Monday 26th October 2015

PH made me do it: PH Blog

Dan goes shopping for a practical four-wheel drive family car for winter, gets a bit carried away

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To put it in simplistic, gender stereotyped terms I guess what just happened is the male equivalent of the wife going into town for a coffee and coming back with three new pairs of shoes and a bag. But after my recent relocation north didn't quite stand me the 996 Carrera I hoped it might the shopping list became one car to do it all. 'All' being carting two young kids, muddy bikes, buggies and boots and a request for four-wheel drive given that Yorkshire is, apparently, north of the Arctic Circle. Possible climate-based confusion there between the one in Nova Scotia and the one near Leeds we moved to but, in fairness, there are some ruddy steep hills round these parts, many of them paved in greasy cobbles. And the Daily Express says we're in for a new ice age as of November.

What else for the Subaru fanboy with kids?

Clearly I wasn't about to buy a crossover, though Yetis were considered an acceptable, if expensive, compromise. From the same stable an Octavia vRS would have done the job, or at a push a Scout or rare 4x4 version if FWD really wasn't acceptable. Yes, there's now a 4x4 vRS but it only fuels from the black pump.

So to the PH classifieds and a couple of recurring saved searches, one for pre-2008 Subaru Foresters. More recent ones became 'proper SUVs' but I've always liked the biscuit tin boxiness of the SG generation cars and reckoned a Harrogate-spec UK XT with one careful Barbour-wearing lady owner would be a smart buy. Bit of ground clearance, enough power to amuse when required and a deliberately functional, anti-fashion appearance.

PH being PH, every time I refreshed my search hoping for such a car all I got was imported STIs. And there's only so many times a man can be exposed to such temptation before heeding what our web development team term a 'call to action'. Kidding myself I was just going along out of curiosity I found a black one locally with import specialist RASP Cars and headed out to kick some tyres. Long story short, after several weeks of boring everyone senseless with pictures on my iPhone (apologies all) I paid a return visit the other day with a checklist and looming sense of inevitability. And, sure enough, it concluded with a handshake and a drive home wondering how I was going to explain myself.

Explaining the mpg might take a while

Debts of gratitude I owe for this situation include PH contributor and former Japanese Performance editor Chris Rees, who dug out an old road test he did on the car back in period. His conclusion - "Hill farmers take note: if your little piggy needs to go to market, this wolf in sheep's cloth has the huff and the puff to blow you away." - raised a smile. PHer manwithnoname owes some share of the blame too, his forum post about his acquisition of a similar car resulting in a request for info and email by return headed "Apologies, this one goes on a good bit, so I'd pour a glass of something!" No need - the insight was valuable and detailed, his willingness to take the time to share it an example of PH at its best.

I've got a few weeks to wait until the car turns 10 years old and so needs little more than an MoT, mph speedo and re-map for UK fuel before I can take delivery. In the meantime I'm spending my time immersing myself in all things Forester, which means eBay searches for everything from branded rubber boot liners to an aftermarket backbox to unleash a little more boxer burble. I'm also amused the list of attributes that attracted me extends from ISOFIX mounts to a red crackle finish inlet manifold and bonnet scoop. This rather encapsulates the appeal of the car to me. Here's hoping it lives up to the considerable excitement!

Dan

[Emeye]

So, the million dollar (Pounds? Yen?) question - and apologies for being so upfront, but how much was it?

[Emeye]

Dan Trent said:

Emeye said:

So, the million dollar (Pounds? Yen?) question - and apologies for being so upfront, but how much was it?

You realise Mrs Trent will be reading this, right? You'd be amazed what you can get for Shed money these days, dear...

Seriously though we shook on £9.5K meeting half way on some of the bits and bobs that needed sorting out, my side of the bargain including infotainment to replace the Japanese head unit/nav to something of my tastes and needs. And in English and not hunting for an address in downtown Yokohama. My contact manwithnoname seems to be a bit of an expert on this so I expect further email traffic on the subject in the not too distant! And probably some degree of additional expenditure. But, hey, it doesn't 'show' on the purchase price so that makes it OK, right?

Dan

Being honest that's a little more than I was expecting - I'm after a family friendly estate/SUV "interesting" daily driver - my budget doesn't stretch as far.

If you have not settled on a Head unit, how about one of the Pioneer Apple carplay/android auto stereos? I guess there is a standard double DIN waiting in anticipation of a decent upgrade? I have the Appradio 3 - it's the older Apple carplay only one, but the Apple carplay integration works pretty well, despite Siri being a bit frustrating.