[s-cars] Replacement car for urs4

[Taka Mizutani]

Wayne-
The only mid sized Subaru with a manual is a Legacy GT.

If you're okay with the '05-09 body style, I'd suggest looking for a Spec B
if you can find one- it has the STi 6-speed and tuned suspension. It's a
fair bit smaller than your S4- you'd have to get a '10+ Legacy GT to have a
larger car.

The E60 5 series would fit the bill, with AWD and a manual. I'd stay away
from the 535s due to the HPFP issues, though.

The '09+ A4 is about the same size as a C5 A6, so if you're okay with that
size of car, I'd take a good look at the current A4 or even the S4. You
can't get an A6 or A8 with a manual. I don't know what you're budget is,
that would help knowing what you're comfortable spending so we don't
recommend cars way out of your budget.

Taka


On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 9:17 PM, Wayne Dohnal <wd43 at hevanet.com> wrote:

> I must not be the only one thinking it's getting less and less practical to
> keep the S4 going.  It has 216,000 miles on the clock, and needs a new
> steering rack, new wheels, and with 100k miles the clutch probably won't
> last a whole lot longer.  The original fuel pump must be close to the end. I
> won't do the rack or clutch myself, so I'm looking at probably $4k to $5k
> over the next year or two that could be spent on a replacement car instead.
> I'm noticing that a lot of things like water hoses and vacuum hoses have
> turned hard and brittle.   I'm afraid that the age-related failures are
> going to be coming more and more often.
>
> I "love" the S4 for its comfort, convenience, and solid feeling.  And I
> can't figure out what would make for a good replacement.  I do a lot of
> winter and mountain driving.  A good AWD system is mandatory, I don't want
> one of the brain-dead automatics that's always doing the wrong thing, and
> I'm afraid of the maintenance exposure with a German automatic anyway.  I'd
> maybe take a CVT or DSG if I had to.  The A4 is too small.  An A6 or A8
> would be great, but I don't want the maintenance exposure of the twin turbo,
> and all the others have the slush boxes.   I think I just eliminated all of
> the USA Audis.  The 2012 Passat looks good, but it doesn't offer AWD. There
> are some BMWs with AWD.  I don't know if the AWD system is any good, and I
> don't have an unlimited budget either.  After weeding out everything I don't
> like, I think all that's left is Subaru.  Is there another good alternative
> that I'm not seeing?
>
> Wayne
> 1994 S4
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