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2011 Legacy..Unsafe, cheap junk, If you value your family don't get it


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I've been driving for a long time (35 plus years) A few years back I fell for the nice looks of the Legacy and purchased one for winter use only. My God, what a cheap unsafe car this is. In the snow (no stopping power) Cheap tires, weak A/C, joke of a radio, The seats stain just looking at them. The battery is the correct size for toy, The paint job is about as cheap as they come...the list goes on and on. Hell I even measured the "metal" with a meter and its 1/3 less  thichness then my Summer car (G37S drop top). This is not an attack on the amazing WRxSTI (Truly amazing) Baja or SVX ( Both fun cars) but an attack on the Legacy and the Subaru adds that "show" to how safe this car is, It's not. I thought cars like this went out in the 70's In closing if you love your family think hard about getting them a legacy, For the money spend on a new one you could get a 2010 used Mercedes C class all wheel drive. Thats what I'm doing.

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1.  There's a 150% price difference (or more) between those vehicles.  Compare everything you own to 150% higher cost products and it'll likely not be very comparable.

 

2.  The cheap Subaru ranks better than the legacy in safety ratings:

2010 Subaru Legacy safety rating: 10.0 

2013 Inifinit G37 safety rating:  9.4  "Marginal rear crash protection"

 

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Infiniti_G37/Safety/

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Subaru_Legacy/2010/Safety/

 

3. I would never own an impractical infinity or german vehicle.  I'll spare the details as you obviously came here to rant, degrade, vent, belittle, and offer zero constructive discussion or value at all

Edited by grossgary
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Wow, sorry you had a bad experience. There are going to be people who will want to argue with you about the saftey etc. but you obviously has a set opinion of the car. Perhaps a higher model would have satified your wishes.

 

There are many Subaru Legacy owners happy with their cars and will be driving them for years to come.

 

It's not possible to please everyone, if you're happy with your Infiniti and Mercedes enjoy them.

 

There are people that enjoy their personal choices of cars as much as anyone else.

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Best rant of the day. Subaru Legacy sales keep increasing year by year. If the cars are that bad, how could sales be increasing??

 

Compare similar repair bills of Subaru vs. Mercedes at a dealerships.................. Let the rant begin against Mercedes repair cost.

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You think the metal is any thicker or the paint job is any better on the "Truly amazing WrxSti"?

 

The Impreza platform (what the STI is built on) is an ECONOMY CAR. It's lighter and cheaper to save cost. The only thing different about an STI is they put some leather seats in it and a bigger engine.

 

The thickeness of exterior body panels is no indicator of safety.

 

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It's true that Subarus are thin skinned, but it's also true what Fairtax says, that this has no bearing on vehicle safety.  Even with AWD,
the laws of physics still apply and as a mass produced AWD vehicle, Subaru is about as good as it gets.  Coupled with a flat engine layout, it's a lot of car for the money, but comparing it to a luxury car is absurd.  Ever wonder why a 2010 C class 4Matic loses so much value?  


For comparison, I picked up an '02 BMW 330i a couple of years ago from a client for next to nothing.  It's my wife's daily driver.  It drives
and handles great; body and hardware are very high quality, and the corrosion treatment from the factory is top notch.  But some of the chronic issues are really unacceptable: elastomer choice is terrible and CCV system is over complicated and tedious to service to name only two.  The enthusiast forums  provide very good info. on these problems, but they're also filled with BMW apologists who think it's normal maintenance to perform a complete cooling system overhaul (belts, idlers, water pump, expansion tank, etc...) every 60K miles!   


I now have close to 180K miles on my '99 Forester 5 speed and aside from updating the rear wheel bearings, it's needed nothing but what I consider normal maintenance.  Nonetheless, I would say that the drawn out head gasket issue with EJ25 Subarus  has been disappointing. 



 

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Sounds like you should sell it and buy a Ford.....

 

And no, the WRX STi is not "amazing". They have their issues like every other car, including your G37S which is wait, a performance car whereas the Legacy is not!

 

As far as I see, you're comparing apples to oranges. And I guarantee that you will have to empty your pockets when it comes time too service the MB.

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...of all the forums, you chose to come here and rant?? I guess, freedom of speech.Simple advise, next time do your research before pouncing on a deal...or better still, stick with your luxury car and let the true Subaru people drive their Subarus. Subaru man here for over 3 decades. #isaidit#

Edited by kaki
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There is nothing wrong with this person. My sister recently sold my son (for much less than the value) a 2006 Impreza with 101,000 miles. I'm not complaining about the deal my sister gave him but......... within 10,000 he had to have timing chain, etc., changed at the tune of just shy of $2000. I was told that this is "usual wear" and expected. "Almost all have this done at around this mileage." What a crock. How can you claim how durable a car a Subaru is when every 100,000 you have to spend $2000 for "usual wear." I had the pleasure (unpleasure) of driving it for a few hundred miles this week and, although it is a snappy little car and handles well they are way over-rated. Cheap, poor heater, tiny seats, and not as good a all-wheel drive system as I expected. In addition, poor gas mileage for a car this small. Why people are spending good money on these when they could buy a bigger more efficient car for the same money. He should have kept his beat up old Taurus with 190,000 miles. I did have to put brakes and a front wheel bearing on it over the 3 years he had it for a cost of less than $400.  Your assumptions on German cars is correct but a Subaru is just as expensive to fix. Take the money you are going to spend on your next Subby and buy a used Cadillac CTS4, all wheel drive. Better mileage, better all-wheel drive, better performance and much more comfort.

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Almost every car with a timing belt has about a 100,000 mile interval on the belt. I'm not sure why you find that at all unusual. And you're surprised a car with over 100k miles needs things like brakes and a wheel bearing? What planet are you from where cars over 100k miles don't need brakes and bearings?

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T 2006 Impreza with 101,000 miles. I'm not complaining about the deal my sister gave him but......... within 10,000 he had to have timing chain, etc., changed at the tune of just shy of $2000. I was told that this is "usual wear" and expected. "Almost all have this done at around this mileage." What a crock.

 

Your sister got ripped off by a shop/mechanic.  I would literally come do that repair in her driveway for $1,000, like tomorrow, gladly.  It would cost me $59 in parts so i'd still be making $900.

 

Timing belts have been common since the 1980's and it's in the owners manual - every 105,000 miles or 10 years for that vehicle.

Older vehicles had lower grade belts and they were every 60,000 miles.

 

The timing belt costs $59 from Subaru and takes less than an hour to replace.

Subaru charges $450 - $699 depending on local market.

Indepedents can charge less than that.

 

Sister is paying high labor costs and/or lots of additional parts.

Edited by grossgary
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I don't know about anyone else but a tear came to my eye watching them waste a 59 impala.... just saying.

 

as for mercedes, my mom has 2008 e-class (50,000 miles) and pays through the nose for any maintenance repairs (which have been several already).  I wouldn't want one.

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should have kept his beat up old Taurus with 190,000 miles. I did have to put brakes and a front wheel bearing on it over the 3 years he had it for a cost of less than $400. 

 

 it would have cost $59 if you had done the labor for the timing belt and taken less time than the brakes and wheel bearing on the Taurus.

 

in the future you'd be wise to buy knowing if a vehicle has a timing belt or chain and when it needs replaced.  it's the one big ticket item that's common on engines.

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 In the snow (no stopping power) Cheap tires, weak A/C, joke of a radio, The seats stain just looking at them. The battery is the correct size for toy, The paint job is about as cheap as they come...the list goes on and on. Hell I even measured the "metal" with a meter and its 1/3 less  thichness then my Summer car (G37S drop top).

 

Stopping power in the snow is all about the tires.  If you left the standard Michelins (not excactly cheap) on there and expected them to give you good stopping in snow that's you''re fault for not putting winter tires on what is by your own description the "winter" car.

 

 

 

And to address the comparison to Mercedes C class and Caddillac CTS4.....that's just rediculous.  You think your gonna have less trouble or maintenence cost with those vehichles?

 

I think that the fact that Mercedes and Cadillac are the only cars you can even find to compare speaks to how good a subaru actually is. Subarus were like the Kia of the 70's, and now we are putting them up against 2 of the most premier makers of autos in the world?  And then asking it to be better than those cars, which it arguably is in some ways.  It's not a apples to apples comparison but sure, I'll take it.

 

Subaru will take more abuse and cost less over the long run 250k+ miles.... VS. either of those cars and when those cars do need work the parts will be expensive, and for the Cadillac espescially will be hard to find and then the labor cost of working on either of those complicated crammed in engines is ridiculous.

 

The subaru almost anyone with some mechanical knowledge and a few tools could do almost any of the maintence required.  Parts are cheap and available commonly sold at any parts store not ordered from Germany or special order from 12 different options with the Caddy, get the wrong parts.....cheap GM crap with fancy chrome anyway.

 

 

And for metal thickness, Convertibles have more reinforcement in unibody because of the lack of a roof arch.  Also I doubt anything except external sheet was measured get a cross section of the B pillar you will see subaru strength.  Fire depts had to invest in more powerful "jaws of life" and teach special training on how to cut Subaru pillars becuase they are so strong more than most other makes and older cars.

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