Oh well, its weird people get rid of the car that was suitable at the time because of the image... i have it cause its a perfect tool , and still outperforms much more expensisve cars for its price. Its a hoby, dont give a **** what people think as it gives me joy...All cars have good and bad points so we chose what is convenient for us personaly... Scooby is made for a purpouse, not to impress your mates and people around.... just my 2p worth...

 

There isn't much that can do what imprezas/evos do for the same money

 

I really like Hawkeye Spec Ds as they are very good at what they are designed to be - discreet, well compared to a fully kitted out STI anyway. They still look like (as well as other WRXs) performance cars with their flared arches, bonnet scoop and smaller rear spoiler but without looking OTT. Quite often less is more.

 

I sold my Blobeye and bought a RS focus Mk2. I wanted a new car and looked at the new imprezas at the time, just over a year ago, but the RS just had the edge. It looked that little bit better standard and in my opinion had the better quality. It came with all the toys and drove really nice. However i do miss my Blobeye too. suppose you can't have the best of both worlds though.

 

The business lease on the Spec D came to an end in 2011 and I had to get another lease car.
The Impreza hatch looked awful, was no longer a saloon (at the time), the 2.5 was made of chocolate (I'd already been burnt with a 2.5 HG failure in the Spec D), there was no performance diesel for car tax ( what ever happened to that fabled STi diesel??) so Subaru no longer offered anything to tempt me.

Jaguar got my business instead (XF)

 

It's not weird at all
Things move on, so do people. A lot of what we do in life is about image, or do you walk around in Tesco value range clothing?

 

Image based on my car doesn't bother me.

Anyone who's opinion matters to me know what i'm like as a person, not based on what car i drive/clothes i wear etc...

Infact anyone who changes their car just because they worry what people might think of them are insecure (IMO)

I'm glad i'm not one of the sheep in a diesel BMW/Audi.

 

I never said I changed my car based on image alone. It was part of the reason. When I bought my first Impreza 15 years ago it had a completely different image it has now. Not only that, in 15 years my tastes have changed. I've had several other cars since my Imprezas including Lotus Elise's, mr2 Roadster, a4 convertible, 1.9 gti pug converted with an mi16 as well as loads of other cars.

Your 1997 Impreza appears to have a later version spoiler along with 22b style bonnet vents on it,no doubt image was in someone's mind when they purchased those as neither have much if any practical benefits.

 

The 22b vents were fitted before it was imported from Japan (and are being replaced with OE ones once they are sprayed), and i fitted the V5 spoiler because I like the look of it.... couldn't give a hoot what others think of it.

Ok... it's not the case with you... but i just can't understand why some people sell a car they like just because they worry about the image.

It does make me wonder if sometimes the 'image' excuse it used instead of admitting the truth.... i can't afford to run it/my wife made me sell it?

 

I see where you're coming from, it's far easier to hide behind the image excuse than admit you can't run it or your partner made you sell it. Although with that said, people have mentioned the hatch having a poor image due to its looks but I haven't heard anyone mention the 2.5 engine

 

Looks and image are two very different things.

 

Yes but people would argue that the hatch has a rubbish image because its not considered a looker. I actually quite like the hatch myself

 

The apparent problem is the Subaru brand, rather than a particular model.

The Hatch isn't a looker (although i like it), but that isn't the reason some people want to sell their cars due to the 'image problem'

They assume everyone looks at a Subaru as a 'boy racer' car, and think their neighbours/workmates will think more of them if they join the rest of the sheep by buying a BMW/Audi diesel.

I agree there is some image problem, as a few workmates call my car a 'chav mobile', but to be fair i couldn't give a f**k what they think.... i think the fact they have their wives tell them what car they are allowed to drive is a bigger issue for them to worry about.

When i'm outside home washing my car i often get nice comments from my neighbours or people walking past, such as ''lovely car'' or ''very nice'', and have never had a negative comment (other than ''i bet that drinks a lot of petrol'')

So the image isn't as bad as some might think