Hey, all. I just joined the club on Saturday. Bought a brand new 2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Sedan with the 4-speed automatic.

I thought I'd share my first impressions, both positive and negative, and ask for your thoughts:

Cons first:

- Dash layout and trim is very nice except for a few minor nitpicks:

1. The speedo markings are stylish but wierd: Common speeds like 65 (ok...70-75) are difficult to "gauge" (pardon the pun). Anyone feel the same? I guess I am just used to all of the "tens" being labelled, not just the even tens. Maybe smaller tick marks on the 5's would help this out? I am hoping this will be easier the more I look at it.

2. No coin holder. A dumb thing to complain about, perhaps, but I like discreet spring-loaded coin holders, not just little buckets for loose change (I hate loose change!) I am thinking of figuring out a way to replace the ashtray with a better coin holder, assuming I can find / modify one small enough to fit there. Any ideas?

3. Probably not an issue, really, but the stereo panel is so integrated with the A/C panel, that I imagine replacing the factory single disc CD / stereo with an aftermarket would be a major hassle. I have no current plans to do so, but as of now even Crutchfield did not appear to have an answer as to how this would be done. Any 05' owners out there with an answer?

- No fold down rear seat available in the sedan. This was a big bummer for me, as I really liked having this in my last car (99' Dodge Stratus.) The pass-through is "ok," but I'd much prefer a fold down option. The dealer gave me a line about this being done for stability / strength, but since the wagon has 'em, I call "bull." This option would make the car just that much more practical. Any chance the 60/40 foldable rear seats are swappable between the wagon and the sedan? Any other ideas?

- Locked doors don't automatically unlock / open when inside handle is pulled. I found this to be quite annoying, at least for the driver door. Is this a feature that can be disabled / changed? Also, I haven't yet noticed whether the doors lock automatically when driving. Do they? (Maybe the inside door handle opens locked doors only if the doors were automatically locked. i.e just not manually?) Am I loony on this one?

- Headliner was not secured in the back. I noticed yesterday that the headliner isn't attached correctly by the rear window. The corners seem ok, but it flops down in the center. It's not enough to notice unless you look for it, but still. They will definitely be fixing this when I head back to the dealer this week (which I have to do to pick up a spare key and key fob that they apparently misplaced.)

- Interior seems a little cramped / seat comfort issues. Again, compared to my last car (99' Stratus,) there seems to be noticeably less overall interior space, especially in the back seat. Obviously, I will just have to deal with this, and am apparently ok with it since I bought the car anyway. It also seems to me (a 5'10", 220lb guy) that the driver's seat isn't as comfortable as it could be (and I could be crazy, but it seems like it is canted a little towards the outside. Maybe I am just crazy.) Please share your thoughts on the seats.

- Head gasket issue? During my research on the car, I found that several owners of older models have had head gasket problems with the early Phase II 2.5 engines. Supposedly, this is no longer an issue. Has this *really* been corrected? I just want to know what to expect. Any info on this would be great.

- Doors have no frame around the glass? It does look sportier, and I am sure that the main mid-frame pillar is stronger as a result, but I was thrown when I realized that the doors have no frame around the windows. I am used to grabbing the door in the rear upper corner to close it. Now, without the frame, I am grabbing and pulling on the glass. Is this bad? Anyone ever break the glass doing this?

OK, now the Pros:

- Continuous AWD. Gotta love that.

- Decent mileage. For an automatic AWD car with 168HP, 22/30 ain't too bad. What do you all get in "real life"?

- 16" painted wheels w/ disc brakes all around. I likes me these wheels. I think these wheels look even better than the GT wheels. This is my first car with anything other than 14" steel wheels / hubcaps. I will definitely try to keep those puppies clean, despite the disc brakes throwing out all sorts of dust and road grime.

- Features for the price. I am a geek and I love all the little bells and whistles: the auto dimming rear view mirror with compass, the "way cool" trip computer / outside thermometer, the dual trip odometers, the height adjustable seats, adjustable lumbar support, the big glove compartment, etc.

- So far, I like the transmission. I didn't realize until yesterday that there was a fully auto Sport mode. (I thought there were just full auto and manual shift modes.) Pretty slick. The manual shift could be quicker, and 5 speed would be nice, but it's not bad for an automatic. (My Stratus was a 5-speed manual.)

- Color: Atlantic Blue Pearl. I have a funny story about this. I looked at this color on the Subaru web site and thought "Yuck...what a [euphemism for extremely effeminate] color. No way would I buy that!" Lucky for me, the real color looks NOTHING like it does online. Between the choices I had available on the lot (the white, the regal blue, this color and the black,) this was by far the nicest. I really like it.

- Appearance. The front end could be a little more distinctive, but overall, this is a very sharp looking car. I think the more I see it, the more I like it. The general lines, the dual exhaust, the aforementioned wheels and color, its all good.

I plan on driving this until it falls apart, which from what I have read, could be a nice long time. Feel free to comment on any of the above. I'd love to hear what you think.

David