me, I’m waiting on the Jeep
Commander to be offered in diesel, then color me in.
Honda accord wagon diesel
they sell them in England, imagine one of those with rubber floor covering like the Element. If 99% of ones driving is on paved roads I don’t see the utility of a higher cg vehicle for 65mph driving with 150lbs on the roof.
Subaru thoughts
Owned four over the years and managed to get 180k out of an 86. Wifes 98 has just over 100k.
I used to think they were great cars, and still do to some extent, BUT, having owned other brands my thinking is less favorable. My mechanic and I chatted recently about this and he agreed with my impression that the cars get costly to maintain at about 150k ish. That’s been my experience. Functional as can be, tough, but kinda maintenance heavy as the miles build. My wifes car has is following that path. My BMW’s by contrast have actually been more reliable and less costly! Rarely does stuff break, and the engineering is superior…clutch, pumps, brakes etc. Dodge Cummins truck (veg oil) 400k has been far superior. I think Toyota and Honda are perhaps better choices over the long haul. Mechanic loves Toyota, second Honda, third Subaru. Friend who is a rep trades his Subarus every 120k ish and agrees with my experience. Still, it’s a car that does all he needs.
So not bashing the cars at all, just offering some thinking based on my experience with that brand. When my wife buys a newer car I think we’ll look elsewhere.
Honda Element
I can’t speak to the WRX as I have only test driven it as well as the other Subaru models. My wife and I test drove a range of vehicles over a 4 month period as we searched for the right vehicle to meet our needs. We wound up buying the Element as we wanted something to replace our F150 4x4 Supercrew that would fit both our kayaking needs and our winter driving needs. The Honda Element has turned out to meet both those needs very well. If you want to see pictures of the Element hauling kayaks I have some at:
http://11000.spaces.live.com/
You will find pictures in the “Orcas Island Trip August 2006” photo album as well as several others.
Buying a vehicle can be a lot of fun and a lot of work depending on your purchasing habits. Have fun!
Hey cissifus…
I have been driving my 2007 Forester for about a week now. It is far more powerful/responsive than the 2002 model I had before. Having owned many Subarus over the past 25 years, this one is clearly my favorite. Interestingly, if I were to compare it to prior Subarus it handles very much like a hybrid of my prior Forester and an Outback in terms of acceleration, responsiveness, manueverability, and comfort. I am pleasantly surprised.
btw…hope your car purchase isn’t as elusive as that boulder!
Best…
Bob
Room not so good
If I’m the 6’4" friend, Wilsoj2, I’d better qualify the room thing with the Outback. I like the car overall, but the leg room is tight on the drivers side and really bad on the passenger side (I wonder what Subaru puts under the floor there to shorten it). In addition, the seats are too narrow if you’re a big person - the side bolsters really squeeze my hips.
Alan
07 Forester great but rack issues
had my 07 for several weeks . .love the car but struggle with roof racks for my kayak. I removed the factory crossbars and deciding to re-install, they can not be torqued tight enough and slide around on teh rails a bit. So I bought the Yakima feet and round bars instead. They were fine but now there is a terrible rattling noise within the roof and I think the rails have loosened on the roof. perhaps the Yakima stuff was just too plain heavy or intensive for the Forester rails. So back to the dealership to remove the roof material an dfind the noise.
get the WRX !
i use a thule rack system with a hullaport on the drivers side, and makos one the passenger side for now. i haul a tsunami 140 and a carolina 145 with no problems at all. here is a pic. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/wrxxx716/boats2.jpg
A real bummer Martin!
Hope it is a simple issue to resolve for you Martin. Please keep us posted, as I plan to place my Thule rack on the car this weekend. I used this same new rack on my last 2003 Forester and it worked beautifully. Had to pick up some new ‘feet’ ($30) for the 2007 rack setup.
Bob