In about a month, we'll be Subaru owners again. Ordered my wife an OBW Limited form the Nashville dealer. Pretty nice negotiation: got it for about $1100 over invoice with about $600 worth of options included. We're pretty excited about the purchase, although my wife was not convinced until last night when I brought one home and we drove in the rain over state highways, interstate, and country roads. I took it around some nice hairpin curves in 2nd gear (auto sport shift mode). I'm not sure what did it for her, but I'm guessing it was that the Subie Dubie (as my daughter calls it) didn't finch in any of this stuff; you could hear the water splashing away from the tires, etc., but no hyroplaning or skittishness as in other cars. It felt quite safe, and gave me peace of mind. One thing I did notice was that auto dimming/compass mirror gets in the way of your vision in a curve. I will not be getting that option. The driver's seat adjusts upward to give better visibility over the hood, and you can adjust it so that it squats down giving a more hunkered down feel. This might make up for the mirror problem. The car has nice quality finish on pretty much everything. The doors make a really nice thunk sound when closing them; this gives an aura of quality and reminds me of our old family
69 diesel Mercedes which had tight doors after 200,000 miles Engine performs well enough for us, and the sport shift gives your a little more control. The car is just about loaded with standard options. We only got the limited for the sunroof which is fantastic-almost like a convertible feel with the rear passengers getting about half of the 23" by 30" opening. The roof is supposed to be specially designed to have as much strength as the one without the sunroof. ZIf it is permissible, I'd like to mention some dealers I thought were really good to work with on price: Madison Subaru (ask for Jasper) in Hunstville, AL; Grayson Subaru (as for Seth)in Knoxville, TN; the dealer in Memphis, TN, Gwinnett Subaru (ask for Darrell) Atlanta, GA. These people were very responsive to emails and were willing to deal, but I eventually got a similar deal locally at Jim Reed Subaru (ask for Jack Sanchez). IMHO, using the internet and email is the only way to go. After driving a 1991 Honda Accord Wagon for 220,000 miles, and having some idiot fall asleep and hit my wife and daughter from behind almost causing them to go into the oncoming lane, I am relieved to find such a safe car in the Subaru. I am convinced they will be in the best car for the money, and when it rains or snows I will feel more at ease knowing what they are driving. Thanks to this group with the advice, especially on SUV's. The car will be in around 1st week of July in time for someone's birthday ;-)Gregg