I know how you feel... because of circumstances we needed a car ASAP, and I impulsively fell in love (lust?) with the WRX after a test drive - the original deal was is that we were going to get a car my wife wanted, so the decision came down to the WRX and a Turbo Jetta, the only car we test drove that was my idea was the WRX. My wife had originally wanted something "under $20k," so the WRX was a stretch for her ideals...

I finally convinced my wife, and I've been enjoying the break-in period as much as possible... now the only problem is the fact that had I been given a FREE choice with $23-5k I would have also wanted consider a '99 Porsche Boxster, a '90 911, or even stretched a little more for a base 350Z.

Even worse is the fact that my wife has turned on the car too and now suggests we sell it and get an '01 BMW 325i or a '99 M3. Of course I realize these might not offer the same performance, only leather seats and better (if not hopelessly common here in Boston) looks.

Now we go back and forth - not helped by the fact that once you've been shopping for cars for a while, it's hard to stop all of the sudden and stay monogamous. But the Subaru really does offer everything we needed - my preferences being somewhat impractical as I want a two seat car, while family is in the not too distant future (<3yrs). So I turn back to the WRX once again.

I made a good choice. But be careful that you are not just trying to change your car because you are either bored, or dissatisfied with other aspects of your life, and then take it out on your car and your pocketbook. In my case, I think was just really bored with my situation, and thought that was the way out. Had I been impulsive, I would have had the Porsche for 3 weeks, and then back on cars.com...

 

I agree, if you really need convincing, then maybe look elsewhere (at your pocketbook's peril)...

BUT, I will say IMHO the transmission thing is way overblown. I was pretty scared too but then started to investigate on my own (I realized that probably every enthusiast in the country with tranny problems was complaining on these boards, but that can give the perception of it being a much bigger problem).

Well, I just have not found much outside of these internet forums that offers any hard evidence of widespread problems. I'm familiar with a fair amount of the local Impreza community and have yet to hear of an actual tranny failure or serious problem (one guy did have a little prob. with his synchros, but it was fixed quickly). I have looked in every "consumers report" type resource that I can find and again, there isn't anything to hang one's hat on. My car has been perfect and there are a lot of others.

Does it mean the 5 spd. is a great tranny? No, not really. I wish we had the new 6 spd... The tranny is not likely the strongest out there, but if you treat it OK it should do just fine.

Of course there will always be a small percentage of folks who have the bad luck, but that is true of any car. Try lurking on some other boards for different cars and you will see for yourself.

 

doesnt someone in this forum have 100,000 miles on their 02/03 wrx.

 

Trade in your Suby, get the "Dodge". Drive it for 5K, and tell us what YOU think. Some people have to learn the HARD way, Collins