Were you taken in by the Reliable Subaru /JD Power Hype before you bought your car?

My MY00 Wagon which has done 26000 miles has had :-
A new clutch at 18000
New Discs front and rear at 25500
A new Oxygen sensor at 25500

All admittedly replaced under warranty with no hassle.

It has also started to rattle / squeek alarmingley :-
Back seat creaks when cornering hard.
Rear windows vibrate when closed fully.
Loud metallic squeek from dash/ passenger area.
Rear parcel shelf rattles.
Clutch pipes vibrate on bulkhead.

All of which seem to fluctuate depending on time of day, temperature etc and whish my dealer has tried but failed to cure

This is not really a winge , I love the car and would get another no problem ( with or without those headlights)

Judging by previous threads my experience sounds about typical
Anyone had worse?

Before buying my MY97 4 door last year I looked into the downsides of owning a Scooby, such as insurance costs, fuel consumption etc and started reading this board for other "problems" associated with ownership. I must admit that I was surprised to hear about things like clutch judder, dealers who couldn't care less and the cr@p standard brakes, which all seemed to contradict the JD Power results. Yet the vast majority of owners (me included) would not change their car, except for another scoob!

Yes I was influenced by the (old)JD Power survey but that only contributed to my own decision.

We assessed it against, BMW, Audi, VW,Lexus IS200 etc. IMHO no comparison pound for pound. So were we disappointed, not at all.

Some of the sales personnel had a take it or leave it attitude, it was the old days when another buyer was just round the corner. But nowhere near as dismissive as the Audi/BM brigade.

Aftersales has been excellent, polite helpful, courtesy cars, serviced on the day cos I'd done an unexpected 600 miles at the week end. The day it went back to the dealer as a p/x it was still running good as new, no rattles squeaks or vibration.

So we bought another one, despite the latest JD Power survey and negative comment here! Time will tell if it was the correct decision.

Cheers B touching a large lump of wood.

Don't forget the JD Power survey is done on cars that are three years old, so its not up to date.
The reason Subaru have done so badly this year is because the MY98's had so many engine problems, amongst other things.

Stef.

JD power survey influened me and not just because we share the same initials.

I have not been disappointed although each service seems to cost more than i bargained for.

Any pellig mistakes due to Rum+Coke, Pilsner Urquell, bottle o' Shiraz in that order I think

JD

Yes it influenced my decision, but so did the multitude of motor reports ... the general opinion was, 'The Impreza is the best car in the world'

I have to say its good, but its not the best I have owned. I drive a 1987/D reg. Escort Cabriolet when the sun shines and my major worry was that the cabriolet would stay on the drive and I wouldnt choose the Escort even if the sun was shining - how wrong I was, I walk out the door into the sun and there is NO competition - the Impreza stays on the drive while I take the 98,000mile Escort away - this is absolutely true, I can hardly believe it myself

I am going down to the coast tomorrow and there is simply NO competition as to what will get me there - at 36mpg its going to pay for itself soon!! the Escort offers what amounts to FREE motoring!! Simple and cheap to repair, cambelt = £12:26!!!!!

I feel duped and feel cheated actually paying nearly £22,000 for an icon that has hesitation, clutch judder, crap paint, rattles like a dustbin lorry and the underseal comes away at 8 months!!! - then it gets beaten into submission by a car costing £21,000 LESS!!!!

As for you poor souls in P1's - the ones that paid silly money - I REALLY feel for you.

This is unspeakable on this BBS I know, but we have been stitched up well and truly, the Impreza build quality is a disgrace - BMW, Mercs, even Ford and Vauxhall do it better these days - sad isnt it???

If it wasnt fast and good to drive I would throw the thing in the bin

Pete

Have to say it wasn't a big influence on me buying one (I, like many petrol heads on this BBS, had always wanted one) - the JD Power survey results were a 'bonus'.

My car has now done 30000 miles in 16 months and apart from a clutch replacement under warranty at 18000 miles, hasn't put a foot wrong. The only time the car has been off the road for more than a day was following a minor road accident which required some bodywork repairs.

I can safely say I have never driven a car as reliable as the Subaru. Given the high performance nature of the car and the complexity of the engine, this is no small achievement.

I would have no hestitation in recommending them or owning another (I will be taking a serious look at the STI7 when it arrives).

Cheers
Chris

PS Pete, will you shut up about your bloody Escort cabriolet!! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

Stef
It was a 98 m8 http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

B

The JD Power reports did'nt influence my descision to buy a scoob. I was all set to get a fully loaded Rover 75 but my only critism was that it was a step down performance wise from my 620Ti.

The scoob was a lot less refined and I knew it would start to rattle, that the interior was poo and the door panels were made of balsa wood. For a start these things bothered me and counted against the car.

When I got it new, it was'nt that much faster than my Ti, as it was still very tight. Now 19K miles, 18 months and a PPP later nothing can match getting a bend just right, planting your foot to the floor as you exit the apex and hearing the flat 4 afterburners go vrooooom.

However it's not the car that I enjoy most about Subaru ownership. It's the thriving community around it. I've made friends here that I will still keep in contact with, even if I and I hope they don't buy another scoob.

If they factored in the community and drivers club aspects of owning a car in the JD Power survey, then IMHO nothing could touch Subaru for a long time.

Shock news http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif the car is'nt perfect, there are other cars that can do what it does better http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif and some of them are fords http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif some of them are BMW's http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif and one or two are mitsubishi's http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif BUT I don't care one jot.

When I get out of my car after a long drive that i've enjoyed as I close the door I think to my self 'well done car, thanks, that was FUN'.

I go into my computer room load up scoobynet or the SIDC and see someone's just thought exactly same as me. They too have just looked back at the car, plnking and cooling on the driveway and thought 'thanks, that was Fun' and y'know in that instant I forget about the insurance costs and MPG because in that moment the car is'nt a car it's a door to a whole load of friends who I would never have got to know otherwise.

[This message has been edited by Neil Smalley (edited 24 June 2001).]

the only thing i feel duped about was the fact i bought a uk my00 for 20k, spent 7k on 'approved' mods, and the thing wasnt very well built, and had plummeting residuals. still had surging with ppp, had a crap clutch, and the paint work was chipping too easily.
SO I BOUGHT AN IMPORT!!!!
dont care what anyone says, its better built IMHO, is quicker than my old car, and its serviced by enthusiasts, not clueless uk dealers http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif
i paid 15.5k for it (99 s reg) http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/biggrin.gif http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/biggrin.gif

Got your mint escort them which museum did you find it at in the end, bet it looks nice with one of those sets of gold wheels you keep buying on it. How many impreza's has PS Lewis owned if you please