lederhosen | Subarus

I explored the possibility when I was carshopping, but two things kept me off getting one (both of which may be local to this area): a) The initial expenditure, even for a used one, is about 25-30% higher than another car of the same style and age; and b) while they have a reputation for reliability, when you do have to get them fixed, it's expensive and hard to get parts since they're import.

Not sure to what degree either of those apply to urban Australia as opposed to small-town America, though.

Make sure that it's been taken care of. The usual thing I've heard about is people doing things to the cars after-market, and not doing it right, leaving it in a sorry state (sunroofs, stereos and electrics, etc).

When I bought mine (6k on the clock, ex-demo) the drivers window was a bit noisy (wind noise), but that simply required that the window get adjusted a bit line up properly with the seal. Of course, you should always check things like door seals and the like (if only to know what you'll need to replace).

Of course, if it's one of the newer ones with plastic bumpers, you want to check under them to see how good the metalwork under the bumper is (bumper replaced after an accident, but the metalwork not fixed properly).

What particular sort of Subi are you looking at?

Hadn't picked out a specific model, but we were thinking wagon, ca. 2000 or later (second hand, so the exact choice would depend a bit on availability). One thing I'm not certain of is what sort of mileage is 'a lot' on a Subi.

That'd also depend on the type of driver, and how they bought it.

eg: Novated lease purchasers (like me) have a fixed number of km's they have to do per year if they want to avoid paying extra.

You might find http://www.redbookasiapacific.com/au/home.php useful (pricing, km's, etc).

Back in the 80s, they gave Paul Hogan a master key to every Subaru ever made. So make sure you check your mileage in the morning and make sure he didn't take a joy ride.

Thing is, he never learnt to drive. It's kind of sad really, you get up in the morning and there he is, making brmming noises to himself as you stand outside your house and wonder whether to kick him out or tell work you'll be late. "Hoges is play-driving my car again". It's a valid day-off-work excuse round these parts.

I have a Subaru. The main selling point of this car is the all-wheel drive transmission, which gives it very good handling on ice, snow, and gravel -- three things of which my area has in quantity. I don't see you needing all-wheel drive in your area.

If you feel you do, don't worry about getting the 'advanced transmission' -- the 'standard' model balances power from front to back wheels, while the advanced will also balance it from side to side. There are a couple situations (mostly involving three-foot deep snow) where the advanced transmission might have gotten me out of a jam, but the standard version is fine for almost all purposes.

In any event I love my Forester, but I have regular maintenance. There is a tendency for the alignment to go out, so I get the alignment fixed with almost every oil change. Other than that and a buzzy speaker system, no complaints. Mine is six years old, but I've heard that they're reliable for ten years after manufacture. Not sure how many miles that translates to -- at least 100,000 I think.

Test drive the car before you buy it, and get it over 60 mph if you can. That's when vibration due to the alignment problems will show up if they're present.

I don't see you needing all-wheel drive in your area.

We do holiday in the bush occasionally, which is why we were looking at a Subi - something that can deal with rough terrain but isn't as obnoxious or expensive as the bigger 4WDs. 'Advanced' transmission would be overkill, I suspect.

I had a Subaru sedan years ago, bought it in hawaii, new. I ran that thing into the ground. Lasted about ten years, too.

We just bought a 2007 Forester in the spring. We're loving it (and that's asking a bit from people who were/are die-hard VW loyalists). The AWD and higher ground clearance is nice when hitting some rougher roads while geocaching. The true test of the AWD will be the first snow this winter and whether it can tackle our driveway.

As someone else said... they are a bit pricier than some other options, and they will require a bit more $ for repair (but so do the VWs we drove/drive). Although, the regular maintenance so far on the Forester is cheaper than on my Jetta.

Our Forester gets roughly the same gas mileage (27 mpg mixed highway/backroad) as my 2006 Jetta 2.5 (which is more of a sad comment on the Jetta than anything else).

A lot of

aslanspawh's geocaching folk are also Subaru fans. In the US they've gotten quite popular in recent years, but they've been solidly hanging on for decades, hiding in the corner with loyal owners.

Just try to avoid the Subaru Outback, the one where Paul Hogan did commercials fairly recent... I don't know why/how they'd market it so close to the real outback, but you'd never live it down. Sort of like if you endorsed the Outback Steakhouse, or if I sold moosemeat.

Before I got stuck with the Stealth Lemon ('95 Buick Park Avenue), I looked at many, many vehicles including Subaru's. My problem with the "Subi's" is I was too long legged for every one of those I tried to get into and most of those, except for the Foresters, I also had to bend down to see out the Window. I'm 6ft tall (just under 2 meters).

Even if I could have afforded one, I couldn't fit in them. Coworkers at work who can fit in one have had no complaints and are repeat Subaru customers.

If I could afford one and fit in it, I'd have been tempted to get the LL Bean Edition and see if they would honor the LL Bean unconditional guarantee that Bean's offers on its other products--return it anytime for any reason, no questions asked for a full refund or exchange. I'd never have to buy a car again if they honored that. (chuckle)

But, why do you want to buy a vehicle that has become stereo-type Aussie (thanks to the Paul Hogan commercials state-side) even though it's not Australian in origin?

Goth Camp used to involve about an hour's drive on poor-quality roads, and that sort of thing would be a lot more pleasant in a Subi than the cars we've had. Normal 4WDs would be excessive, and they're obnoxious to other drivers (been on the receiving end of hulking 4WDs blocking vision too often). Still considering whether we'd be offroad enough to justify the extra cost, though.

Hmmm...

aslanspawh has no problems fitting in our Forester and he's 6'+. My dad had some issue with the head room given we have the sun/moon roof (my dad is 6' but all of his height is in his back - his inseam is 28"), but he has the same issue in almost any vehicle with a sunroof.

You already know my take on the subys.
The outback is definitely good. I can't speak for the forester, but the outback is comfy, has a surprising amount of space, and is incredibly hard to skid.
A couple of details that may affect things for you.
All wheel drive means CV (constant-velocity) joints for the front wheels. These are one of the fastest wearing components, and will probably need changing every 5-8 years.
Regular maintenance is a must (as with most cars). The suby is rugged, and reliable, but if you forget to look after it, it will eventually surrender. (600 km of open highway was fine with a trailer and no oil, but adding 180kg more to the trailer then heading for hilly dirt roads and it decided I was trying to kill it so it died.)
The modern outback is very hard to skid, but it has one tendency that is a little unpleasant. In a hard-braking skidd it will understeer rather than oversteer. Understeer means you can't do anything. Oversteer would at least mean fast steering work on your part can maintain control. This is corrected almost completely by getting the stiffened suspension (which is a generally good idea - they have 'comfy city ride' suspension by default - but costs about $800) You can get it to lose the back end, but only by keeping the power down the whole way through the corner. As my mechanic described it, "I've had it going through corners so fast I knew I'd die if it didn't hold, but it's almost impossible to get it to break loose."
Oh, one last bonus - that green fuel (the 10% CSR Ethanol stuff) gets me 5-10% better basic fuel economy, 2-3% better performance, and costs 4c/l less. It just requires a valve conditioner put through the engine every 10 refuels or so. (still cheaper, and engine treatments are generally a good idea if chosen carefully)

In all though a very good car.

My only caveat would be, as mentioned by others, to satisfy yourself as far as practicable that the car hasn't been thrashed by some sexually frustrated yuppie who mentally masturbated by driving fast, drifting and generally being an asshole. :)

mmm, exactly.

I looked at getting a Suby a decade ago and had trouble finding one that hadn't been abused. Eventually I just gave up - but I still love them and would happily buy one if it suited my purposes.

Subarus

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