New Subaru pre-purchase advice

[griffenrider]

Hey all -

 

I'm considering trading in one of my subies for a newer one. I don't want to pay the brand-new-car premium. The car I'm trading in is an '02 obw ltd. I'd like to stick with the obw line (I need the space for skis and such, and I need the weight for snow) Which model years are the best 03-08? I know they changed some stuff around in the last 6 years - anyone have a history of that? Any mys to avoid?

[mtsmiths]

Hey all -

 

I'm considering trading in one of my subies for a newer one. I don't want to pay the brand-new-car premium. The car I'm trading in is an '02 obw ltd. I'd like to stick with the obw line (I need the space for skis and such, and I need the weight for snow) Which model years are the best 03-08? I know they changed some stuff around in the last 6 years - anyone have a history of that? Any mys to avoid?

 

Unless you have unresolvable issues with your current ride, or you have an unscratchable itch to make car payments, I would recommend you just keep the one you have and maintain it well.

 

We had a '00 that we planned to drive forever, and only replaced with our '06 after it was totalled by a Grand Cherokee. We love the new Outback, and it certainly has more creature comforts that our previous (which started out as a Brighton), but pound for pound I can't say that it is substantionally any 'better' than our trusted Legaback.

 

That said, I think any engineering issues related to the cars was resolved by the '05 series, so let your wallet be your guide.

[EVOthis]

http://www.cars101.com

[griffenrider]

thanks for advice and links:

 

Perhaps its just the 110k parts-wear-out mark, but it seems like I've been putting a lot of money into it recently - hesitation (fixed by 02 sensor) at the beginning of the summer, clutch, cat, a bunch of front-end work after getting run off the road by some fool doing 80 on a mountain road, 2 new wheels and tires after a sudden blowout on a gravel road that sent me into the ditch, and just recently a really bad hesitation and stall-on-idle issue that took 300 at my local shop to track down and (possibly) resolve - not sure if its fixed yet since I just got the car back.

 

On the one hand, yeah, I just put all the money in and I'd like to drive it for a while before I let it go, on the other hand, all this has happened in the last year, and I'd rather put the money towards a less-problematic car than keep sinking it in here.

 

All comments welcome. . .

[gbhrps]

Griffenrider,

Like you, I've had a love affair with the OBW's, particularly the LTD's. I've had three, a 97, an 02 and presently an 07. Each one was better than the last, and this last generation particularly so. In my opinion it handles better, has much better creature comforts, has killer looks, and is more user friendly. I particularly like the fact that the rear seats fold flat with no removal of the rear head rests. Previous models required removing the head rests in order to fold the seats, and even required flipping the rear seat bottom forward before you could fold the seat backs down. The new generation even has below floor storage for the rear cargo shade, which wasn't available before. The centre console cup holders are finally substantial, not flimsy, or situated where a spill could be particularly messy. The dual sunroof now opens to one uninterrupted opening instead of two smaller ones, and on and on. The dreaded piston slap and blown headgasket issues have finally been addressed. I don't think you can go too far wrong with one of these, and if you behave yourself with the accelerator pedal, you can pull 35 miles per Canadian gallon out of the 2.5 automatic all day long. I agree with you to "let someone else take the depreciation hit" and buy the nicest used 05, 06, or 07 you can find. You could do far worse in my opinion.