Juan

Blitz, your story sounds plausable. Only problem is that people were fired and forced to resign. And, by the way, the replacement CEO came from Mexico where Coke is still bottled using cane sugar. Anyway, this is a Subaru board. Let's talk cars, OK? Juan.

OK. I see. The CEO and marketers at Coke set out to deliberately and irreparably damage the image, brand loyalty and stock holders' equity of what is, arguably, the strongest brand the world has ever known; all in an attempt to secretly lower costs and lose their jobs. Good plan. Juan.

Blitz, we may never know if a rear wing was approved. What we do know is that no company would deliberately damage the image and loyalty of a strong brand. You can't possibly believe "the whole "New Coke" fiasco was nothing more than a media advertising gimmick"? The brand loyalty, equity value and market share that Coke lost to Pepsi was never fully recovered. Even the CEO lost his job at Coke over that fiasco. While I don't think the marketers at Subaru have hurt brand loyalty or image, the marketing morons hired by Subaru will lose their jobs, just like those at Coke did. Juan

Get four studded tires on rims and be ready to pop them on at a moment;s notice - you can't put chains on it. Juan

I'm certain that the fiasco surrounding the introduction of the "new Coke" resulted in marketing morons being fired anyway. I'm betting none of the 'formulists' got canned -no pun intended- and rightly so. One can only hope that marketing morons at Subaru are being replaced. Don't blame the designers. I don't know why they just didn't approve of a 2-1/2 foot rear wing on top of it. Remember the Dodge Daytona? Huh? That was cool. Juan

I'm assuming that you are getting your gas milage figures from your dash readout. How accurate do you feel it is? I've got 6,000 on my '05 automatic and I'm seeing better gas milage on the readout. Juan

Ever had seven people in it?

I like the 1/2 gas tank advise. Also am in agreement with the 'drive like hell' and rev the pea wad out of it. Is it true that my '05 yearns to be revved/driven at around 4 RPM? Just seems kinda harsh. I've found that I can't play a tune on the tranny using the gas pedal. This car (truck?) is just not set up to do that. I've simply resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to actually drive mine and think at the same time ie: use the manual shift mode instead of kicking back and letting the thing shift for me. I sure would like to drive it at around 3.5 RPM, though. You sure that wouldn't hurt it? Juan

The tranny stays in third gear, or any manually selected gear, UNTIL you slow to a stop. In fact, the tranny ALWAYS shifts down into first as you come to a near/full stop and stays there until you manually take it back on up. Revved the crap out of mine in stop-and-go traffic one day because I thought it was still in second - uh-uh. It had shifted into first. I sure miss the old '98. Juan

'98 L wagon had a few "attributes" that were annoying to me: Tranny "rumble" in Drive while stopped at light. Tech always told me it was a "normal attribute for this model". Piston slapping noise which gets progressively worse and is alarming at cold start up - something about short cylinder sleeves. Again "Normal attribute for this model." Window washers clogged. Probably a way to prevent this. Check BOTH before you buy. Ignition relay/switch failure at 70,000 miles. Would turn the key four or more times, "Click" "Click" "Click" "Click" , then car would start with 3,000 RPM idle. Finally starter stuck engaged, even with the key out! Fastest 10mm wrench hunt in the history of the world to disconnect battery. Also four recalls for this car: Alternator fails. Mine went at 32,000 miles/39 months and Subie service manager told me I was out of warrenty. Had to fight to get it under warrenty.Three weeks later the recall hit my mail box. Rear differential boot/seal failure would allow oil to drip on exhaust. Monkeys at Jiffylube noticed that one at about 18,000 miles. Again, three weeks later the recall hit my mail box. Master brake cylinder failure in sub-zero temps. Automatic shift-linkage would allow slip from drive to reverse without pressing thumb button. Noticed mine could still be made to slip even after the recall work. Showed Subie tech, but he wasn't impressed. Check yours. Other than that, the car was great. Lots of power when I played a tune on the tranny using the gas pedal - it was very predictable. A little low on ground clearance, but more wheel-well room than the Outback so that I could actually use cable chains. You do know that you're not supposed to use ANY traction devices on a Subaru, don't you? Juan

Chilly, you didn't mention if it had all the recall work done on it: Alternator Master brake cylinder (prone to failure at ten-degrees below freezing) Differential boot replacement. Oil leaks on exhaust (so prevailent that the monkeys at Jiffy lube noticed it on mine before the recall came out.) Auto tranny linkage: tendancy to slip into reverse without pressing 'thumb button' on lever. Now, a few more words of advice: See that little toggle switch on top of the steering column wilth a 'P' on it? Well, don't ever turn it on. If you come out to your car one day and the battery is COMPLETELY dead, it's because you turned it on. Oh, and don't try to charge your batter y while it's in the car. Good chance you'll fry your computer and be looking at a flat-bed tow to get it to the repair shop - You can't tow it with ANY of the wheels touching the ground or it will fry your AWD. Anyone else got advice? Also, you've got a very good paper trail so keep the trail going. If you can find an original owners manual (and jacket) for your car before it is too hard to find, do it. If you can find dealership brochure for your make/model year,do it. In other words, start building for selling it down the road in a few years for WHAT YOU PAID FOR IT. It's possible. Shoot, even an original Consumer Report or Car And Driver with your Subie in it will get the juices flowing on the next person looking at your car. Juan

Not true. I had my '97 repaired at the Subaru dealer and it spent three hours on the frame machine straightening it. $9,000 later they gave it back to me and NOTHING ever showed up on Subaru site. In fact, CARFAX didn't even turn up a dirty title. Juan

Thanks for all your advice. Will check the tranny fluid ASAP. Have Wednesday off and will make appointment and demonstrate to service at dealer. Do I have to take it back to where I bought it, or would that just be the best thing to do? i bought it WAY out of town. Juan

Four-month-old '05 OBW with auto tranny, driving on freeway at 65 MPH (not in 'sport' mode), controlled romp on the gas to pass, tranny kicks down but nothing really happens except a leap to 5,000 RPM. It's like the tranny is just sitting there spinning. There is NO increase in power or speed, just an increase in engine/tranny RPM. This thing just sits there and spins like a 5,000 RPM idle. In fact, I can play a tune on it using the gas pedal and my speed/power remains the same. Is this a normal attribute for a '05 O.B.W? My old '98 Legacy would jump up and go! Juan

Si. Soy un "downer", y usted(es) ere/son feo(s). Yo, sin embargo, por la man'ana, es posible soy un "upper". Green, I call 'em as I see 'em. I'm just saying that a fake hood scoop is kinda like a three-foot rear spoiler made out of plywood. Please explain your problem with that? That's all I can bring myself to say about you in here. I have too much respect for this board. By the time you get done reading this, you'll know you're one. Juan

The hood scoop is there to let the rest of us know that the clowns are coming. A lame, non-functioning hood scoop was the TOTAL reason -well, that and its Indiana Jones OUTBACK badge- that I bought a new Legacy in '98 instead of the Outback . Although, I did build a real cool, three-foot rear spoiler for it out of plywood. Juan

Take the trip. Just don't use the cruise control and stay out of the hammer/fast lane. Driving to the right without using the cruise will force you to vary your engine speed. But, beware that you don't get in fierce stop and go traffic. That would be hard on the brakes. Oh, and be ready to use that back window wiper. The rear window is a rain/dust magnate. Juan

If you own a B9 Tribeca, tell us about it. Last request for such info got nowhere after six pages. Stay focused and post. Juan

[quote name= :cool:[/quote] No one has one? Kinda like the Baja, isn't it? Come on. SOMEONE'S got one.

Did I say the ad was terrorism? No. Did I say the ad was threatening? No. Did I say I didn't like the B9? No. (I believe I said it was ugly. I like a lot of ugly people.) See? It was a good thing. You just needed a little prompting. I should have been a marketer. My intentions are pure. Juan

No owners yet? Don't be shy. share with us. Juan

How funny that you think opinions outside of your narrow frame of mind are absurd. Think outside your box. However, if you're comfortable in there you'd best leave the lid closed. We wouldn't want you complicating your world with critical analysis. Juan

Still, the commercial glorifies destruction of others' personal property out of dislike, envy, revenge etc. It's clear that Subaru is trying to market this thing to haters. Not that far out there. Think about it. The target is clearly single women who have been dissed by successfull men: 'Buy one of these and show him! Oh, and have a good chuckle as you're thinking about him, and his dog, being kicked to the curb by your new "SUV". Take that, Baby!' Correct me if you feel I am wrong ,but at the very least, Subaru is marketing this as a chic SUV. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I just get the feeling that it could be done without promoting destruction. Juan

My concern is that the scenes in the commercial look like the suicide bomings in Iraq. Just wrong in this day and age of terrorists and suicide car bombs. I mean, there could be people in those rigs that get blown to dust. Is Subaru tying to tap the Middle East market or are they confident that those who actually purchase one of these ugly things will want to commit suicide? Juan