Subaru Legacy Saloon 3.0 Spec B, £8200 discount

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C240Sport97

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Anyone has any experience of the Subaru Legacy saloon?

It has 240 hp Boxer 6, and all the toys (leather, sunroof, sat nav, 4WD, eletric heated seats, metallic paint), incl auto. List is £29,090. £8200 off for registration by end June 09.

Tempted to get one.

It's sort of related to the Boxster since it has a flat 6 engine too.

Thoughts or comments or suggestions anyone?

Thanks
 
Hmm, it's cheap perhaps compared to list price and what have you, but what are they worth secondhand?

I'd imagine that depreciation would negate the lowish purchase price to a degree, they must drop quite a bit more than a sensibly specced E-class, for example?

And I know what I'd rather be driving :)

A friend of mine had a Legacy (older model), and as nice as it was, it had no soul or character. A bit dull and lifeless to be honest, and even the 'posh' ones are plasticcy and have thin nylon carpets etc. No class whatsoever.

Sorry - just IMHO :eek:

Spend £15k on a W211 E55K and keep the £5k for maintenance and petrol/insurance etc :D

Will
 
I agree above,

I looked at a WRX SL estate and could get one for £15800 should have been 21K list a few years back,

Thing is they are very basic inside, I don't mean no leather, heated setas etc but in the finish.

Wheras in a Merc its hard to see the way things are held together (screws hidden ect) and if you don't have an option certainly on the older ones you don't have the blank in a scubby its all a bit 'cheap' if you look closely.


I would rather have a second hand E55 Estate with a private and the rest of the money in the bank.
 
Anyone has any experience of the Subaru Legacy saloon?

It has 240 hp Boxer 6, and all the toys (leather, sunroof, sat nav, 4WD, eletric heated seats, metallic paint), incl auto. List is £29,090. £8200 off for registration by end June 09.

Tempted to get one.

It's sort of related to the Boxster since it has a flat 6 engine too.

Thoughts or comments or suggestions anyone?

Thanks

I can comment on the Estate and can definitely comment on the engine, The Legacy spec B is an awesome car, handles every bit as good as an Impreza (still have one of those). The interior of the legacy is fantastic full leather all the toys and hard wearing, just got rid of mine at 85,000 miles and it drove like the day I brought it home from the showroom. For not a lot of money you can get the Prodrive upgrade pack and take it up to 300 bhp, if you do this make sure you also fit a front strut brace although thats probably a good idea even without the upgrade. I put mine through some severe punishment as it was my work wagon so went off road on mine sites and I never had a moments trouble with it, The Subaru dealer network from my experiences is also brilliant they just cant do enough for you.

Take one out for a test drive and I'll promise you, you will be hooked, make sure you find some roads where you can turn in sharp, you will be amazed how it sticks to the road and that 4x4 system certainly comes in handy in bad weather.

Another big plus is how good they are on fuel if I drove mine hard 32 mpg, sensible on the Motorway 75 - 80 mph about 35 mpg

Great car and would definitely have another, and I can't say that about most cars I've had.

let us know how you get on, also for some serious petrol head advice check out the Subaru Forum "scoobynet"
 
There is still plenty of money to be lost in depreciation though......so buying nearly new looks to be a wise option

2008 Legacy 3.0 Estate 6k miles £18k


though for 'only' £3k you would be able to have colour of your choice and 0 miles
 
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I agree above,

I looked at a WRX SL estate and could get one for £15800 should have been 21K list a few years back,

Thing is they are very basic inside, I don't mean no leather, heated setas etc but in the finish.

Wheras in a Merc its hard to see the way things are held together (screws hidden ect) and if you don't have an option certainly on the older ones you don't have the blank in a scubby its all a bit 'cheap' if you look closely.


I would rather have a second hand E55 Estate with a private and the rest of the money in the bank.

Legacy Spec B is in a totally different league to a WRX, well finished as good as any MB, plastics, hidden screws etc, full leather all the toys and handles and drives like a race car. This is the Subaru Flagship Car.

Comparing a WRX to a Legacy Spec B is like compairing a C55 to a C180K in terms of build quality & finish.

I agree with you about the finish and build on the Imprezas though definitely not the best and cheap and nasty appearance.
 
It appears that the £8200 off applies to the Sports Tourer as well ... which makes it all the more interesting.

Off to showroom Sat ..

Oh, discount is because new model due in Nov 09.
 
It appears that the £8200 off applies to the Sports Tourer as well ... which makes it all the more interesting.

Off to showroom Sat ..

Oh, discount is because new model due in Nov 09.

Rumour has it that new model is a bit of a dog, just like the new Impreza was until they refined it.

Best way of driving Subaru's to find out what they are made of is Prodrive do a Subaru Drive day where you get to drive everything from the Legacy Spec B, Impreza sti and all the other cars in the range, you can push them as hard as you want (dare) on Prodrives test track, you can then really get a feel for what these cars are capable of, its about £250, or if you do buy one make sure the dealer throws this in for free, mine did, its great driver training with some of the best instructors available, there is not another estate that will keep with a spec B on B roads and twisties, before the Subaru I had a Volvo V70 T5 another fantastic car but not as quick as the Subaru through the bends.

I rate the Legacy very highly as a drivers car :thumb:
 
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Good choice

The estates have a much better resale than the saloons. Most people find they are pretty hard on fuel. Engine has chain driven cams so no expensive cam belt change. They are very reliable and very well constructed. Very good safety ratings in the states. IIHS-HLDI: Midsize moderately priced cars - Current Models If they do go wrong labour repair costs are high- second only to Porsche allegedly- think its due to inaccessibility of many of the drivetrain components. But they seldom go wrong. They provide a driving experience where you are much more "in contact with the road" say than a Merc but an extremely quick car "point to point" JC rated the Outback version highly Jeremy Clarkson Subaru Legacy Outback review | Driving - Times Online and the fifth gear team likewise FiveFWD - Subaru Legacy review and road test from Fifth Gear If you can live with the higher running costs and are prepared to keep the car long term its an excellent choice IMHO.
 
I agree that, generally, Subaru seem to be quite reliable cars (not my friend's one though :)), but I don't think ANY Subaru could ever compete with MB on the quality/luxury aspect - an E-class is in a totally different league.

I've driven/looked at/sat in quite a few.

Dashboards are still plasticcy. Switchgear is still cheap feeling (but no doubt reliable). Miles off the quality feel of MB/BMW/Audi interiors, that's one thing almost no German manufacturer can get quite right.

Even Lexus which are very nice cars, just aren't as good in this respect as their German counterparts. They've still got Toyota electric window switches, plastic mirror casings have the manufacturing raised lettering on the underside (visable from the driver's seat), a bit more plastic here and there, the carpet isn't quite as plush, the interior smell isn't as nice, etc.

Good cars and all, but certainly no MB. I guess the trade off is that they probably don't rust :D

Will
 
I agree the WRX is not in the same league as the Legacy.

As a complete package its a good car I'm sure and for the money I can see the attraction. I just don't think driving it you will get the same feeling as a Mercedes its just not 'that' special.

Go and drive one for sure and poke around it, Also check car supermarkets and on line for second hand prices, Even with 8K off 'list' its going to drop heavily.

I would be supprised if you choose one over a E55 Estate albeit maybe a few years old.
 
My wife has the tourer version - amazing car, not in the same league as the e-class though but its not meant to be. Its a fast sports tourer that feels like you couldn't break it - it never puts a foot wrong. Only drawback is that although my wife gets 25mpg, whenever i use it for a few days i can't better 12mpg. :mad: I would recommend one although as said before watch depreciation and obviously fuel costs, and the tourer does hold its value alot better, cheers.
 
I walked past a Sports Tourer last Saturday in Sussex.

I was struck by the large sunroof.

Then I thought, that car has very clean and contemporary lines.

There is lots of glass, the windows are frameless and it is boxy but the boxiness gives the design cleanliness.

Very few cars today are 'honest' in the sense of uncluttered and simple, but not ugly.

I like the traditional, yet elegant design.

Almost all other estates have more fussy lines, and too much slant on the rear window.

Am looking forward to checking out the plastic quality and the drive.

MB plastics are good, but not excellent.

The only way to have good plastic is to have it covered in leather .. as it is in my Boxster. But that is in a very different price bracket.

The AWD also makes it more versatile .. can take it skiing with no fear.
 
Am looking forward to checking out the plastic quality and the drive.

I spent about 90 minutes checking out and driving the Legacy on Saturday.

Overall impression: a lovely car.

It looks great in 'satin white pearl' (standard). With black b, c and d pillars, it looks Range Roveresque with the 'floating' roof. Stylish.

And also black. I think it's one of the best looking mid sized estates on sale.

Plastics in the interior are of high quality. As good as, if not better than, the plastics in the W203. The ivory leather interior is especially lovely with the black dash and door tops.

The large sunroof lets lots of light in .. it's a bit noisier than a normal sunroof at high speed, but it's a big selling point.

I drove a 2 litre diesel Outback (jacked up version of the Sports Tourer, by about 6 inches, and with much higher profle tyres) -- it was a great drive. Surefooted, excellent handling and cornering, with just the right steering feel. I suspect the Sports Tourer will be even better, like a large Boxster. The ride of the Outback is as comfortable as an E class .. no doubt due to the large profile tyres, and only slightly wallowy.

Steering assistance is just right and full of feel, including going round at some speed on country roads.

Very impressive.

The factory discount on the 3.0 Spec B Sports Tourer is £4600, as opposed to £8200 for the saloon. Don't like the saloon shape at all.

New model due in Sept 09 apparently. Also, no cars have been imported from Japan since end Dec last year. All stock cars are 09 models, and some are 08. One of the 3.0 Spec B saloons in the showroom had tyres made in 2407, so must have been built in Q3, 07 .. a while ago.
 
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No automatic on the diesel available unfortunately. They also have "electric" power steering rather than hydraulic to save fuel. There have been some issues with the DPF on the legacy diesels to the extent they changed the design on the later forester and imprezas. The 3 litre estate will feel a harder sprung car with the bigger wheels/lower profile tyres and reversed bilstein shocks. I would get a drive of a Spec B sprung car before deciding. The 4 speed auto/ 4wd on the 2.5 litre petrol is not such an advanced system as the 5 speed /4wd system on the 6 cylinder car.
 
So the big question.........will you be buying one?

very tempted but undecided.

only £1150 manufacturer support for the diesel sports tourer ..

might see what deals are out there .. especially as next week is the end of the month/campaign.


No automatic on the diesel available unfortunately. They also have "electric" power steering rather than hydraulic to save fuel. There have been some issues with the DPF on the legacy diesels to the extent they changed the design on the later forester and imprezas. The 3 litre estate will feel a harder sprung car with the bigger wheels/lower profile tyres and reversed bilstein shocks. I would get a drive of a Spec B sprung car before deciding. The 4 speed auto/ 4wd on the 2.5 litre petrol is not such an advanced system as the 5 speed /4wd system on the 6 cylinder car.

agree re:harder ride on Spec B models since wheels are 2" larger and lower profile with sports suspension.

Spec B only a possibility with a LARGE discount.
 
I do know that the Legacy is one of TV Top Gear's favourite cars - impressive when you consider the trio hardly agree on anything.
Angle it this way - You have to consider what else can you get that is 240bhp ,large, 4wd, and seats 5 for same amount as the discounted Legacy
I always see them as Japanese Saabs
 
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very tempted but undecided.

only £1150 manufacturer support for the diesel sports tourer ..

.

Forgot to mention, DON'T buy the diesel they are cylinder head prone, have seen failures occur at 25,000 and less, when I considered one against the Volvo my local dealer actually told me not to buy it and if I wanted a diesel then stay away from Subaru :eek:

Great deals on Volvo V70 or S60 T5's at the minute >20% discount :thumb: (looking for SWMBO)
 

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