s3q and s4 coupe quattro

[Larry C Leung]

Taka,

Well, my parents 1st gen Legacy has been relatively reliable (though it
does have a few electrical gremlins), but the cheapness of, particularly
the interior plastics, had meant that numerous interior bits have broken
or worn. My GTi's interior has similar problems, but to a lesser degree,
and it's 4 years older and has some 40 K more miles. And my 4KQ had none
of those kind of problems. In addition, the Sube's paint just plain
stinks. For a car with 80K miles, it's stone chipping and surface rust
problems (due to worn through paint) are notably worse than than my 200Q,
not saying that the appearance of the car is bad or anything, but just
the pitting and chipping is MUCH more noticable than my 200, which has
more than twice the miles. The fit/finish problems on at least the 1st
gen Legacy's appears to be more of a problem with Subies than other
Japanese cars of the same generation that I've known, although I'd have
to say that the finish of one friend's '86 Civic Si Autocrosser with
similar milage as my GTi (known him through the SCCA for all 16 years
that I've run) didn't seem to hold up as well as my GTi, and both cars
were equally well cared for. 

Not saying that Japanese cars are bad cars, nor am I saying that they
won't run reliably for as long, but the quality of the finish and
materials just don't seem to hold up as well as the German cars, though
I'd say they hold up as well as the 'Merican ones. 

LL - NY

On Sun, 21 Oct 2001 11:16:44 -0400 "TM" <t44tq at mindspring.com> writes:
>Larry,
>I think you're speculating a bit too much- the Imprezas are pretty
>bulletproof little cars- they're reliable and cheap. I don't think
>they have any significant failings as you say- they may feel cheap,
>but they'll keep on running strong w/o major problems.
>
>I'm certain other listers will regale me with horror stories now
>that I post this, but my personal and my family's experience with
>Japanese cars has been singularly stellar- our Nissans and one Mazda
>have been damn near perfect 32 combined years of ownership and 
>approx.
>310k miles, all purchased new.
>
>I was seriously considering getting the '92 Legacy wagon 5-spd. that
>is advertised at my mechanics' shop while my car is sitting dead,
>unable to start, although I really don't like the look of the 1st gen
>Legacys so that won't happen.
>
>Now a Dodge Neon- that's a whole different story. That car is simply
>a cheap POS. I've talked to mechanics (incl. at dealerships) who have
>had to pull heads at 50k and stuff like that because the engines 
>don't
>last. I'd rather take the '91 Golf that I saw advertised in the paper
>yesterday at $1800 w/ 90k miles on it rather than a new Neon. Yuck.
>
>I'll put a WRX against an Audi A4/S4 any day for a reliability test.
>Even with the A4, the electrics still suck- instrument clusters and
>radio displays failing, climate control displays failing, window 
>switches,
>sunroof switches, when will they ever fix this stuff?
>
>I hate to admit it, but if Nissan made an AWD car that had the 
>driving
>feel of a BMW, the AWD capability of an Audi quattro and the styling 
>of
>anything other than their in-house people, I'd get it. The Skyline 
>GT-R,
>if it were available in LHD form, would be my pick, as an official 
>import
>by Nissan USA.
>
>Taka
>