Subaru Love/Hate

It's been slightly over a year since I bought my 06 Spec B. Some things are great. Some things suck. I wonder if Subaru does any kind of focus group marketing testing before releasing their cars

 

Love:

1. Engine: great acceleration.

2. Safety: I love the fact it won "gold" from IIHS.

3. Cost: Yes, it was expensive. But, overall, it's supposed to be fairly inexpensive to maintain (compared to cars in this class).

 

Hate:

1. Engine: The stutter is real.

2. Steering-wheel audio controls: Huh, Subaru? Did you even LOOK at other cars?

3. NAV system: Compared to my wife's Acura MDX, this one really sucks. User-hostile interface, locks up when the car is moving, really annoying male voice (I use the female voice anyway).

4. Stereo: My friend bought an entry-level Impreza Sport that had a 260 W stereo system. This "top of the line" Spec B has a 120 W system with lousy speakers.

5. Door chime: 'nuf said. Subaru could have looked at ANY car and done the door chimes differently.

 

Honest question to myself: Would I buy a Subaru again? In all likelihood, no. I had considered the Audi A4, Volvo S40, and Mazdaspeed 6. I bought the Subaru because it was available and I was impatient. Next time, it's definitely the A4 (or maybe the S4).

 

Cheers.

My biggest issues with my car are the little noises,squeaks and rattles. SIt seems that once you fix 1 another creeps up. I never had any stutter.

As for the Audi I just think the A4 is a dog and over priced. My boss had an $4 for a week and his car wouldn't start and the hood was peeling, he got back 40 days later.

 

Every car co has their issues and SOA definitely has theirs

But... but... RED LEATHER. And it's the sweetest stock color and stock set of rims on the block. Sorry, i lust after one of these. I'll just have to be happy with my new mkV GTI until rob's LGT lease is up.

Make sure you reflect your thoughts and opinions on the surveys they send you.

 

Now, when you compare the stereo to the Impreza, which one sounds better? Wattage generally has not much to do with the sound quality. Do you want to turn it loud or have better quality? I do agree that the quality could be better, but it does me just fine for most songs, and I am a quality over loudness kinda guy to begin with.

 

I do think that unless you are prepared to spend what is required to keep an Audi alive after the warranty is up, you will be happier with the long-term reliability of the Subaru. Hey, it only cost you 140watts, right?

 

My friend has been looking at purchasing a car recently. I don't see many Audis on the road here, but I see an awful lot of them on the used car lots. Must be saying something about the long term reliability.

 

You may be right. Overall, the safety issue trumps most of the others so I'm glad this thing is as solid as it is. I hope some of the other irritations can be modified, like programming the audio controls differently or disabling the Nav lockup when moving (I know there are solutions posted around here but they're a bit too technical and labor-intensive for me.)

The cars you listed, minus the Volvo, will all require alot more maintenence than what you are used to. From what I have found out about my Subarus is that they really dont start requiring repairs until they are 8 years old. Which is pretty decent in my book.

 

I do agree with you, that the stereo should be better. Even the Tribeca has more wattage. A few years from now when I get a WRX I fully intend to take my Alpine Audio system, with Boston Acoustic speakers out of my LGT and into the WRX. 200 watts and my Ipod interfaces with it.

The stereo in my '07 is 100 watts.

 

The volume knob goes to 40 (I think).

 

I never raise it above 12 - and even rarely at that because it's too loud.

 

It sounds pretty good to me. I'm not a stereo/music sound connoisseur by any means... but I have the bass set to -1 because it's too much otherwise. (the SRS Wow enhancement adds a ton of sound quality)

The stereo in my '07 is 100 watts.

 

The volume knob goes to 40 (I think).

 

I never raise it above 12 - and even rarely at that because it's too loud.

 

 

What about when you are crusin down the highway with your sunroof and windows open?

What about when you are crusin down the highway with your sunroof and windows open?

 

Hmmm... I'll give that a shot right now.

I had a 2000 S4... In the shop about once a month for various problems.

 

Audi = too much money for medicore perfromance and reliability.

Stereo is plenty loud enough for me.

 

I've no studdering.

 

The rattles are the fly in the ointment for me.

 

Nav. works just fine. I muted the voices but when I want one its the butler dude for me.

The rattles are a big annoyance. I wonder if the build quality is better at Gunma and if the JDM cars have these many fit and finish issues. I am looking foward to see if the quality on the 08 is any better.

Honest question to myself: Would I buy a Subaru again? In all likelihood, no. I had considered the Audi A4, Volvo S40, and Mazdaspeed 6. I bought the Subaru because it was available and I was impatient. Next time, it's definitely the A4 (or maybe the S4).

 

Cheers.

 

 

All those choices I wouldn't get, if you are thinking about going for a car to replace ur Legacy in the Audi price range, the better choice is a BMW. The BMW X-drive is actually not too bad either, but their styling is a little boring. As technical and reliability concern, BMW will be better than Audi. And I think Audi is just a suitted up VW.

What about when you are crusin down the highway with your sunroof and windows open?

 

15 is as high as I needed to go.

 

I actually made a video with my digicam - you can't hear the wind from the windows being open... I think the sound sensor on my cam (Canon G5) blocks out ambient noise because it sounds pretty good. I'm very surprised.

 

A quiet song (Conquistador - Juno Reactor) can be heard very clearly at 14, at 60 MPH.

 

A loud song (Mona Lisa O. - Juno Reactor) can be heard clearly at 12, but sounds good at 15 at 70 MPH.

 

And I did confirm the volume knob goes to 40. After about 22 it stops "peaking" and gets more gradual... But I'll probably never put it above 18 in any situation (I recorded this action, but it all sounds the same with the digicam save for the distortion at the high volume levels - I did not upload that one).

 

http://www.crawspace.com/vids/legacy_stereo.wmv ~11MB

 

PS: I chose Juno Reactor because it's the only non-death metal music in the stereo currently.

You have valid complaints.

 

I have not incurring one of your in our 2005 LGT wagon 5MT. For $23k out the door I cannot complain a bit about my wife's car.

I actually made a video with my digicam - you can't hear the wind from the windows being open...

think you outta listen to that again, cause it sounds like a hurricane is passing by to me

 

A quiet song (Conquistador - Juno Reactor) can be heard very clearly at 14, at 60 MPH. A loud song (Mona Lisa O. - Juno Reactor) can be heard clearly at 12, but sounds good at 15 at 70 MPH.

no, no, no, no, no.....people, people! you're not supposed to measure teh sound from inside ur own car, its how clearly people in surrounding traffic and nearby neighborhoods can hear ur music that counts

no, no, no, no, no.....people, people! you're not supposed to measure teh sound from inside ur own car, its how clearly people in surrounding traffic and nearby neighborhoods can hear ur music that counts

 

I don't think they can hear it well enough at 40, which is pretty much where I always have mine when driving alone. But at least I can feel it.

 

Of course, so can my 4-year old daughter, who always yells, "Louder mom! Louder!" and "I can feel it!" I guess she doesn't think the stereo is loud enough either, sub or no. I taught her how to do the little motions with her hands like she's scratching vinyl. She'll be spinning at the clubs by the time she's 6 if I have my way.

 

-Coelli

15 is as high as I needed to go.

 

 

 

 

http://smiliesftw.com/x/rlky4.gif

I hate the sqeaks and rattles. I hate the seats. I hate the truck-like fuel consumption mine displays. I hate that it doesn't have stability control (when I don't want to drive like an asshat). I hate that it doesn't have 9 inches of ground clearance when I need it. I hate the annoying problems that mine has had, two injectors gone bad, one window replaced due to defect.

 

I do like the relatively neutral handling, I feel the car has good power, and I like the interior and exterior styling.

 

On the balance I am probably not buying another Subaru, unless they really come out with someting spectacular for a reasonable price. I don't see them doing this anytime soon, for awhile it seemed they were on a roll introducing exciting new cars; but now they are more stagnant than ever. If their most current product introductions are anything to go by, they are dumbing down the driving pleasure as fast as they can.

I love it. It's exactly what I thought I was buying. I had a little studdering in the beginning, but that was a long time ago. I got lucky with the rattles- I can get them at really low speeds in fifth gear, and that's about it.

 

What I hate isn't even my car, as such. It's their refusal to sell a wagon with an MT any more. My car would sell me on more Subarus, but SOA decided that they don't want my money.

almost 6500 miles on my 06 lgt... no rattles in my car...

 

stereo is fine imo...i listen to mine at volume 10

Pros:

-for an NA 2.5, this is one peppy and mean sounding engine.

-considering the price I paid, the Legacy pretty much has nicest interior in its class.

-its reliability is up there with the likes of Honda, Toyota.

-the little things Subaru thought of to put into this car (projectors, wiper heaters, foldaway cup holders in abundance etc)

-AWD!

 

Cons:

-not happy that sunroof was not standard at the time I bought the car ('05 i) I really miss this. Subaru wanted 5 grand for this with leather.

-rattles. I've just come to accept this as the norm. My RSX had it, my TSX had it (repaired it myself). The Legacy was kinda easy to fix and for now is rattle free.

-Sound system!! What utter garbage! I had to replace the CARDBOARD speakers that just muffled sound and the head unit in order to get some mp3 capability.

-Aftermarket options are a joke.

I have a '05 5mt LTD wagon and the radio in lightyears better the one in the in the 'o4 WRX wagon I traded in for it. I upgrade my stock radio to the '06 radio/ acc that plays MP3s in the 6 disc changer(the best $100 I have spent) and it sounds better then my old radio. It is crisper and has more detail in the music. I just added Cusco front and read lower control arm braces yesterday and some off the creaks seem to have went away. I will have to drive it more to see.

(sorry Vimy, Ive used the OEM version on another's car and its way inferior to my Magellan portable in every way).

 

You don't have to apologize to me for not being able to operate the OEM nav properly. The nav works great ( this coming from someone who has to keep informing users who haven't read the operation manual how to use it).

Is the '07 WOW stereo feature that much better than the old? I love my '07 stereo!!

I know that enabling WOW on my stereo changes the quality from mediocre to something to be proud of.

 

If previous stereos did not have WOW then I don't know how anyone deals with them.