Advice on buying a car

[Claymonkey]

I can't resist...

you mean Toyotas require maintainance? lol

when it's an 88.... yes. The bolts kept coming off the exhaust manifold and dumping the exhaust directly into the engine. THAT messes things up. Still as long as I looked after her that car still got 30mpg and drove like a champ.

[Claymonkey]

Not sure why you're considering a Forrester and an Impreza, since they're eons apart.

Subarus are great cars. If you're looking to spend $18K and want AWD, they're your only real option.

Not really considering an Impreza. I was just commenting that the Forrester is (or was) built on the same frame. Basically I want a Forester or a Suburua station wagon of some sort. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that considers them a good choice for what I'm asking for though.

[Gurm]

this comming from the guy who drives Volvo's?

What's your point? Put me in the driver's seat of an 850T5-R and I'll whup the ass of whatever car you're driving.

But I also drive BMW's.

And it doesn't matter WHAT kind of car you're in, every car has a power band, and every automatic transmission doesn't hit it.

[GT98]

Has anyone here driven a tiptronic transmission? I'm just wondering how it compares to auto-manual as a driving experience..

You mean where you can shift the gears on an automatic by moving the stick up and down? Friend had a G35 Coupe with it and it sucked...I didnt like it...nothing like a regular stick.

[Nowhere]

Everybody know what I would say here?

[agallag]

I'll add my vote for the forester. If you want something that's SUV-like, but still handles well and offers a manual, it's really the only choice out there. Get the XT if you can afford it, it's hella fast.

I also agree with Gurm on the slushbox comments. The only thing on the horizon that will be able to touch manual transmissions (in price AND performance) in the near future is VW's new DSG (direct shift gearbox). Until those are widely available, I'll stick with my manual. Even then, I really don't want to give up my clutch.

[Claymonkey]

It's not so much that i want an SUV than I want something I can hall stuff in that isn't a truck. A station wagon would do just fine. The Forester is generally cheaper than an Outback though and you get more room so there you go. Maybe I'm in the minority but I never really considered a Jeep an SUV, it's a jeep, and the Forester feels more like a jeep than an SUV to me. *shrug* Anyway, thanks for the advice everyone.

[Gurm]

A Jeep is a truck. I mean, they've become "SUV's", but they were originally trucks. A grand wagoneer was just a J10 with an enclosed cabin. Y'know, like a Dodge Durango is just an enclosed Dakota.