Subaru Impreza vs Subaru Legacy

[getmeoutofhere]

Originally Posted by Sayantsi

As for resale, Subaru just had a lease and sales event with 75%-80% residual after 3 years - Subarus hold their value extremely well.

Just because its bothering me, those are overinflated manufacturer residuals. No car is worth that much after 3 years.

But Subies are a great buy because they do hold their value very well.

[wanneroo]

Yeah that is too much. A car should be worth about 50% after 3 years.

My past 2 cars I've purchased off lease at 3 years. Did the carfax and maintenance check on them. Both served me well and one still does after 4 years.

[GregW]

Check my post in the other Subie thread. I strongly suggest getting a set of four snow tires on steel rims for the winter. I am partial to Cooper brand. These things stick very well on packed snow. For summer try Nokia I3's. These are really decent tires.

I also recommend getting out on an unplowed parking lot after the first snow and relearning how to start, stop, steer and slide on slippery pavement.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by arel

I need to decide whether to get an Impreza (the regular Impreza, not the WRX) or a Legacy.

I know this is an old thread, but it might be a good place to discuss older sedans and hatchbacks. We had a 3rd generation 2003 Legacy sedan and on 01/03/2011 at 101,935 miles the head gaskets needed to be replaced and the car was sold.

We have another 2nd generation Impreza (model year 2007) bought June 2007 and currently it has 62,000 miles on it. We put an average of 3400 miles for over a decade.

I would like to avoid the head gasket problem on the Impreza, but the only advice I can find is to change the oil and transmission fluid regularly and the battery every 5 years (since corrosive acids from the battery can undermine the gaskets).

Can anyone else offer helpful advice on how to avoid the problem and/or fix it?
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I do kind of like this 2nd generation Impreza with 173 hp and gears for the transmission and a maximum of 61.6 ft³ cargo space.

The 5th generation Impreza has 152 hp with Continuously Variable Transmission and a maximum of 55.3 ft³ cargo space.
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From the sales pattern it seems like Subaru should probably drop it from the lineup. I know they are taking out the chip shortage by cutting back on production of the Impreza, but since Impreza sales were already headed down if they keep going like this nobody will remember the Impreza.

Average Impreza Sales by month for 5th generation
7,170 2017 month avg---------- Impreza (5th generation) sales peak in May 2017 at 8,546
6,367 2018 month avg
5,535 2019 month avg---------- Crosstrek sales peak in August 2019 at 15,860
3,636 2020 month avg
2,771 Jan 31, 2021
2,708 Feb 28, 2021
3,636 Mar 31, 2021
3,447 Apr 30, 2021
2,946 May 31, 2021
1,657 Jun 30, 2021
706 Jul 31, 2021

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by PacoMartin

From the sales pattern it seems like Subaru should probably drop it from the lineup. I know they are taking out the chip shortage by cutting back on production of the Impreza, but since Impreza sales were already headed down if they keep going like this nobody will remember the Impreza.

Average Impreza Sales by month for 5th generation
7,170 2017 month avg---------- Impreza (5th generation) sales peak in May 2017 at 8,546
6,367 2018 month avg
5,535 2019 month avg---------- Crosstrek sales peak in August 2019 at 15,860
3,636 2020 month avg

Bumping this thread up from 4 months ago, it looks like Impreza sales have recovered.

2,771 Jan 31, 2021
2,708 Feb 28, 2021
3,636 Mar 31, 2021
3,447 Apr 30, 2021
2,946 May 31, 2021
1,657 Jun 30, 2021
706 Jul 31, 2021
1,287 Aug 31,2021
3,665 Sep 30,2021
3,512 Oct 31,2021
4,300 Nov 30,2021

Originally Posted by PacoMartin

I would like to avoid the head gasket problem on my 2007 Impreza.

I would still appreciate any advice on if and how often the transmission fluid should be changed.