el_freddo Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 On 11/27/2020 at 5:25 AM, idosubaru said: wait y’all get dual range trans right ? That’s just not fair! Maybe if we had those....!! Lol Yeah we did! Our govt didn’t tax vehicles with dual range gearboxes like the states did - this is apparently why USDM Subarus were single range only after the L series/EA82 Subarus. We have a 2002 Forester auto in the family EJ251 with ~350,000km on the clock, still going strong. My sister’s 2000 Liberty RX with EJ251 and manual has well over 400,000km, still going strong but on a second hand gearbox due to bearing failure on the upper layshaft. It’s still running its original centre diff. My L series has 530,000km on the body, is highly modified and has no original drivetrain as a result! Cheers Bennie 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 6 hours ago, el_freddo said: Yeah we did! Our govt didn’t tax vehicles with dual range gearboxes like the states did - this is apparently why USDM Subarus were single range only after the L series/EA82 Subarus. This is news to me, I've never heard of such a tax... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stelcom66 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 The 1985 GL I had wasn't dual range but it did have a lever on the floor to engage 4WD. I recall the owner's manual stating do not engage 4WD on dry pavement and make turns - or something like that. I had a 2002 Forester 5MT that I really miss. Was getting toward the mileage the headgaskets failed and it needed significant air conditioning work. I'm thinking I just should have done the repairs. Nice yours has that many miles - or kilometers on it - and your sister's Subaru even more! I see the Liberty is sold as the Legacy in the U.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 12 hours ago, Stelcom66 said: I see the Liberty is sold as the Legacy in the U.S. Yeah, we have the returned service men and women’s Legacy foundation. I believe our govt requested Subaru rename the Legacy for our market - it’s the only one where it’s known as the Liberty. And you can probably guess why it’s not called a Liberty in the states 17 hours ago, carfreak85 said: This is news to me, I've never heard of such a tax... I’m sure someone over your way could confirm this. I reckon I read it on here somewhere... Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 2 hours ago, el_freddo said: I’m sure someone over your way could confirm this. I reckon I read it on here somewhere... Google doesn't show anything regarding a tax on low range-equipped vehicles, so I'm inclined to think this is not a real tax, nor the reason we stopped getting dual range transmissions. I would think total vehicle cost plays more into that decision than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 there was the so-called 'chicken tax' that affected the Brat (putting the seats in the back to make it a 'sedan')and other small Japanese vehicles long ago. I have no idea if transmission configurations were involved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stelcom66 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Interesting (and somewhat annoying) how taxes are like that. Supposedly my 2 car detached garage was originally built as a shed in the 50s - no doors. The town taxes for some reason are less on a shed versus a garage. Another reason I have older vehicles - much less taxes. Not sure about Australia but in Europe manual transmissions are still quite popular. I thought Subaru would be a hold out and continue offering them on the Outback and Forester, which we know is no longer the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicksubaru Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 In the states. If you look on the driver door of an old gl with stock duel range. It says "light truck" the tax was that anything with a spilt gear box was considered a truck. And thats the tax. That's why weird work around were happening like the brats back seats. But eventually the work arounds stopped. In Japan subaru isn't just sadans, and station wagons. They have all types of bodies that the states never see. Other work arounds are kinda around. Like the older wrxs with the 4 doors are not "sports cars" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicksubaru Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 We are way off topic of the OP... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stelcom66 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Yea sorry OP. Interesting tax information with the work arounds though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.