Are You Happy With Your Legacy? (Long Rant Inside)

[Scooby Fan]

TOTALLY!!! Best car I have ever owned :)

[Blue GT]

To the OP: I can sort of relate to where your coming from. I have friends looking at a4's, and possibly 3 series cars right now, not as performance minded as myself, i'd want a 335 or s4 but I digress. Those 2 cars in particular have a few things that really appeal to me: Nice body lines, fantastic interiors (compared to the LGT) and as much as I hate to admit it a little bit of status.

 

All that being said I have a plain old 05 GT with 150k on it living it's entire life in NH/ME. I'm in sales and literally live in the car, I don't have nearly the interior gripes (squeaks, rattles) you have, or the braking issues (upgraded to DBA rotors/hawk HPS pads/ss lines). I have replaced a timing belt, brakes a couple of bushings and tires (notice i didn't say clutch). This car has been an absolute dream to own, I have a few acquaintances that have audi's and they have spent 3-5x as much as I have on maintenance with fewer miles. Unfortunately as you know it's pay to play and the bigger the toys the more in maintenance you spend.

[Yamarocket630]

 

I can't believe we are actually revisiting this but ROTORS CAN'T/DON'T WARP. IT IS AN URBAN MYTH. It should be of note that I was very unhappy with the oem brakes and had similar problems (buildup on calipers causing vibration) till I switched to HAWK HPS pads. No more issues just brake dust.

 

 

Off topic I know, but please post your source on this.

[RJS5689]

To the OP: I can sort of relate to where your coming from. I have friends looking at a4's, and possibly 3 series cars right now, not as performance minded as myself, i'd want a 335 or s4 but I digress. Those 2 cars in particular have a few things that really appeal to me: Nice body lines, fantastic interiors (compared to the LGT) and as much as I hate to admit it a little bit of status.

 

All that being said I have a plain old 05 GT with 150k on it living it's entire life in NH/ME. I'm in sales and literally live in the car, I don't have nearly the interior gripes (squeaks, rattles) you have, or the braking issues (upgraded to DBA rotors/hawk HPS pads/ss lines). I have replaced a timing belt, brakes a couple of bushings and tires (notice i didn't say clutch). This car has been an absolute dream to own, I have a few acquaintances that have audi's and they have spent 3-5x as much as I have on maintenance with fewer miles. Unfortunately as you know it's pay to play and the bigger the toys the more in maintenance you spend.

It's good to see another Mainer on here. What part of the state do you live in? I'm a senior up at UMO, although I'm from New York.

 

In the end it's probably better I had a Subaru though the Maine winters, instead of something like an S4 or a 335. It would hurt me far more to submit them to the killer weather during winter. I will say the Maine winters really do give a hard beating to a car.

[WagSubGTL]

BUMP for the 92-95 EG Civic Hatch. My first love

[moncur_6]

Wait....why didn't you just by a new VW? If your clutch blew because of YOUR driving habits, buy aftermarket that can handle your stompy left foot. Everything else is nitpicky but everyone has their pet peeves...

 

I love my LGT, you hate yours...I think you're crazy.

 

Buy a different car and let someone love your old one.

[finse]

I am super happy with my legacy. I have had a couple problems, and there are a couple minor annoyances, but every time I am out on the open road in my car I am reminded how much I love this Legacy. I am going to buy a second car just so I can make this Legacy last that much longer!

 

FWIW: 2006, 42K, Stage III for the last 1K

[HarryN]

Yea, you should sell the car asap. You b*tch and wine like a bmw owner. No offense

 

More like BM Trouble You!

 

I remember when I (thankfully) leased my 2007 BMW 328i. I'd been to the stealership for repairs more often than driving the damn car. If it wasn't the Odometer screwing up, or electrical problems, or steering feeling randomly rough, or TPMS going crazy, or even the entire electronic features randomly rebooting and having to call BMW SOS, I may have liked the car.

 

But it was too much of a hassle and pain, even leasing it. As soon as that lease was up, I gave the damn car back, didn't even listen to what the salesman had to say and walked to the Subaru dealership to pick up my 09 Legacy GT. Been super happy ever since. It didn't have the same creature comforts for the driver, but my God, the handling and quality surpassed the BM Trouble You.

 

This is all my opinion and experience with the BM Trouble You, and I am sure experiences will vary. But I will never look at another BM Trouble You ever again, unless it is a 2005 or earlier.

[longislander1]

Wow! I've had the opposite experience. I came from luxury cars and then, in late 2007, my wife and I decided to go practical as we saw gas prices climbing. She got an '08 Outback LL Bean and a few months later, I bought an '08 Legacy Limited. I have not had a better overall experience with any other car I've owned, including the '05 Boxster that I use on weekends and in the summer. Both cars now have a combined 55,000 miles on them and we're not seeing any of the kind of wear and tear you're talking about. Geez, the leather in my Legacy is wearing better than the leather in the Boxster.

 

A lot of your experience has to do with crappy dealers (much the same experience I've had with Porsche). I can't say enough about my Subaru dealer. They simply treat me great, they get the service work done quickly and the price is certainly right. When you've paid $300+ for an oil change at a Porsche dealer, a $27-$32 change at Subaru is a screaming bargain.

 

As others have pointed out, you will pay through the nose for service and parts if you switch to a European luxury brand and there's no guarantee you won't have the same mechanical issues. I know a friend who had to dump a low-mileage, certified 328ix because the thing had so many glitches that the dealer was starting to balk at fixing all of them. (And would you like to hear my story about paying for new front rotors on my A6 and then getting home and finding out that they never replaced them at all?)

 

If I were in your shoes, I'd scout around for a better dealer to sort out the items under warranty, even if you have to drive a couple hundred miles for a one-time, thorough once-over of your car. Or, find a good independent shop and spend a few bucks to upgrade the wear items, including some better rotors. The alternative, of course, is to sell the car.

[longislander1]

I read your post again and see that your car is out of warranty. Find a good indie shop and upgrade to better quality aftermarket parts. Between the depreciation hit on the Spec B. and the cost of a new car, you're going to have to spend some bucks anyway.

[Rizzo]

09 QSM 3.0R.. gone bye bye. Is it possible to say I liked the car but not all the headache problems that came with it in the short year and ten months of ownership? I don't even want to go into all of them but the torque freeze which caused bucking/hesitation at 35-40mph plus the misfiring cylinder were enough for me to call it quits. Looked into the 2010-11's.. they already have recalls and a laundry list of issues not to mention that ugly black fin of a satellite radio antenna which Subaru doesn't paint to match the color of the car.. just a big black chunk of plastic. So farewell to ol' Bucky as we affectionately named our Legacy and welcome to our new Infiniti G37x. What a bad-ass machine!

[tobey457]

I'm sorry but I hvae to speak my mind... I generally don't feed the fire on these posts, but I need to say something...

 

These forums are nothing new, and with a little research, all of the things mentioned in the original post would have been known in a couple of days worth of searching the forums. Know what you're getting into before signing your name to a $30k note. Prioritize your wants and needs, and put them up against what you're purchasing. It's not that hard... and if you love a certain brand so much, why sway from that? You're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

That being said, when I bought my LGT I had previously owned 2 Subarus, I knew what I was getting into. My other choice was an 08 R32 - my cousin is a VW tech, and told me what I was getting into there. For me it wasn't worth the trouble and headaches that come with owning a VW. But that's me.

 

I would never sign my name on such a big purchase without doing TONS of hoemwork first.

[apexi]

Off topic I know, but please post your source on this.

 

 

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

[RJS5689]

09 QSM 3.0R.. gone bye bye. Is it possible to say I liked the car but not all the headache problems that came with it in the short year and ten months of ownership? I don't even want to go into all of them but the torque freeze which caused bucking/hesitation at 35-40mph plus the misfiring cylinder were enough for me to call it quits. Looked into the 2010-11's.. they already have recalls and a laundry list of issues not to mention that ugly black fin of a satellite radio antenna which Subaru doesn't paint to match the color of the car.. just a big black chunk of plastic. So farewell to ol' Bucky as we affectionately named our Legacy and welcome to our new Infiniti G37x. What a bad-ass machine!

EXCELLENT CHOICE! I swayed my mother, from their love of BMWs, right into a loaded G37X. Her and my father absolutely love the car. I've taken it out a few times and absolutely love it too. To be honest, I'd be driving a G if the AWD was available with a manual.

 

To those that keep saying I "hate" the car, you need to re-read a lot of my posts. I don't "hate" my Legacy, I just have a lot of gripes about it. I've gone the aftermarket route with a lot of parts and that seems to have helped with a lot of things. All-in-all the Legacy was really my best bet for a car. I'm a working college student, I like a quick/moddable car, but I needed something that I could abuse in Maine. I'm far better off beating on my Legacy than beating on a BMW or an Audi up there. I'm probably going to keep this until my payments are all made, then we'll see what my financial situation is at that time.

 

I've taken the Legacy out for a few good blasts lately and it's proven a good purchase, but there are still the little things I miss about a European car. I still recommend certain Subarus to friends, I just don't see myself ever owning another one after this. Mainly because I can see myself buying RWD once I get out of Maine.... Who knows though. I buy a car based on what I need at the time. My GTI was a great car to start with. Small, economical, fun and SUPER reliable in my case. I sold it when I wanted AWD for Maine and the Subaru proved to be the best contender of the group I looked at.

 

So to all of you that can't stand my European Autophile ways, I'll shut up and try and bitch a little less from now on . Maybe I just needed a good group of Legacy owners to smack... or should I say e-slap some sense into me .