Hello Everyone: My wife is in the market for a small 4wd.(She needs a vehicle she can enter easily as she has a bad back.) Over the last few days we have narrowed it down to a 2002 Outback H6-3.0 VDC Sedan. This vehicle was driven by the dealership owner and has 12k on it. It is in showroom condition and is being sold as a demo for $32K Canadian. Apparently they were 42K New. I am told the 94's do not have VDC. Can anyone advise me if this is a good buy and if there are any problems I should know about.
High test gas (i.e., premium, 91 octane) isn't as expensive as it may seem. Let's say you drive 12,000 miles a year, regular gas is $1.50 per gallon, premium is $1.70, your overall gas mileage is 20 MPG. You'd need 750 gallons of gas per year (15,000/20). So, that much regular will cost you $1,125 (750 x $1.50), and the same amount of premium is $1,275. So, that's a grand total of $150 more per year for premium; or $12.50 more per month; or $2.88 more per week. Give up just one coffee at Starbucks per week, and you can afford to burn premium. (Besides, ever figure what you pay per gallon for Starbucks?!).
I realize the examples above are based on assumptions that may or may not hold true, and YMMV. Further, if you can't afford an extra $150 per year, then you just can't. But the big point is (obviously): a car that requires premium gas isn't all "that" much more expensive to operate, and a premium requirement alone isn't a big enough deal to warrant eliminating a car from consideration.
And, no, I don't have any connection to an oil company!
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