Subaru people/fanbois...

SilverFleet wrote: The 2009 on the other hand is what turned me off from Subarus. On paper, it seemed great: a genuine 13-second all-season daily driver for around $25k? I signed up, and I regret that. The car had extremely shoddy build quality, rattly interior, transmission, clutch, pedal (yes the effing pedals!!!) and turbo issues, and would always vibrate at highway speeds no matter how many times I balanced the wheels or aligned the car. The dealers wanted thousands of dollars just to diagnose some of the issues, even with the "Subaru Gold Plus" warranty that I paid extra for. Good riddance to that turd.

See, this is why we all have different views on things. I have a 2009 also, with 80k miles on it now. I've had exactly one problem: mine was the "first batch" that had bad crank bearings. So at 9k miles I got a full new longblock and turbo under warranty with almost no hassle. Since then, I have had not one problem with any part of the car in the 71k since.

My interior had 1 or 2 rattles, easily fixed with some foam tape. I love the seats, and I love the easy-to-clean interior (since I make a mess of it on road trips). Tranny and clutch are stock and still great. Pedals are fine (I had a creak for a month one winter, but it went away), and it is perfectly smooth at 90mph (and I've had three sets of the stock SP Sport01 tires, which are very good but admittedly wear out quickly with my driving style).

So two of use can have the same car and completely different experiences. Not because I'm a "fanboi" but because I simply haven't had those problems.

Then again, the only cars that I've owned that are regular "problem children" are the Triumph (expected) and the Jeep (a constant stream of issues forced me to sell it finally out of sheer frustration). Maxima, WRX, Accord, Civic, Integra, Mazda3.....none of those cars I've owned had any significant problems at all....IDK

AutoXR wrote: IF your car is so superior why did I just beat you in a mustang with suspension by John Deer?

duh.

because it wasn't snowing

Funny part about me DD'ing a WRX and rallycrossing an e30:

I get to take E36 M3 from the slowest subaru out there......

and while we're bitching about things. Why the hell doesn't GRM have a multi-quote feature like every other "fanboi" forum on the entire interwebz?

SilverFleet wrote: I now daily drive a Mazda 3, and my only regret is not buying the excellent Mazdaspeed 3 instead of that last WRX. I would have bought it when I bought my current one, but I wanted fancy schmancy features and better gas mileage this time around.

I very much enjoy my Mazdaspeed 3 but the forums for that car are some of the most vile I've ever seen. I'd rather diagnose my problem myself or read what Cobb and Cork have to say than read some of spew on there. Often the top thread on Google starts with a "STFU and search noob" which makes little to no sense to me since the actual answer to my question is ever included in the sea of idiocy.

Mostly it's because there's no repercussions for being a complete shiny happy person online.

The first few years of the wrx & sti made for some great car meets/events, awesome group of people; not so much now-a-days.

You guys need to check out clubrsx or hondatech. Aside from the autox/track subforums, both are the automotive equivalent of an episode of Cops.

JtspellS wrote: I've been looking for a P5 site for a while, witch one if you don't mind me asking . Mazdas247.com has been quite hit and miss for me

The Protege5 site linked to mazda247. Protege5.com, like I said, it's got a bunch of "kids" but just because they're young doesn't mean it's not civil and a good source of info (esp if you want to add a turbo or enhance its looks but there is plenty of drivetrain related info too)

nicksta43 wrote: The E21 section of Bimmerforums is not bad. But that's the only section I go to.

Same with the E38 section. Friendly, helpful and mature. It's obvious most peopel here go to the 3 series forums where the more obnoxious kids are.

jhaas wrote:

Sky_Render wrote: Subaru people aren't nearly as bad as VW fanbois.

VWvortex.com bwahahaha

That's mostly in the model specific forums. TCL (The Car Lounge) portion of the Vortex is general automotive and almost anti-VW and a great place for car news and car discussion. It's also own of the largest communities (and oldest) for car discussions on the web with a lot more variety than anywhere else.

irish44j wrote: So two of use can have the same car and completely different experiences. Not because I'm a "fanboi" but because I simply haven't had those problems.

I think that's more a testament to their inability to get a grasp on QC. I hear the same thing, either it's a perfect car with no issues, or it is a complete bastard for repairs and spends more time in the shop than on the road. THere doesn't seem to be much in between.

That just tells me their QC sucks donkey balls.

The0retical wrote:

SilverFleet wrote: I now daily drive a Mazda 3, and my only regret is not buying the excellent Mazdaspeed 3 instead of that last WRX. I would have bought it when I bought my current one, but I wanted fancy schmancy features and better gas mileage this time around.

I very much enjoy my Mazdaspeed 3 but the forums for that car are some of the most vile I've ever seen. I'd rather diagnose my problem myself or read what Cobb and Cork have to say than read some of spew on there. Often the top thread on Google starts with a "STFU and search noob" which makes little to no sense to me since the actual answer to my question is ever included in the sea of idiocy. Mostly it's because there's no repercussions for being a complete shiny happy person online.

I 100% agree. I still can't find a single good forum to look up ANYTHING other than crappy appearance mods (like putting HID's in foglights) for my 3. I have been looking for a tutorial to change my tranny fluid and I can't find anything.

irish44j wrote:

SilverFleet wrote: The 2009 on the other hand is what turned me off from Subarus. On paper, it seemed great: a genuine 13-second all-season daily driver for around $25k? I signed up, and I regret that. The car had extremely shoddy build quality, rattly interior, transmission, clutch, pedal (yes the effing pedals!!!) and turbo issues, and would always vibrate at highway speeds no matter how many times I balanced the wheels or aligned the car. The dealers wanted thousands of dollars just to diagnose some of the issues, even with the "Subaru Gold Plus" warranty that I paid extra for. Good riddance to that turd.

See, this is why we all have different views on things. I have a 2009 also, with 80k miles on it now. I've had exactly one problem: mine was the "first batch" that had bad crank bearings. So at 9k miles I got a full new longblock and turbo under warranty with almost no hassle. Since then, I have had not one problem with any part of the car in the 71k since. My interior had 1 or 2 rattles, easily fixed with some foam tape. I love the seats, and I love the easy-to-clean interior (since I make a mess of it on road trips). Tranny and clutch are stock and still great. Pedals are fine (I had a creak for a month one winter, but it went away), and it is perfectly smooth at 90mph (and I've had three sets of the stock SP Sport01 tires, which are very good but admittedly wear out quickly with my driving style). So two of use can have the same car and completely different experiences. Not because I'm a "fanboi" but because I simply haven't had those problems. Then again, the only cars that I've owned that are regular "problem children" are the Triumph (expected) and the Jeep (a constant stream of issues forced me to sell it finally out of sheer frustration). Maxima, WRX, Accord, Civic, Integra, Mazda3.....none of those cars I've owned had any significant problems at all....IDK

I did like a few things about the car, don't get me wrong. I really liked the seats, the steering wheel, and the gauges. And when things were going good, the car would HAUL. It was very quick. It was still slower than MA$$hole's old MS3 though. That car always destroyed mine.

As disappointed as I was in the car, I was far more disappointed in Subaru as a company. They didn't stand behind their product, even though I paid extra for that warranty. YMMV obviously, but I'm not buying a new one again.

I will however probably buy another 02-07 WRX at some point for toy duty.

I bought my WRX in 02 back when nobody knew what they were. I took the S-U-B-A-R-U badging off the trunk and literally had people coming up to me asking what the hell it was. I drag raced it and people were always asking if I added a turbo or what I'd done to my Neon. It was hilarious.

It was all good and fun until 6-9 months later and I was at a car show and somebody had a WRX and had covered every wire and hose in the engine bay in that red plastic wire loom cover you get at Radio Shack.

It was then that I knew they had found us and that it would soon be over.

I'll say that when I bought my Impreza brand new in 05, I thought it was the greatest car ever. I ended up selling it three years later for money reasons, and I regretted that. It was a great ownership experience. The local club was great, full of rally nerds, that were busy helping each other. And I didn't get any sort of problem with the car.

Fast forward to last October, and I went and bought myself a 130K 2005 Saabaru Aero. And it's going back for sale by the end of the week. Things have changed since 08. The local club is not a shadow of it's former self. It seems to be populated by kids who want to fastest Subaru in the world, for the least amount of money. Yet when they sell a used part, they want the same price as a new part. The only activities now seem to involve parking.

And a 130K of iffy ownership sure has taken the shine of the Subaru. I am starting to live an experience similar to the GRM wagon.

Bobzilla wrote:

irish44j wrote: So two of use can have the same car and completely different experiences. Not because I'm a "fanboi" but because I simply haven't had those problems.

I think that's more a testament to their inability to get a grasp on QC. I hear the same thing, either it's a perfect car with no issues, or it is a complete bastard for repairs and spends more time in the shop than on the road. THere doesn't seem to be much in between. That just tells me their QC sucks donkey balls.

sounds a lot like many other manufacturers as well, though, including traditional "quality" makers like BMW.

fanfoy wrote: Fast forward to last October, and I went and bought myself a 130K 2005 Saabaru Aero. And it's going back for sale by the end of the week. Things have changed since 08. The local club is not a shadow of it's former self. It seems to be populated by kids who want to fastest Subaru in the world, for the least amount of money. Yet when they sell a used part, they want the same price as a new part. The only activities now seem to involve parking.

So, you're selling the car because the club and the forums and events aren't cool any more?

Go to a rallycross - that's where the cool subaru people get together. We actually ahve a Saabaru running with us as well :)

One more jab at Subaru :

Usually, when you buy a car, the insurance rates go down over time. Not with a WRX. Both of mine went UP every year during ownership due to all the kids around here buying them and wrecking them constantly. Not sure if it's like that anywhere else in the country, but up here in MA, that's what was going on.

The same can probably be said about other performance cars, but I've never experienced that with any of the other cars I've owned.

And my 1st WRX had issues too, but I was too blinded by my unconditional love for the car to care. I think I've mentioned it before but some of the more annoying things to happen were:

-Howling rear diff at exactly 62mph -driver seat track snapped while driving -the infamous cold weather fuel line leakage that they refused to acknowledge for years that dumped raw fuel all over the hot engine

From what others have dealt with on theirs, I got it easy.

And like I said before, I still want to get another 2002-07 WRX and would without hesitation if the right deal came up. I'd really like to get a 2006 model, preferably Aspen White and in wagon form.

SilverFleet wrote: I was too blinded by my unconditional love for the car to care.

....said everyone who owns an old British sports car.

irish44j wrote:

SilverFleet wrote: I was too blinded by my unconditional love for the car to care.

....said everyone who owns an old British sports car.

Some cars just do that to you.

For example, take my 1979 Trans Am.

It's made two real strong attempts at killing me so far. One time, the engine caught fire while driving. I was extremely lucky that a stranger with a fire extinguisher in his full-size Blazer stopped to help. Another time while gibing it a tune-up, my hand got locked on the distributor and I couldn't let go. My dad was luckily nearby and knocked me away from the car. That hurt A LOT and has made me extremely weary of working on automotive electrical components to this day. And I won't get started writing the word castle that details every failed component the car has eaten in the past 11 years.

But it's still in my driveway, and I still pine for the (rare) days when I would cruise down the road with the windows down blaring some sort of 80's metal out of the 6x9's.

SilverFleet wrote:

irish44j wrote:

SilverFleet wrote: I was too blinded by my unconditional love for the car to care.

....said everyone who owns an old British sports car.

Some cars just do that to you. For example, take my 1979 Trans Am. It's made two real strong attempts at killing me so far. One time, the engine caught fire while driving. I was extremely lucky that a stranger with a fire extinguisher in his full-size Blazer stopped to help. Another time while gibing it a tune-up, my hand got locked on the distributor and I couldn't let go. My dad was luckily nearby and knocked me away from the car. That hurt A LOT and has made me extremely weary of working on automotive electrical components to this day. And I won't get started writing the word castle that details every failed component the car has eaten in the past 11 years. But it's still in my driveway, and I still pine for the (rare) days when I would cruise down the road with the windows down blaring some sort of 80's metal out of the 6x9's.

I have a Subaru, a BMW, and a Triumph. I guess that's the trifecta :)

Aaaannnd this is why I bought a Forester XT and not an STI or a WRX.

Also, if you want some real hate, go to rx7club.com and post a V8 RX-7 build.

Didn't have time to read all post but the thing is the repsonses I got from my complaints came from non-vehicle specific forums. Just fanboys on that forum.

The cheapness complaint comes from selling something for lets say $500. Over the web the person agrees to said price, sets a date and time to make transaction. I show up and the people (this has happened thrice times) shows up and offers $300 or $400 and says "That's all the cash I have." Granted all of these individuals were brotatoes with flat brims, it was enough of a sample of the current Subaru community to piss me off and compose this thread.

And I know it's Jalopnik but at least some part of the automotive world agrees with me on the interior. http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-most-annoying-flaws-of-great-cars-456805677

Irish - i see you made post in both volume and extent. This thread wasn't directed at you.

dirtyimpreza.com is a great forum but not a whole lot going on. I can go weeks on visiting it and maybe see like 10 new post.

DirtyBird222 wrote: Irish - i see you made post in both volume and extent. This thread wasn't directed at you.

you know I just like to argue about anything I happen to have some knowledge (or opinions) on, haha...... and I like doing it here because people will actually shoot down my arguments intelligently instead of just saying "STFU ur car not low enough dummy"

The WRX is what it is.....300hp+AWD+4 doors for $25k. I've come to grips with the compromises to get the performance for the price.

I got the 09 sedan because it doesn't look like a WRX, so I don't really have to deal with the WRX "flatbrim stigma" since everyone just thinks I'm driving a Corolla . Until they see it go :)

DirtyBird222 wrote: And I know it's Jalopnik but at least some part of the automotive world agrees with me on the interior. http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-most-annoying-flaws-of-great-cars-456805677

I will note that the title of that piece is "The Ten Most Annoying Flaws Of Great Cars".....suggesting that they think the WRX is a great car, even with the rattles ;)

Marque-specific auto forums, in general, are awful.

www.Galant VR-4.org seems to be populated with adults