Pete-mojsh

Evening,

I've signed up as I am looking at get a subaru, more than likely a non-turbo impreza or legacy wagon. I know the first question will be why not a proper one, the answer being that I have a 4 month old and I would like to have a reliable and not too expensive to run day to day. Ideally a wrx wagon would have been my first choice but I want to buy outright rather than finance and keep some cash in reserve as my wife and I have a house midway through some renovations. I've looked at some other options but most are quite mundane, granted a 2.0 impreza or legacy aren't the most exciting but should be fine for the commute and taking the family everywhere we need to go.

Hopefully in 2-3 years when my daughter gets a mixture of free childcare and pre-school it will free me up to either get a wagon or have a second car for fun and family duties, would love one of the limited edition classics as a project but by that time they may be all rust.

One of my regrets is that I didn't just get an impreza before I got a mortgage and now wife and kid, responsibilities get in the way right now but it's something I'll get at some point.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Wouldn't bother with a non turbo version unless you live in the scottish highlands and really need the 4wd... they're painfully slow and use quite a lot of fuel, only average a 3/4mpg more than a turbo version, so you're looking at between 25/30 mpg ish combined depending on how it's driven.

You'd be better off getting something more economical and saving your pennies until you can afford a turbo.

matieboy

Both very reliable cars although not the most exciting or fuel efficient in non turbo form for the daily I've always had a Bmw or golf diesel for the daily I had a few years out of cars when my first daughter was born sounds like you have your responsibilities right though wife kids and mortgage always come first takes a while but once you learn to balance it all you'll soon make room for a few toys.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Just had a look to see what a Legacy weighs... best part of 1700kg trying to pull that around with 120bhp none turbo 2.0L engine, you'll be lucky to see 22mpg... you'll no doubt be revving the bollocks out of it everywhere which is not really conducive to saving money.

Sorry to pee on your strawberries, but just trying to stop you from doing something you may well regret, the wagons only weigh about 200kg less, their problem is handling is p!$$ poor and there isn't much you can do about it either as despite sharing the same shell, they don't have the anchorage points for roll bars.

They are pretty reliable though (as mentioned above) just don't expect anything from them performance or economy wise.

ryan51

I got a forester sti due to an expanding family.its a great all rounder,with some tasteful mods.its now served its purpose and is on the market.

Pete-mojsh

I would be looking at the 160 bhp Impreza and Legacy, not a lot of power there but enough, I had considered a Forester XT but not sure if that would fall in to the same sort of range as the Impreza WRX. A quick look on autotrader gives a few options;

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...Trim=XT&page=1



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...20Sport&page=1

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...had=New&page=1

Interesting that the non-turbos don't have exactly the same shell, I would have thought that most would be interchangeable.

WRX prices seem all over the place and although reliable in the main I wouldn't want to spend money on one only for something terminal to happen. It's a risk with any used car I suppose.

An Avensis would be the sensible move but I just don't want something so boring, I've not given up on life yet and with no immediate plans for another child I don't feel the need for an S Max.

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

Both the WRX and XT are very reliable and capable of huge mileage if looked after properly. Pretty easy to work on too which can save a lot. I really can't see any point in buying a non-turbo Subaru, with the exception of the 6 cylinder Legacy.

If your budget is £4k, then it's going to be a 10+year old car, with who knows how many owners and will be a gamble whatever you buy. May as well get something that you want; you're kidding yourself that there is a "sensible" option at that price.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

It's not the shells that are different, it's that they don't have the mounting points for rear roll bars... that said it was on a classic wagon, not sure about the newages.

The XT turbo is a decent motor, I had one a few years ago and you can add bits to them as they are basically the same bar the boot and exterior panels, go well enough but again can be a bit roley poley in the twisty bits, so don't expect much beyond decent overtaking power and some pull on the straights.

But yet again you'd do well to take note of the urban mpg figures listed at around 22mpg... you're going to struggle to get that and probably looking at combined of 25mpg... which isn't much fun if you're doing a reasonable amount of miles... 250 miles per tank and more like 200/220 if you give it some @ circa £60 per fill... and you don't get the reward of a good drive with the non turbos.

It may seem like I'm trying to put you off... which I am to a degree... but you need to go in with your eyes open, these cars are far from cheap to run... having had them myself for 13yrs, it's nice to now be in something that will do 5/600 miles to a tank, driven like it's stolen.

I don't think an Impreza derived engine is what you want right now if you're trying to save a bit of cash.

But hey, your life... your money.

Pete-mojsh

It's difficult to find something that fills my wants and needs, budget is open to a bit of creep as man maths allows but for the most part everything I look at has a flaw in some way;

Octavia TFSI VRS in hatch or estate - weak engines, bit of a time bomb, would need immediate cam chain and tensioner
Mondeo 2.5 in hatch or estate - higher mileages, ST engine
Accord 2.4 Type S estate - not many around, nice engine but a bit of a barge
Avensis tourer - will go on forever but so boring
Volvo V50 T5 - high mileages for budget
Mazda 6 2.5 hatch or estate - not many around, probably a bit dull
BMW e46 325-330 touring - rust, finding a manual, high mileages at strong money
Saab 2.0t estate - hard to find in lower mileages, my dad's diesel has had a few issues

I'd forgotten what a pain in the **** looking for a new car was.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Mazda 6 is not a bad drive, I used to quite like them compared to the opposition and have done around 30k in them as company lease cars, 10k at a time, as with most mazda's they handle pretty well... I've owned 3 mazda's, old 626 x 2 and 323 and they all drove well too, rust can be a problem and I know nothing of the engines the 6's were a bit plasticy but what isn't.

Had a Volvo V50 2.0L td, good enough but it is just a Focus in a fancy frock.

Out of your list I'd go for an Octavia VRS but the older one with the PD130 diesel engine if you can find one that's not been to the moon.

DTB

We had a 2.0 Legacy estate a few years ago - great family car when the kids were small. Sat nicely on the roads with the 4wd. Not at all fast and not economical (30 mpg), but comfortable in the front, loads of space in the rear for the kids, and a big enough boot to cope with everything we needed. Also had a wrx waggon at the same time and it was a rubbish family car - too bouncy in the back for the kids to be able to read or game on long journeys. Way too cramped in the rear seats too. If you're not too bothered about the mpg or going fast, which you won't want to do with kids in the car anyway, then a Legacy estate is a good family car.

That said, if I had to buy another family car I'd probably not buy another Legacy, but I would be very interested in a Seat Exeo. I think they're really nice inside - big, comfy, great sound system. Pretty good value for money by all accounts, in my opinion.

Pete-mojsh

Nice to know that the legacy is a capable family wagon, a spec b would be nice but 30mpg is a lot easier to take than 20.

I didn't think they did a 1.9 pd vrs in the octavia, in some ways I like the idea of a diesel but it would end up being mapped as it's so cheap, trouble would be if the dmf and clutch need replacing. Finding a 330d touring in manual is also difficult in e46 shape.

The exeo does look nice, just an a4 underneath isn't it? I have looked at the a4 avant but what I hear is that they are quite dull, they also all seem to be very poorly specced.

jonnyricer2

iTrader: (9)

Accord type s would be my choice. Solid Roomy mean looking reliable !!