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how do you use your car(s)?

6K views 40 replies 14 participants last post by  GeoffD 
#1 ·
i have 2 subarus. one(outback) is called the rally queen family truckster. the other(impreza) is the pineapple express. the serve 2 completely different purposes. the truckster is like a favorite pair of jeans, it does everything. the pineapple express is my wife's car and is used almost entirely for going to work and other, uhmmmm, random activities. im so bored so ill start a thread for no reason. but well we can keep it going by people sharing that they use their car for going to work, driving kids & dogs around, etc...

here's some of the things i do with the truckster









and the pineapple express
 
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#7 ·
maybe i should use this pic instead


i wish the impreza had a giant panoramic moonroof. she wanted a sunroof when we got it but we couldn't justify the extra $1000 for the tiny impreza one.
 
#5 ·
Trip to grandmas house this weekend involved packing the dog with his crate took up the whole back trunk area of the OB. The roof had my daughters two wheeler she's learning to ride it so when she asked if she could ride it at Grandmas, it was on the roof, along with dads mule of a bike front panniers and rear kids seat for my youngest. Then strapped to the side of dads bike was the trailer bike which my brother ended up towing with my daughter on it for our long family ride on Sunday. We were one step below the Beverly Hills Hillbilly look with all our crap packed in and on the car. Thats a pretty typical weekend for the Subaru.

Before weeks end there is a good chance were hauling the 4x6 trailer to pick up some large trees at Costco later this week also. Just a weeks typical life of our Subaru.
 
#6 ·
Kaylee is all purpose. Daily driver, 2000 mile road trip, grocery store run, haul as much as we can cram in it wherever we need to go, etc. Not going anywhere, will have her until she rusts in half or has a mechanical failure that exceeds her value plus a few months of car payments.

The 1992 Oldsmobile 88 is a family hand me down. It was very neglected before I got it. So, it's an in town only vehicle right now, as I don't trust it enough for any significant interstate trip. It's keeping me busy fixing all the worn out/broken stuff or determining that it isn't worth the effort to fix this or that. General purpose 2nd vehicle that' will be around until something I can't fix breaks or until decent employment allows for a better vehicle.
 
#10 ·
That's a decent look. I'd love to have the Forester wrapped in a crazy test mule manufacturer camo. I spotted some BMW X? somethings in the UP last year and they use awesome camo.

The David Higgins SRT USA livery Sno Drift Rally this year was pretty awesome too.
 
#12 ·
Everyday driver with and road trip car. Sun Valley, ID, Yachets, OR and Ocean Shores, WA once a year and either a 2.5 hour drive or a 10 hour drive I can stay pretty comfy and confident with the car and thats why I keep buying Subarus. I drove my 2001 Sport from CT to WA and never was concerned about the car.
 
#15 ·
I was thinking the same thing....and Ally Sheedy does have Nice Software.

(the movie was "short circuit" from 1986 )

 
#17 ·
It makes a lot of short drives in town, you know general transportation. I also like to take it out into the woods and stuff, I've never even been close to getting it stuck. I've also taken it on quite a few long trips, all over Washington state really from anything between 100+ degree summer heat ( and forest fires burning ) to near 0 degree winter storms and driving over mountain passes. Basically the only serious mechanical issue that's ever gone wrong with it is the serpentine belt and pulleys broke and left me stranded, but that's pretty much lack of maintenance.
 
#23 ·
I highly recommend going out with a friend and a tow strap and trying to get it stuck. Seriously. Not only is it good fun but good practice, you'll know in the future what your car is capable of. Don't deliberately drive through a huge deep mud hole or anything but though.

I've done this with each Subaru I've bought over the years, see what she is made of. I've yet to get my Baja or Outback so stuck I needed help, although I could have.

The '11 Outback is mine, and my wife drove a '12 Mazda5 until it was totaled back in December. We've been down to one car (or borrowing he in-laws' Fit) ever since.

I recently came across a nice '98 Mercedes E320 4-matic wagon. It just passed inspection, and I'll be working on some fluid changes on it tonight. I'll have tags for it soon.

So now we're a two-AWD-wagon family! Most of the time, I'll be driving the Benz and the wife will drive the Outback. I'd rather have her in the more reliable car.

I'm only 2.5 miles from work, and I hate racking up short, hard mileage on the OB. I keep telling my wife the Benz is going to be our "beater," but I'm going to treat it well.
Does it have the third row seat facing the rear? Those were good old wagons.
 
#18 ·
I only drive Little Red to the mail box, and NYC last weekend and the one before, Indianapolis and Bloomington last month, West Virginia, Boston, Annapolis, Baltimore (daily), the grocery store, post office, car parts store, etc. etc. etc.

She is nearing 208,000 miles (her next oil change interval) and me and the 17 yr old kid drive the crap out of her everywhere. I take her off roading when needed - see WV reference above - and in the snow whenever it snows!

If she were big enough, I would live in Little Red like a baby in the womb.
 
#20 ·
The '11 Outback is mine, and my wife drove a '12 Mazda5 until it was totaled back in December. We've been down to one car (or borrowing he in-laws' Fit) ever since.

I recently came across a nice '98 Mercedes E320 4-matic wagon. It just passed inspection, and I'll be working on some fluid changes on it tonight. I'll have tags for it soon.

So now we're a two-AWD-wagon family! Most of the time, I'll be driving the Benz and the wife will drive the Outback. I'd rather have her in the more reliable car.

I'm only 2.5 miles from work, and I hate racking up short, hard mileage on the OB. I keep telling my wife the Benz is going to be our "beater," but I'm going to treat it well.
 
#22 ·
Awesome thread, points to bradze.

My Subaru was just "my car" for years. As some of you know, I got married last fall. Lots of things have changed for me. My car has become the road trip machine, all the longer distance trips are in it. Occasionally we use it for local trips as well but most of the short haul grocery getting happens in my wife's hyundai. That car is a freakishly cheap fun little gadget. I'm always impressed by how low the operating expenses are in that car, but it loses appeal on longer hauls. The Subaru with heated leather, better suspension, passing power and more sound insulation wins out when we need to get farther from home.

Neither of us have traditional commutes, so neither car hits a normal usage pattern.

The XT is always our choice when hitting the family beach spot near cape cod. It's a rough beach trail just to get there, and the ground clearance of the outback is fairly necessary to make that a regular visit.
 
#25 ·
So she married you just to get the XT,....and in the process has brainwashed you into thinking a Accent is acceptable as any form of transportation. :smile2:
 
#24 ·
Mine is used for everything, as a compromise.


I'm a hunter/fisherman/camper, and require something that takes the back roads, sometimes snow covered or rutted with mud, with enough room to haul stuff.


I also have a 1+ hr commute to work and would like to get decent mileage.


I also have 2 young kids and the nearest grandparents are 4 hrs away, so long road trips are frequent and space is needed for our stuff as well as all the kiddo gear.


Pickup plus a compact sedan plus a minivan? Started down that route, but abandoned it. Subaru is the jack of all trades/master of none wound up into 1 vehicle. That fits my life right now. Oh, and it's safe, comfortable, and does great in the snow.
 
#33 ·
We used to have a 95 Legacy wagon for everything.

Then the B9 was the family car and the Legacy wagon the commuter and haul-the-crap car.

Then the OB replaced the B9 when my credit union offered loan conditions I had not seen before or since; a CVT Impreza was to replace the Legacy later. Wife could not live without a Tribeca, however. Thus a II generation used Tribeca replaced the Legacy. Lesson learned: forget about sharing cars. At least the 2008 Tribeca was quite the deal.

So, the Tribeca does a lot of brutal short-hops in a radius of 2-3 miles from home. It was used twice in a year for road trips with more planned--wherever off-road is not an option. It hauls around the grandparents. Very useful to have a part-time 7 pax, we missed that for a year.

The OB is my car and the family car in most out-of-town scenarios. All in all, I have been trying to keep its miles low, unsuccessfully.

All the OB needs to attain perfection are adjustable height custom coilovers (off-the-shelf solutions are for lowering rather than raising, duh) and a SubaXtreme off-road front bumper replacement. Now accepting sponsors, LOL.
 
#36 ·
I winter at a ski area. Otherwise, just about any car would suffice.

Why I have an Outback coming in less than a month:
Is that the GTI hiding under the snow behind the Merc?
 
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