Sticker price is BS IMO/E, friend of mine just bought a 2012 WRX 2 months ago for 24k, same price I paid for my 09 a little over 3 years ago.

 

That's possible for anyone who negotiates, but it's still the starting price. A higher sticker price means it will be more difficult to get it down lower. Not impossible, but just more difficult.

 

I was looking to buy a 2012 WRX and when i spoke to the dealer last week, they said they only have 1 wagon left and thats it for 2012... He told me that in 2 or 3 months the 2013's will be in but didn't know the exact price or any specific details. I do think its weird that if its coming out in 2 or 3 months that theres no info on the car yet... i guess i'll just have to wait and see what happens... i hope they don't do anything stupid to it that'll make me change my mind and will have waited for nothing...

 

he also said that he doesn't forsee the price going up any more than a few hundred dollars... i hope he's right...

 

lol if they do give the wrx a six speed i have almost no reason to get an STi......

 

Yeah unless like someone suggested earlier they just make the STI into like a minor upgrade package kinda thing. Who knows what they will do, but great point on the BRZ. Ppl are going nuts over that car, which could be reason for them to pump up the wrx price.

 

about the price, the Yen is SUPER strong against our dollar

 

The BRZ and its price point is somewhat irrelevant. BRZ and WRX/STI are different cars. It's like comparing a miata and speed3. Having one of them in the lineup doesn't disqualify the other at the same price point since they have different use cases ( small coupe vs hatchback/wagon/sedan). Not to mention 2WD vs AWD for the subies.

 

you're right but since people are going nuts over the brz maybe they are willing to take a risk in the price bump of the wrx because they have so much interest in the brzs to see what happens and if they can still make good money, you can always drop it back down

 

An affordable entry level sports car is not irrelevant. Most people who want a "sports" car aren't looking for AWD. I've talked to several people who prefer RWD like an S2000 over a WRX/STI. It will only be a matter of time before the BRZ is sporting a turbo or gets an N/A boost of power making it more worth while. The WRX/STI is a niche market. Will ones be able to be gotten for $24,000 to 26,000? More than likely yes. But the sticker will be higher and they will generally sell for more than they do now.

To me, it looks like Subaru is adopting the philosophy a lot of automakers are, reducing the number of models it has to support. Mitsubishi has the Lancer, then the EVO. It would appear Subaru wants to have the WRX be the competition for the EVO while the STi will be slightly better model unlike what they have now where there is a significant difference between the 2.

 

I didn't mean the car itself is irrelevant. What I meant is that it is irrelevant when we are talking about the Impreza/WRX/STI. The BRZ is also in its own niche market. But I get your point about the sports car segment.

Oh, and we all know how well Mitsubishi is doing now And I believe the ralliart was supposed to compete against the WRX/GTI/Speed3 market but they've completely botched it.