I thought it was the rounded versionof the festiva, which my dad owned, and was actually a really good car. Not much for looks (roller skate), but you can't argue with 40 to the gallon.

 

Isn't that what they tried to push on the new 500? Saying it was 'boring' and a 'bloated Taurus'?

Neither of which is true, the 500 AWD is a very potent combination of great ride and good handling, as well as a good alternative (especially for winter driving) to the overpriced Subarus and other AWD cars.

 

well we can rest assured that those magazines can't hold too much weight. Let's review.
The ford f-150, hated for years by the magazines and still the best selling
The ford taurus, hated for years by the magazines and thought infinately inferior to a honda accord but still the bread and butter for ford
The ford Mustang, thought inferior to the camaro for most of the years that the magazines were in circulation, still ended up tanking the camaro on the basis of consistently higher sales.

Talk all you want magazines, we ain't lintening.

 

Subarus overpriced. You get what you pay for.

 

I got a buddy that swears by them, they are pretty reliable, but they are just too small for a person my size as well as lacking much in the power dept. other than the 300hp WRX, which is still too small and runs close to $30k.

Even the older ones (pre-'81) that he wants to get into collecting are bringing $2k or more, way out of his budget.

 

Guess not enough Consumers are reading Consumer Reports, note Monsta's post about Honda cutting Ridgeline production.
I like the Tundra and when Toyota does eventually offer a Diesel it should sell very well. Just my opinion, I could be wrong! (Again.... )

 

Yea I read monstas post too. This magazine company must be a bunch of Einsteins, I mean some brilliant indivisuals, best of the best. They say the Honda Ridgeline is the best truck out, best truck ever, but a few days ago, honda announced cutting back on ridgeline production...i wonder why...must not be selling! Might be because its a soccer mom mobile. They've been out for a little while now, and I've only seen 1, ONE!

Its a unibodied suv with a huge 4 ft. bed and a car motor. They are about useless.

 

HOnda was trying to make the same thing Subaru made, only better. subary failed at both. The Brat was a chopped off 2 door Subaru that failed and was discontinued. The decided to do the same thing with the Subaru Outback and it also failed and is being discontinued.

 

My buddy would argue the night away with you saying a Honda is better than a Subaru. It gets quite entertaining when he gets into a import debate, well really its more funny than anything else.

He doesn't argue with me about Fords--his mom's got a '93 Aerostar with 250k on the original engine and 2nd transmission and its still chuggin' away...he's a firm believer in the Ford Aerostar van. In fact he's registered on FTE but he only posts in the Aerostar section when he has a question.

 

[QUOTE=MW95F250]My buddy would argue the night away with you saying a Honda is better than a Subaru. It gets quite entertaining when he gets into a import debate, well really its more funny than anything else.
QUOTE]

I'm not saying a Honda is better at all. I'm saying Honda is going down a path where Subaru went and the market was not there. I don't think the Ridgeline will be a long run model and will be discontinued like the Subaru models were.

 

The Brat was a very unique moderately successful vehicle. The government reclassified it as a light truck rather than a car and that jacked up the import tariffs and suddenly they were too expensive to sell. Pressure from the Big 3 on the the government destroyed the Brat.

Then, you mention the Subaru Baja (Outback with a small pickup box). My wife has one and it's a great car. Can you show a link telling when the Baja is being discontinued?

Our dealer says it has grown to be a strong seller and don't see any signs of it being discontinued soon. It didn't sell well the first year (2003) and there were rumors of cancelling the model then. Since then they are a good seller.

The dealer is constantly pressuring us to trade because they have a lot of people calling looking for used ones and they have troubles keeping new models on the lot. With the n.a. version you have 165 hp which is plenty of power for a car that size, and it consistently makes right around 30 m.p.h. Turbo is more h.p. less m.p.g. Very comfortable ride and AWD is great for getting around. Rumors are that Porsche and VW are considering a similar vehicle. So, it may be that the market segment is taking a while to develop.

That said, it's a very unique car, but it is NOT a truck. As such, it has car like room, not truck like room. I'm about 6 ft. and 185 lb. and I wouldn't want to be much bigger and have to ride in it all day. I think that for the '05 model with the increased ground clearance they are classed as an SUV. I think Honda made the mistake of making the Ridgeline too big and challenging the 1/2 ton truck market.

As for the Ford 500 and Subaru? It makes a big difference what model of Subaru you compare the 500 to.

Logical Heretic: I have to disagree that the Subarus are overpriced and in my opinion you get ALL that you paid for. AWD, leather, great ride, great mileage, excellent durability, great sound, good power, comfortable seating for four adults. I don't think $25 k is too much for this.

Apparently the buying public doesn't think they're overpriced either.

"Subaru makes the best-selling All-Wheel Drive car sold in America based on R.L. Polk & Co. new vehicle retail registration statistics calendar year-end 2004."

BTW, they're made in the U.S.A.

 

I cancelled my subscription to Consumers Reports way back in the late 80's when they rated the Ford, Chevy & Dodge pickups as "unacceptable". That was long before the large Toyota & Nissan pickups were even thought of. I haven't purchased an issue since and see no reason to in the future

 

good call Hrandy, come to think of it I don't remember seeing it on the stands in as many places as I used to, perhaps they're going under

 

has any seen the commerial where the two catapillair dozers start crushing the f150 from each end and the cab is uneffected? id like to see dodge or gm do that to their trucks. ford f series 25 + years of the the best

nuff said

 

Uh-o...You've just started something big here. We had a huge discussion on the dozer commercial a few months back, it wasn't very productive to say the least.