Subaru Legacy 2.5
Discussion
Our ancient Peugeot is starting to get a bit dilapidated and t'other half would like a new car which seems fair enough
She makes ceramics and we do a fair bit of camping in fields with everything we own so the Pug tends to get filled to the roof + roof box and then drags its arse along the ground. It's not doing it any good so an estate would be brilliant. With this in mind we are thinking one of these:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
Not keen on another clattery diesel although I accept that they aren't as "agricultural" now as a 306 we're bored of the sound effects, smoke, stinky pumps and soaring costs of filling the bloody thing up. She has had diesels for long enough and would like a change. The car will be expected to do a bit of commuting, a bit of city driving and a fair bit of long distance work. She would like an auto I think but it isn't a major concern. 4WD/AWD would be a benefit with muddy campsites etc.
Any owners experiences of the Legacy would be brilliant - positive or negative. 2.5 looks a good all rounder to me for power/economy/road tax/insurance. Would prefer something 2.0 or above with around 150bhp + and does at least 30mpg combined. Have looked at Freelanders (rubbish), CRV (nice but not as "car like" as the Subaru, and Mondeo V6's (doesn't like). Budget £3k ideally, less if possible but £4k at a push. Whatever it is needs to be strong or relatively easy to home repair/service as it will get a beating!
She makes ceramics and we do a fair bit of camping in fields with everything we own so the Pug tends to get filled to the roof + roof box and then drags its arse along the ground. It's not doing it any good so an estate would be brilliant. With this in mind we are thinking one of these:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
Not keen on another clattery diesel although I accept that they aren't as "agricultural" now as a 306 we're bored of the sound effects, smoke, stinky pumps and soaring costs of filling the bloody thing up. She has had diesels for long enough and would like a change. The car will be expected to do a bit of commuting, a bit of city driving and a fair bit of long distance work. She would like an auto I think but it isn't a major concern. 4WD/AWD would be a benefit with muddy campsites etc.
Any owners experiences of the Legacy would be brilliant - positive or negative. 2.5 looks a good all rounder to me for power/economy/road tax/insurance. Would prefer something 2.0 or above with around 150bhp + and does at least 30mpg combined. Have looked at Freelanders (rubbish), CRV (nice but not as "car like" as the Subaru, and Mondeo V6's (doesn't like). Budget £3k ideally, less if possible but £4k at a push. Whatever it is needs to be strong or relatively easy to home repair/service as it will get a beating!
Legacies are great cars - I'm on my second - but go for a 3.0 if you can - nicer engine and gearbox. B&C have a tidy one in right now depending on your budget? Low mileage nice ones don't come along that often as people tend to hang onto them and put big mileages on.
Edited to say you put your budget in your op - doh!
Edited to say you put your budget in your op - doh!
Vauxhall signum 2.0t? i have yet to fill mine! and i have tried, with patio furniture, bricks, weeks shopping a baby stuff, and still i have failed. 21mpg round town, but 38+ on motorways. you could get the 2.8t for your budget! the only downside i can see is, its front wheel drive, maybe worth a look though.
StoatInACoat said:
Looks like quite a drop in economy between the 2.5 and the 3.0 - 34>28mpg if autotrader is to be believed!
OP .. Ignore those figures, not a hope in hell of getting that. Realistically 25-30mpg Fubar1977 said:
In the real world my mates 2.5 Auto Outback never really got much above 25MPG.
I had an 06/07 Outback 2.5 , 25-29 mpg .. never got 30mpg , even on the motorway.Goldmember1 said:
StoatInACoat said:
Looks like quite a drop in economy between the 2.5 and the 3.0 - 34>28mpg if autotrader is to be believed!
OP .. Ignore those figures, not a hope in hell of getting that. Realistically 25-30mpg Fubar1977 said:
In the real world my mates 2.5 Auto Outback never really got much above 25MPG.
I had an 06/07 Outback 2.5 , 25-29 mpg .. never got 30mpg , even on the motorway.But it is a 3.0 Spec B with a sports exhaust so very difficult to drive gently.
Bjam99 said:
I hate to state it but....reading the requirements a Volvo would surely fit the bill nicely.
Possibly. But the OP say`s they want a petrol so no D5 and the T5 wouldn`t be much better than the Legacy on fuel tbh.Although I think a D5`s worth a test drive before ruling it out altogether, it`s one of the least "Diesely" diesel`s I`ve ever owned.
3.0 Spec B Legacy =
Fuel economy for above =
Shame as I would love a spec B, glorious things.
ETA: Never even thought about road tax, I suspect that`s a bit on the high side too.
Edited by Fubar1977 on Monday 15th July 14:54
We had a 2.5 Auto estate (non-Outback) for a couple of years, it was the car we forgot we had (in a good way).
Fuel economy was around 28-29mpg, that's mainly my wife driving into town (5 miles) daily then weekend trips down the motorway etc.
The interior is pretty hard-wearing and looked good from the day we bought it (at 2 years old) to the day we sold it (at nearly 5 years old) - we were living on a smallholding at the time and even though we had a Landy, the Subaru did it's fair share of agricultural work (they tow very well).
It never went wrong in any way, that's what I mean by the car we forgot we had - it just worked with no fuss, no bother and never any indication that anything was about to fail, we just taxed it and insured it and replaced the odd consumable.
Which brings me to the downside, consumables are not cheap - a lot of parts are dealer only as the car isn't that popular so third parties don't seem to have embraced the Legacy like they have the Impreza - for instance we needed 2 rear sections and a mid-section of exhaust and the part was dealer only - it ended up being about the same to have a stainless exhaust made (around £800IIRC ) as to buy the dealer item.
Also, dealers seem to be pretty good, but they're few and far between and again, not cheap - if you're near a specialist then you're laughing, but if not, then a dealer can cost a lot for even simple jobs.
I would have another though, a decent 'working' car, reasonably good body control and 'enough' power at 170bhp in the 2.5 but it's never going to set the world on fire, you'd need a 3.0 for that
EDIT - in fact, ours was the exact same car (even down to the colour) as in the advert you linked above, only a year younger.
Fuel economy was around 28-29mpg, that's mainly my wife driving into town (5 miles) daily then weekend trips down the motorway etc.
The interior is pretty hard-wearing and looked good from the day we bought it (at 2 years old) to the day we sold it (at nearly 5 years old) - we were living on a smallholding at the time and even though we had a Landy, the Subaru did it's fair share of agricultural work (they tow very well).
It never went wrong in any way, that's what I mean by the car we forgot we had - it just worked with no fuss, no bother and never any indication that anything was about to fail, we just taxed it and insured it and replaced the odd consumable.
Which brings me to the downside, consumables are not cheap - a lot of parts are dealer only as the car isn't that popular so third parties don't seem to have embraced the Legacy like they have the Impreza - for instance we needed 2 rear sections and a mid-section of exhaust and the part was dealer only - it ended up being about the same to have a stainless exhaust made (around £800IIRC ) as to buy the dealer item.
Also, dealers seem to be pretty good, but they're few and far between and again, not cheap - if you're near a specialist then you're laughing, but if not, then a dealer can cost a lot for even simple jobs.
I would have another though, a decent 'working' car, reasonably good body control and 'enough' power at 170bhp in the 2.5 but it's never going to set the world on fire, you'd need a 3.0 for that
EDIT - in fact, ours was the exact same car (even down to the colour) as in the advert you linked above, only a year younger.
Thank you, just what I was after. I was hoping for the bullet proof thing to come through and I must admit I was surprised that a big, heavy auto with a 2.5 would do 34mpg - 28-30 sounds more likely then.
Take your point on the consumables. Might price up some bits at some stage to see what running repairs are likely to cost.
We were looking at Ovlovs and Saabs as the 4x4 thing isn't essential but keep running into the same MPG issues
Take your point on the consumables. Might price up some bits at some stage to see what running repairs are likely to cost.
We were looking at Ovlovs and Saabs as the 4x4 thing isn't essential but keep running into the same MPG issues
The Forester, for example, might be a little cheaper to run, you could have that with the 2.0 non-turbo engine which still has a reasonable amount of grunt and they`re quite a nice drive too.
You might struggle a bit to get the type of vehicle you want with a petrol engine and the the sort of MPG figures you`re after though...
You might struggle a bit to get the type of vehicle you want with a petrol engine and the the sort of MPG figures you`re after though...
I have a 2.5 (Gen III though, but I understand the same engine as Gen IV) and there are head gasket issues. HOWEVER, it's a recall and should have been done, if not, it can be done for free and then you're good for stellar miles.
But, I'd go for the 3.0 without a doubt. The 2.5 is thirsty and makes nowhere near the power it really should. The good thing is it pulls exactly the same whether you have one person in it or fully loaded with 5 people, a full boot, roof box etc, it pulls the same. It just feels like it should be quicker.
I love mine though and will be sad to see it go when I get a 3.0R.
But, I'd go for the 3.0 without a doubt. The 2.5 is thirsty and makes nowhere near the power it really should. The good thing is it pulls exactly the same whether you have one person in it or fully loaded with 5 people, a full boot, roof box etc, it pulls the same. It just feels like it should be quicker.
I love mine though and will be sad to see it go when I get a 3.0R.
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