subaru wagon and tribeca owners - come in

[JHZR2]

Hello,

I am trying to collect overall comments and experiences of subaru owners, to help my wife.

We currently have a 94 integra which is her car. It has 186k miles, but runs like new. however, the rubber parts are of consistently poor quality (OE), and worse, the car is starting to rust. It still is a great commuter car, but her job requires her to travel to a number of the local towns with a lot of stuff for her job. Sooner or later (hopefully later) we will have to trade in the integra for a larger car, so I want to start learning a few things.

On her list is the saab 9-3 wagon, the subaru legacy (now called outback) basic wagon, and the subaru tribeca.

Cherry Hill NJ is Subaru's office center apparently, and I managed to have a good discussion with an employee who had an 08 tribeca. He stated that Subaru had actually made this design for saab, as the sheetmetal and tooling for the original 9-7x. Then subaru was sold to toyota, saab got a trailblazer, and subaru had this tooling, which they decided to use to refresh the tribeca... it looks a lot like my 9-3 in the lights, in 2008 sheetmetal form.

I have always liked the legacy wagon - their basic station wagon. Now the legacy is the sedan name, and the outback is the wagon name, and we might be interested in a legacy wagon. My wife is very hesitant to give up the MT, and so as much as she likes the feel and utility of the tribeca, the engine is huge (3.6L), the fuel economy isnt that great, and she has to get one with AT.

We'd be interested in an MT base or 2.5L turbo wagon as well.

So, any information regarding your experiences, weaknesses, strengths, etc. for these two vehicles would be most appreciated.

Thanks!!

JMH

 

[Jim 5]

For what it's worth, a very good friend of mine has the NA 2.5L 5 door impreza and he has been pretty disappointed with its fuel economy. I would look into that aspect of the car carefully.

Otherwise, he has been very pleased with the car.

 

[JHZR2]

Interesting...

A number of folks on here own legacies and claim that they get 30-33MPG at 75 MPH. The new fuel economy specs for the NA engine IIRC is 26 hwy, for AT and MT. IIRC they used to be 30, at leaqst on the last gen legacy wagon, as I saw one with these EPA numbers at the dealer...

Thanks!

JMH

 

[sprintman]

We have a 2000 Outback. Best vehicle out of the 26 vehicles I have owned.

 

[Eddie]

My Forester always gets 26-28 mpg @ 72 mph on cruise. More important than fuel mileage is reliability as extra shop visits at $100/hour + parts = one heck of a lot of gas. My Subaru with 124,000 miles has had two CV boots replaced as the total shop time. All else was std maintenance.

 

[rjundi]

My wife drives a 2005 Legacy GT wagon base(cloth seats no sunroof) with 5 speed(rare). We absolutely love the car,handling/ride balance and especially the great engine coupled to the 5 speed manual. The fuel mileage that we achieve is about 23MPG average according to trip computer. Its not driven city nor highway though. Its on country back roads with stops(signs or lights) every 2-10 miles. If fuel mileage is a primary concern go with the 2.5L NA motor.

The Legacy/Outback with NA(non turbo) motor do achieve closer to 30MPG from reportings within my family who use them on 55MPH backroads and highway closer to 70MPH. Ignore the mileage reports on Impreza/Forester as they weigh nearly as much a Legacy however have terrible comparative aerodynamics.

One of the great benefits of Subaru to me is that a Chase Subaru MasterCard is available that basically kicks back 3% back up to $500/year coupons good for servicing, purchase, or parts. We have yet to pay servicing fees on our cars.

 

[MrCritical]

You say the rubber parts are of consistent poor quality on the Acura. Have you had problems with them for years, or only because they're 13 years old?

 

[porcupine73]

Subaru FTW! Three Subaru wagons here, one is the Outback (2000); very pleased with these vehicles. I don't know much about the Tribeca. If you go Legacy or Outback and want power, then the H6 (auto trans only) or as you mentioned turbo (XT level) is the way to go. If you want a Legacy wagon you will need to get a used model before the recent change that Outbacks will all be wagons and Legacy's will all be sedans.

The Outback would be my choice as it has more ground clearance and is better suited to light duty off road use. Also for snow use you may want to see if the model you get has limited slip rear diff and/or traction control or VDC.

+1 on the Chase Subaru card, the Subaru $ add up quick.

If you are thinking of buying a new Subaru, there is a preferred program available if you're a member of certain outdoorish type clubs (but must be a member for at least 6 months). Then you get some particular price deal. I forget the name of the program off hand....could check if interseted.

You asked about weaknesses. There have been some ECU reflashes for the newer (05+) MT Subaru's to deal with some idle rpm issue. Some people say with the clutch in the rpms start creeping up on them. Also some ~'05 turbo's people have been saying that on long hot hilly trips the temp gauge climbs high.

 

[Titan]

Quote:

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For what it's worth, a very good friend of mine has the NA 2.5L 5 door impreza and he has been pretty disappointed with its fuel economy. I would look into that aspect of the car carefully.

Otherwise, he has been very pleased with the car.

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I had a manual Saab 9-2X, essentially the Impreza wagon, I got as high as 37+mpg going 62-67 mph. At 82-83 mph, that car would get 33-34 mpg. Something is wrong with the car and/or driver. Around town, I don't think I ever saw less than 25 mpg. It was usually upper 20's.

 

[JHZR2]

Quote:

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You say the rubber parts are of consistent poor quality on the Acura. Have you had problems with them for years, or only because they're 13 years old?

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Most rubber parts such as hoses, some trim strips, windshield seal, etc. have been replaced at least once, due to degradation. Now we are hitting round II.

At the same time, our 1994 toyota previa, with more miles (206k) still has mostly all original rubber, such as hoses, etc., without any issues. In addition the trim, rub strips, and paint have held up better (the acura paint on the bumper oxidizes at a different rate then that on the metal, for example). No such problems with the toyota product.

Yes, 13 years will do things that are bad, and degradation is expected. However, replacement of already replaced OE parts, when this isnt necessary in the same amount of time in the same age toyota, or significantly older MB diesels, is unacceptable, IMO.

Its a shame, as the car is great other than its tendency to rust, its poor plastic/rubber components, and its lousy clutch feel.

She gets 28 MPG doing sop to stop around town driving 100% of the time... not shabby.

JMH

 

[JHZR2]

Quote:

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I had a manual Saab 9-2X, essentially the Impreza wagon, I got as high as 37+mpg going 62-67 mph. At 82-83 mph, that car would get 33-34 mpg. Something is wrong with the car and/or driver. Around town, I don't think I ever saw less than 25 mpg. It was usually upper 20's.

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I havent heard 37, but Ive heard 33-34MPG in saab circles.

Is that the same turbo engine like a WRX, or does it have an NA engine?

JMH