Sound deadening - yes. I did a trailer hitch install and wiring on both GLK and 'Trek. You can see where mercedes spends the extra monies on build quality, sound deadening, better materials, etc. That's why they cost twice as much. When I first got mine the tinny doors bothered me - I was used to the benzo closing like a vault. So I was going to remove door panels and apply sound deadening at least around the handles, maybe do wheel wells, etc. Hell, the manual trans model doesn't even come with a hood pad - only the cvt for it's extra buzzi-ness. But here I am four months in and it's moreorless forgotten. You get used to little things that annoyed you in the beggining. I will tell you the factory nav in them is pretty much universally panned, but comes with the sunroof and leather, so if you want the latter you get the former. Can't get any of that stuff with the stick. Don't let her drive the Mercedes or Audi unless you are prepared to pony up for the bigger $$. They are all in the mid-40's and up from there. They are nice, but you need the income or cash to back the purchase. And they have their problems, and can be quite expensive to keep running out of warranty. Wifey likes her convertibles here in so-Cal. She likes to drive in the heritage day parade every year, hauling some kind of celebrity or dignitary. We had a 325Cic for 8 years, an 01, had 114K when we sold it. Fantastic car, but I spent thousands just on parts keeping it in tip-top shape. It would burn through $800 in tires and $500 in brakes every 15-18K miles. And that's just the beginning. She wanted a new one but $55K was out of the question. I almost had her talked into a new 328 sedan and then suggested a Mercedes C250 coupe. Has the new turbo-4 in it, gets 26mpg with almost 300hp. Her dream was to drive a benzo (I've had 6 of them) so that's what she got. It stickered for $40K and has a 4 cylinder. With staggered 18's it rides hard, and the suspension is very firm. It's quiet and luxurious and a lot less money than the bimmer 'vert. She's happy and I'm happy. Residuals are very high on them, and MBZ Bank NA does the leases, so payments are low - we bought down the cap with some money from selling the old bimmer, $325/mo on a lease. If it's a good car at 3 years we'll buy it out. If not, it goes back. I prefer to lease a car. It's like a 3-year test drive. If you like it you buy it, if not you give it back. Take the tax deduction for business use and write everything off. No down, low payments, pick up the balance at the end if you like it. I find residuals are set for at or below wholesale at the end so if you buy it you get it under-market, if you sell it outright you should have some equity. I was able to trade off my GLK after 30 months on a 3-year lease, no issue. I think the Subaru guys were a little surprised trading in a Mercedes Benz for a Subaru. But then it was gonna need $1200 for tires (Continental 19's) so I just put that into inception fees on the new Crosstrek. My payments went from $468 to $334. Wifey liked that too. We went from 2 six cylinder cars to fours, both with about 25% better fuel economy.
no one has mentioned TDI in a while. test drive some VW's. i have the golf TDI. definitely quiet and solid little car. mine might be for sale, depending on how i feel that day.
I like the TDI's.....a lot. She's diesel-averse, however. Plus, her driving will consist of a lot of short hauls, which favors hybrid over diesel. Tiguan is on our list, though I think she'll find it too big (like the Acura RDX she's already stricken from the list).
I decided to just check how it feels to have a dirt bike on hitch carrier with my xv. I had it for few months now, and it's really good for the money. BTW - I am planning to use a trailer, that was a quick test drive. It feels fine, I can carefully drive it to a local dirt bike place if needed. But probably wouldnt go cross country. I installed 2" hitch.
Looks cool, a ktm on a ktm-subaru. Holy crap though, that hitch is just bolted to sheetmetal on the back of the car. It's rated for about 200lbs of tongue weight. A 250lb bike hanging off the back puts leverage on hitch of about twice that, or close to 500 lbs. You're not kidding - I wouldn't take that cross country either. :huh I put the CURT hitch on mine for a bicycle carrier and for my bike trailer. I towed the trailer over to the tile store last weekend to get materials, ended up getting 1100lbs of tile, 300lbs of thinset, and the trailer weighs about 650. The car is rated to tow 1500lbs. Man, I wouldn't want to go very far with that load either. Braking was almost scary. And talk about gutless. It did it, but you could tell it was way maxed out. Keep it light for the 'trek - it's just a 4-banger economy car.
Agree. I just wanted to see what would happen. It actually sagged less than Tacoma or 4 runner I used to have. I drove about 3 miles at slow speed. I am going to use hitch for trials bike only.
Yikes! I had a setup like that on my Frontier. With just my WR250F, the truck felt scary to drive. I couldn't imagine it with a Subaru! BTW: they do look good together (all that orange)!
I've had an 06 forester, 06 STI and a 10 outback 3.6R. I swear by them and will own another, I've just always wanted a truck. STI was least depreciating car I've ever owned and none of them ever had issues. Not partucularly efficient compared to what I was driving in Europe but the reliability over VWs in the US more than makes up for it. D
Really? I carried my WR250F all over on my '05 Fronty 4x4. I hardly noticed it was on the back unless it wasn't secured well enough.
Yep, drove like shit. It was a 2005, too (the NISMO). On the highway, the front felt seriously unloaded.
So, just dropped off my BRZ to get the fuel pump repaired and they gave me an orange Crosstrek as a loaner. My impression after a 45 mile drive to work: I like it! Very smooth, very comfortable (though the seats need more side support, or I'm just too used to my BRZ seats) and it proved quite nice for my highway commute. Even better, the mpg gauge read 38 when I arrived at work, without me having to reset it. I assume this car is equipped with the new 2.0 liter and CVT transmission... If so, I found that I didn't mind the transmission on this at all. I really, really, seethingly despised the CVT on my Legacy, but this one just seems to fit the vehicle well. Also, the engine delivered plenty of power and was quite capable. I guess I really like the car. I may take more backroads this afternoon to get back to the dealer and see how I like the Crosstrek under those conditions.
haven't you said the same thing about the VW's? do you attract bad cars or do you seek them out then buy them.
The Subaru CVT really is a turd of a transmission in the Legacy, but wasn't so bad in the Crosstreck that I drove for all of 100+/- miles.
I've been drooling over these, too. Currently in a '12 beetle turbo. I'd like more utility. Can't wait to test drive one!
I think they've got the CVT sorted out pretty well now. I test drove a new Forester with one and thought it worked very well, and I've never really liked automatic transmissions.
Just about everyone that drives a 'trek with the CVT says it works quite well. The problem with the 2.0/CVT combo is it's only 148hp so if you mash the throttle the little motor buzzes at a constant drone while the trans accellerates the car. The harder you mash it the higher the drone. This is offensive to the senses for some. But it provides for better fuel economy that even the 5spd manual, and makes for clutchless driving. I really had no choice with wanting to be able to tow mine 4-down behind the RV - the manual can do that while the CVT cannot. I really do like the 5spd, and it's one of the best manual transmissions I've ever driven, albiet pretty long throws and certainly not a performance box like a Porsche. It's reportedly one of the best mannered CVT's on the market. You really need to go test them and see if it fits your needs and wants. Some are expecting a more quiet and refined car than it is though, afterall it is an economy car first, all-wheel drive crossover next. It's a great car but surely not to the likes of a premium german car - BMW, Mercedes, or Audi. Similar or better to Honda though, better than the new korean cars out there.
Had a test drive this afternoon. Loved it! It was a silver with a stick. Great little car! I'm going to see what they think of a trade. Anybody want a black 12 turbo beetle with a stick?
