I'm in the process of evaluating the 07 Legacy GT and the 07 Legacy SE. I have an 03OBW and have been pleased with the handling. A/T is so-so...I wish it was a M/T but the wife only drives auto.

So having an 03OBW, I am familiar with the engine, handling, maintenance etc...but I have not had any experience with a turbo and am wondering if reliability, resale value, maintenance is still around the same or better/worse? Does a turbo need any extra care, or more costly maintenance down the road? I know that the GT takes premium gas so and iridium plugs but timing belt, 30k yr, 60k, 90k maintenance costs?

Also, do you have to drive a turbo agressively to keep it running in good condition or will it be fine if driven like a normal car?

Cost between a SE and GT is about $7k and it is because they don't offer the 07 limited in M/T.

The other car that we're also considering is a Honda Accord EX but that is only because of honda's traditional higher resale value but in my own opinion, I prefer the handling of a Subaru.

 

Any suggestions/opinions?

hondas resale higher than subarus? since when? (seriously, kelley blue book has a lgt limited beating an accord ex v6 with same options)

 

ok, back to your concerns. the turbo will add some value to the car and will help make it resell a little easier, but it won't offset the cost differential in the long run. and if you are just gonna drive it like a normal car, you're better off with the na model. no premium needed (the turbo requires premium, no bypassing that), no worries about sacrified reliability, maintainence is similair to the one already in your driveway...it's the wiser of the two

I'm in the process of evaluating the 07 Legacy GT and the 07 Legacy SE. ...

First, the Legacy will handle better than the Outback, it's what you get when you trade off ground clearance.

 

The recent turbos from Subaru have fairly careful designs to cool them off. There are no special requirements in the manual. For the sake of being conservative I let the turbo spool down before shutting the car off (2000 rpm or less for the last minute or two of driving) but the manual doesn't even specify that. Good practice says you won't give the car a bootful of throttle when it's cold, NA or turbo.

 

The LGT requires premium fuel, it is a little thirstier than a 2.2 NA (long term mileage on my '93 L is 25.1 mpg, on my LGT it is 22.9, with similar usage) and even though there's no special suggestion in the manual I change the synthetic oil in the LGT every 4000 miles.

 

The main difference is the $7k and the fun you have when the boost comes up.