Replacing a Subaru Legacy Spec.B manual estate
Discussion
This is a long one!
Currently have a 2006 Legacy Spec.b, it does absolutely everything I want, although it is a bit thirsty and the annual road tax isn't the cheapest, ohh and I guess more steering "feel" would be nice.
It's at the age a mileage now where the cost of repairing it is starting to make me look for it's replacement. Nothing major yet, ball joints, drop links, suspension bushes, and so on. A 3 figure bill every time, on top of the usual tyres and brake pads, which don't last long because I drive it like a yob. I know it can't be long now until it spits out a much bigger bill, the center diff, rear subframe, headgaskets, gearbox rebuild, something like that. If nothing else will do the job, then I guess I'll keep paying.
So, new car requiements;
- Must be a propper driver's car, the sort of thing you can enjoy a good road with.
- Budget not more than £7500 (This leaves money asside for servicing, tyres, brakes and so on, should these not be up to scratch on the car I find)
- Must be newer than my current car, looking around the 2015/16 age range ideally, so about half as old, ideally half the miles, so not more than 75k, but I might have to wiggle on some of these figures.
- Must be at least as fast, I don't want a downgrade in performance. A 3.0L flat 6 non-turbo Subaru is basically a Toyota Camry V6 rival, it's hardly a rocket, it's just not quite as slow as most other cars.
- Must be able to tow, I only tow a small tip trailer a few times a year, I don't need an SUV, but it has to be able to have a towbar fitted, and be homologated for towing (i.e, not a JDM import, the V5 has to have a towing weight in it, a Fiat Panda would do for this.)
- Must be dog friendly, so estate with a retractable load cover, not a hatchback with a parcel shelf, and not a saloon, obviously. A Fabia estate is big enough, a Golf hatchback isn't.
- Must not be front wheel drive, and preferably not Haldex either, but will try if there's no alternative.
- If RWD, must be available with a limited slip diff, factory or aftermarket, within budget.
- Must be manual
- Must not be significantly more expensive to run (fuel economy, expected maintainance, and so on) than my current car. Nothing with the timing chains/belt located up it's arse which need changing every 600 yards.
- A sunroof or panoramic roof would be nice, as would adaptive cruise control, a full size spare wheel, and a manual handbrake, but I can live without.
- Preferably available in a nice colour, not just black/grey/silver/red. Blue of green ideally.
Things I don't care about
- Rear head and legroom or actual boot capacity, just big enough for my relatively big dog.
- Towing capacity, its a small trailer, and it's not full of bricks.
- The badge on the bonnet, infact Id prefer a non-flash brand.
- Ride comfort, it's unlikely to be so bad I can't live with it, and I'm happy to go for smaller wheels with bigger tyres if the ride is bad.
- Electronic stuff, adjustable driving modes, traction control, ESP, I don't need any of it. ABS and airbags are a must, but I doubt I'll find a car of this age without them.
- Bells and whistles, fancy interior, leather, bla bla bla. Manual cloth seats are fine, no satnav, parking sensors or screens is fine.
I can't find anything which ticks every box. The closest I've found is the Audi S4 Avant, B8, but the newest one of those I think is a 2010/11. The other option is the Impreza WRX STI hatchback, the newest of those being about the same age as the Audi, although I'm doubtful about the boot. Both of those sit in the top road tax band, at £765 or whatever it is now, and I doubt either will be any lighter on fuel. Plenty of choice if I'm willing to go for an automatic, or a slower car, but I'd rather keep my old Subaru going as long as possible if that's the case. I also don't see any more options if I were to extend my budget, other than buying multiple cars, which I'm not keen on doing. I've tried that before, and always found myself wishing I was in the fast car when trying to overtake, or wishing I was in the big car when I pop to the shops and the kayaks or picnic tables or something are on special offer.
If you can think of anything, do let me know, thanks!
Currently have a 2006 Legacy Spec.b, it does absolutely everything I want, although it is a bit thirsty and the annual road tax isn't the cheapest, ohh and I guess more steering "feel" would be nice.
It's at the age a mileage now where the cost of repairing it is starting to make me look for it's replacement. Nothing major yet, ball joints, drop links, suspension bushes, and so on. A 3 figure bill every time, on top of the usual tyres and brake pads, which don't last long because I drive it like a yob. I know it can't be long now until it spits out a much bigger bill, the center diff, rear subframe, headgaskets, gearbox rebuild, something like that. If nothing else will do the job, then I guess I'll keep paying.
So, new car requiements;
- Must be a propper driver's car, the sort of thing you can enjoy a good road with.
- Budget not more than £7500 (This leaves money asside for servicing, tyres, brakes and so on, should these not be up to scratch on the car I find)
- Must be newer than my current car, looking around the 2015/16 age range ideally, so about half as old, ideally half the miles, so not more than 75k, but I might have to wiggle on some of these figures.
- Must be at least as fast, I don't want a downgrade in performance. A 3.0L flat 6 non-turbo Subaru is basically a Toyota Camry V6 rival, it's hardly a rocket, it's just not quite as slow as most other cars.
- Must be able to tow, I only tow a small tip trailer a few times a year, I don't need an SUV, but it has to be able to have a towbar fitted, and be homologated for towing (i.e, not a JDM import, the V5 has to have a towing weight in it, a Fiat Panda would do for this.)
- Must be dog friendly, so estate with a retractable load cover, not a hatchback with a parcel shelf, and not a saloon, obviously. A Fabia estate is big enough, a Golf hatchback isn't.
- Must not be front wheel drive, and preferably not Haldex either, but will try if there's no alternative.
- If RWD, must be available with a limited slip diff, factory or aftermarket, within budget.
- Must be manual
- Must not be significantly more expensive to run (fuel economy, expected maintainance, and so on) than my current car. Nothing with the timing chains/belt located up it's arse which need changing every 600 yards.
- A sunroof or panoramic roof would be nice, as would adaptive cruise control, a full size spare wheel, and a manual handbrake, but I can live without.
- Preferably available in a nice colour, not just black/grey/silver/red. Blue of green ideally.
Things I don't care about
- Rear head and legroom or actual boot capacity, just big enough for my relatively big dog.
- Towing capacity, its a small trailer, and it's not full of bricks.
- The badge on the bonnet, infact Id prefer a non-flash brand.
- Ride comfort, it's unlikely to be so bad I can't live with it, and I'm happy to go for smaller wheels with bigger tyres if the ride is bad.
- Electronic stuff, adjustable driving modes, traction control, ESP, I don't need any of it. ABS and airbags are a must, but I doubt I'll find a car of this age without them.
- Bells and whistles, fancy interior, leather, bla bla bla. Manual cloth seats are fine, no satnav, parking sensors or screens is fine.
I can't find anything which ticks every box. The closest I've found is the Audi S4 Avant, B8, but the newest one of those I think is a 2010/11. The other option is the Impreza WRX STI hatchback, the newest of those being about the same age as the Audi, although I'm doubtful about the boot. Both of those sit in the top road tax band, at £765 or whatever it is now, and I doubt either will be any lighter on fuel. Plenty of choice if I'm willing to go for an automatic, or a slower car, but I'd rather keep my old Subaru going as long as possible if that's the case. I also don't see any more options if I were to extend my budget, other than buying multiple cars, which I'm not keen on doing. I've tried that before, and always found myself wishing I was in the fast car when trying to overtake, or wishing I was in the big car when I pop to the shops and the kayaks or picnic tables or something are on special offer.
If you can think of anything, do let me know, thanks!
That’s going to be a tough car to replace! I unfortunately lost my Spec B as it was written off back in 2013 by a dosey idiot deciding they wanted to use the back of it to stop.. I replaced it with a Audi S4 B8 Avant manual, however it felt very nose heavy compared to the subaru and wanted to push wide at the front during spirited driving. At that budget I would be looking towards a BMW as they tend to be more 50/50 weight distribution.
That's a really tough one but if you can find one then the VXR Insignia Estate is a (although they really respond to a remap that puts the torque in that Vauxhall took out) very good steer.
Early models suffered with cam chain stretch but this was seemingly resolved on later cars.
Running costs will be no more than you have now, imo these are a better car than the S4 but they're harder to find:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510197...
Mileage will be high but a 2.0t 328i will fit the bill:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/197886027308?itmmeta=01...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510237...
I'd suggest test driving the Focus ST, yes it's fwd but they really handle & would give your Legacy a hard time:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511208...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511228...
320i, you won't need an lsd:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205744635662?itmmeta=01...
Not as good as the ST but the VRS Octabia will cover ground at a decent pace:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511218...
Early models suffered with cam chain stretch but this was seemingly resolved on later cars.
Running costs will be no more than you have now, imo these are a better car than the S4 but they're harder to find:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510197...
Mileage will be high but a 2.0t 328i will fit the bill:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/197886027308?itmmeta=01...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510237...
I'd suggest test driving the Focus ST, yes it's fwd but they really handle & would give your Legacy a hard time:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511208...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511228...
320i, you won't need an lsd:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205744635662?itmmeta=01...
Not as good as the ST but the VRS Octabia will cover ground at a decent pace:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511218...
LotsOfLaughs said:
This is a long one!
Currently have a 2006 Legacy Spec.b, it does absolutely everything I want, although it is a bit thirsty and the annual road tax isn't the cheapest, ohh and I guess more steering "feel" would be nice.
It's at the age a mileage now where the cost of repairing it is starting to make me look for it's replacement. Nothing major yet, ball joints, drop links, suspension bushes, and so on. A 3 figure bill every time, on top of the usual tyres and brake pads, which don't last long because I drive it like a yob. I know it can't be long now until it spits out a much bigger bill, the center diff, rear subframe, headgaskets, gearbox rebuild, something like that. If nothing else will do the job, then I guess I'll keep paying.
So, new car requiements;
- Must be a propper driver's car, the sort of thing you can enjoy a good road with.
- Budget not more than £7500 (This leaves money asside for servicing, tyres, brakes and so on, should these not be up to scratch on the car I find)
- Must be newer than my current car, looking around the 2015/16 age range ideally, so about half as old, ideally half the miles, so not more than 75k, but I might have to wiggle on some of these figures.
- Must be at least as fast, I don't want a downgrade in performance. A 3.0L flat 6 non-turbo Subaru is basically a Toyota Camry V6 rival, it's hardly a rocket, it's just not quite as slow as most other cars.
- Must be able to tow, I only tow a small tip trailer a few times a year, I don't need an SUV, but it has to be able to have a towbar fitted, and be homologated for towing (i.e, not a JDM import, the V5 has to have a towing weight in it, a Fiat Panda would do for this.)
- Must be dog friendly, so estate with a retractable load cover, not a hatchback with a parcel shelf, and not a saloon, obviously. A Fabia estate is big enough, a Golf hatchback isn't.
- Must not be front wheel drive, and preferably not Haldex either, but will try if there's no alternative.
- If RWD, must be available with a limited slip diff, factory or aftermarket, within budget.
- Must be manual
- Must not be significantly more expensive to run (fuel economy, expected maintainance, and so on) than my current car. Nothing with the timing chains/belt located up it's arse which need changing every 600 yards.
- A sunroof or panoramic roof would be nice, as would adaptive cruise control, a full size spare wheel, and a manual handbrake, but I can live without.
- Preferably available in a nice colour, not just black/grey/silver/red. Blue of green ideally.
Things I don't care about
- Rear head and legroom or actual boot capacity, just big enough for my relatively big dog.
- Towing capacity, its a small trailer, and it's not full of bricks.
- The badge on the bonnet, infact Id prefer a non-flash brand.
- Ride comfort, it's unlikely to be so bad I can't live with it, and I'm happy to go for smaller wheels with bigger tyres if the ride is bad.
- Electronic stuff, adjustable driving modes, traction control, ESP, I don't need any of it. ABS and airbags are a must, but I doubt I'll find a car of this age without them.
- Bells and whistles, fancy interior, leather, bla bla bla. Manual cloth seats are fine, no satnav, parking sensors or screens is fine.
I can't find anything which ticks every box. The closest I've found is the Audi S4 Avant, B8, but the newest one of those I think is a 2010/11. The other option is the Impreza WRX STI hatchback, the newest of those being about the same age as the Audi, although I'm doubtful about the boot. Both of those sit in the top road tax band, at £765 or whatever it is now, and I doubt either will be any lighter on fuel. Plenty of choice if I'm willing to go for an automatic, or a slower car, but I'd rather keep my old Subaru going as long as possible if that's the case. I also don't see any more options if I were to extend my budget, other than buying multiple cars, which I'm not keen on doing. I've tried that before, and always found myself wishing I was in the fast car when trying to overtake, or wishing I was in the big car when I pop to the shops and the kayaks or picnic tables or something are on special offer.
If you can think of anything, do let me know, thanks!
I think your best option is to sell it to me and then worry about your next car. My only real issue with my current estate is that I would have loved to have got a 3.0R Spec B manual estate (but if I'd got the Spec B I'd have been lusting after my current one).Currently have a 2006 Legacy Spec.b, it does absolutely everything I want, although it is a bit thirsty and the annual road tax isn't the cheapest, ohh and I guess more steering "feel" would be nice.
It's at the age a mileage now where the cost of repairing it is starting to make me look for it's replacement. Nothing major yet, ball joints, drop links, suspension bushes, and so on. A 3 figure bill every time, on top of the usual tyres and brake pads, which don't last long because I drive it like a yob. I know it can't be long now until it spits out a much bigger bill, the center diff, rear subframe, headgaskets, gearbox rebuild, something like that. If nothing else will do the job, then I guess I'll keep paying.
So, new car requiements;
- Must be a propper driver's car, the sort of thing you can enjoy a good road with.
- Budget not more than £7500 (This leaves money asside for servicing, tyres, brakes and so on, should these not be up to scratch on the car I find)
- Must be newer than my current car, looking around the 2015/16 age range ideally, so about half as old, ideally half the miles, so not more than 75k, but I might have to wiggle on some of these figures.
- Must be at least as fast, I don't want a downgrade in performance. A 3.0L flat 6 non-turbo Subaru is basically a Toyota Camry V6 rival, it's hardly a rocket, it's just not quite as slow as most other cars.
- Must be able to tow, I only tow a small tip trailer a few times a year, I don't need an SUV, but it has to be able to have a towbar fitted, and be homologated for towing (i.e, not a JDM import, the V5 has to have a towing weight in it, a Fiat Panda would do for this.)
- Must be dog friendly, so estate with a retractable load cover, not a hatchback with a parcel shelf, and not a saloon, obviously. A Fabia estate is big enough, a Golf hatchback isn't.
- Must not be front wheel drive, and preferably not Haldex either, but will try if there's no alternative.
- If RWD, must be available with a limited slip diff, factory or aftermarket, within budget.
- Must be manual
- Must not be significantly more expensive to run (fuel economy, expected maintainance, and so on) than my current car. Nothing with the timing chains/belt located up it's arse which need changing every 600 yards.
- A sunroof or panoramic roof would be nice, as would adaptive cruise control, a full size spare wheel, and a manual handbrake, but I can live without.
- Preferably available in a nice colour, not just black/grey/silver/red. Blue of green ideally.
Things I don't care about
- Rear head and legroom or actual boot capacity, just big enough for my relatively big dog.
- Towing capacity, its a small trailer, and it's not full of bricks.
- The badge on the bonnet, infact Id prefer a non-flash brand.
- Ride comfort, it's unlikely to be so bad I can't live with it, and I'm happy to go for smaller wheels with bigger tyres if the ride is bad.
- Electronic stuff, adjustable driving modes, traction control, ESP, I don't need any of it. ABS and airbags are a must, but I doubt I'll find a car of this age without them.
- Bells and whistles, fancy interior, leather, bla bla bla. Manual cloth seats are fine, no satnav, parking sensors or screens is fine.
I can't find anything which ticks every box. The closest I've found is the Audi S4 Avant, B8, but the newest one of those I think is a 2010/11. The other option is the Impreza WRX STI hatchback, the newest of those being about the same age as the Audi, although I'm doubtful about the boot. Both of those sit in the top road tax band, at £765 or whatever it is now, and I doubt either will be any lighter on fuel. Plenty of choice if I'm willing to go for an automatic, or a slower car, but I'd rather keep my old Subaru going as long as possible if that's the case. I also don't see any more options if I were to extend my budget, other than buying multiple cars, which I'm not keen on doing. I've tried that before, and always found myself wishing I was in the fast car when trying to overtake, or wishing I was in the big car when I pop to the shops and the kayaks or picnic tables or something are on special offer.
If you can think of anything, do let me know, thanks!
ZX10R NIN said:
That's a really tough one but if you can find one then the VXR Insignia Estate is a (although they really respond to a remap that puts the torque in that Vauxhall took out) very good steer.
Early models suffered with cam chain stretch but this was seemingly resolved on later cars.
Running costs will be no more than you have now, imo these are a better car than the S4 but they're harder to find:
Mileage will be high but a 2.0t 328i will fit the bill:
I'd suggest test driving the Focus ST, yes it's fwd but they really handle & would give your Legacy a hard time:
320i, you won't need an lsd:
Not as good as the ST but the VRS Octabia will cover ground at a decent pace
Thanks - I'll go through these one at a time.Early models suffered with cam chain stretch but this was seemingly resolved on later cars.
Running costs will be no more than you have now, imo these are a better car than the S4 but they're harder to find:
Mileage will be high but a 2.0t 328i will fit the bill:
I'd suggest test driving the Focus ST, yes it's fwd but they really handle & would give your Legacy a hard time:
320i, you won't need an lsd:
Not as good as the ST but the VRS Octabia will cover ground at a decent pace
Insignia - I've never driven one, so it might not be fair for me to criticise, but just looking at the specifications, they're very heavy (1930kg kerbweight), and Haldex. Speaking of Vauxhalls though, the VXR8 is very nice. Estates are rare though, and not cheap enough for me.
328i - Tempting, I hadn't looked at these before. Not available with xDrive, but since it's only a 2.0, what's the difference mechanically between this and a 320i? And I'm guessing these only come with an open diff?
320i xDrive - tempting, along with the 320d, but circa 180hp is a long way off my current car, and they aren't any lighter. Are they relatively easy to make faster? Did BMW detune them substantially from factory?
Focus ST - I'm sure one of these would do nicely, if rain wasn't such a frequent occurance here. I often have to pull out from a tight junction onto a relatively busy 60mph A-road, and exploiting gaps in traffic is one of the reasons I like fast cars so much. In the wet, I've found that I'm spinning wheels in FWD cars with 100hp or so, so I don't think 200hp+ is going to help.
Octavia VRS - As above. I actually had an Octavia Scout, it is the reason I'm so hesitant to jump into another Haldex car. I must say that I thought the Octavia was a really good car, so long as you weren't the sort of person who enjoyed driving. The newer VRS with the performance pack (the equivelant Golf would be the mk7 GTI Performance) is somewhat tempting, with it's clever front diff, but ultimately it's still FWD.
lemonslap said:
That s going to be a tough car to replace! I replaced it with a Audi S4 B8 Avant manual, however it felt very nose heavy compared to the subaru and wanted to push wide at the front during spirited driving. At that budget I would be looking towards a BMW as they tend to be more 50/50 weight distribution.
Out of interest, did your S4 have the optional active rear diff? I've read that it makes quite a big difference.As for a BMW, the E91 and E61s are a bit old, the F31 3.0Ls are only available as autos (I might have seen one 335i sDrive manual) and the 2.0L xDrives are only 320d and 320i, no 325d or 328i xdrives. I've heard so much good about the 330/335d xdrive that I'm almost tempted to fall on my manual sword so to speak, and that would open many more options like the Golf R estate and its cousins (Leon FR, Superb 280 4x4, etc), V6 diesel Mercs, and saving a bit for AMG Mercs, RS6s, and so on (Although those do get into silly running costs)
Chimune said:
Having recently been through a similar thought process from same car (utterly brilliant), I spent some time looking at jaguar sportbrake
If they made an XE sportbrake, I'd be very tempted, but they don't. The XF is quite big, and only sold with a manual with a 4-pot diesel, which given the size and weight of the car, makes it quite slow. There are more powerful ones, with AWD or a V6 (but not both) but again, no manual.Krikkit said:
Either spend and sort out the one you've got or import a JDM one - £7.5k will probably get a WR Ltd 2.0 twin scroll to the UK
The imports aren't homologated for towing, there's no weight on the V5. That probably wouldn't be a problem, but if I was pulled over or involved in an accident, it's dangerous driving, and I'd be thrown immediately into the deep end of the slurry pit.Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff