Should I get a 3.6R or...?

Hi all, I'm starting to do some car shopping and one of the cars that has intrigued me is the 2015 Subaru Legacy 3.6R. The fully loaded price of $33k is within my budget of $35k but I am now debating whether or not a "non luxury" car is worth that much money or if I should go for one of the luxury cars I have been looking into, the 2015 Acura TLX ($40k) or the Infiniti Q50 ($45k).

The Legacy 3.6R does offer what I am looking for: reliability, great power, performance, sexy looks, AWD, pretty much all the bells and whistles, technology and decent gas mileage.

What would you do? Would you go for the less expensive sedan that isn't considered a "luxury" vehicle or would you spend a little bit more and go for the luxury?

Is the 3.6R considered a "sports" sedan?

I saw the following video last night on the 3.6R and really liked what I saw...

I have yet to test drive it, but have test-driven the other 2 already...

Does anyone already own a 2015 3.6R? Would love your input on why the Legacy is the way to go!

Thanks in advance.

My two cents, worth exactly what you paid for it.

First of all, I think Subaru did the 3.6 engine an injustice by only offering it with a CVT. The 2015 CVT model added at least a second to the 0-60 times. 6.5 5EAT, to 7.5 CVT. While that may not sound like much, it's HUGE in the "sports" side of things.

Now, with that out of the way, in every other aspect of the car, it's an improvement. Just sitting in one compared to my 2013 3.6R Limited, it's obvious that it's a nicer car. Driving them back to back, it's obvious as well.

In the end, while I think Subaru took some "sportiness" away with the CVT, the 2015 is a nicer car overall, I believe. Is it worth $33k? Absolutely. It's a class leader in it's price range.

Now, compared to the Acura and Infinity(I've driven both), it's obvious where the Subaru falls short. Interior, fit and finish, NVH, and power. The Subaru loses in every category. My problem, or way of justifying the Subaru over the Acura or Infinity...it's cheaper. At least $10k cheaper, the way I'd want each equipped.

I bought my 2013 Subaru 3.6R Limited w/ NAV and Sunroof for $29,700 TOD. I tried hard to find a better performing AWD four door car for less than $30k, and I couldn't.

Do you have to buy new? If you have a $35k limit, and want a true sports sedan, try to find a nice CPO BMW 335ix. A couple years old with 30-40k miles should be in the $35k range. The BMW CPO cars have a very nice warranty, FYI.

My two cents, worth exactly what you paid for it.

 

First of all, I think Subaru did the 3.6 engine an injustice by only offering it with a CVT. The 2015 CVT model added at least a second to the 0-60 times. 6.5 5EAT, to 7.5 CVT. While that may not sound like much, it's HUGE in the "sports" side of things.

 

Now, with that out of the way, in every other aspect of the car, it's an improvement. Just sitting in one compared to my 2013 3.6R Limited, it's obvious that it's a nicer car. Driving them back to back, it's obvious as well.

 

In the end, while I think Subaru took some "sportiness" away with the CVT, the 2015 is a nicer car overall, I believe. Is it worth $33k? Absolutely. It's a class leader in it's price range.

 

Now, compared to the Acura and Infinity(I've driven both), it's obvious where the Subaru falls short. Interior, fit and finish, NVH, and power. The Subaru loses in every category. My problem, or way of justifying the Subaru over the Acura or Infinity...it's cheaper. At least $10k cheaper, the way I'd want each equipped.

 

I bought my 2013 Subaru 3.6R Limited w/ NAV and Sunroof for $29,700 TOD. I tried hard to find a better performing AWD four door car for less than $30k, and I couldn't.

 

Do you have to buy new? If you have a $35k limit, and want a true sports sedan, try to find a nice CPO BMW 335ix. A couple years old with 30-40k miles should be in the $35k range. The BMW CPO cars have a very nice warranty, FYI.

Thank you for this insight and information, really appreciate it. I don't know much about engines or the CVT but that is good information to have, although I don't think it's a deal breaker since I'd rarely go from 0-60 in one motion. Agreed that saving $10-$15k for getting a car that meets my needs is likely the way to go. I'm leaning towards a new car since it is within my price budget, and used cars I am a little hesitant on. If I do buy new, I'd keep it for at least 10 years so I am not too worried about the depreciation hit, plus I read the resale value for Subaru's are some of the best in the industry.

I am not really a big fan of German manufacturing, as sexy as Audi, BMWs look, I've heard from friends and others that they are a maintenance nightmare. Some of my friends even got rid of their BMW/Audi because of that, just became too expensive to maintain and run. Rather spend money on a more reliable car, which I know Subaru is right up there.

I looked at the exact same 3 cars and ended up with the Legacy 3.6 loaded. The TLX is more like $45k if you want the v6 and they are not taking anything off MSRP (at least not around here end of 2014 beginning 2015). The Q50, I was following that forum and Ramsey in NJ was pushing out Q50s for 42k ! But they would never return my calls and I live in MA. Tried to get 3 dealers around here to match, and lowest I got to was 44-45....and that doesn't even have the bells/whistles I got with the Legacy, that would have put me at 55k!

The Legacy is a lot weaker that both cars, but as the prior comment says it does what you need. It's the least sporty of the 3 cars. I came from a 2010 Altima 3.5 which has 270hp with sport mode and I can tell the difference that the Legacy is even weaker than Altima.

In the end what I wanted was AWD in low-mid 30s and new. Nothing else fit the bill unless you wanted a used car of the other two being compared.

Sporty is a now, power is enough to be a v6/h6, sense of luxury is a yes, price you cannot beat it for new.

I looked at the exact same 3 cars and ended up with the Legacy 3.6 loaded. The TLX is more like $45k if you want the v6 and they are not taking anything off MSRP (at least not around here end of 2014 beginning 2015). The Q50, I was following that forum and Ramsey in NJ was pushing out Q50s for 42k ! But they would never return my calls and I live in MA. Tried to get 3 dealers around here to match, and lowest I got to was 44-45....and that doesn't even have the bells/whistles I got with the Legacy, that would have put me at 55k!

 

The Legacy is a lot weaker that both cars, but as the prior comment says it does what you need. It's the least sporty of the 3 cars. I came from a 2010 Altima 3.5 which has 270hp with sport mode and I can tell the difference that the Legacy is even weaker than Altima.

In the end what I wanted was AWD in low-mid 30s and new. Nothing else fit the bill unless you wanted a used car of the other two being compared.

Sporty is a now, power is enough to be a v6/h6, sense of luxury is a yes, price you cannot beat it for new.

This is great information, thank you so much. It's pretty cool that you were also looking at the exact same 3 cars and went with the Legacy 3.6R fully loaded. I am honestly leaning towards that now too, it gives me what I want and saves me $10-$15k in the process, brand new. I will look into used to see how much the difference in cost is and if it's worth it but will likely go new since it will be my first ever car purchase, I want the full experience (being the first owner, new car smell, factory warranty, etc etc).

I will need to contact various dealers and see what pricing they are going for, but first I need to test drive it and make sure I actually like being behind the wheel of that ride. Hope to do that at a dealer soon and take it from there. I'm not going to mention my budget or anything like that since I don't want them to take to take control, although if they keep pushing I may say $30k since that is the low-ball offer and who knows if I get lucky. Or should I go even lower, or not mention anything at all? Maybe a price range would be okay? I'm new to all of this

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for your brand new 3.6R out the door? Sounds like you live on the east coast, I'm here in Washington.

Thanks!

I have also heard nightmares about BMW and Mercedes, but if you can get free maintenance included with CPO and a comprehensive warranty...

You might as well check into 5year cost of ownership on each as well, I have heard both good and bad from Infinity and Acura.

Yes I'm east coast in MA. My MSRP was 34,326 and got it for 31,847 plus tax and doc fees. I finance rate was 1.9% and I went in knowing I wanted Extended Warrantee because neither myself or anyone in my family has ever owned a Subaru. I got the highest warranty (I think they call it Gold) for 100k miles and which goes for around $2200 I think and I was going to negotiate for around 1500. (if you search the forum there are posts about Maistra Subaru selling it for cheap). When I went in with the finance guy, all of sudden I qualified for a TD Bank loan for 1.5% but only if I bought the extended warrantee and by doing so I'm saving money on the loan and the warrantee.....that's how he spun it. When I said YES without hesitation he was kind of taken aback that I agreed right away without having to go on with his sales pitch.

Basically I got a lower rate I didn't know about with great credit score, and the warrantee came down to 1700 because of the savings from the finance rate going from 1.9 to 1.5. If you have good credit, you can probably find the lower rate on your own. I just checked the offers and it looks like Subaru is now 1.49%.....so maybe not.

Read the thread about Deals people got. You can play the game of getting the dealers to bid against each other and all that.

Congratulations on hopefully what will be a new to you car purchase. Key thing to add here based upon what you've written, you want yo keep the car for " 10 years ". With that in mind please buy what you will be happy with. That is a long time to deal with something that you regret. Research is great, but it's the day to day experiencince that will dictate. Also look into what you will need out of that car in say five years time. Will the car you purchase now do that, or will you need to add another to make up for its short comings ?

Hopefully you end up with the Subaru as for its price bracket and what it affords you it is hard to beat. But do you need awd,four doors, six cylinders ? Either way please let us know what you decide, and welcome to the forum.

I have also heard nightmares about BMW and Mercedes, but if you can get free maintenance included with CPO and a comprehensive warranty...

 

You might as well check into 5year cost of ownership on each as well, I have heard both good and bad from Infinity and Acura.

True - if I get a CPO I will definitely have to see what other offers I can get with it like free maintenance and a comprehensive warranty.

And I will definitely check out the 5-year cost of owning each vehicle. My gut tells me the Legacy will be the least expensive since I think they have a reputation for being more reliable, even moreso than Acura and Infiniti. Thank you.

Yes I'm east coast in MA. My MSRP was 34,326 and got it for 31,847 plus tax and doc fees. I finance rate was 1.9% and I went in knowing I wanted Extended Warrantee because neither myself or anyone in my family has ever owned a Subaru. I got the highest warranty (I think they call it Gold) for 100k miles and which goes for around $2200 I think and I was going to negotiate for around 1500. (if you search the forum there are posts about Maistra Subaru selling it for cheap). When I went in with the finance guy, all of sudden I qualified for a TD Bank loan for 1.5% but only if I bought the extended warrantee and by doing so I'm saving money on the loan and the warrantee.....that's how he spun it. When I said YES without hesitation he was kind of taken aback that I agreed right away without having to go on with his sales pitch.

 

Basically I got a lower rate I didn't know about with great credit score, and the warrantee came down to 1700 because of the savings from the finance rate going from 1.9 to 1.5. If you have good credit, you can probably find the lower rate on your own. I just checked the offers and it looks like Subaru is now 1.49%.....so maybe not.

 

Read the thread about Deals people got. You can play the game of getting the dealers to bid against each other and all that.

Great insight and information, thank you for sharing these details, much appreciated! I'm definitely going to look around for what rates they are going to offer, but I may just pay straight up cash. If they offer a 0.0% APR or maybe even 1.49% I may put half or more down payment and finance the rest, that way I don't see my bank account go down in a hurry

I am also planning on reaching out to all the Subaru dealers near where I live (Washington state, sorry didn't mean DC), and also even in Oregon and see what they have to offer. That is the approach my friends took as well, and they advised to always negotiate over email, never in person. Once I have the price I want to pay and they agree, only then go for it and make the deal. Sounds like a much better thing for me than having to deal with the pressure of being there in-person. Thanks again!

Congratulations on hopefully what will be a new to you car purchase. Key thing to add here based upon what you've written, you want yo keep the car for " 10 years ". With that in mind please buy what you will be happy with. That is a long time to deal with something that you regret. Research is great, but it's the day to day experiencince that will dictate. Also look into what you will need out of that car in say five years time. Will the car you purchase now do that, or will you need to add another to make up for its short comings ?

 

Hopefully you end up with the Subaru as for its price bracket and what it affords you it is hard to beat. But do you need awd,four doors, six cylinders ? Either way please let us know what you decide, and welcome to the forum.

Thank you for the message and also for helping me think about some of the important things to keep in mind before buying the car. Totally agree that I need to be happy with this for a long time and the day-to-day experience is what I want. I currently have a 2000 Toyota Corolla CE with 145k miles and I am looking for more power, so this would definitely be a major upgrade with all the bells and whistles. Once I test drive it, I'll know for sure if I'd be happy with it. Also with looking down 5 years, think this would make for an excellent family sedan as well, with its top notch safety ratings and reliability. AWD is key since we live down a big hill and if it snows here, then we'd be stuck and wouldn't be able to go to work. We may buy an SUV at some point down the road but that would be for my wife, I have always been a sedan guy Thank you again for your insight. I will be sure to let you all know what I end up going with whenever I do.

The 2.5i has more power will feel faster than your Corolla (I had a 2002). The gas mileage will be pretty similar as well.

That's true, but I've always wanted a 6-cylinder car that has more power and the style, along with dual exhausts, HID headlights, mooonroof, and all the bells and whistles. The 3.6R is their top of the line model and if I am going new I might as well get something I can have fun driving. I am not too concerned with gas mileage since I only drive 7-8k miles per year. I will be test driving both to get a feel for them and take it from there. Thank you for your input!

I would definitely recommend internet sales, I have had great experiences with them. And if you aren't being too picky about all the options, colors, etc you won't really be playing them against each other so much as seeing what they have on their lot to offer you. Not every dealer is going to have the same car in stock.

Good information and I have already identified 5-6 dealers online locally who have the car I want (but haven't test driven yet) and some dealers are offering better prices/discounts along with features that I want...I will need to take a closer look before making a decision as there is no rush from my side. I'll make sure to have all my ducks in a row before I take the action to purchase.

For example one dealer is offering the 3.6R at $34k whereas another at $31k with the same features and options, only difference in color. So I'd likely go with the $31k that already has been discounted.