Test drove an '07 OBW today, a few questions:

[fatabbot]

Originally Posted by BlueCorn

You know this is an "Outback" forum, right?

I'm sure he/she does. After all, he is discussing an "Outback".

[StuntmanMike]

Originally Posted by rasterman

If you want wow, you could at least meet them halfway and try a 6 cyl or turbo with the limited package.

Sounds like you need to take a few more test drives, and not just in Subarus.

The one I had actually intended to drive that day was a LTD. I would do a six cylinder, but I can't find one. The turbo sounds fun, but I don't want to have to deal with all the extra expense. Plus I already have one fast car, I don't need another temptation to mod something else!

And you're right, more drives are in order. I actually haven't given up on Subaru, I want to drive '09+ Fozzie and see how that is. I don't know about interior quality, but at least that should probably adress my space concerns.

It's tough though...I want an AWD wagon, and there are only a few players in that market.

Originally Posted by modifier

I think I would be looking for a different car. As you stated you were expecting a knock of your socks feel ride from the Outback but they are not what they seem. We have one that just turned 60,000 and these are high maintanence, lots of issues car. If we had to do it over again we would not buy it again. The 05 to 09 year cars also experience the famous Ghost Walking issues which ours has. Run far away from this car. Thats just the way I feel about the Outback, sorry.

Thanks for the honest opinion. I know there's some maint issues with these cars, but I was hoping I would like the car enough to not mind dealing with that. On paper it's everything on what, but in reality, eh, I don't know.

I think if I could find one in more of the 10K or under range I'd be more apt to buy it. It's not that much money, so I wouldn't expect as much out of it, I'd treat it more as a tool.

Originally Posted by avk

If handling really is such a priority, consider a Legacy wagon instead.

I thought the handing was fine to tell you the truth, and I actually don't care too much about that. Whatever I get is going to be a replacement for a lifted 15 year old Jeep, so unless I get a Peterbilt, pretty much anything I get going to handle better than that, haha. My issue was with space, or lack thereof, and the interior quality. A Legacy will have the same problems.

Originally Posted by BlueCorn

You know this is an "Outback" forum, right?

:lol:


Sent from my iPhone using AG Free

Yeah, and he has one. Nothing wrong with giving an honest opinion. Not everyone is going to like a certain car.


Oh, and my brother just picked up a '09 Jetta Sportwagen yesterday. I saw it today, and my first thought after sitting behind the wheel was "wow, this is a nice car!". I was never much of a VW fan, but that is a really nice car. I'll have to get him to let me drive it, that may be one to ad to thelist. Too bad it isn't AWD. Maybe 4Motion was an option on them, but 4motion probably sucks though anyway.

[rasterman]

Originally Posted by StuntmanMike

Oh, and my brother just picked up a '09 Jetta Sportwagen yesterday. I saw it today, and my first thought after sitting behind the wheel was "wow, this is a nice car!". I was never much of a VW fan, but that is a really nice car. I'll have to get him to let me drive it, that may be one to ad to thelist. Too bad it isn't AWD. Maybe 4Motion was an option on them, but 4motion probably sucks though anyway.

VW had really nice stuff going up until the 2011s... they cheaped out so that they could keep the prices down and got killed in the reviews, everyone says they went too far. Honda drew a lot of fire for similar with the civic & accord recently.

I don't think subaru had a corresponding pull-back, but as we've all seen they never had a super nice interior to begin with.

[fatabbot]

Originally Posted by rasterman

VW had really nice stuff going up until the 2011s... they cheaped out so that they could keep the prices down and got killed in the reviews, everyone says they went too far.

This only applies to the Jetta sedan. The wagon is still on the old platform with the old, nicer interior.

[StuntmanMike]

Originally Posted by fatabbot

This only applies to the Jetta sedan. The wagon is still on the old platform with the old, nicer interior.

Yup. Plus the wagon kept the independent rear suspenion, while the new sedan went to a beam axle. They also come standard with the 170hp 2.5 I5, while the base sedan gets the 2.0 (2. slow) 115hp motor.

He let me drive it today. It drove very nice, although if memory serves me right the Subaru drove just as nice. The VW's interior just feels nicer.

So the salesman called me today to see what my thoughts were. I haven't called him back yet, but I'm going to tell him I'm going to keep looking for now. However, I noticed a little while ago that they've dropped the price by about 500 bucks, to 12,995. I wonder how much lower they'd go??

If I got them down to 12k, does that seem a fair price for that car?

[boblesk]

As far as pricing goes that's always subject to area,specs etc but in my area(NJ)that would be very fairly priced from a dealership for a 65k 2.5l in good shape. Dealers obviously are always higher then a private party but I would think even so if you found something private party like it that it would be around 11k at least as I'd doubt you're going to find a relatively lower mileage '07 for less.
If you can get it for 12k I don't see much downside if the mechanicals are up to par.
I wouldn't get hung up on price as much as history and condition as that is really the key when buying used in any brand.

[StuntmanMike]

Just an update:

After looking more into Jetta wagons (couldn't find one in my price range), the Nissan Murano (nice, but reliability and poor mpg came up as a big conerns in my research), and looking (unsucessfully) for a 3.0L OB, I finally found and test drove a Volvo XC70.

I'll be picking it up this week.

Pretty much as soon as I sat in it I knew it was the car for me, and the test drive proved it. Yes, it has 25k more miles than the Subaru I drove (for a slightly lesser price), but it drove like new. Tight as a drum with no squeeks or rattles anywhere.

The interior feel and quality, and then the ride and drive, gave me that "wow" factor I was looking for. The fact that this one is loaded with pretty much everything except sat-nav and rear child seats probably helps that feeling, lol.

The seats (both fronts heated/power, with plenty of adjustments and 3 driver memory settings) were uber comfy, it was like driving my favorite recliner down the road, and the interior felt very spacious. The car also feels very solid, like I could drive it through a brick wall.

It's an '07, the last year of this (the good) body style, and has side mirror turn signal indicators, defeatable stability control, which also turns off the traction control, which means I can spin the wheels w/out the comuter killing the throttle. Good for getting out of deep snow....or drifting!

Silver with dark charcoal interior, with the upgraded 17" wheels (wearing brand new tires).

Pretty much EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Granted, I might spend more on maint and upkeep, but at least I'll feel like a million bucks everytime I get into it.

And I'm not planning on taking it offroad, so the not-quite-as-capable-as -Subaru AWD system will be fine for me.

At least I won't be rolling the dice on head gaskets! No such problems with the Volvo 2.5T. With 236ft/lbs of tq at 1,500rpm, that thing moves off the line quite well! It surprised me when I drove it, it feels pretty quick.

Anyway, thanks to all forthe great advice and info, I hope there's no hard feelings that I jumped ship!

Ok, I'm off to buy some khakis and tennis sweaters...

[ipa]

When I was looking for my outback (bought 3 weeks ago) the only other car I was interested in was the V70R, they are pretty hard to come by though.

[ScoobyRu]

Glad you found something you like! I'm surprised you found the Outback "cheap" feeling though. That's one of the reasons I bought the car, it had the same high-end European feeling as my old Saab 900 did. I agree with the uncomfortable seats. I'm sure the Volvo's are much, much better.

[StuntmanMike]

Originally Posted by ipa

When I was looking for my outback (bought 3 weeks ago) the only other car I was interested in was the V70R, they are pretty hard to come by though.

Oh yeah, htose R's are awesome! Pretty much the ultimate sleeper. I found one when I ws looking, but decided against it because A) I already have a fast car and don't want something else I'll be tempted to mod, and B) I found that alot of the R specific parts to be very expensive, so I anticipated high maintenance and upkeep costs on the R. The 4C struts for example, would have been around a grand to replace.

Originally Posted by st3mpy

Glad you found something you like! I'm surprised you found the Outback "cheap" feeling though. That's one of the reasons I bought the car, it had the same high-end European feeling as my old Saab 900 did. I agree with the uncomfortable seats. I'm sure the Volvo's are much, much better.

Well maybe "cheap" is a little harsh. It was perfectly fine, just didn't have the upscale feel I was hoping for. I think if I had found an LTD to test drive I would have had a better opinion of that. I'm comparing apples to oranges here, as I drove a base OB, where my Volvo is an Adventure Series, which has pretty much EVERY option. So we're talking about a car that probably stickered north of 40k vs. a car that was 25, 26K.

And yeah, the seats were amazing. They're actually known for having some of the best seats in the biz. And they're 8 way power, which helped me find the perfect driving position.