Thinking about changing vehicles.

[Apollyon12]

But staying in the Subaru family, I don't think I want to drive anything but a Subaru in the winter.

I have a few ideas rattling around in my head, so maybe I just need a place to get my thoughts set out in order, but I am defintly open to suggestions.

So my current car is an '04 WRX wagon that I just took from STG II back to stock and man, do I miss it. I did that because if I am not going to AX it, other than being fun, there is no real need for the added power or the lower gas milage. So I miss the better performance but I can deal with it.

Issue #2, I just recently started an evening job as a delivery driver, and I use my own car. The WRX wagon isn't really what you would consider small, but with my sub box and other stuff like a hand truck it would defintly be nice to have more room. My last run, I took my wife's '01 Outback wagon. It really was a lot nicer to have the space and not worry about shifting. This my have been the ONLY time I have every said that the Outback was a little better. I really don't like driving her car, it's an auto, it's slow, it handles like a boat, there is make-up and her junk everywhere, and it's got a sun roof.

In the back of my mind I had been thinking about moving to an N/A Impreza, but the published gas milage is about the same, so probably the only thing that would happen would be that I would get a newer car with less milage. And then this morning I see the '05 Legacy GT wagon at Evergreen.

View attachment 3136

It's about the right price range, but it has about 20,000 more miles than my WRX. Not really a big deal if I knew the history.

I have driven an ?'01? Legacy Premium but I was basicly dead set on a WRX and it felt a little to sedate and refined for me at the time. But I do like the looks of the '05-'07ish Legacy GT sedans and the wagons are OK too, though I am know that I am not going to get WRX STG II performance out of a stock Legacy GT.

I know that I am not going to get everything I want. STI performance and handling, Prius gas milage, UHaul cargo room, Subaru reliabilty (O, wait, I do get that one), and NSX style. I just haven't gotten my head around all the options. It would be helpful to hear what the people who have a Leg GT think too...

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

ask HR Radness, he's a card-carrying Leggy GT wagon moonie.

I've driven a bunch of LGTs that students have brought to Team O'neil, and they are remarkable cars. they DO have the STI power and handling (well almost) with Outback room. If you find a good one, reliability is fine. One of the main instructors at O'neil's has an O5 LGT wag with leather, dual sunroofs and evry convenience known to man and Fuji Heavy Industries. It's pretty impressive to get sideways in a vehicle that a realtor would be proud to show fancy houses in!

if you want a delivery vehicle, get a Ford Transit...super groovy funky Euro stuff-mover-mobile

 

[Apollyon12]

The Foresters are Impreza based and the FXT's had WRX parts some years and STI parts now...right?

Do the LGT's have anything in common with the STI's as well?

One of the guys I work with was thinking about a 4 cyl Transit.

 

[jimiii51]

The 2005 Legacy GT was owned by a middle-aged lady that bought it new from Patriot. Take a look at the CarFax via our website. Let me know if you need anymore info.

 

[IBratmanI]

Get a Forester XT!!!

 

[Apollyon12]

Those are way to expensive and rare. The kind I would want, a five speed.

I did test drive the LGT today, and an '07 N/A Impreza. Ya, I am defintely not interested in anything without a turbo. And I am still on the fence about the wagon.

 

[SUBARUDE]

5spd forester xt's are not rare

 

[IBratmanI]

And they really aren't that expensive either!! You will usually have a harder time finding a good price on a decent wrx. And the Foresters are a lot cheaper on insurance!! And most STi parts bolt right on them!!

 

[SUBARUDE]

look on autotrader.com that is where i found both of mine

 

[4WRXter]

AutoTrader is also where I found our FXT.

 

[Apollyon12]

The Foresters are OK, but they don't really do it for me. I prefer the looks of the Legacy's over the Foresters.

 

[2point5RS_Dan]

Come to the dark side of dirt surfing.......... You know you want to.

 

[RJS5689]

I came over to the Subaru scene with my Legacy Spec.B. Don't let its length fool you, that thing is TINY And cramped inside. When it comes to moving, I could fit tons more in my 20" smaller GTI. The new Impreza actually offers more room in lots of areas over the LGT. Overall the LGT is a classy car though. You don't have that cheap parts bin feel of the Impreza interior. You have a full leather interior, power/heated seats, dual zone auto climate control (which is actually an awful climate control system.) I have never driven a LGT with the factory KYB sturts, only my Spec.B with the Bilsteins. I will say I do find the Bilsteins soft, and I have heard lots of complaints about the soft tuning of the KYBs on the LGT. Overall it's a great car, I am fairly pleased with it. I'm sick and tired of all the squeaks and rattles I get from my Subaru. I miss all the cool electronic gadgets my Euro car had, I miss the extra features my Euro car had and I miss the quality interior of my previous car. I don't regret my LGT, but sometimes I wish I went for the 2008 STI. All in all it's a great car. I'm running a full catless exhaust with a custom tune on mine and she moves. From what I have heard from owners the factory LGT out-handles the Forester. The Forester has tons of body roll and is pretty darned soft in the corners. The Legacy is by far Subaru's best looking car too.

 

[Apollyon12]

Does anyone know anything about Northeast Imports in South Portland?

They have an '05 5-speed LGT sedan for $11,500...

 

[RJS5689]

Does anyone know anything about Northeast Imports in South Portland?
They have an '05 5-speed LGT sedan for $11,500...

I don't know much about them, but I want to chime in with some questions.

What are you looking to do with the car? If you plan on "stage 2," the 2005 models have a catalytic converter in the up-pipe so that needs to be replaced if you want to head to stage 2. 2005 models also lack an MP3 CD player and AUX input in the center console. Not sure if any of that matters to you, but I figured I'd throw it out there. I'm sure you all know about http://www.cars101.com, it's a great place to see detailed specs and changes from year to year.

 

[Apollyon12]

Coming from a STG II WRX that I recently took back to stock, I don't think that I am planning on any modifications.

The sound system was on thing that I need to look into. I had a Mercury Sable that had a similar integrated sound system that would have required a $700 dash kit to put in an aftermarket deck. There where work-arounds to get aux input and a CD changer but I will have to find out about the Subys.

 

[RJS5689]

Coming from a STG II WRX that I recently took back to stock, I don't think that I am planning on any modifications.
The sound system was on thing that I need to look into. I had a Mercury Sable that had a similar integrated sound system that would have required a $700 dash kit to put in an aftermarket deck. There where work-arounds to get aux input and a CD changer but I will have to find out about the Subys.

Good luck! It's damn near impossible to do a deck in the Legacy with auto climate. They made the climate control built into the radio as all one dash unit. It's terrible expensive to have a custom dash kit made for the car. What people have done is put single/double dinns in the factory cubby hole above the dashboard; the same place the Spec.B has its navigation system.

Subaru also doesn't give us pre-amp outs on the factory head. I have two line output converters coming out the back of my head unit, which then run to two amps in the trunk which power my Alpine Type-S' and my 12" sub.

If you want some really, really great LGT info with great community support, check out http://www.LegacyGT.com. It's an awesome site that I'm active on. It's actually how I found this site!

 

[Apollyon12]

I saw the storage pocket, hadn't considered an additional radio in there.

I was thinking more along the lines of Alpine's Clean-Sweep.

 

[RJS5689]

I saw the storage pocket, hadn't considered an additional radio in there.
I was thinking more along the lines of Alpine's Clean-Sweep.

The Clean-Sweep is a JL Audio product. It's a great system from what I have heard. I considered it for myself, but after talking to some people I found out electronic LOCs work just as well for less money.