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2008 Subaru Legacy

258 messages,  Last post on Jan 05, 2011 at 6:18 PM

You are in the Subaru Legacy & Outback Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 12 of 27

#102 of 258 Drove 2008 Legacy R Limited 3.0 by famof3kids

Sep 28, 2007 (1:22 pm)

Ok, I'm a long time driver/owner of Subaru products, and I've been anxiously awaiting the R Limited after seeing pictures on the Japanese Subaru site for a few years.
 
So, I took my 2003 Legacy in for its first brake job, rear pads at 53k miles, and the dealer had a black one on the lot. That is a great looking car. So, as I continued to stare at it while waiting on my car, I had to drive it. At $32k, it competes with a lot of different makes, including entry luxury market. But, I've been reading of Subaru wanting to head in the entry luxury direction, so, are they ready...
 
Well, I'll have to say that the car is beautiful. The dash, leather, and door sill trim all looked luxurious. The paint is great and the body panel fit seems perfect. The wood trim matched nicely. The blue gauges are nice. The stereo was great. The NAV and info center was cool. The 12volt adapter and aux stereo input was in armrest and nicely hidden. It seems to have all the bells and whistles. On looks alone, I'd buy it.
 
But, then the drive. It started in typical Subaru fashion, sounded the same, etc. But, first thing I noticed was the harsh ride. It rides rougher than my 2003. Then as my speed increased, in came the road noise. Also louder than my 2003. Then I noticed a weird whining noise from the engine area. Then, only at exactly a steady 50mph, I felt a surge. Hum.... I was so disappointed.
 
I spoke with service manager about the surge, he said the transmission does that for first 1,000 miles as it 'learns' and he hears that complaint a lot in the begining. Hum, ok.
 
It is not the luxury Subaru I thought it might be. And for $32k, it was unacceptable. A firm ride might be OK, but, road noise and a whining engine don't cut it.
 
I remember the great Subaru SVX and drove a few of these. They had the H6 engine as well. That car, however, was almost silent. I remember the dealer saying that was one of the trademarks of the car was its silence. Everything from the engine, transmissions, exhaust, all was very quite. So, I know that Subaru can do it. However, that car, in 1990, was $30k. So, today it would cost much more.
 
Maybe 2010 model....
 
Mark
2003 Subaru Legacy Wagon L+ (current)
1998 Subaru Legacy Outback
1995 Subaru Legacy LS Sedan
1991 Subaru Legacy L+ Sedan
1987 Subaru Loyale Sedan
1986 Subaru Wagon
1984 Subaru Wagon

#103 of 258 Re: Drove 2008 Legacy R Limited 3.0 [famof3kids] by mogul2

Sep 28, 2007 (9:38 pm)

Replying to: famof3kids (Sep 28, 2007 1:22 pm)
But, I've been reading of Subaru wanting to head in the entry luxury direction, so, are they ready...
 
Actually Subaru gave up the hopes of becoming a premium brand last year. It is all about selling to the masses now. Have seen the latest Impreza? It is as vanilla as you can get with design language. Unless you are Honda or Toyota looks does matter when selling to masses. VW is selling well in spite of terrible reliability because of exterior and interior. Subaru cars are engineered very well. Now if only they can get their act together in exterior/interior design and marketing...

#104 of 258 Re: Drove 2008 Legacy R Limited 3.0 [famof3kids] by ateixeira

Oct 01, 2007 (9:42 am)

Replying to: famof3kids (Sep 28, 2007 1:22 pm)
I bet the air pressure in the tires was sky-high, my Subie was delivered with a shopping 40psi. They felt like rocks.
 
The Premium strategy was dropped, in fact here is an Automotive News headline from this morning:
 
Subaru cools premium pricing, sales goals
With new CEOs at the helm in Japan and the United States, Subaru still is setting prices above its Japanese competition but is less eager to jump into the same league as European premium brands.
 
Bummer about the engine whine, though.

#105 of 258 Warm ivory interior - question by danmanmom

Oct 01, 2007 (3:07 pm)

I'm thinking of buying a 2008 Legacy. All the exterior colors I like are paired with the Warm Ivory Leather interior. Does anyone out there have this in their car? I'm afraid it will show dirt like crazy. Has that been your experience? Do you think that color interior is a mistake, and that I should go with the black leather?

#106 of 258 Re: Warm ivory interior - question [danmanmom] by xwesx

Oct 01, 2007 (3:20 pm)

Replying to: danmanmom (Oct 01, 2007 3:07 pm)
I cannot comment on the light interior's visual durability, but I can say that the dark interior will show dirt "like crazy." Dirt, it turns out, is not typically black. It is more commonly reddish/brown, and those colors show up quite markedly on black. Cleaning out the foot well area of my '07 Outback before I sold it squandered quite a bit of my time to render it what could pass for clean.
 
I took an '08 wagon (blue w/ black interior) out for a test drive a couple weeks back. My son's feet (sitting in his car seat behind the driver), while mostly clean, left plenty of marks on the plastic seat backing over the duration of the ten minutes we were in the car.

#107 of 258 Re: Warm ivory interior - question [xwesx] by cptplt

Oct 01, 2007 (5:14 pm)

Replying to: xwesx (Oct 01, 2007 3:20 pm)
well after 3 days and 300 miles I can say the ivory seating is holding up well! so far anyway!!.
black can indeed show dirt quite a bit, but at least oil and grease shows up less than on ivory!! I would think you may need to clean up the sets a little more than the black to maintain the original color longterm. I had a 92 Legacy with creamy cloth seats which surprisingly did very well with dirt, except when I spilled some driveway sealant on the carpets!

#108 of 258 Re: Warm ivory interior - question [cptplt] by xwesx

Oct 01, 2007 (5:27 pm)

Replying to: cptplt (Oct 01, 2007 5:14 pm)
Eech... yeah, that will do it!

#109 of 258 Re: Drove 2008 Legacy R Limited 3.0 [mogul2] by moparbad

Oct 02, 2007 (1:55 pm)

Replying to: mogul2 (Sep 28, 2007 9:38 pm)
VW is selling well in spite of terrible reliability because of exterior and interior.
 
For the record, VW does not have terrible reliability. #1 Lexus has 1.36 problems per vehicle and VW has 2.9 problems per vehicle in JD Power long term dependability. Subaru 2.3 problems per vehicle.

#110 of 258 Re: Drove 2008 Legacy R Limited 3.0 [moparbad] by mogul2

Oct 02, 2007 (7:19 pm)

Replying to: moparbad (Oct 02, 2007 1:55 pm)
Well, JD Power operates with advertising dollars from car manufacturers. I will trust independent groups like consumer reports than JD Power any day.

#111 of 258 Re: Drove 2008 Legacy R Limited 3.0 [mogul2] by cptplt

Oct 02, 2007 (8:24 pm)

Replying to: mogul2 (Oct 02, 2007 7:19 pm)
even in Europe VW does poorly compared to the Japanese

Messages Page 12 of 27

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