Blue Wagon

I’ve been having trouble finding a car with really great gas mileage that with make it up to the mountains on tough roads. I’m looking for a hybrid or otherwise AWD hatchback or station wagon. I like the Subaru Legacy and such but the gas mileage just isn’t good enough.

All 4×4 versions :
Hyundai ix35 - combined 49.6mpg - 134bhp 2.0 litre chain cam ‘R’ Type diesel

Honda CR-V III - Combined 43.5mpg for the manual and 38.2mpg for the auto. - 2.2iCDTI

Skoda Yeti - 2.0 TDI 140or170bhp - approx 45 mpg

My mother has an (you guessed it!) ‘01 Volvo XC70 Cross Country wagon with the Geartronic manumatic tranny and AWD. Aside from the various electrical bugs that keep popping up, it seems that Volvo (or Ford maybe) decided that delicate operations such as check the automatic transmission fluid are best left to the elite personnel at the Volvo dealerships. I searched every inch of the engine compartment, and even crawled underneath to see what little I could of the tranny itself. I even betrayed my masculine imperitive and…gulp…checked the owners manual. And even that told me nothing. Oil dipstick? Check. Coolant? Check. Power steering, brake fluid, washer fluid? Check. No ATF dipstick. I even mentioned it to a guy at a garage when we were talking. "Oh, sure, it’s there somewhere. Here, I’ll show ya!" he says, before proceeding to search high and low for the next quarter hour, only to finally admit defeat.
So, is there some wise and learn’d person out there who knows the answer to the great mystery of How To Make Sure Your Volvo Tranny Isn’t About To Commit Hara-kiri? If so, I would be most grateful to you. And so on and so forth. Seriously, I can’t imagine a sealed automatic trans. Hell, I can’t imagine a tranny you can’t check/top off the fluid of either. So much for what I knew.
So when the car is 15, or 20 years old, I’ll still have to find a special shop and pay $150 bucks to check the ATF? Sweet. That really sucks for the car companies, huh? Now everyone without a brand new, under warranty car is screwed. I thought it was bad enough that they engineer them to die by 100,000 miles. Not that it matters to them. They wouldn’t want to have to PAY any of that warranty crap. For those lucky enough to have it. Any wonder that car companies in general are going under? Ethically, they’re not all that much better than the tobacco companies. Screw the poor dude….I got profit margins to make. I mean, taxes on three beachside properties in three cities gets pretty steep. I may have to put of my third vacation this year. Damn, why does life have to be so hard.

the fluid level is checked by using special equipment for adding trans fluid and a scanner to determine proper transmission fluid temperature. You can’t do it yourself.

You don’t need to check the level unless you are leaking fluid. This keeps shadetree mechanics and untrained jiffy lube techs and even owners of the vehicle with the best of intentions from topping off the fluid with the wrong stuff and ruining a perfectly good transmission.

What year did Subaru start making all their cars with their Symmetrical All Wheel Drive system?
What years did they make improvements?

And also I was wanting to get the Outback or Legacy Wagon, but would the Sedan version be better in wheel traction because of the body weight distribution is more even?

Any suggestions for the best Subaru Sedan or Wagon? I mainly want one for the rain, ice, and snow.
Is the impreza real small inside?
Which have the Boxer engine?

-I read that Subaru started the Symmetrical AWD on all their vehicles in 1997, but I want to be sure.
Hear is the link I read http://www.subaru.com/drive/awd.html

www.cars101.com is a gold mine of Subaru information.

They switched over to exclusively-AWD in 1997.

Improvements? What do you mean by that?

Outback is higher than the Legacy Wagon, thus a slightly higher centre-of-gravity and slightly sloppier handling. When comparing the Legacy sedan to the Legacy wagon, weight distribution is inconsequential, since their weights are almost identical.

Best Subaru sedan and wagon would have to go to the 2005-06 Legacy. It is by far the best-looking Legacy to date. Considering its standard equipment-price ratio, it cannot be surpassed.

Yes, the Impreza is small on the inside; it is a compact car. However, I find the cargo capacity to be quite good on the more recent Imprezas.

And of course, all Subarus have the Boxer engine.

I dont know any AWD cars that I like.. they all look like station wagons. Do you know any?

All subarus are awd and reliable …. Best car for the money

I have an AWD wagon and I’m wondering if I can drive in the snow without tire chains.

CVilly,

Chains are going to be the most helpful if you are in deep snow or very VERY challenging conditions and your tires just aren’t cutting it. AWD is great and helpful, but doesn’t mean it isn’t susceptible to bad conditions.

I would carry chains with you if you have an area that carries nasty weather in the winter, that way you have them as a backup. Otherwise, a good set of winter tires will suit you just fine. Just keep in mind chains cannot be used at certain speeds, they work best at lowspeed, bad conditions that otherwise would be a severe challenge. Sometimes on mountain passes uphill for downhill they can also be helpful.

All-wheel drive will help you with starting, and be nice with the brakes on stopping as even with ABS you can slide around in the snow.

I currently have Dunlop Winter-Sport tires on my car and thus far like them. I’ve also had wonderful luck with Hankook studded/siped tires. Studs will help you on starting from a dead stop as well. Just make sure whatever you do in the snow that you at least have good snow tires, they are worth their weight in gold and make night and day difference.

Some people will tell you "Oh i don’t even need snow tires, i’m an expert driver!" but in essence, any educated driver who has driven in it and enjoys their safety will tell you "Your traction is only as good as your tread" and this is very very true.

Cliffnotes version:

- Keep chains in your equipment just in case you get a horrible hairy storm that hits, just in case you DO need them
- Quality of your snow tires is far more important

I have a friend who brags up subaru’s all the time about how good they are in the snow (5 inches), and obviously I proved that theory wrong today.. First off, this car was just spinning all 4 tires, and it was new.. I drove behind him in 2wd, touched his bumper (which he asked me to) and put it in 4wd low and idled him out with no gas on the accellerator! So my question is… why are there so many people who act like subaru is 2nd to none when it comes to driving in the snow?? I’m not trying to knock them, but lets keep it real Can anyone explain this phonomonon?

Don’t know what a "phonomonon" is…but it goes both ways and depends on the driver. I saw a Hummer H2 stuck in snow and drove around him with my WRX on all season tires. I have never been stuck with my car and still have all season tires for winter. I have seen Ford F150s pulling Chevy’s out of the snow. Is one better than the other? You decide.

Hi, my mechanic is not in town today and I don’t want to miss out on a potentially good deal,
There is a 1996 Subaru Legacy Wagon AWD f/s. The person is asking $1500. He describes the usual for a car this age–fair/good interior, recent work done, good NJ inspection until 2011.

However, he does note the following in his ad: "New front wheel bearings, brake rotors. I replaced both axle shaft assemblies as well but must have done something wrong as the front end feels tight when turning sharp. I don’t have the time or resources to figure it out."
He notes that driving straight does not present this problem.

I was wondering if indeed this was something that he might have done wrong and can be put to rights relatively easily or could it mean a major problem? Of course we would have our mechanic go over it if we decide we like the vehicle but since it is quite a drive from our home to see it, I’m hoping someone here might have some thoughts on what this "tightness" might mean.

Thanks a lot and everyone have a great day!

this sounds like torque bind, where the clutches which distribute power between the front and rear tires malfunction. it makes the steering feel tight, or jerky during tight turns. it can sometimes be resolved by replacing the transmission fluid, just friction disks "sticking" from the dirty fluid. but if that does not resolve, than at the minimum a new clutch pack is required, 600-800 $$ for parts alone. i would not buy this car unless proprly diagnosed. Otherwise, and you may already know this, if it has a 2.5 engine, check the head gaskets well, the 2.2 is a much more reliable engine.

My wife’s car has been using coolant and we do know where its going to. No drops in the driveway so I figured she had a head gasket going. Well she has been filling the coolant with water when the light comes on but she must have forgot to last week and the car started to run hot when she stopped she noticed that the coolant cap had cracked and was bubbling over and out. The car does have white smoke but no sign of water in the oil… Car has no fluids running out the exhaust pipe either. After the problem with over heating the check engine light came on so I scanned it and I got codes P0300 and P0302. So I pulled all the wires and plugs and cylinder #2 had lots of oil in it and there was a little bit of oil on top of the engine under the plastic cover. Of course cylinder #2’s plug was fouled and oiled up. I need to know what the problem is so I can get to fixing it ASAP. Do you think its a blown head gasket? Cracked head? seals? Im temporarily laid off from work right so I have time and would like to save the money in labor. I have two friends that are mechanic’s who are willing to help here and there but I will be doing most of the work… If you think it is the head or head gasket how I go about removing the head? Does the engine need to be dropped to get the manifold off? Again my wife’s car is a 1998 Volvo V70 XC70 Cross Country AWD wagon 5 cylinder 2.4 liter Turbo. Thanks in advance!!!
My wife said the car was running over half mark on temp gauge but never reached the red line…

plain and simple…..your head gaskets gone and mayb e cracked the head, so you need to do a pressure test but either way you need a motor.
:o)
L

i have just got my license and bought a 95 liberty wagon awd and want to try some drifting and burnouts etc. in it . i was just wondering what damage i could do to the engine or awd system or any other parts of the car as i don’t know how many kms it has or how hard it has really been driven by the last owner.
also any tips on how to get it spinning or drifting tip would be nice.
cheers.

Well, everyone here seems to be of similar mind: you’ll damage differentials, eat throuh tires, empty your wallet, etc., etc. I’ll add two more items: you’ll get tickets for "exhibition driving" if you do it on the public streets, and you’re bound to run into something eventually, in which case you’ll do suspension, body, and possibly human body damage. Get smart — don’t do any "drifting and burnouts" until you’ve had time to really learn to drive your car. That will take you most of a lifetime.

Im looking for something between a car and an suv that is AWD because I live in the Yukon and I need a vehicle that wont get stuck in the deep snow and that is safe on icy highways. Heres an example of the type of vehicle im looking for:
http://newcarbuyingguide.com/images/articles/reviews/acura/08AcuraRDX01.jpg

My budget is between 7000-15000 so it will obviously be used. Who makes a good one?
a 2008 santa fe isnt 7-15k. its 25-30k but thanks anyways

From Cons rep, price range of 10-12k (USD).

Acura MDX ‘02,’03 - "Good Bet", watch out for transmission
Honda CRV ‘03,’04 - "Good Bet"
Honda Pilot ‘04 - "Good Bet"
Hyundai Santa Fe ‘04,’05 - "Good Bet"
Lexus RX ‘01 - "Good Bet"
Nissan Xterra ‘04 - "Good Bet", watch for engine issues
Pontiac Vibe ‘05 - "Good Bet"
Subaru Baja ‘03 - "Good Bet", watch for engine issues
Subaru Forrester ‘04 - "Good Bet"
Subaru Impreza ‘05 - "Good Bet"
Toyota 4Runner ‘01,’02 - "Good Bet"
Toyota Highlander ‘03, ‘04 - "Good Bet"
Toyota Land Cruiser ‘99 - "Good Bet" (not to be confused with Land Rover - stay away from those)
Toyota Rav4 ‘03,’04 - "Good Bet"

We’ve got an older forrester and I LOVE it. Highly recommend considering one if they’re available in your area (very few used ones on the market).