Legacy GT Wagon or Mazda6 Sportwagon

Wait for the 2005 GT with a Turbo. It will blow you away, with all you want plus AWD and the reliability of a Subaru, not a Ford.

I had the same problem. Before I bought my 04 WRX wagon I looked into the Mazda6 wagon. I went as far as waiting for the Mazda 6 to come out. I just bought a new MPV in jan. and I love the van and so, does my wife who drives it all time. It has the same engine and tranny as the 6. When I bought the MPV I told the dealer I I also wanted the mazda 6 wagon. He said he would give it to me at invoice. I was a few reasons I got the WRX wagon instead, I could not get the color I wanted(the wagon does'nt come in blazing cooper. I love that color), I got the WRX wagon for 22,500 w/ short throw shifter,subwoofer,and upgrade alarm, and the WRX is really fast. oh did I say it's fast, no I mean really fast and has handles great with 4wd. Puls for about $500 I can buy the cobb ECU upgarde and brings the power up from

Do you like spending money on brake jobs????????????? Buy the Ford OH I mean FORDZA,er Mazda made in MI. I just unloaded a 2001 Sable LS that loved brakes, and at $700 a pop in 40K my ass is still sore. Wife didn't want another Subaru wagon when I leased the FORD......at 19 mpg and ridiculous repair prices guess what we're driving now. You bet....a 2004 Legacy 35th Wagon 5 spd. at $18000 I couldn't pass it up to wait for a 2005. This is our 3rd dating back to 1987 and I'll never not buy one again, at 200K my 95 is still going strong and my daughter has it for her family and once the oil pump leakage problem is fixed again it will last a little longer! FORDS HAVE A CHRONIC BRAKE PROBLEM AND HAVE FOR YEARS>

...and it'll cost quite a bit more than a Mazda 6. We're not comparing apples with apples.

Also, having owned a Mazda 626 of recent vintage (2001), and currently owning a 2002 Leg. GT, I can safely say the Mazda was _far_ more reliable that the Leg. ever will be. As always, your milage will vary. Note that I like the Leg. far more than I liked the 626.

Remember, Subaru (or replace with your favorite make) is a car, not a religion.

I'm pretty sure Audi is a religion...

:-)

- Greg Reed

(recent owner of 1989 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro 5-speed and 1990 Audi V8 Quattro)

Not to reinforce the Mazda = Ford thing, but:

We acquired my wife's 1993 Mercury Sable LS wagon in August of 1995 with about 30k miles on the clock. When we gave it to her sister in September of

2001 and with 120k miles on it (we took delivery of the Astro on September 11, 2001 -- an easy date to remember), it had needed brakes exactly as many times as transmissions: once. (The former at about 90k miles and the latter at about 100k miles.) Perhaps you should tell your wife to keep her left foot on the floor instead of the brake pedal...

- Greg Reed

Nice to have such interesting options, eh? :)

2 things come to mind: Wait for the 2005 Legacy models as they seem to bring a lot of refinements (interior, styling, equipment) and have the turbo GT option for not too much more money than the current (2004, turbo-less...) GT. Second thing, how much do you value AWD? The Subaru may end up costing a bit more than the Mazda, depending on equipment and such, but AWD could tip the balance...

As to other comments, I don't buy the Ford thing: Mazda is owned by Ford ands uses Ford platforms but it has a very good reliability history, even with models shared with Ford, where the Fords did not have a good quality record (1st generation Proteges and Escorts come to mind...). You will find horror stories about any and all brands, but looking at surveys of large numbers of owners (I like CR's surveys myself), Mazda and Subaru are both very good brands, just below the level of Toyota and Honda in quality.

Personnally, if the 6 wagon had been available when I bought my Subaru, I would have been VERY interested, but then this is my first Subaru, so AWD was a nice plus, not a requirement for me...

Nicolas

The Gt Legacy WILL blow you away. It is great. I own the new 3.0R Outback (in Oz) and I also test drove the GT Liberty (Legacy) at the time of my purchase of the Outback. I wanted the Outback but thought I'd try the GT just to see what it was like. It really is a superb car. They BOTH are.

But that was what he indicated in this thread he wanted to compare: the Legacy GT Wagon or Mazda6 Sportwagon. This is the thread comparison, regardless of price.

Far more reliable than the Legacy ever will be? And what crystal ball is that you are using? How will you ever know how reliable FUTURE cars will be?