I just got back from a trip through Ontario, spending some time in Toronto and Kingston. While walking down Yonge St I saw an newer Outback.

From what I could tell, it looked like the lower panel was just painted another color rather than the plastic cladding.

 

Are they sold that way up there? Or was this something custom? I started looking closely at all the other OB's I saw and they all seemed to have the plastic. But, I thought this may have been a 2004???

 

Or was this all an illusion of my drinking vacation??

Hocrest, my 97 OB and my 02 OB both had the lower plastic cladding that is painted a contrasting colour than the rest of the body. In fact any OB I've ever seen has been the same way. I've yet to see a 04 OB on the road yet to do a comparison. By the way, how was the trip? And I may still have the tires and wheels available after the middle of September. My buyer finds himself between jobs and may have to pass. I've given him until then before I look for another buyer.

It looked to be newer, though I didn't see the grill. Nice and Shiney!

 

The trip was great, took a picture with the Cup! There was a beer I was drinking, some sort of cream ale it came out of a broad grey tap handle. I forget what the barmaid called it but she said it was "local" any idea what it was. About 6 hours from home I realized I forgot your number. I didn't really get any further west than Toronto anyway.

 

I was also keeping an eye out for a Subaru dealer as I drove around. I was gonna stop and check out the brand new OB but I didn't happen past any.

I could have sworn I read somwhere that Subaru got rid of the plastic on '04 models, and it was a very hard decision for them.