RE: All wheel drive question

New update . . .

Sold the 2003 Subaru Legacy Outback in record time. I mean within the first half hour I had several offers . . . all unseen . . . and none of those crazy "will you trade my 1976 mobile home for it" type of offers. First guy up offered the full amount in cash.

He stopped by last night . . . literally took 5 minutes looking at the engine and frame . . . and said he would take it for the full amount. Thinking I could have got a bit more, but then again I might have had to deal with the whack jobs as well . . . in the end . . . I was happy with the price and he was happy . . . so all is good.

Test drove a 2015 Legacy and my wife (and I) liked it . . . CVT was nice . . . pick up was decent . . . much more comfortable a ride (plus vs. the buckboard ride) from the old to new Legacy . . . quieter as well. Soliciting bids today . . . financing is already in place . . . may be coming home today with a new ride for my wife.

It's a done deal . . . did a whole lot of e-mailing and calling yesterday afternoon and around 5 p.m. I came up with a very good deal . . . that actually got a bit better.

Had one dealer willing to go to 3.3% below invoice . . . then another dealer matched the price and then had to call back to say the color combination we liked had been sold . . . called back 10 minutes later to offer 4.5% below invoice (a little over $1,000 off invoice). Gave the first dealer a chance to match it, but it didn't happen.

Test drove the other Legacy . . . liked it enough so my wife came up and we did the paperwork. I had pre-approval for 2.39% financing for 60 months (Subaru had 1.9% for up to 48 months but I like having a little more of a lower monthly payment in case another vehicle craps out). Got to financing and they offered up 1.84% for 60 months.

While going through the process we also faced another dilemna . . . the Legacy my wife liked . . . became available when the customer who was trying to lease it left after getting in a huff over the price. My wife who is usually very decisive hemmed and hawed . . . in the end she chose the silver colored Legacy with the better discount over the black car . . . also because she figured it will show the dirt more.

We did end up with an extended warranty purchase . . . something I rarely if ever do . . . it was through Subaru and the price was right -- about $900 . . . figured we would try it out this one time . . . new model year and a lot of newer tech . . . really buying peace of mind here for 8 years.

No EyeSight . . . although that tech is pretty interesting . . . just a little too expensive for my tastes still. I'm not too worried about the CVT -- Subaru has been using CVT for some time now on and off . . . and I found it to be quite smooth. A lot of folks much smarter than me have also commented on how this CVT is quite refined (of course time may tell.)

Model didn't have a lot of extra options, but truthfully it already came with quite a bit and there were only a few options that really interested my wife. Came with fog lights and a rear bumper applique, but they agreed to put on a remote car starter which my wife really wanted. Only other thing that interested her a bit was the body side molding.

We will most likely get some snow tires . . . last time around I bought a set of used alloy rims . . . this time around I may go with a local company that sells the tires quite cheaply and offers free mounting/dismounting of the tires. Only other planned addition is a set of all season floor mats.

It's alive . . . although I'm not really sure how old a thread has to be to qualify as a "zombie thread."

Thought I would give a couple of updates.

First off . . . wow . . . love my wife's Legacy. I realize there is a huge difference between a 2003 and 2015 model of a vehicle, but this is really a night and day difference. I think perhaps the best thing I can say about her new car is that I often forget it's AWD. What I mean to say is that her old car was slow, felt heavy and did not get the best gas mileage -- but was a tank in the snow. Her new car on the other hand to me feels relatively zippy and more like an Accord or similar family sedans that I have been in or recently drove . . . and it is getting great gas mileage with a 29-30 mpg. No issues so far . . . but she has also only had it since late September and it has less than 3,000 miles on it.

New update . . . my plan to keep driving my Honda Accord may or may not be thwarted though. I'm now at 198,400 or so miles. Yesterday while in western Maine I put it in gear (it's a manual) and I heard a small popping sound and then nothing . . . could not move at all in any gear. Managed to get it off the road and after a long wait and many calls (and dead cell phones) ended up renting a U-haul car dolly and having a friend come rescue us (us being a friend and I who were in Brighton geocaching.) Now I still haven't checked with my mechanic, but a few folks who have heard about my predicament ventured it could be the clutch or something in that vicinity which they said may be pricey -- not so much in the part, but in the labor to access it. If this is the case I'll be back to making the same decision as before -- keep the car and pay for the repair or start looking for another vehicle.

Swedishchef said:

I love cars...and hate them for reasons like this. lol.

Glad to see your wife is happy with her Subaru. And glad to see you like it as well. As stated before, I am part of the Subaru cult.

What year is the Accord?

Andrew

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2003.

I must confess ... if I opt to sell the Honda I will be taking a hard look at either the wrx or brz.

Joful said:

Geez, haven't seen a cable clutch in decades. But on that note, and considering the probable vintage of your clutch hydraulics, can you move the stick thru the gears with engine running?

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Yes . . . I haven't tried doing this without the clutch pedal depressed though.

Mechanic at work also suggested rowing through the gears with the engine not running to see if that does anything.

The car starts fine.

With the clutch pedal depressed . . . everything sounds normal.

With the clutch pedal in its normal position and the car in neutral and running I can hear a rhythmic clunk/grinding sound . . . it's actually kind of soothing to listen to it clunking away.