The pharmacy I work for wants to get a new company vehicle, and for some bizarre reason, they've entrusted me to choose said vehicle. They only asked that it be a four-cylinder hatchback with not too many miles on it and an upper price limit of about $25,000. Today, I found a 2007 Subaru Impreza with about 10000 miles on it for $24,995 plus 7% tax. I'm curious if you guys have any experience with this vehicle (and Subarus in general) or think that maybe there's something better out there for about the same price ? I could post this question on some car geek site, but I don't think that would be as fun or interesting.
Okay, bring it !

The price sounds a bit high. Go spec it out here http://www.kbb.com/
and then spec out a new one with the exact same equipment.

Subarus are great, though. I had an 02 model. I'm a mechanic, too.

If you don't need the all wheel drive, I'd probably prefer a Honda. They're just built rock solid.

i've got a 2000 legacy station wagon. great car... decent gas mileage, very few problems.... it's got about 110,000 miles on it now. it's also the bloarzeyd tour-mobile. it's been to the midwest and back 4 times now. i'm happiest with it when it snows out and everyone else is stuck!

Thanks for that, guys. There is usually a fair bit of ice and occasional snow up here (Vancouver), so I think AWD would be good to have. A Honda would be my second choice. The car I spotted is being sold at the actual dealership, which probably explains the higher price. And I'll check out that site too.

m.koren wrote:There is usually a fair bit of ice and occasional snow up here (Vancouver), so I think AWD would be good to have.

it's the best! the AWD was a big part of why i went with a subaru. i had an old volvo station wagon. rear wheel drive. it was a great car... but if it snowed.... forget it. one time i got that car stuck in my mom's front yard for 2 days. never again!!!!

i have a 1993 subaru impreza, which has close to 190,000 miles on it, and no signs of stopping any time soon. bought in 2000 for $5,000.

if you change the oil religiously, you should be fine. we LOVE this car.

i also have a 2000 honda civic which kicks ass. only 90,000 on that one.

if/when we replace these cars, we will probably buy one vehicle to replace both of them: either a honda element or a subaru outback wagon.

Subaru make great cars. My father in law has one and it drives like a dream. It's a pleasure to drive. My brother in law has had his for nearly 400,000 miles, and it still runs great, although he changed the engine around 250,000 miles.

They're generally good cars and fairly typical of Japanese cars.

Some of the turbocharged Imprezas can be pretty quick. I've been in the RB5 model which goes like lightning (not sure what driving where you are is like though - in London you are quicker walking).

i love my forrester. ive had it for 2.5 years, it's a 2000. i haven't had any problems. it is a rules!

Okay, update:

The boss asked me to look for at least two other cars, so naturally I rigged the ballot by going out and finding the crappiest new car out there (just to make the Subaru look even more appealing). The crap car is a 2007 Kia Rondo, and even though it's used, they still want 28 grand for it, plus it's really fucking ugly. The third car I found was another used Subaru (actually on the Kia lot). It's a 2006 Impreza with 15,000 miles and they only want 21 grand. That'll probably be the winner.