• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

AWD wagon, oldish - Subaru? Audi? Other?

j

(stands for Jerk)
Admin
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Feb 17, 2002
Messages
14,663
Reaction score
105
I need a more utilitarian vehicle, and I've been looking at AWD wagons from Subaru and Audi among others. I'm looking in the late 90s - 2001ish range because I don't want to spend a lot ($4-5k max if possible). Does anyone have any experience with, say, the 1999 Legacy wagon or the A4 Avant? Mostly in terms of reliability, livability, maintenance costs, repair frequency etc. Also any other suggestions of what to look at would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

jefe

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2008
Messages
243
Reaction score
0
Maintaining an Audi in that price range is going to be spendy. Subarus, no matter how uncool, are pretty much bombproof in my experience.
 

j

(stands for Jerk)
Admin
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Feb 17, 2002
Messages
14,663
Reaction score
105
Yeah, I'm definitely leaning toward the Subarus.

Does anyone have any experience with the Toyota RAV-4? I'm not a fan of the looks so much, but it would fulfill my needs quite well, and maybe with some nerf bars and rally lights it wouldn't look so lame. It also gets better MPG than the Subarus.
 

Matt

ex-m@Triate
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
10,765
Reaction score
275
Originally Posted by j
Does anyone have any experience with the Toyota RAV-4?
And perhaps you could get a matching vulva
 

whacked

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
7,319
Reaction score
7
Originally Posted by m@T
And perhaps you could get a matching vulva

LMAO. The RAV is fairly popular here, no?
 

bigbjorn

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
618
Reaction score
0
Get an old Legacy with the SOHC 2.2l. Those are the bombproofiest.
 

Hany

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
489
Reaction score
0
Looking at the prices of used cars I'd go with the A4 wagon and forget about the Rav4.

Look at how cheap this one is:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Audi-...fCarsQ5fTrucks

Remove the wood trim and you have a perfect car for the price of an ugly and cheap car (rav4).

Same thing about X3s and FX35s. Can be had for ~15-16K.
 

DMcG

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2006
Messages
278
Reaction score
16
The one issue that Subarus of that age with the 2.5L engine have is headgaskets. And with the boxer engine headgasket swaps aren't the easiest thing. Definitely do some research on the matter. Of course you'll find a disproportionately high number of failure stories on the Internet but it will at least outline some of the issues out there. You may also be able to find one thats already had the headgaskets done. Its not like there are a shortage of Subarus in Seattle.
 

Hany

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
489
Reaction score
0
Originally Posted by m@T
maybe you missed this...
maybe or maybe not. lol

The idea is that for a little more you can get a great bargain. The difference between a toyota and a bimmer is more than just price. It is like night and day in terms of driving, comfort and overall enjoyment. So for a little more I suggest to get a great car to be used throughout the year while performing great in the winter.
But then again I never look at a price range and see what I can buy, I look at what is available and judge what is best for my money.
 

Matt

ex-m@Triate
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
10,765
Reaction score
275
Originally Posted by Hany
a little more you can get a great bargain

if by "a little more" you mean four times the price, then sure...
 

Hany

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
489
Reaction score
0
BTW there are good deals to be had on the A6 Avants which are selling in your price range. Probably less popular than the A4 which is great because they are better overall IMO.
 

Hany

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
489
Reaction score
0
Originally Posted by m@T
if by "a little more" you mean four times the price, then sure...
I looked at ebay. 2001 Rav4s selling for $10,000. Searched X3s. Found 2004 fully loaded X3 w/ 3.0L selling for $16,000.
My own personal conclusion: $6K more gets you an infinitely better car.
 

zjpj83

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
9,425
Reaction score
28
I have had many Subarus, and they've held up ok. An Audi would probably last more miles. I had one Subaru's engine die around 125,000 miles. I'm around 140,000 on an Outback currently that's holding up ok, but I was a little sad that the other Outback didn't last much more than 100,000. I also have a WRX wagon that has about 80,000 miles that is running just fine.
 

Hany

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
489
Reaction score
0
Other cars not mentioned but worth looking at:
Nissan:
-Xterra
-Pathfinder
Honda:
-CRV
-Element AWD

Good luck in your quest.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 36.7%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 59 39.3%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 15 10.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 26 17.3%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 26 17.3%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,136
Messages
10,578,719
Members
223,894
Latest member
milesmartin274
Top