quattro Digest, Vol 3, Issue 58, Re: I am fed up!

[Brendan K. Walsh]

My 2 cents...
93 subaru legacy turbo, PITA, blown brake booster @ 110k, try finding it for
under $400us, and try stopping without it., main pully cracked(yes, cracked
in half, thank god for non-interference motors), cam bearing seized, all in
a 2 week period, tranny was not happy and heading for a rebuild. now at this
point the car had 130k, but the oil was changed like religion all other
maintenance on schedule. to me it implies a poor quality in oem parts,
especially the pully. Cast parts should not crack in normal driving. spark
plugs are plenty easy to reach with two extansions and a flex to get around
the master cylinder, winshield washer resevoir, and the mass of other tubes
crammed in there.  I liked the performance of the car 160hp 180ft\lbs of
torque even with the autobox it was still fun, but reliability was a major
issue. the flat four is damn near impossible to work on, excluding the
belts. parts are sent in on a raft from japan into a headwind, 3 months to
get a caliper!!! I can't imagine what it would be like to work on a WRX.
smaller chassis, plus that giant intercooler wedged in there? as for the
inside, the most comfortable seats i've ever had, headroom was a non-issue
at 6' even. Great car if you don't have to fix it, or can pay someone
else...
But hey, that's my opinion i could be wrong.

brendan
Northern nj

----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry C. Leung" <l.leung at juno.com>
To: <quattro at audifans.com>
Cc: <superba at comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 4:29 AM
Subject: Re: quattro Digest, Vol 3, Issue 58, Re: I am fed up!


> Never had problems reaching the plugs on the late-dad now
> my beater Gen 1 Legacy. It's a comparatively cheaply appointed
> car, but can't argue with it's performance. Really as much fun as
> a stock 4KQ (had one), and this one's saddled with a slushbox.
> Overall, maintenance has been relatively easy on the car, but, due
> to a complete dirth of aftermarket parts, quite expensive. The only
> discount source is Liberty Subaru or northern NJ, whom offers
> internet discounted parts. Still not as good in terms of prices as
> TPC, Clair (Carlsen no longer discounts to Audifans), Mountain,
> etc, and limited to dealer OEM parts. If you can deal with the lesser
> quality of materials, mostly noted on even the newer cars interiors
> (GF has a 2001 Legacy GT Limited, another close friend has a 2002
> Legacy GT and a 100CSQA, so I have some experience), they seem
> to be decent enough cars, the later ones are greatly improved over my
> beater. But, they aren't as nicely appointed as newer VAG products
> (nue Beetle an exception, yuck!) and I still wonder, despite the crash
> test ratings) on their body integrity. Paint isn't much to write home
> about
> either. But, I guess you get what you pay for, they sure don't cost the
> same as VAG products either (6 cyl models excepted). As far as dealer
> relations, haven't really had any issues crop up, but the beater is old.
> And
> Liberty is actually quite pleasant to deal with. They will happily honor
> I-net prices even though I pick up parts.
>
> LL - NY
>
>
> > Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 19:00:01 -0800
> > From: lrickert at covad.net
> > Subject: Re: I am fed up!
> > To: quattro at audifans.com,
> > Message-ID: <HD95JF4ZTOYX83HEIA01GC051XMJ6.40035f31 at upstairs>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> >
> >  1/12/04 18:28:25, "superba" <superba at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> > >Hi All,
> > >
> > >I'm appalled and dismayed at the attitude of AoA.  Some have
> > suggested other
> > >brands.  Does anyone have experience with the 4WD Subarus?  Do they
> > have
> > >enough headroom for someone with a long torso?  Say 6' 2"?
> >
> > headroom in a Subaru is not a problem, it is finger room that makes
> > me hate
> > them. Sure every car has things that go wrong or could have been
> > better designed
> > but when those problems are claimed by the manufacturer to be
> > positives it gets
> > ridiculous. Take the flat-4 engine with the heads down between the
> > frame rails,
> > now try to change the sparkplugs! It is a total PITA and this is
> > just
> > sparkplugs.  Audi's customer service sounds terrible but Subaru is
> > not the
> > answer.  If you aren't going with Audi/VW then I would suggest
> > Nissan/Infiniti
> > and some good snow tires as they don't offer too much in awd.
> > Although the G35
> > is coming with AWD these days so if that is within budget it would
> > definitely be
> > worth considering.
> >
> > luke
> >
>