Woe is me!.

[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

Just about able to afford another car after having to sell my forester earlier in the year due to unforeseen financial problems.

 

 

 

 

So here I am looking for a nice Subaru Legacy and came across a nice Spec B Legacy estate at a reasonable price. :)

 

 

 

Wifey then says " due to austerity measures, we need to buy one of those Zero Road Tax Super Minis ". I want us to have a Suzuki Alto or a Kia Picanto or similar in order to keep the monthly spending down.

 

 

 

I have been trying to convince her otherwise but at the moment she is having none of it.

 

 

 

Will any members of the SOC admit to owning and running one of these so called Super Mini's as a second vehicle?.  Will I have to disguise myself as the STIG in order not to be recognised and park my car well away from where we live?.

 

 

 

Have been looking at the figures and although they may do up to 70 MPG the 0-60 times are a little soul destroying, our 9 seater diesel minibus is faster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[martyc]

For the last two years due to saving for a wedding we have had a nissan micra (11 plate) as a cheap run about/family car. Its been a bit soul destroying, can't love it but is a reasonably cheap run about. Couple of honest facts tho-

Only averages 40mpg day to day

On a run (like 300 miles to my mothers) a 3.0 bmw diesel is more economical and it still only averages 40 mpg due to being out of its comfort zone on m-ways

Struggle to fit a weeks shopping in the boot for a family of 3

Depreciation is a killer (if new) and would easily equal the extrarunning costs of an older, nicer well maintained car (i.e subaru). If you use creative man maths ;-)

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[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

 

For the last two years due to saving for a wedding we have had a nissan micra (11 plate) as a cheap run about/family car. Its been a bit soul destroying, can't love it but is a reasonably cheap run about. Couple of honest facts tho- 

Only averages 40mpg day to day

On a run (like 300 miles to my mothers) a 3.0 bmw diesel is more economical and it still only averages 40 mpg due to being out of its comfort zone on m-ways

Struggle to fit a weeks shopping in the boot for a family of 3

Depreciation is a killer (if new) and would easily equal the extrarunning costs of an older, nicer well maintained car (i.e subaru). If you use creative man maths ;-)

 

 

Excellent news.

 

 

Please can anyone supply more factual reasoning like this for me to use as evidence in my case for buying another Subaru Estate.

Independent advice is very important as she thinks I am biased and will twist all reasoning in favour of having a Subaru.

 

 

 

 

 

Her case for buying a Super Mini for financial reasons at present consists of:-

 

 

1.  Cheap insurance. £200 fully comp

2.  Zero Road Tax which saves £290 to pay towards fuel.

3.  Cheaper Petrol as it won't require Shell V Power or Momentum 99. Saving at least 20 p per gallon.

4.  Excellent fuel economy, allegedly averaging 60 MPG.

5.  Cheaper maintenance such as the price of 13" tyres compared with 18" for the Legacy.

 

 

 

My case for buying another Subaru estate consists of:-

 

 

1.  It's a Subaru and she really liked the Forester 2.5 XT that we owned previously ( apart from when I took her out in it for the first time and almost launched ).

2.  Increased safety compared to a Super Mini due to the legendary all wheel drive system , plenty of power when you need it and the excellent road holding in all weather.

3.  Comfort levels especially on long journeys including ease of driving plus it will go up hills.

4.  Fuel economy figures for the Super Minis are nowhere near what the manufacturers claim whereas the Subaru figures are pretty much spot on.

5.  Much more load space so she can buy more shopping and take more clothes on holiday.

6.  She doesn't have a driving license, if she really loves me she will let me buy a Subaru plus her family will disown her if she makes me buy a super mini.

 

 

 

The more evidence I can collect to support my case the better.  

 

Must go out to buy some flowers and chocolates and let her go to bingo more often maybe.

[stants]

No 6 on the list does it every time, my misses doesn't drive so that's the end of any argument, when she can she gets an opinion on what we're driving [emoji51]

Seriously is your wife thinking about learning to drive ? The insurer won't even think about entertaining the idea of a learner driver in my forester.

I'm now seeing between 28-35 mpg out of mine so it's not to ruinous on the wallet any more, supermini will never in a million years see the press figures in real world so you'll probably end up with 37-40ish normal driving which isn't that much different.

Super mini small and vunerable,no power to accelerate out of harms way, try going any length of time with someone in rear seats,

The wife wanted a practical safe family car that didn't look too fast, so I bought a forester [emoji51]

[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

 

I'm now seeing between 28-35 mpg out of mine so it's not to ruinous on the wallet any more, supermini will never in a million years see the press figures in real world so you'll probably end up with 37-40ish normal driving which isn't that much different.

Super mini small and vunerable,no power to accelerate out of harms way, try going any length of time with someone in rear seats, 

The wife wanted a practical safe family car that didn't look too fast, so I bought a forester  

 

 

More excellent information to present in my defence. Thanks.

 

 

My wife has never been allowed to drive due to medical conditions that she suffers and she will never travel in the back seat for some reason.

 

I will mention the points regarding leg room and comfort levels on long journeys.

She did like the Forester XT but wasn't too keen on the acceleration at first but you do have to experiment when you first get a fresh vehicle don't you. :D  

 

 

Off to make breakfast in bed for her now then perhaps get some flowers and chocolates.

[stants]

Hehe, plus the layout of the engine means that in the event of a head on the engine gets pushed down and underneath the cabin thus lessening the likelyhood of more severe lower body injury !

[Steveuk260.Esq]

Hehe, plus the layout of the engine means that in the event of a head on the engine gets pushed down and underneath the cabin thus lessening the likelyhood of more severe lower body injury !

Also it's less likely to crush your legs.

[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

 

Hehe, plus the layout of the engine means that in the event of a head on the engine gets pushed down and underneath the cabin thus lessening the likelyhood of more severe lower body injury ! 

 

II have a few more pluses to present to my beautiful and understanding wife later:-

 

 

Plus I will be looking to purchase a pre 2006 model so the Road tax will be £290 and not £500 so will be saving £210 there

 

Plus it will have a 3.0 H6 engine so no turbo or Cam Belt to worry about.

 

Plus it will have a 6 Speed Gearbox so more economical on long motorway journeys.

 

Plus it will be able to tow the trailer tent or caravan ( unlike the super light 998 cc Super Mini ).

 

Plus we will still be able to go visiting and I can still take her to and from Bingo most nights, even on snow and ice ( we live in a steep hilly area ).

 

 

 

Still thinking of more pluses.

[Steveuk260.Esq]

From my first car the engines went as follows. 1.8 petrol,. 1.7 diesel, 2.0 petrol. I drove smaller engine cars like 1.3 petrol but that's mechanics. I would never own one myself.

[Jay762]

Any time we have had to run a car for economy reasons it has ended up costing us - primarily because the tyres are so thin and the brakes so crap I struggled to stop it from locking up every time I hit the brakes and also they just understeered at the slightest hint of moisture on the road.

 

false economy and realistically unsafe

[Steveuk260.Esq]

You are quiet correct. Generally speaking smaller cars and engines get more wear and tear.

[martyc]

Just to scare some sense into you; my micra required wishbones at 25k, a 550 repair thru nissan. By which point it had already eaten a set of tyres due to its tendancy to understeer rather than turn.Main dealer servicing (which you need on new cars, and a lot of these new superminis only have very limited pattern parts available = big £) Also every puddle it hit the traction control would freak out, try to rescue the situation by braking a wheel and throwing the car off track, and I'm pretty sure i once got overtaken by a slug. To be fair it was a close race and the slug is the lightweight racing cousin to the snail.

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[stants]

Just to scare some sense into you; I'm pretty sure i once got overtaken by a slug. To be fair it was a close race and the slug is the lightweight racing cousin to the snail.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[emoji51]

[tom_gr7]

I guess you could always look at getting a 2.0NA, obviously not as fast as the 3.0's or turbo's. However, you will be able to run it on standard fuel and more mpg. I get about 35/36 with mine - Although i use vpower.

 

I definitely wouldn't go back to a crap car now though.

 

if all else fails, just tell her to jog on. It will be your car and you will be driving it.

[BoozyDave]

if you want to save money you need to buy a cheap little old car, no point trying to save money and spending £5k + on a newer car, it's false economy.

 

a mate has got a classic wagon turbo, he was using it for work everyday and racking up the miles. he bought a kia pride to use as a daily, 50+ mpg and £200 insurance. he has saved enough money for some proper mods, he's now running 380 + bhp, sti block, 6 speed and meth.

 

when she can drive, she can choose the car

[JusNoGood]

Not having a Subaru and instead having one of those super minis shrinks your !Removed!, its a medical fact...you lose about 3 inches. The Mrs needs to know this!

[Rizmo]

The above replies show just why I have chopped in my Kia for a Subaru XV!

[Gambit]

Just return back to the pack and be happy ;) 

[Xander]

Life is to short to drive boring cars. :-D

--

I make Films and Website for people

[Tidgy]

My mrs would slap me if i dared to suggested a super mini instead of scoob lol

[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

 

My mrs would slap me if i dared to suggested a super mini instead of scoob lol

 

 

Now that is what I would call a good wife. Lol.

[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

Thanks very much for your support in helping to persuade my wife that our next vehicle really does need to be a Subaru. :)

[Jay762]

Keep us posted - always happy to provide solid reasoning ;)