Probably minivan shopping soon (sigh)

[azanon]

I'm not offended, but I do think its a pretty ignorant stereotype.  I guess cause i intend to buy a Subaru WRX for my next car, and AFAIK, i'm not a lesbian.  Granted, i'll admit it has always been my dream to have 2, 25-year old lesbian blondes "invite me to join in", but i'm not sure if that counts though.

Besides, what adult cares about stereotypes like that? The last time i gave a rat's ass about what others thought about what i drive was at least 10 years ago.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm a lesbian trapped in a mans body.

But I have no desire to drive a subaru at all.

 

[johnblake]

Re: Probably minivan shopping soon (si

My sube wagon is outstanding in the snow, drives great, and gets decent gas mileage. I'm not gay but am supportive of alternative lifestyles (rugged individualism right ) The 2.5L sube engine is questionable, lots of problems with piston slap and blown head gaskets.

 

[brewer12345]

JB, you talking about the standard, non-turbo 2.5? I know that issues with head gaskets have been known to surface. What about piston slap? For that matter, what is piston slap and what are the implications?

 

[johnblake]

Starting in 97 or 98 sube redesigned the standard 2.5L engine. The newer design had better hp and fuel economy. As part of the design sube engineers shortened the piston skirts. Lighter pistons are better. Unfortunately, they made them too short. Result, in cold weather, the pistons would 'slap' in the cylinders. It sounds a lot like engine 'knock' due to low octane fuel. Lots of people have the problem. If it persists, the pistons/cylinders wear, and the slap becomes pronounced even after the engine is warm.

I brought mine in under warrantee, and they replaced the pistons. Other people had their 'short blocks' replaced. Others still had sube tell them that this was normal and didn't affect the longevity of the engine.

The engine was tweaked in late 1999 (called phase-II), then again later on when they went to the single overhead cam. I don't know if the later engines have the problem, but many 97/98/99s do. I don't know if the turbo models have the problem

 

[brewer12345]

Ah. I did a little surfing on the issue to get educated. I think that the sound I hear when my '03 is cold is piston slap, but it goes away pretty quickly as the engine warms up. Sounds very much like not all that big a deal, at least for the phase II and later versions of the engine. If it starts to become a problem at high milage, I will be willing to chalk it up to the simple fact that something major eventually goes on all cars if you run them long enough.

 

[zbwmy]

Bought a 2001 Town and Country LXi and saw it's value drop like a rock. If I had to buy another Chrysler/Dodge I would get a used one, that's a good buy.

Honda Pilot was just chosen best 3 row SUV

You can't beat the Honda Odysey

 

[piranha]

My wife and I have a 99 Grand Cherokee and a 00 Mercury Villager. Our kids are now 3 and 4, and we bought these vehicles knowing that young ones were in our future. We both regret buying the Villager. It's a horrible ride and difficult to get kids into their carseat if you want them in the back seat. When we go anywhere together as a family, we almost always drive the Grand Cherokee. The kids are spaced far enough apart so they can't get at each other and it's easy to get them in and out of the vehicle.

 

[yelnad]

I have been driving Subaru wagons for 14 years and have never heard the Lesbaru thing...although I have to admit that I find it amusing. It probably depends on where you live. Here in Central PA, Subaru wagons of all sorts are VERY popular and in a University town, so are rainbow stickers. They are on every sort of car...well, maybe not on Buicks -- hehe.

As for the dreaded minivan, I would lean towards a Toyota Siena because it is highly recommended by Consumer Reports and is available in AWD.

The Subaru Tribeca (the 7 seater) looks sort of like a Lexus and will sell for $32,000-39,000. A similar SAAB will also be released on the same platform.

 

[brewer12345]

The Subaru Tribeca (the 7 seater) looks sort of like a Lexus and will sell for $32,000-39,000. A similar SAAB will also be released on the same platform.

Unfortunately, they tarted it up with a bunch of expensive doodads I couldn't care less about and slapped a pretty ugly exterior on it. Might be pretty nice, but too expensive and homely for me. In any case, it doesn't have sliding doors, which is a very large plus for the minivan.

 

[yelnad]

Like you I was really excited about the release of a 7 seater Subaru...and then I saw it. Yuck. And I don't need all the "extra" stuff either.

I only paid $19k for my new Forester and for now the only "kids" sitting in the rear are my 2 dogs. They don't need leather seats.