Hello Folks,

 

Well I'm back home now from my 7.5 hour round trip to test drive the Outback 3.0r Auto. I'll come on to the outcome in a bit, but just to tease you, here's my Subaru story thus far (apologies to those I've already tortured to death these last 3 months or so (Stanton!!)

 

I only got my first taste of Subaru ownership in January this year - why oh why did I waste all those years previously!!?? I rather stumbled across my current drive, an 03-plate Forester 2.0X (AWP), as a result of desperately trying to relieve myself of my one and only (touch wood) bad car purchase to date. It was a 55-plate Focus Auto - slow, with intermittent CEL issues that made the engine all lumpy. I read up on this to find it was a known issue (any one of 6 faults) and there was no guarantee replacing one or all 6 parts would resolve it. So cut my losses, I hoped, with my well travelled Forester. It had 128k on the clock but the fullest history I'd ever seen.

 

So I bought into the Subaru life and wow - it may only be a sluggish 11.5 secs to 60, but the feel of the engine, handling and that badge staring back at me from the steering wheel just made me smile.

 

The first 3 months passed without incident -  a few cosmetic enhancements made, but a happy chappy. Then I started taking a more active interest in the forum and found my head turned by the promised land of POWER  :D

 

I became a more regular poster on here, and kept hearing more and more about 'boost' this and 'boost' that.....it was just too much  :P

 

So I started to browse the trader and started reading up on our turbo charged family members. I was particularly drawn by the stealth-like power of the Forester 2.5T, although even to this day I still haven't driven one.

 

Then in May I saw there was a reasonably priced red 2.5XT Foz for sale in Leeds. The 'top man' as he shall now be know (Stanton) offered to do a quick inspection for me - what a star. The report came in and all sounded promising. I raised the issue with SWMBO and was given the green light - great stuff, here we go. I could hardly contain myself. So rang the dealer - "Is the car still available?" I asked, intending to go the next day. "We've just taken a deposit this morning, sorry mate" - truely gutted doesn't come close.

 

This proved to be the tipping point ultimately that has led me to this test drive - I've been lusting after some stealthy power ever since.

 

So to today - over the weekend I'd agreed a price to trade in my Foz in against the 3.0r Outback Auto, ahead of us both viewing the respective cars based on honest appraisals of both.

 

I arrived there today just before 11am after 3 hours on the road. First impressions of the car and salesman were both good. He was genuinely impressed with the condition of my Foz and the Outback was as described. A couple of stone chips around the front end and a small dent on one of the rear quarters, but nothing to shout about for a 55-plate.

 

On the test drive I got the salesman to take me along a selection of roads, including in town, housing estates with speed bumps and some motorway. The first feeling was my god, how smooth is this. You have no idea the car is changing gear and can barely hear the thing - wafting along with little effort was an absolute joy. Then we got to the motorway section - here we go I thought, the meat of the matter. "Right, floor it" the salesman said.....so I did....oh my god, where the hell has that power come from. I must have unleashed all 245 ponies at once - the surge was incredible. The engine kicked down beautifully and started to sing a raucous yet still smooth and sweet tune. Before the smile crossed my face I'd hit 70 - "Jesus, that's quick!" came from my mouth - I think!

 

That was it - I was won over in that instant. The fact that everything else to do with the car was right was a bonus too - 4 decent tyres (2 nearly new Bridgestones, 2 half-worn BF Goodrich!), full size alloy spare (unused) with Yokohama rubber, a fresh and unmarked interior and decent paintwork. The exhaust looked a bit tired in parts, but no obvious blowing on running. If this turns out to be 'my keeper', the stainless steel research will start before long.

 

So anyway - I'M BUYING IT  :D  :D  :D  :D

 

Here are some extra pictures I took today to show SWMBO this evening. Provisional pick-up agreed for Saturday, assuming my funds clear in time. First thing on the shopping list - a plastic boot liner so my boy can enjoy his new view from the boot.

 

The Outback adventure starts here....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What did I tell you?  B) Looks like the same beige leather interior as mine, only difference is the nav panel. Whats the mileage?

 

And wipe that grin off yer face! 

I have some of these "OUTBACK" seat decals left if you think you can use them.

 

 

 

Steve

Haha oops, forgot all about some of the specifics in the excitement of picture posting!!

 

64k, Full Subaru History including all invoices, religiously serviced annually by the previous 3 owners and top quality oils and OE parts used.

 

Came in at just over £3.5k to trade for my 03 Foz......think I might just have found a gem like yours Steve  :D

 

.....and the grins going nowhere fast mate  :P

I have some of these "OUTBACK" seat decals left if you think you can use them.

 

20140613_125609.jpg

 

seat decals.jpg

 

Steve

 

Are they stickers mate?

What did it cost you for your Parrott bluetooth system? - on my wish list

Haha oops, forgot all about some of the specifics in the excitement of picture posting!!

 

64k, Full Subaru History including all invoices, religiously serviced annually by the previous 3 owners and top quality oils and OE parts used.

 

Came in at just over £3.5k to trade for my 03 Foz......think I might just have found a gem like yours Steve  :D

 

.....and the grins going nowhere fast mate  :P

Looks like you got a bargain there Dave!

Thing is with these Outbacks, no-one knows anything about them so the prices are for nothing. They almost always have full dealer history because not many places will touch them. its a rarity to see 2 in the same place. 

Subaru`s best kept secret!!  :)

Are they stickers mate?

Yes....easy to apply and stays where it is, it comes all in one strip. They sell them in 5s on Ebay but I didn`t want to put them on the back seats so ive 3 left doing nothing.

The parrot was already installed......really handy though.

You have the traction control as well.

You have the traction control as well.

 

Is that something you can tell from the pics (if so, which one - I need educating!! haha)

What a great thread - looks like you have a real nice motor there and clearly you have been well and truly bitten - not such a bad thing and kudos to getting it through the SWMBO quality gate ;)

Cheers Jay  :D

Is that something you can tell from the pics (if so, which one - I need educating!! haha)

In your 1st pic, to the left of steering wheel there are 5 little vents, no idea what these are but the switch for turning it off/on is just below.

 

Eyes like a $hithouse rat!

Ah yes, I see it - so that was an option, was it?

Yes...its on by default....usually no need to turn it off.

Sent from my Superior Galaxy S 5 using Tapatalk

In your 1st pic, to the left of steering wheel there are 5 little vents, no idea what these are but the switch for turning it off/on is just below.

 

Eyes like a $hithouse rat!

 

I just knew taking all those pics would pay dividends  ;)

My one criticism!..................the remote key fob has almost zero range, it has and yours will have a cat one alarm system, the main box is under the front passenger foot well, if you flip back the carpet on the side of your right foot (How else could I describe it) you will see the antenna lead wrapped around the heater motor. unwind it and let it hang down (under the carpet) you get about twice the range, still not good enough but better.

I`m gonna experiment by lengthening the wire bit by bit until I get better range.

I'll have a look at that as soon as she comes home, cheers

Nice one matey, am really chuffed for you :-) looks a really nice car too. Will sound awesome with the stainless steel exhaust on it :-)

Cheers

Alan

Great news mate glad you found a gem in the end, obviously the red foz wasn't ment to be. Who cares when you have that beast to look forward to, [emoji3]

Thanks Alan....on cloud nine tonight haha

Great news mate glad you found a gem in the end, obviously the red foz wasn't ment to be. Who cares when you have that beast to look forward to, [emoji3]

 

Yeah, we got there in the end mate  :)

With the mileage on it the original ss system should be fine........looks good with the twin trumpets as well.