2006 Subaru Impreza vs 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit

[alimoalem]

Hey guys,

I've pretty much narrowed my car search down to a 2006 Subaru Impreza 2.5i Sedan and 2007 Volkwagen Rabbit (2 Door). Both are 5-speed manuals and have 33k miles. I can get each for ~$10k.

* Weekly, I make a 220-mile roundtrip visit to my parents' home so gas mileage is important, but not a dealbreaker.
* Reliability is important. Fun factor is a plus
* Ability to resell the car in a year (I may move out of state in about a year)

So, ATG, what say you? Impreza or Rabbit?

Thanks in advance.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Get the Impreza.

 

[Throckmorton]

AFAIK the Impreza is going to be much more reliable, plus it's AWD

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Fun factor = Impreza, but the engine is a dog.

This is going to be pretty one sided though

 

[jlee]

Subaru Impreza WRX. It may be older but you should be able to find one in reasonably good condition for less than $10k.

 

[chin311]

Subaru, especially if you want to resell in the near future

 

[StageLeft]

Volkswagen

EDIT: Sorry, I thought you said you wanted something forcing you to learn how to fix cars. My bad, ok in that case get the Imprezza.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Honestly, I'd try to find a WRX over either of those.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Under those circumstances, the Impreza.

The turbo Subaru's are much more fun, but IMO you'll have more maintenance to deal with over the next year. Resale might be better with the turbo, but if the mileage is too high I fear it might be worse.

 

[alimoalem]

Thanks for the posts guys. I'm surprised by the responses, not one vote for the Volkswagen. In Car and Driver's comparo, the Volkswagen took first and the Subaru second.

For those of you recommending the WRX, The newest one I can find with a 5-speed in my area fur under $10k is a 2003 w/103k miles.

I'm gonna test drive the cars again back to back and see what happens.

 

[StageLeft]

Thanks for the posts guys. I'm surprised by the responses, not one vote for the Volkswagen. In Car and Driver's comparo, the Volkswagen took first and the Subaru second.

For those of you recommending the WRX, The newest one I can find with a 5-speed in my area fur under $10k is a 2003 w/103k miles.

I'm gonna test drive the cars again back to back and see what happens.

Car and driver couldn't give less of a sh*t about what it actually involves maintaining a car; they don't care if it's reliable or not.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Thanks for the posts guys. I'm surprised by the responses, not one vote for the Volkswagen. In Car and Driver's comparo, the Volkswagen took first and the Subaru second.

For those of you recommending the WRX, The newest one I can find with a 5-speed in my area fur under $10k is a 2003 w/103k miles.

I'm gonna test drive the cars again back to back and see what happens.

Check long term tests. I find those to be much more informative than a test drive. Inside Line's long term blog about their fleet is awesome.

 

[alphatarget1]

impreza

 

[Excelsior]

I'd go for WRX over the reg impreza. Therefore, I say Rabbit. Also, you'll get worse mileage with the Impreza either way, which could factor in on your 220mile roundtrip once a week + your other driving. I doubt you need AWD.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

The regular 2.5i is a huge slouch, so make sure you drive it first and see if you're ok with it.

Barring that, the 2.5 Iron 5 in the Rabbit is relatively bulletproof. The normal Rabbit steering is a bit numb, but if you're ok with it then the rest of the car should be fine as well. US spec rabbits have the downgraded control computer so 90% of the technical junk isnt there, plenty of my friends have rabbits with 0 problems.

 

[Excelsior]

Thanks for the posts guys. I'm surprised by the responses, not one vote for the Volkswagen. In Car and Driver's comparo, the Volkswagen took first and the Subaru second.

For those of you recommending the WRX, The newest one I can find with a 5-speed in my area fur under $10k is a 2003 w/103k miles.

I'm gonna test drive the cars again back to back and see what happens.

Test drive them, do research, form your own opinion, and go from there. Everyone basically hates VW on here and thinks they break down all the time and won't get you to work...or cost $1000 every other month to maintain. All of which is nonsense. Both cars would likely cost you similar money to maintain over the course of their life. Any difference in $ spent would probably not be big and would be outweighed by other pros/cons of the vehicles themselves.

 

[Colt45]

I'd say VW, but I don't like MK5's. So.. find a mk4 GTI instead

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Check long term tests. I find those to be much more informative than a test drive. Inside Line's long term blog about their fleet is awesome.

Funny, all of Insidelines VWs are trouble free

 

[kornphlake]

Test drive them, do research, form your own opinion, and go from there. Everyone basically hates VW on here and thinks they break down all the time and won't get you to work...or cost $1000 every other month to maintain. All of which is nonsense. Both cars would likely cost you similar money to maintain over the course of their life. Any difference in $ spent would probably not be big and would be outweighed by other pros/cons of the vehicles themselves.

That's ridiculous, not everyone here hates VW. It really depends on the opinion of the first is to respond, then everybody else agrees with the first response. Or something like that...

The AT garage is for entertainment only, for good advice on vehicles there are a number of other forums, even other non-car related forums that are more consistent and reliable sources of advice.

Edit: there are a few posters who I believe honestly try to help by giving first hand experiences and fact based research. Then there are the fanbois, unintentional posers and the rest who know someone who had a friend whose step sister dated a mechanic who had a customer that went to a different shop and heard from their secretary that a car was good or bad.

 

[jlee]

Thanks for the posts guys. I'm surprised by the responses, not one vote for the Volkswagen. In Car and Driver's comparo, the Volkswagen took first and the Subaru second.

For those of you recommending the WRX, The newest one I can find with a 5-speed in my area fur under $10k is a 2003 w/103k miles.

I'm gonna test drive the cars again back to back and see what happens.

Yeesh. I bought an 04 Forester XT with 103k (2.5l turbo, vs the 2.0 in pre-06 WRX) for $7390 OTD. Timing belt service ($$$$ unless you DIY, but still not cheap) is 105k for the 2.5T, and probably for the 2l as well but I am not sure on that.

 

[senseamp]

Find a Mazda3

 

[Painman]

If you're going to do a lot of longish highway trips, I'd advise against either flavor of pocket rocket. They can be fun to drive on short trips, but fatiguing on long ones. Gas mileage is an important consideration, sure, but a somewhat heavier car whose engine can sleepwalk @ highway speed deserves consideration.

And no offense to AT Garage, but if you want to get a feel for what to expect as an owner of car X or car Y, find a forum devoted to it or its maker, and read a few months worth of threads relevant to the model you might be buying. EVERY make/model has its share of pet issues, and you'll get to know what to look for as a prospective owner.

 

[StageLeft]

Test drive them, do research, form your own opinion, and go from there. Everyone basically hates VW on here and thinks they break down all the time and won't get you to work...or cost $1000 every other month to maintain. All of which is nonsense. Both cars would likely cost you similar money to maintain over the course of their life. Any difference in $ spent would probably not be big and would be outweighed by other pros/cons of the vehicles themselves.

You said we're spewing nonsense and I just bolded yours. This is simply incorrect.

Anecdotes can be argued back and forth all day long so I'll again refer to hard numbers. Even ignoring JD power initial quality (I think it's not terribly good), which says VW quality sucks, we can look at Consumer Reports and after the polling of its thousands of respondents they also say VW sucks.

And no offense to AT Garage, but if you want to get a feel for what to expect as an owner of car X or car Y, find a forum devoted to it or its maker, and read a few months worth of threads relevant to the model you might be buying. EVERY make/model has its share of pet issues, and you'll get to know what to look for as a prospective owner.

This is certainly the best way to identify the key issues although won't tell you with what frequency they occur (it's impossible to tell simply by number of threads). If a key issue is something like the car eats brakes and you can replace them yourself it's almost meaningless but if its issue is it eats transmissions, that's awful.

 

[Excelsior]

That isn't incorrect. But neither you or I can truly say because we can't see into the future. I am just taking it a step further beyond consumer reports/and jd power by actually doing my own research. What a shocking concept. And in doing so, one finds out the Rabbit is for the most part a reliable, economical, and fun to drive car.

I know you don't actually rely on CR for your own purchases, you're smarter than that.

 

[Excelsior]

That's ridiculous, not everyone here hates VW. It really depends on the opinion of the first is to respond, then everybody else agrees with the first response. Or something like that...

The AT garage is for entertainment only, for good advice on vehicles there are a number of other forums, even other non-car related forums that are more consistent and reliable sources of advice.

Edit: there are a few posters who I believe honestly try to help by giving first hand experiences and fact based research. Then there are the fanbois, unintentional posers and the rest who know someone who had a friend whose step sister dated a mechanic who had a customer that went to a different shop and heard from their secretary that a car was good or bad.

No, they really do. And most of them haven't even owned one. Other than the fanboys (which I would probably be considered) everyone else hates. I agree it is for entertainment only. Which is why I go to other forums as well. And the sad thing is, other automobile manufacturers who have problems are ignored by the masses except for the few owners complaining. VW doesn't get this kind of treatment.