I'm reading this thread a bit late as I've not been online much for a very long time. I ordered a new 2002 Outback Sport Wagon from the factory, receiving it in late May 2002, about three months after placing the order. I wad glad to wait though, as I got exactly what I wanted on the car and the optional equipment is cheaper when done at the factory, instead of buying it at the dealer and having them install it. In the first week of February I purchased a 2006 OBS Special Edition. It has many upgrades over the 2002. I bought both cars from the same dealer, even the same salesman. The really nice thing about the new car, is that I paid only a FEW dollars more than I did in 2002. The Special Edition package includes the following:
a.. Leather-wrapped 3-spoke steering wheel, shifter handle, and parking brake handle a.. Tailgate with rear spoiler a.. Center console armrest extension a.. Auto-dimming rearview mirror with compass a.. 260-watt 6 speaker premium audio system with subwoofer and 6-disc in-dash CD changer
If sold individually, I probably wouldn't have purchased each item in the SE package, but at $500, I thought it was a fair enough deal, with the financial advantage in my favor, if pricing the items out separately, even if you count only the ones I REALLY wanted.
The options I had included were: a block heater - I'm in central Montana where it can get pretty cold. The car is always garaged, but I thought that if I chose to sell it, most buyers would like the block heater; I had the back seat and rear cargo area windows tinted, had the lower trim body-colored front and back splash guards installed, and added the rubber corner rub strips to the back bumper, and a black front hood protector (AKA bug deflector). Had the car not been a Special Edition with a rear spoiler, I would have chosen a black acrylic rear dust deflector, as I had in my 02 car.
Some other changes/upgrades from the 02 to the 06 are:
-Disc brakes all around, instead of discs up front and drums in the back.
-Two cup holders up front WITHOUT the pullout one from the dash that was never too reliable, plus two backseat cupholders where there were none before.
-There is just a bit more horsepower from the same engine as the 02 had - but it seems to have great acceleration and climbs steeply graded hills much better than my 02. I go to a VA hospital about 90 miles from here quite often and there are a couple of long, steep hills on the trip. The new car can maintain the speed I set with the cruise control, while my 02 couldn't - I had to come out of cruise and accelerate to try to stay at/near the speed limit in the old car, but not in the new one.
-It has better headlights and foglights - they are the new smaller ones that illuminate really well. Officially, Subaru says this about them: Multireflector low-beam and high-beam halogen headlights. Projector-beam halogen fog lights
-The remote keyless entry system and antitheft security system are now standard. The keyless entry feature was an option in 02, but I'm not sure if security system was even available then.
-The 06 has front-seat-mounted head/chest side-impact air bags which weren't available in 02. Also new is a sensor for the front passenger seat that indicates whether the SRS airbag is on or off, depending on the weight of the passenger
-One of the new items that I am most happy with is to finally have an illuminated ring around the ignition!
-Both visors now have mirrors, not just the passenger one, as my 02 had. Personally, I see no reason for the driver to have one, but it is there now.
-The hood is now aluminum alloy, perhaps to increase gas mileage, I don't really know. And I coudn't tell you what the hood of the 02 was made of, sorry, but I know it wasn't aluminum alloy.
-The gas ratings went up by a single MPH for both city and highway on the new car.
-This is kind of a nice change, the exhaust tip is now real chrome, whereas on my 02 I ordered the option for that and it was just a screw on piece...kind of cheesy. The new exhaust looks much better!
-The retractable antenna went away also, now the antenna is in the top section of the glass on the back liftgate. I know other Subaru models have had their antennae in the glass for some time. The only problem with this is that now I have nowhere to put my Marine antenna ball.
-The 02 had RE92 Bridgestone Potenza tires which were very soft. I have read many reviews of those tires from other consumers online and most felt as I did, that they handled horribly on snow and ice. At times I was embarrassed that I drove a Subaru and couldn't make it up the rather modest incline to my garage without shifting to a very low gear (automatic tranny) and making a couple of tries at it, before getting in. last year I got rid of those tires and put on a tire that was far better suited for Montana winters, even though the original tires had very low mileag on them. The 06 OBS has RE92"A" Bridgestone Potenza tires. I spoke with the tire guy I got my last new tires from and he didn't know anything about the "A" part of the tire. He looked it up and said the softness (or hardness) rating was now 250, if I recall. Anyway, he told me they should last longer and handle much better in the snow compared to the original RE92s. Kudos to Subaru for making that change.
-They also added a couple of new bars in the cargo area, to be used for securing items, I am guessing. One thing I don't get, they have ONE grocery bag hook in the cargo area, to be used to prevent groceries from rolling out of the bag. There's plenty of room back there, why not have a few more, say two per side? The cargo net they offer is listed online at $40, I got mine at Wal-Mart for $8 and love it. I even got two, just to make sure I will have one should something happen to the first one. It is partitioned into three sections, which lets me pack my groceries in a manner that makes sense and gets them home in the same condition as when I bought them. If you have a wagon and don't have a cargo net, you should go to your nearest Wal-Mart's automotive section and pick one up, you'll love it.
There are two things that aren't on my 06 OBS Special Edition that were on my 02 OBS and their disappearance makes no sense to me, especially on the SE package. Those things are: 1) The front floor mats aren't embroidered anymore, not that I really CARE that much about it, but how much money did that save them? It was a nice touch 2) The car came with no splash guards. I had to order them. If my plain 02 OBS came with them, why not an 06 Special Edition?
As an FYI, I now have the 06 because on January 26th I rolled my beloved 02 OBS. It wasn't even fours old yet, and still wouldn't be. It had about
26,600 miles on it. It was my "I plan to keep it forever car". I was on a small county road, with very narrow shoulders and while taking a drink of water, then placing the bottle back into an unzipped soft-sided cooler on my passenger seat, I apparently pulled the wheel slightly to the left, while the right hand put the drink away. I ended up somewhat diagonal across the east and west bound lanes. And as occurs in many rollovers, I overcorrected. My first roll was on the asphalt road, then for good measure I had one in the far side ditch, leaving me up in the air, passenger side down. The car was totally mangled, but I didn't have a single thing wrong with me. I got a decent check for my old car and for my extended warranty. So with that money and the fact that the new car cost hardly anything more at all than the first, things worked out for me. If you were to look at my wrecked car, you'd have to wonder if anyone was killed. I am now a true believer in the safety of Subarus!
Stacey.
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