Oakvillian

I've had cause to be glad of Hyundai's warranty coverage. My daily commuter tin can is an '09 Accent, and continue to be impressed with both the car and the dealership. It came with a 5-year/100,000km powertrain warranty (in the US they offer a 10-year non-transferable warranty; Canadian legislation prohibits the non-transferable clause, so they only offer 5 years ). A couple of months ago, not too far short of the end of that warranty, the clutch hydraulics failed. I managed to limp it to the dealership - pumping at the clutch pedal through downshifts - and the whole system from the back of the pedal outwards was replaced under warranty. There's something deeply pleasing about collecting the car from a piece of relatively major remedial work, to be presented with an invoice whose bottom line reads $0.00.

As it happens, I'm considering replacing the current Accent, now beyond its 5-year warranty life. Near the top of the list of alternatives is a new Accent: I don't need a bigger or posher car as it's almost exclusively a single-occupant commuting conveyance and fuel economy is a significant consideration. I enjoy the fact that my current cheap-as-chips version has very few driver aids to speak of (no ABS or traction control, manual gearbox) - it gives surprisingly direct and accurate feedback to exactly what all four wheels are doing on the road. And I can slide round corners more flamboyantly or pull spectacular handbrake turns into the driveway to amuse the kids The new one is a little more sophisticated, including a 6-speed manual transmission; one of my minor gripes with the current car is that it gets quite buzzy at highway speeds as the tallest gear is still quite short....

iaink

Current legislation now mandates traction / stability control across the whole range I think.

I went from a 08 manual civic without it that was pretty good in the snow to a 2012 manual civic with TCS that is very good in the snow and ice, its totally without drama. Like winter tires, its worth having IMO. Plus it can be turned off when I want to sca.. er, thrill the kids.

I dont get why they dont make 6th gears longer either. My civic is only a 5 and does 3200rpm at highway speeds. I do find I try and change up into a 6th that isnt there.

geo4

We have an Impreza but will likely trade up to an Outback soon. There's not much mystery as to why Subaru's are popular in Canada and the (Northern) United States as they drive well, are extremely functional and come with AWD as standard. Yes there are better looking cars in the price range but none of them come anywhere close to Subaru when it comes to the driving experience.

Edo

ok so, so far the vote is on favour of the driving quality and control of Subarus but some posters have concerns about the build quality of their cars in general. Although no one has mentioned any major mechanical problems that they experienced with Subarus so far!

MarkG

Haven't owned one myself, but things I've seen multiple Subaru owners complain about online are:

1. Paint quality. But that's crap on most new cars.
2. Head gasket leaks. Seems to be primarily the non-turbo 2.5 engines, and I read somewhere that the new 2.0 was redesigned to reduce chances of leaking.
3. Clutch pedals detaching from the firewall. I believe that's specific to certain WRX model years.
4. Steel wheel arms (whatever you call them) disintegrating due to rust.

Nothing quite to the same level as the 2006-2009 (I think) Civic engine block leaks, though the wheel falling off would be bad if you were driving at the time. I believe Subaru did a recall for that one.

dbd33

Squeaky brakes.

R I C H

My Forester expired at 9000kms. New long block, new turbo. Paintwork was shoddy. Electrics faulty. Subaru replaced the car. I chose a WRX instead, which gave me no problems. My STI to date has been faultless.

Interior build quality is meh. The fit and finish isn't on par with German brands.

iaink

Paint was fine, but rust on bottom of doors after about 10 years was the beginning of the end for my original 97 Legacy GT

That also had a head gasket failure, fixed under warranty. (old 2.5). Wasnt a big deal and dont think it applies to recent cars. That engine was also rebuilt after a timing belt failure, this was done under warranty, even though it had comfortably exceeded the 100k km limit at the time. That was the dealer taking care of me, they fudged it somehow so it was covered by Subaru, and that may not have happened elsewhere.

Warped disk rotors are something of a recurring item, every 5 years or so.

My biggest gripe is that the electric windows are inexcusably feeble, they are so slow and sometimes you wonder if its going to make it. That may also no longer apply to newer models (my current legacy wagon is a 2007)

Overall though I like them, but the newer ones dont seem such good value any more and I am pretty much over the desire to have AWD now, having compared the experience of AWD vs FWD through a number of winters. It does give you some extra (misplaced?) confidence though that you wont get stuck.

If you want a subaru I wouldnt put you off... but if you live in a city then you certainly dont really need its capability either.

If Honda are comparing a CRV to the Forester then that kind of makes sense. If they are comparing the civic to the impreza, then it probably doesnt.

orly

I thought the 7-8 litres per 100km from our bog standard Corolla was bad.

I guess...doing the maths...that's close to 40MPG (proper gallons that is...not the stupid american kind).

R I C H

I think that is bad - my Previous Golf GTI consistently returned a fraction over 8.

Comparing my Impreza with a Corolla makes no sense.

2WD vs AWD. 130 something horse power vs 300+. 130 odd lb/ft torque vs c300. The Corolla is an appliance to get from A to B. Nothing wrong with that, it doesn't pretend to offer performance, handling and an interesting driving experience. If you buy an Impreza STI, you're well aware it's not a frugal choice. Still far cheaper to run than a full sized truck though, and more fun.

Steve_

But you wouldn't expect it to though, they don't cost anywhere near as much.

Never really fathom the acquisition of luxury cars in Alberta. They're opening a Lamborghini dealership next to the BMW dealership and one of my neighbours owns a Lamborghini (which is probably worth as much as his house, he must be car mad because he had a Ford GT previously).

Also I remember seeing a Ferrari 458 Italia on the ring road before the SE section opened.

Where exactly do you drive these things? I saw an Aston Martin Vantage recently in a parking lot just as the guy was getting in his car and I asked him, and he said it was okay in town. Really? Are you seeing these potholes or am I the only one?

And the speed limit is only 110 km/h. What is the point?

The QE2 is surely the most freeway-like highway in Alberta, it's got a pretty rough surface and plenty of slow-moving traffic on it.

And it's not as if you can go down to Montana either, the road surface down there is even worse. And contrary to popular belief you will get speeding tickets, I know from personal experience!

R I C H

That's incorrect. My current Subaru listed at $42k, which is directly comparable to BMW 3 series, Audi A3 and Mercedes C class pricing.

iaink

To be fair the STI is the brand soul equivalent of a BMW M3, and no where near that price level.

You are paying for the go faster bits, not the quality of the leather.

Its an economy car platform with some serious engineering applied. The listed german competition is only at the same price level at its entry level, and there you are paying for the perceived quality, not to mention the brand cache.

R I C H

It's midway between a 328i and 335i price, so not really entry level. 2015 Audi A series flagship model, the S3 is $44k (same as the new Subaru STI recently launched). Subaru don't pretend to compete on interior quality, and you're right, there's a trade off concerning engineering and performance vs tactile niceties inside the cabin.

Steve_

Well anyway, the new Subaru models coming out do have leather and all the widgets in them, I hope they realize people buy them partly because German cars are more expensive.