Yes because a car dealer is really going to let me take a car off on a 50 mile round trip for a couple of hours so i can see how it handles my daily commute...

Buying any car is a leap of faith imo.

Man up. Mine did and i didn't even purchase it from them, ok i had to badger them a bit before they would. You are parting with a large chunk of cash, cars are usually the 2nd most expensive purchase you make in life, so dam right they should let you drive it for as long as you want.

To a degree yes, but a decent test drive is vital.

I remember way back in 1998 when I bought my very first Impreza T2000.
I drove the car (with a mechanic from that garage) for maybe 45 minutes.
Not once did he tell me to behave, including some hairy moments round some back roads.

I took out a wrx sti for a test drive on Saturday.
The model before the new one.
I drive an impreza hatch sti ppp fitted. dynoed at 350 bhp.
When I phoned the salesman requesting a test drive he asked me what I drove.
I told him.
He then became hostile saying no test pilots or idiots who have never driven powerfull cars.
Eh ?
I went ahead with the test drive but did not buy the car as he told me he would end the test if I made him feel uncomfortable.
The guy needs to get a job in a Kia Stealership.

Yeah I got that impression when I was about to sell mine a few years ago, the dealerships are really going down the pan, appleyards in Huddersfield is a Kia Suzuki dealership subarus an afterthought and something they did when rn goldens packed up. MKAR in Rochdale who I used were great, but went bust, so that was another. S & S in Ayr were fantastic, but just too far from me. KT greens are closest but never had a good service from them, and the two sales guy or should I say Kids were arrogant...

More and more of the dealers are caving in. Shame really

?

60 dealers early 2012. 62 dealers today.

SO true.
Dereck Slack who were good have just caved in to Skoda and ditched Subaru. :cry:

Maybe but most I find now are like side businesses, not true Subaru, more interested in Kia Hyundai, with one Scooby in the showroom.

Exactly right

Right on the button. Some aren't interested in the WRX STI at all.

Derek slack give up the Subaru franchise as of today (31st October)

PS - still loving being back in my RS.

Subaru dealers will end up the same way as the dinosaurs(Extincted):(

Shame the way Subaru has gone, I loved my time with them over the last 11-12 years, and ive noticed even on Scoobynet that there are less and less people using the forum, but the way its gone with the newer models with the higher tax, engine problems, and dealers shutting etc, I cant see any newer models being sold in the UK in the future as there wont be such a high demand like they where on the classic/newage models.:wonder:

I think what you have said could be correct but SN isn't necessarily represent of all. If you look at the reviews on YouTube,/Drive,Autocar,Evo etc it looks like a better story and if you have ever read the reviews on autotrader from buyers even the 2.5 has 4/5 stars for reliability.

It may or may not be a true picture but there are lot of buyers not interested in SN or even know it exists.
You also need to consider the fact that Subaru don't just sell the WRX, in the farming and Horse riding community they are more popular than ever. I used to live in Shrewsbury and you couldn't go down the road with out seeing a Subaru of some sort,not necessarily a WRX.

Very true Carnut. There will always be varying opinions, its what keeps it interesting. I think though if you take a snapshot of the real hard core Subaru enthusiasts who have a genuine passion and a degree of knowledge you would find real disappointment (and much worse) with the brand over recent years.

The passion has gone out of the brand. Littleted is spot on with regards to dealers. The passionate dealers have either gone or seem incredibly frustrated. Engine failures, parts supply problems, terrible marketing are just a small part of how Subaru are seen by many that I still stay in touch with. As said before, its a terrible shame but the high performance side of the brand is just no longer attractive. The car world moves on but Subaru really haven't.

How many hard core old boy Subaru owners are going to actually buy another STi though
Proce is ok and it looks great but
Expensive road tax
25/30 mpg
Not fashionable anymore
No cheaper wrx alternative at 20k
Memories of te chocolate pistons from 2008+
3year warrenty only

Uphill battle
Could of all changed if they had out a decent engine in from 2008 and no quibble swap or when it went pop

The enthusiasts market is a small one which i doubt Subaru are interested in. It looked ok for a time but even before the 2.5 etc they never really took off, not compared to others.

First post in about 2 years so I'm a bit rusty on SN. Went to Lowther Hall country show as promised by head office that new STi would be there - drove up from Yorkshire but no car :-(

Goldens was local dealer and they gave up franchise as there was no money in Subaru. It's gone to Appleyards who I'm wary of as they screwed up a service on my 11-plate hatch. Subaru are a soft-roader / family car company now and a few farmers vehicles. We know rallying went which was the death-knell for performance scoobs. No Legacy range now as that could have been alternative to STi if they still made saloon but that was killed for low sales when they wouldn't import it / give you chance to buy it.
There's lots of things I like about my hatch STi 340R and the new one is an improvement from sitting in one but I feel that they're a bit of a dinosaur now :-( Ok, they're cheaper but there's a lot of other stuff out there in the price range but you can't get awd / DCCD etc. Thirsty goes with the territory and I've heard they're not developing a Pro-R pack as it's not financially viable :-( Each review says engine peaky and that's why people put PPP on but 'development costs too high for low sales' I've been told. It's lost the enthusiast market and become an also-ran, unfortunately. I still would like a new one but have my doubts...

I can't speak for the network as a whole but as a well known Subaru main dealer in Leeds of over 30 years I can confirm that there is still passion for Subaru!!
If you look in our showroom you will ONLY see Subarus and Isuzus.
Half of our showroom is dedicated to the performance side - 2015 STi, BRZ, WR1, P1, 01MY STI Prodrive edition to name but a few.
I rally a GC8 Impreza, trackday a carbon 22B bodied Type R and my daily driver is a Series Mcrae.
Our Service Manager drives an SVX, our Sales Manager drives a Turbo 2000!
We have also invited a Subaru Club to our premises for an open day and for them to show off their cars.

Yes, the majority of the Subaru range are SUVs but this does not mean that we have turned our back on the STi despite it being a small market and limited supply! We were here when the first Legacy turbos came out, then the Impreza and all the special editions that followed including supplying two Type UK 22Bs.
The current STi has sold very well for us but without the other models to support the franchise we would not be in business!
We live and breath Subaru, how much more passion do you want?
It's not all doom and gloom.....:)

Simon

A bit of heart ruling the head there I think. There is no future in Subaru performance so don't waste half your showroom pal. I don't think anyone would question your passion for the brand as you have been part of the good times but surely its a mistake to get too caught up in the past ?

Mick, I absolutely disagree.
No, we will never again match the sales figures we reached with the Impreza Turbos in the 90s, but that's not to say that 'Subaru performance' has no future.
There will always be demand for high grade, unmolested special editions and used STis. The new model has also sold very well. If it didn't make good business sense we would not be doing it.
Just because we have been around a while doesn't mean we are stuck in the past! :)

Agree 100% Simon, well said. :thumb: