My understanding was that the 6-speed was only offered in the Legacy GT Spec. B, which was never offered as a wagon. It does not surprise me that your broker couldn’t find one.

In hindsight, not test-driving a WRX was a colossal mistake on my part. I was coming from a 3000GT VR-4, so I had no standard for comparison. To me, the harsh ride in the STI seemed ‘normal’ at the time. But eventually, my back and my sanity couldn’t take it anymore. Feeling every single crack, expansion joint, and…

The seats were great in the STI, but the suspension is incredibly harsh, even compared to the WRX. My buddy had one of the same year as yours, and driving it back to back with my STI was an eye-opener. It’s downright comfortable by comparison. For normal DD duties, the WRX is massively more practical.

Well said, your explanation of why people mod their cars is perhaps the best I’ve ever come across. You put it far better than I could have.

Volvo’s are still mostly made in Sweden and Belgium, last time I checked.

How is the Alfa 4C an exotic (per the article), but the Corvette is not? Ubiquity?

Your position is pretentious and utterly asinine. It is not my, nor anyone elses, responsibility to buy manuals to ensure that you need not suffer the ‘travesty’ of an automatic. I’ll drive whatever suits me, manual or otherwise.

I did indeed. CPO 2013 XC70 T6 Platinum, Climate and Tech packages. 21k miles, $31500. Drove roughly 15 hours round trip to pick it up.

What makes you consider the small overlap test unrealistic? Supposedly, around 25% of injuries/deaths in frontal crashes are from small overlap collisions. That’s a pretty sizeable percentage in my book, and worthy of being considered.

As impressive as the SAFER barrier is, I’ve always wondered why it is expensive as it is. $500/ft seems excessive, especially when material is probably only ~$100/ft, though maybe I’m underestimating the cost of installation.

How do the pre-drive-E T6 engines generally hold up to the test of time and mileage? Have they mostly worked out the early issues?

I think the new Outback ones are like $700. Something about the Eyesight/crash mitigation tech that has to look through the windshield, I think.

Probably since they can’t keep them on the lots, they can charge whatever they want. An optioned out 3.6R was going to cost me ~$35.5k for a factory order. When all is said and done, I’ll probably have shelled out ~$32k for the XC70 that is the better car in 9/10 metrics, and has a better warranty.

Was it really that bad? I didn’t even realize.....

The way they lose their value in the first 3 years of ownership makes them great used-car bargains. I just bought mine for ~40% less than it went for new 3 years and 22k miles ago. Plus their CPO warranty is outstanding.

I just did the same, except with a XC70. A fully kitted-out CPO 2013 XC70 T6 Platinum was significantly less than a brand new Outback 3.6R. It needs a serious detailing, but at 22k miles, it’s practically a new car, with an outstanding warranty.

What’s the reasoning behind all of the reflectors showing up on the rear bumpers of cars recently? Is it a mandated item?

I annoy my friends, family, and girlfriend by spending far too much time deciding where to park, looking for that ‘perfect spot’. I basically follow the same rules you do, with a couple of exceptions.

Normally, I’d love to know what those ‘plenty of elements’ are (because you’ve only named one or two), but under the circumstances, don’t bother. I have neither the time, patience, nor inclination to have any further discussion with someone who isn’t mature enough to do so without insults.

Who is to say a technology is stagnant if the teams aren’t allowed to advance it? For example, CVT’s are commonly viewed as crappy today by just about every Jalop on the planet. Imagine what could be possible if the most brilliant minds in Formula 1 were allowed to push the boundaries of what’s possible with that…