Last winter I was talking to a Subaru dealer in Devon. They sold very few Legacies compared to OLs while they were both on sale. The Outback Legacy sold much better but the best seller, as mentioned above, is the Forester. I think people like the commanding driving position. BTW, I'm amazed how many Vauxhall Mokkas I see. I'm sure this is going to partly be at the expense of Astra sales

The Legacy sells badly compared to the Outback, in the UK, because IM Group don't import the right versions, ie with a turbo or even two! In the days before IVA, grey imports of performance Legacy's were numerous and much sought after.

Perversely, the Forester usually had turbo versions available and the recent diesel seems to suit it's smaller size/weight better than the Outback

I've heard the H6 was sublime to drive - but it's consumption was even worse than the petrol H4's.

Yes, a diesel H6 would be very good.

But Subaru seem determined to use the CVT automatic for all new developments, at least it's still got a torque converter unlike the DSGs - and when I test drove the 2.0 H4 diesel automatic last year, the CVT was impeachable - I think because they've opted for electronically "fixed" ratios all the time instead of using the variable ratios like others.

It cannot just be down to fewer dealerships in Subaru as the difference is a factor of 10 x.

Extra 2 years warranty, unless Subaru have upped their game, coupled with more town listed dealers under the Toyota flag?

Subaru warranty has been 5 years/100,000 miles since start of 2013 - excluding WRX STi.

Thanks RT.

Used to deliver Scoobs at one time, collected from the pdi centre at Gloucester, their dealers whilst always competent and friendly were often tucked out the way in very rural places, my son tells me the one near Northampton (Spratton) has closed down, not even sure where the nearest to me is now.

We have two Subarus dealerships: one in S Cheshire and one in Stoke on Trent.(Pinkstones).

The previous Subarus dealer in Stoke was Holdcroft: tehy sold few cars and appeared to have no showrrom stock. Pinkstones had one demo Foirester.. NO BRZ

The macclesfield Toyota dealer (15 miles ) had a showrroom GT86 when I visited a year agp,

No showroom stock = few new sales.

And Suabru is not as well known as toyota

Subaru dealerships really have to be in the correct place. Those that are seem to go on for a long time - just like the cars. Just like www.devon-subaru.co.uk/ N.B. I have no connection with this dealership.

Ashburton Motors may have actually been the first - they certainly go back to the days when the Brat (US), Brumby (Austrailia) or just Subaru pickup (UK) was sold to hill farmers and quickly established their reputation for 4wd dependability - the originals until fairly recently a common sight in Welsh hills but now largely replaced by quadbikes.

Edited by RT on 27/11/2014 at 16:07

5 years ago there were 4 Subaru dealers within a 10 mile radius of where I am sitting, now there is one.

One is a car park, one is a Kia dealer, one is a used car lot (that still advrtises themselves as a Subaru specialist) and the other sells Alfas and Hyundai's in addition to Subaru.

A couple of work colleagues had cars from 2 of the now closed dealers. To say servicing was expensive was an understatement. One car only did about 4,000 miles a year yet the dealer insisted it needed new pads and discs on virtually every visit. The cars owned by both colleagues had transmission failures, in fact one had two Scoobys and both broke the diff/gearbox. None of the cars ever ventured off road.

If all local Scooby owners suffered the same service its easy to see why they went elsewhere.

Couldn't tell you, and shudder to think, how much the nearest Subaru dealer.....wooooh is anybody there....would charge labour on my old Outback, luckily it's such a pleasure to work on, having been designed properly for aftercare in the first place, that all the usual jobs including drive shaft removal are simple enough for competent DIYing.

I don't think the front hubs had been removed for the cars 12 years life, yet everything came undone without a problem, years of grunge on the outer CV spline meant serious pressure being used via my puller to extract the hub, that probably caused one front wheel bearing to start singing about 3 months later, that was a press job to replace.

Radiator if it needs to come out is simplicity itself.

Spark plugs took 3 hours for 6 which from what i read is slightly guicker than most, and i doubt if my back is up to a full engine removal any more, where it sits in the chassis head removal without engine removal would be nigh on impossible.

3 dipsticks under the bonnet (yes i know a fourth behind the wheel) engine gearbox front diff, mean you can physically look smell and feel the oils and judge a new, to you, used car's needs, all have proper drain plugs, all are in the cars service regime, none of this filled for life cobblers at Subaru.

Rear diff is normal drain and filler plugs, all are hefty bolts unlikely to round off in a lifetime.

The drive shafts and hubs are a work of robust genius, there is an inner roll pin to be tapped out leaving the output shaft in the front diff (so no diff seal leaks to exacerbate), and the CV's are simply removed and fully stripped out via proper circlips for easy cleaning inspection and regreasing, should (as was the case on ours) the CV boots be degrading, that proper design would save the DiYer or good indy user hundreds of pounds alone.

Tough stuff too, one side the inner boot had split open and was virtually dry, but after stripping and cleaning i could find no wear whatsoever on bearings or surfaces, so new boots both sides and new grease and good for another 100k...though i'll repack 'em in a couple of years anyway, such a pleasure to do seems a shame not to.

Its not till you delve underneath these vehicles that you find the reasons for the higher initial cost, not as any of this matters to the new car buyer/user who renews at warranty expiry.

The problem with sourcing US production Subaru's is that the steering wheel is on the wrong side - their factory does make bespoke batches of Outbacks and Foresters for the US Mail who use RHD vehicles for rural deliveries as they can put the post in the mail box without getting out of the vehicle - but these would be low spec by our standards, and no performance versions.

I don't know the contract details but I suspect that IM Group have a similar exclusive import contract to Octav Botnar for Datsun/Nissan before Nissan themselves wrested control back.

Pity.

We had three Subarus in our family once and we miss them. Reasons for sale were varies, but the Outback 3.0Rn went simply because we needed more space. I would have it back - and the Forester 2.0Xt - a superb driving position and the torque of the light pressure turbo made point and squirt driving easy and accelerating on the motorways from say 50 - 75 was magic.

The engine should be petrol, the 2.5 litre four cylinder is fine, no turbos - the engine doesn’t need it. The transmission should be fluid converter type, (‘slush box’ in BR speak) not CVT. Above all, I don’t drive like an idiot, so I don’t need the idiot safety devices like vehicle dynamics control. The watchword is KISS, "keep it simple s*****"; don’t put to much bling in because it inevitably goes wrong. I don’t mind if I have to open the doors with the key, I did that for over 50 years it’s no hardship.

Keep the '06 Outback you've got then. The new one is diesel-only. The automatic is CVT but it does still have a torque converter. ESP/VDC is mandatory on all new cars.

I think as things go that it is best to keep the car until something equal is available.

I live on an avenue with a down gradient that defeats cars when it's icy. At the top is a tee junction with a 'main' road that is dangerous in snow and ice; people can't go slowly because of the steep hill. At the bottom is a tee junction with a more severe up gradient on the left to the feeder road and a less severe down gradient on the right which is a no through road. A couple of years ago in icy conditions SWMBO and I drove down to the bottom as usual intending to turn left to leave the estate. We found a lorry across the carriageway and a car stuck with the wheels against the kerb. I drove onto the pavement to see if there was enough space to get through but there wasn't, so we went back up the avenue and took our chance with the 'main' road. The lady driver of the other car had a face like thunder and the lorry crew were resigned to their fate. You can do that with an Outback with winter tyres.

When we lived n Kenya, we had a Mitsubishi Shogun and a Subaru estate. Neither were full time 4WD.

I managed to get some decent M&S tyres for them both, and we took both cars and some ropes to a very muddy area so my wife could get some practice in before going on safari.

We tried as hard as we could to get the Subaru stuck, but weren't able to manage it - even in just 2WD. My wife used it without worry for several safaris.

Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) of which Subaru is part, started life as the Nakajima Aircraft Company. After WW2, they started building scooters then cars and became Subaru. They are built in the old factory that built Zero's which shot down many of our boys.

I have read that the EA engine, the original flat-four, started as a design for a light aircraft which never made it to production.

Never heard the story it was bought from Lancia but looking at internet references now, the original Subaru EA engine was 10 years before the Lancia in the story.

Marlto. Where were you in Kenya and were spare parts available for the Subaru ?

When I was there (mid 90s), the Subarus were assembled in Kenya, so spare parts were no problem at all. During my time the factory moved from the Leone estate to the Legacy estate (but I stuck with my Leone).

Peugeot 405s were also being made locally, and that was the other choice on the company car list.

GB - from experience, in snow it is better to disable the traction control and let the 4WD do its work without interference. I discovered that getting up my drive in the snow was impossible until I turned it off.

From memory, Subaru use 3 different centre "diff" arrangements, depending partly on transmission, power output and model.

The 2.5 4-speed automatic used an electro-hydraulic controlled viscous clutch for the power take-off for the rear axle - in normal running it had a 10% on duty cycle so the front:rear torque spit was taken as 90:10 but variable up to 50:50.

It was documented in the owners manual that removal of a specific fuse would render the car FWD-only and could be used for a suspensed tow if necessary.

But I think the H6 5-speed automatic was different and the twin-turbo manual grey imports certainly were different again.

“Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) of which Subaru is part, started life as the Nakajima Aircraft Company. After WW2, they started building scooters then cars and became Subaru. They are built in the old factory that built Zero's which shot down many of our boys.”

Sorry if I digress. Did anybody ever hear the song “Johnny Got a Zero”, an American WWII patriotic song, I remember it well, perhaps I shouldn’t say that. It compares well with the advertising jingle for the insurance comparison website, sung by the irritating chap with the twizzled moustache. That one was a wildly boastful song called “Over There” written during WWI and rehashed for WWII. Both of them are on Music Youtube.

Marlot. I remember the Peugeot 404 with a cart sprung rear suspension and special back axle being the model most used for taxis in Zambia. What were the Subarus used for ?