance Legacy could compete successfully against the Volvo S60 T5/V70 T5 and Audi S6/S6 Avant. The shift in perception of Subaru in North America to a performance brand is well underway with the WRX, and could be extended with the intro of a hotter Legacy sedan and wagon.
Personally, I would love to see it. Give me a Legacy GT wagon with the H6 and a manual tranny.
But Subaru has to be practical. The Outback sells much better, so an H6 option on the base Outback (no leather or moonroof) would put it at a price level where many more buyers would be interested.
Also, the H6 hasn't been a sales hit. Legacy/Outback sales are flat one year after the H6 was introduced. Impreza sales, in comparison, have doubled with the arrival of the turbo.
So the H6 increased costs but not sales, the turbo doubled sales. Which would you expand across the product line?
Put in those terms, the answer is simple. Market research should show whether sales remained flat in spite of, or because of, the H6. It's not necessarily the engine that hasn't spurred the sales, but the price point at which it's being delivered. The answer then would be either (1) cut the price of the H6 cars, or offer the H6 in lower-priced cars to begin with, or (2) add more content to the H6 cars while maintaining the current price point. I'd have a harder time with the latter only because I personally can't think of anything else the Bean/VDC wagons need.
My only concern with the WRX drivetrain in the Legacy GT would be related to its torque curve. There must be some GT test mules so equipped running around Subaru proving grounds, wouldn't you think?
They're running around all over Japan, but the question is will american buyers accept a 2.0l engine at that price point?
VW uses a 1.8T up to a certain price point, Volvo uses a 2.4T but it's a 5 cylinder. A 2.0T is fine up to maybe $28 grand, above that you simply need more displacement.
Sales aren't everything, but they do mean something. Here is the final verdict for 2001, compared to 2000 sales:
Forester 55041 (slightly down from 56605) Impreza 35612 (through the roof! Was 19220) Legacy 95291 (slightly down from 96391)
Subaru total was up to 185944 from 172216, which is great overall, but give the Impreza 100% of the credit for that. Also keep in mind it only arrived in March, imagine if it had a full year's worth of sales.
The Forester is in its 5th model year, so the fact that it held fairly steady was good.
The Legacy (includes Outback) was down in the first full year of H6 availability, so that's bad. It's also only in the 3rd model year, much newer than the about-to-be-replaced Forester. I don't think you can call the drop in sales a good result.
I think we have to add a dose of reality to those numbers. First of all, the old Impreza was an ancient design that was past being long in the tooth (I think the teeth had long since fallen out!!). I am not surprised sales increased so much with the new model -- it put sales where they should be in the first place.
The drop in Forester sales was 2.7% and the drop in Legacy sales was 1.1%. These are small amounts, and actually pretty good considering how bad the economy was in 2001. Other vehicle makes and models did much worse. And I'm sure a small portion of those Impreza buyers ate into Forester/Legacy sales -- think of the 2-3 folks on the forums here who went that route.
Finally, where can we find long range data?? It would be good to see sales over the last 5-6 years for each of the model lines to see the real trends. It's hard to conclude a whole lot when just comparing two years worth of data.
My source (Automotive News) only listed those two years.
The 2003 Forester will be interesting to follow, since the current one is in its 5th model year. I doubt sales will double, but there is a lot of potential.
Also, the Baja will make things interesting for the Legacy line. I'm not sure if it'll be measured separately, but I'm sure some will cross-shop the Outback.
-juice
PS I'm not saying Subaru didn't need the H6. Sales might have tanked without it. But the turbo did much more to attract media and customer attention.
The tow hook cover only comes in primer as does a new bumper cover.
I agree that it does not seem to make sense since the bumpers are all coloured Titanium.
But think about storing or transporting these things if they are painted it increases the likelyhood that they will arrive at their destination damaged.
So Subaru and every other car maker for that matter ship these things in primer and leave the body shop to apply the colour.
Impreza sales are doing well because the WRX is a great car. Its innovation or uniqueness in the market is that it is an affordable driver's car. It's not the first car to do this -- it is just the best recent example. Kind of like an Early 70s Datsun 240z. Lot of content for not a lot of money.
Equally important to sales figures -- the WRX created a buzz among the automotive press.
In terms of number of units sold, Subaru as a car maker is squarely lumped in the "other" category in any pie chart of American sales.
But when Consumer reports calls the WRX a best buy for a sports car, and Automobile calls the WRX car of the year, and Car and Driver puts it on their 10 best list, even the most jaded car buyer starts to listen.
The automotive press tends to favor what is fresh, new, and innovative.
I am sure the Outback was fresh and innovative in 1996 when it came out -- a sensible car based AWD vehicle.
Its still a great car but there is not as much to write about. And so the "free" marketing dries up. And so do sales to some degree.
And "free marketing" only goes so far. The WRX (and all Subarus to some degree) are niche cars. They have AWD which consumers outside of snowy regions are not yet convinced is necessary. Subarus tend to be smaller than cars of the same price. Americans by and large are big people. Look at how much better Accords and Camry's sold once they sized them like Ford Tauruses instead of 3 series BMWs?
Like the band Spinal Tap, the Subaru car has a "selective appeal".
They make great cars but they are far enough outside the norm to never be a great sales sucess.
And I have to be honest, the selective appeal makes Subarus attractive to me. It is not a car I can imagine someone buying unless they are pretty sure that its unique attributes (AWD, sporty drive, utility) are worth the extra money over a "no-brainer" choice like an Accord or Camry.
I admire a car and people who drive them that shows they put some thought into their purchase.
Rambled on long enough . . . . Maybe it is the beer talking.
Same for me...one of the reasons for buying my OB sedan was because NO ONE had one at the time. 2 years later, I always have people coming up to me asking what it is. They are also shocked when I tell them that its full time AWD. I can't imagine ever buying an Accord or Camry. If I look out my window I can see 4 or 5 of them down the street. I have more respect for someone that drives an Impala because they are different from what everyone else is buying. Besides, in 24k miles, I have not had one problem with my OB. Everyone I know who has an a newer Accord or Camry has been back to their dealers several times with problems.
They may be common, but there's good reason for that: they're great cars. I love my 01 Outback for what it is -- a roomy AWD wagon -- but don't feel like it has the same level of quality (material quality or build quality) as my previous 3 Hondas. And my Hondas never had the horrible clutch chatter that I've got with the Outback. Common and boring, sure, but Honda and Toyota build bulletproof cars. And I have no respect for Impala drivers!
I was thinking about Saturday's failed window adjustment attempt on the ride home from work tonight, and BINGO! it hit me. I got home, took the door apart, and was able to adjust the window like I wanted. Guess I just needed some time to stew with the design. Now that I have it figured out, it's pretty simple and makes sense.
I took some pictures and posted them online with some details. They are here.
Comments
My largest roof load (but not very heavy) was 6 sheets of vinyl soffit, 16 ft long! Bendy stuff and I had to keep my speed under 50 kph to prevent it from folding up on itself. It scratched the top of the rear spoiler too, even though it was not resting on it.
If enough people were interested in getting parts and accesories from the UK, we could do a group buy to save on shipping. They do not have online ordering, but it should not be difficult to get in touch with a dealer over there.
Craig
I think if you order a girl, you must get a free T-shirt too.
Craig
;-)
-juice
Yes and for only $30. Mind you, I think there might be a pricing error here. Normally dramatically more expensive!
If you looked down the page you would also notice a rugged looking Australian guy priced at $49 - cheap at the price!
Cheers
Graham
If you want, please call our 800 number (1-800-SUBARU3) and give your vehicle information to a Rep. Ask them to review your file. I have a great booklet printed by the National Insurance Institute about air-bag deployment. There are so many factors.
Your Subaru's air bag system has a check built in. If the system detects any kind of problem (even interuption to the computer), the air bag warning light stays on once the car is turned on. If it was not on at the time of the accident, it was working right. The amount of $$$'s associated with the damage is not a good indicator.
I'm glad you are okay.
Patti
Steve
-Mike
Also does anyone have any experience purchasing a Subaru "program" car. These are '01s with 8-15k mi. and are sold at substantial discount. Thanks for any input.
Once I got into the door, I spent about 20 minutes figuring everything out. As an engineer, I love getting into unfamiliar designs as seeing what they did. In this case, it is a remarkable packaging job, as all of the components for the window mechanism had to fit through two 6" diameter holes in the frame and be assembled inside the door.
There were many adjustment points for the window, including the glass angle, vertical stops, and anti-rattle pads. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to adjust the horizontal position of the glass. Looking at the design, I think Subaru must absorb the horizontal tolerance into the rather wide molding/gasket around glass. There's at least 1/4" on each side, so the glass can be off by 1/4" either way (towards the front or back of the car) and still fit. In my case, the glass too far back by about 1/8-1/4", and looks off-center compared to the other side of the car. Given the design, it looks like something that is within Subaru's design tolerance, even if it seems "off" to me. I can live with it, since there aren't any issues with wind noise or leakage, which is the important part.
I also re-mounted the rain gutter molding on the driver's side, as it was a bit askew. Again, I think Subaru's design is cool. The molding is a stamped plated steel and plastic assembly that butts up under the rain gutter channel stamped into the car body. It is held in place with about 12 screws, and slips onto a "tongue" molded into the rear window molding for alignment. The gutter molding also serves as the mounting track for the rubber gasket around the windows. To fix the gutter molding, I just had to pull back the rubber window gaskets, loosen up the 12 screws, and re-align the molding. Piece of cake. What I like about this design is that it would be easy to replace the gutter molding or the window gaskets if they ever get damaged or worn out. I did notice what looks like a rock chip in the molding, but it's a minor issue. My wife laughed at me when I showed her. She obviously doesn't understand OCD.
I gave the Bean a good wash today with dish detergent, and will wax it with Klasse tomorrow. We put a coat of it on my wife's 626 today, and it did a nice job. Very easy to work with. As a gesture to all you other OCD nerds, I will be sure to wax the wheels, but only the outsides!!
Craig
Yep, I also don't do the inside of my wheels, or the door jambs either.
Mike
As to extra comfort, think of it much as you would an electric blanket. If you like an electric blanket, you'll probably like heated seats too.
Bob
So far over 31 days and 2253 miles I can report that I love this car. There is 1 feature though that I miss from my 96 Taurus wagon -- being able to use the power windows for a short time after I've turned off the engine or at any time with the ignition in the accessory position. And I wish the key fob included a button to release the fuel door. I still forget to flip the release before I leave the car to gas up, so I get an extra walk around the car each time.
-Lyn
I did the wheels, but it was a pain with all those spokes. Even cleaning them is a chore -- much more difficult than the wheels on my older base Outback. Hopefully, having the wax on there will make future cleaning easier.
A question for all: do you wax any of the glass window surfaces? Klasse says their product can be applied to glass. I put it on the sideview mirrors, and they look nice. But I wasn't sure about putting it on the windows. Any thoughts? By the way, I did put Klasse on the headlight and tail light lenses with great results.
For doorjambs, you can mix a few squirts of almost any liquid cleaner wax into a gallon of water, and just wipe them down whenever you wash the car.
James: I've only had my Bean for about 1 month (about 1500 miles on the car now), but have been getting 22-24 MPG in mixed driving, about half of which is city driving. This is about the same mileage I got with my H4 Outback, so the H6 is doing pretty good by me.
Craig
A.Chee
Should I be getting better mileage?
Paul
Craig, I highly recommend putting on a couple of coats of the sealant (between washes) on top of the AIO. I only used an ounce of the sealant each time; it took about 30 to 40 minutes for each application. That gives both durability and a deeper shine.
Mike
mike k
Thank you in advance
Mike K
Craig: waxed only the outsides? You slacker! ;-)
Actually, remember that ice can get stuck in the wheels and throw them off balance, so the wax serves to keep ice from sticking to the insides. But it's easier to do that when you rotate the tires.
Side note: I saw a BMW video in the snow and the wheels were encrusted with snow and ice. Shame on them.
Hope you got pix of the door's insides, for future reference.
Brawnydog: first I've heard of it. Demand a repaint of the entire bumper.
A. Chee: you could probably find an aftermarket HID assembly for the Outback today, if it's not offered from the factory. Also, Pam from iSR Performance will import any part from the UK, if it's offered there. 2003s ought to arrive around September.
-juice
1) An actulal engine knock which was correct after they reset everything. The knock was much improved, yet, the car was still making a mild rattling sound (when cold) but different than the knock. This time it was a rattle and not a knocking sound. I failed to hear it because of the cold knocking. See #2.
2) There was a loose heat sheild. One of the techs at Lou Fusz Subaru/Mazda found and corrected the problem and said he has seen it before.
I'm not sure which problem you are having but it seemed pretty easy to correct when diagnosed properly.
Our H4 OB Ltd. get 17 city and 24 highway. Its been as low as 16 city and as high as 29 highway (but not in about 1 year).
The front facia may change - anything else?
New head lamps?
Just speculation here but if they came out with a Legacy GT limited Wagon with the H6 and leather I think that would be a strong seller. Basically the LL Bean car in Legacy rather than Outback guise.
They may never do it but I think it would be strong. I actually prefer the clean, un-cladded look of the Legacy wagon. But no leather or H6 there sends me up the line to the LL Bean Outback -- the least expensive place to get those options.
The H6 Outback sedan is cheaper than the LL Bean wagon, FWIW.
-juice
I agree, a GT wagon with an H6 and a 5-spd would be sweet.
Craig
Seriously though -- would the rest of you prefer to see the Legacy go up market or are the extra styling cues brought by the Outback worth it to you?
I know in Central Ohio the dealers seem to have a hard time selling Legacies and not so with Outbacks.
This could be due to current tastes in SUVs or the fact that Subaru does very little to market Legacies.
Like I said, I prefer the cleaner look -- makes it look more European like a Volvo V70 or Passat wagon -- in my book -- good things!
Subaru has to be careful with the Legacy, because it already sells in 1/3rd of Outback volumes. The H6 would be good, but pricing is critical. It must cost less than the LL Bean, not more.
The real question is will we see a Legacy turbo or the H6? I heard the manual trans didn't fit with the H6, but who knows. A 2.5l light-pressure turbo would be very appealing to me.
So we'll see. An auto-only H6 added to the Legacy lineup may not do a whole lot for sales. The GT must have a stick, period. It fits the car's character better.
-juice
Craig
Greg
Ed
But Subaru has to be practical. The Outback sells much better, so an H6 option on the base Outback (no leather or moonroof) would put it at a price level where many more buyers would be interested.
Also, the H6 hasn't been a sales hit. Legacy/Outback sales are flat one year after the H6 was introduced. Impreza sales, in comparison, have doubled with the arrival of the turbo.
So the H6 increased costs but not sales, the turbo doubled sales. Which would you expand across the product line?
-juice
My only concern with the WRX drivetrain in the Legacy GT would be related to its torque curve. There must be some GT test mules so equipped running around Subaru proving grounds, wouldn't you think?
Ed
VW uses a 1.8T up to a certain price point, Volvo uses a 2.4T but it's a 5 cylinder. A 2.0T is fine up to maybe $28 grand, above that you simply need more displacement.
That's why a 2.5T might work.
-juice
Forester 55041 (slightly down from 56605)
Impreza 35612 (through the roof! Was 19220)
Legacy 95291 (slightly down from 96391)
Subaru total was up to 185944 from 172216, which is great overall, but give the Impreza 100% of the credit for that. Also keep in mind it only arrived in March, imagine if it had a full year's worth of sales.
The Forester is in its 5th model year, so the fact that it held fairly steady was good.
The Legacy (includes Outback) was down in the first full year of H6 availability, so that's bad. It's also only in the 3rd model year, much newer than the about-to-be-replaced Forester. I don't think you can call the drop in sales a good result.
-juice
The drop in Forester sales was 2.7% and the drop in Legacy sales was 1.1%. These are small amounts, and actually pretty good considering how bad the economy was in 2001. Other vehicle makes and models did much worse. And I'm sure a small portion of those Impreza buyers ate into Forester/Legacy sales -- think of the 2-3 folks on the forums here who went that route.
Finally, where can we find long range data?? It would be good to see sales over the last 5-6 years for each of the model lines to see the real trends. It's hard to conclude a whole lot when just comparing two years worth of data.
Craig
The 2003 Forester will be interesting to follow, since the current one is in its 5th model year. I doubt sales will double, but there is a lot of potential.
Also, the Baja will make things interesting for the Legacy line. I'm not sure if it'll be measured separately, but I'm sure some will cross-shop the Outback.
-juice
PS I'm not saying Subaru didn't need the H6. Sales might have tanked without it. But the turbo did much more to attract media and customer attention.
Take care,
Steve
I agree that it does not seem to make sense since the bumpers are all coloured Titanium.
But think about storing or transporting these things if they are painted it increases the likelyhood that they will arrive at their destination damaged.
So Subaru and every other car maker for that matter ship these things in primer and leave the body shop to apply the colour.
Cheers Pat.
:-)
Impreza sales are doing well because the WRX is a great car. Its innovation or uniqueness in the market is that it is an affordable driver's car. It's not the first car to do this -- it is just the best recent example. Kind of like an Early 70s Datsun 240z. Lot of content for not a lot of money.
Equally important to sales figures -- the WRX created a buzz among the automotive press.
In terms of number of units sold, Subaru as a car maker is squarely lumped in the "other" category in any pie chart of American sales.
But when Consumer reports calls the WRX a best buy for a sports car, and Automobile calls the WRX car of the year, and Car and Driver puts it on their 10 best list, even the most jaded car buyer starts to listen.
The automotive press tends to favor what is fresh, new, and innovative.
I am sure the Outback was fresh and innovative in 1996 when it came out -- a sensible car based AWD vehicle.
Its still a great car but there is not as much to write about. And so the "free" marketing dries up. And so do sales to some degree.
And "free marketing" only goes so far. The WRX (and all Subarus to some degree) are niche cars. They have AWD which consumers outside of snowy regions are not yet convinced is necessary. Subarus tend to be smaller than cars of the same price. Americans by and large are big people. Look at how much better Accords and Camry's sold once they sized them like Ford Tauruses instead of 3 series BMWs?
Like the band Spinal Tap, the Subaru car has a "selective appeal".
They make great cars but they are far enough outside the norm to never be a great sales sucess.
And I have to be honest, the selective appeal makes Subarus attractive to me. It is not a car I can imagine someone buying unless they are pretty sure that its unique attributes (AWD, sporty drive, utility) are worth the extra money over a "no-brainer" choice like an Accord or Camry.
I admire a car and people who drive them that shows they put some thought into their purchase.
Rambled on long enough . . . . Maybe it is the beer talking.
:-)
Jon
I took some pictures and posted them online with some details. They are here.
Craig