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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Learn me WRX Wagons

Nov. 22, 2011 9:00 a.m. Drewsifer Dork

So I know I've been making a lot of these lately. However the wife pointed something out and I had to concede to her logic.

My wife is the one working right now. So she needs a small car to get to and from work efficiently. As I'm doing the baby duty right now, I'm the one that needs something bigger. So my hopes, my dreams, of getting a sport compact are destroyed.

My hopes and dreams of getting an awesome Wagon are rekindled! So when I think family capable fun car, my first stop is of course the Imprezza Wagon (WRX model of course). What can you guys learn me about these? There doesn't seem to be very many on the market right now and most are over 100k miles. This immediately has me concerned. That's a lot of miles no matter how you slice it.
Nov. 22, 2011 9:03 a.m. N Sperlo SuperDork

All I can tell you is that their super sweet. I'd take one.
Nov. 22, 2011 9:11 a.m. Woody SuperDork

I just sold my WRX sedan after 132k miles. One of the main reasons that I got rid of it was that with a child seat installed, there was no room for a two year old's legs. The child seat had to go behind the passenger seat and the front seat needed to be too far forward to be of any use. It became a two passenger car. It would probably be acceptable once the kids get a little older and can go without a car seat, or perhaps with a thin booster seat.

Aside from that, my clutch was original and didn't show any signs of failing any time soon, although I suspected that wheel bearings were about to become an issue. Also, I had just lost a catalytic converter (there are three) which may have been the result of worn motor mounts.

FYI.
Nov. 22, 2011 9:14 a.m. Jarod New Reader

I was shopping for a wrx wagon about a year ago. Ended up getting a forester xt manual instead. Harder to find, but less likely to be modded by an idiot. About the same price and all the wrx / sti stuff bolts up.
Nov. 22, 2011 11:06 a.m. sachilles Dork

Woody wrote:

I just sold my WRX sedan after 132k miles. One of the main reasons that I got rid of it was that with a child seat installed, there was no room for a two year old's legs. The child seat had to go behind the passenger seat and the front seat needed to be too far forward to be of any use. It became a two passenger car. It would probably be acceptable once the kids get a little older and can go without a car seat, or perhaps with a thin booster seat.

Aside from that, my clutch was original and didn't show any signs of failing any time soon, although I suspected that wheel bearings were about to become an issue. Also, I had just lost a catalytic converter (there are three) which may have been the result of worn motor mounts.

FYI.

Not experienced that myself with my almost 3 year old. Given genetics, he isn't a tall dude yet. Car seat does make a difference though. Love ours. However, if you have the child seat in the center spot, normal size folks can't fit comfortably on the other rear seats. We just recently got a 2005 legacy turbo sedan, more room inside. If you don't need a turbo, the 05 legacies can be had for relatively cheap.
Nov. 22, 2011 11:12 a.m. Brett_Murphy HalfDork

Skip the WRX wagon, get a good Forester. It is a much, much better family car.
Nov. 22, 2011 11:26 a.m. peter Reader

My '02 WRX wagon is great, but I'm not sure I'd call it efficient. 28mpg once on a light-footed all-highway drive, but usually lower. YMMV
Nov. 22, 2011 11:48 a.m. coll9947 Reader

My roommate's 2005 wagon has been great. Just now passed 100k, this car has been across the country and back several times. The in town mileage is 23 under his foot, 27-28 on the highway. Intake, Subaru dealership-upgrade exhaust. He's at the point where he's trying to decide to sink about a grand into a 100k mile tuneup (t-belt, w-pump, etc., etc.) or sell the car for a bit more than what he owes. (Idaho has a pretty high Subaru tax for good condition models. Beat up WRXs are overpriced as well.) Besides a 60k tune-up and a brake job it hasn't cost him a nickel. No repairs besides preventative maintenance. He doesn't beat on the car minus a few freeway on-ramp 0-60 blasts.

My gripes: He has the 6 disc changer, and the stereo screen is UNREADABLE in daylight, especially with sunglasses on. Parts of the interior feel incredibly cheap (push on one window switch on the driver's door, watch the whole panel flex). The seats can be punishing on long drives, at least for us lanky 6 footers. Back seats are very tight for adults if you have anyone above 5'8" in the front seats.

Seat fabrics and carpets have held up great. With seats folded down he can fit an incredible amount of stuff in there. The automatic climate control is easy to use with big ergonomic knobs.
Nov. 22, 2011 12:02 p.m. Osterkraut SuperDork

Love mine, but it has it's faults:
I regularly get 23mpg, mostly "city" (suburbia), so that's not that great. I mean my parent's CR-V destroys that.
The back seat legroom is much smaller than you think. I hear a lot of stories about how it's not a good fit for car seats. No an issue for this dude, but for a lot of people looking for a wagon, it is.

I may not really be my business, but if I recall correctly, you've made some threads about being tight on money... maybe not the best time to be paying a premium for a turbocharged little rocket. Perhaps you could buy a Forester, and as things get better, turbo that bitch.
Nov. 22, 2011 12:26 p.m. madmallard HalfDork

05 and before use the 2.0 block.

newer use the 2.5 block.

forester xt, also turbo, is the 2.5 block.
Nov. 22, 2011 1:54 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork

Don't they require premium gas too? Something to factor into the FE equation.
Nov. 22, 2011 2:55 p.m. DILYSI Dave SuperDork

Have one that I bought at 145k that just turned 200k. It's treated me well. Had to change the expansion valve a couple of years back to fix the AC, and I recently did brakes, front CV's, and front wheel bearings. Timing belt will be needed soon. Mine is bone stock, minus the 3" turbo back exhaust and STi springs. I like it a lot. Mileage kinda sucks, and yes - premium fuel, but you get rewarded with driving a fast-ish car. Never messed with a car seat in mine, but a 7 year old in a booster seat is just fine back there.
Nov. 22, 2011 3:21 p.m. corytate HalfDork

poopshovel wrote:

Don't they require premium gas too? Something to factor into the FE equation.

def premium gas.
friend let his g-ma drive his sti while he was deployed and she ran just 87 in it for 6+ months. didn't work out too well.
he dropped 3 cylinders.
out of 4.
Nov. 22, 2011 3:30 p.m. Woody SuperDork

My car got 23.5 mpg every tankful for 7 years, regardless of how it was driven.
Nov. 23, 2011 11:52 a.m. HiTempguy SuperDork

You should look at a (2005?) Legacy GT manual wagon. Solves all your problems IMO :D
Nov. 23, 2011 2:47 p.m. madmallard HalfDork

if you behave and never get over 5lbs of boost, i can get 28mpg.

...if I behave...
Nov. 23, 2011 6:30 p.m. Strizzo SuperDork

HiTempguy wrote:

You should look at a (2005?) Legacy GT manual wagon. Solves all your problems IMO :D

that is nearly a unicorn. i found one in all of the south, the next closest one was in omaha, NE, and the next closest was in colorado.

the LGT was available with the manual 05-07 in sedan form, 05-08 (iirc) in outback wagons, and 05 only in LGT wagon models.

ended up with a mazdaspeed3, that was two years ago, probably even harder to find one nowadays. fwiw, i averaged 24ish mpg combined, 20-22mpg all city (stop-and-go, rush hour type driving, worst tank ever was nearly all residential driving, and got the city rated 18mpg, best ever was on the cobb mpg tune on a 50/50 highway/city tank at 29.5 mpg), so don't rule those out either, nearly identical interior dimensions as the 06-07 wrx wagons, too, and i've had 3 kids aged 2, 5 and 6 in the back seat once time back when i had mine.
Nov. 23, 2011 7:17 p.m. HiTempguy SuperDork

Strizzo wrote:

that is nearly a unicorn. i found one in all of the south, the next closest one was in omaha, NE, and the next closest was in colorado.

the LGT was available with the manual 05-07 in sedan form, 05-08 (iirc) in outback wagons, and 05 only in LGT wagon models.

Up here in Canuckland, I've never saw an automatic equipped turbo wagon yet. I understand the rarity (mainly the wagons are already rare). People make it seem like a big deal to fly and buy, but it really isn't. $200 in plane tickets plus a couple thousand k of driving isn't a big deal if you are really keen on getting the right vehicle.
Nov. 23, 2011 7:53 p.m. Strizzo SuperDork

HiTempguy wrote:

Strizzo wrote:

that is nearly a unicorn. i found one in all of the south, the next closest one was in omaha, NE, and the next closest was in colorado.

the LGT was available with the manual 05-07 in sedan form, 05-08 (iirc) in outback wagons, and 05 only in LGT wagon models.

Up here in Canuckland, I've never saw an automatic equipped turbo wagon yet. I understand the rarity (mainly the wagons are already rare). People make it seem like a big deal to fly and buy, but it really isn't. $200 in plane tickets plus a couple thousand k of driving isn't a big deal if you are really keen on getting the right vehicle.

here is the search for any distance from houston, there are three legacy GT wagons with the 5 speed on autotrader, closest is 675 miles away, the others are 1000+. its a whole lot harder to find/buy any car with a manual trans in the US than it is to in canada.

Link

if you're paying cash and not trading in, and maybe not buying a DD car, fly and drive can work just fine, but it also basically requires committing to buy sight unseen, flying out, buying and driving back. i prefer to do a bit more researching on something that is going to be my only mode of transportation.

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