There are needs and there are wants. I don’t need a Subaru WRX, but I sure want one. I had my Outback in for service the other day, and the Subie dealer had a bright tangerine WRX on the showroom floor (Subie calls the color Solar Orange Pearl). Those cars are fast and appealing and I was all over it. I don’t need another car. But I sure want the WRX you see above. I’d name it Il Tangerino.
Susie and I bought a new WRX in 2006 and it was one of the best and most fun cars we ever owned. We did a lot of great trips in that car. It had an automatic transmission (unusual for the WRX) and it was just a hoot to drive. It felt like a supercharged go kart, which in a way it sort of was. Turbocharged, anyway. It would go like a bat out of hell and one time when passing a long string of cars heading north on the 395, I looked down and saw I was doing a cool 140 mph. It was effortless. Like I said, these cars are fast.
I like the orange color. I had an orange Subie CrossTrek and my friends teased me about its bright orange paint. Laugh all you want. The CrossTrek was a good looking car and it was easy to find in a parking lot.
I first drove a WRX when good buddy Tom tossed me the keys to his WRX when we were hanging around Bob Brown’s BMW dealership. Marty and I took it out for a spin, it was fast, and that ride was all it took. I bought the blue one you see above a short while later.
Most WRX Subies have manual transmissions. Those are okay, but I’m a bit more mature now and I prefer an automatic. Sit in California traffic a while and you will, too.
I asked the sales guy at the Subie dealership what this one would go for and after the standard line of dealer crap (including the when are you going to buy, how much are you willing to offer, etc….I do love dealers and their sales people), he finally showed me their invoice. The bottom line is that this Subie would go for something slightly north of $32,000, not counting taxes and other fees.
My first thought was that $32K is not a bad price for a car like this (I recently read in the Wall Street Journal that the average price for a new GM car is right at $50K today). The Subie you see here has a 2.4-liter engine and a turbocharger. You’re supposed to run premium fuel and here in the Peoples Republik premium is running north of $5 per gallon. so that’s probably a deal killer. But like I said at the start of this blog, there’s needs and there’s wants. I don’t need a new WRX, but I sure want this one. If enough of our readers click on the popup ads…who knows?
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We took our 2021 Crosstrek to West Virginia last fall and I was very impressed with how it performed on the roads that my Triumph Tiger 1050 lives for. And it is not SUV size…..I call it the Station Wagon like my Dad’s old company cars or the Pontiac 6000 Wagon we had when the kids were growing up. Practical but fun without the heft of a minivan or SUV. And plenty of Yoo-Hoo carrying capacity to boot.
A CrossTrek is hard to beat. I bought one in 2013 and put a lot of miles on it. Loved that car. It’s my desktop image now.
I too had considered a WRX back in 2013 when I decided to retire my 1997 Ford F-150. I loved that truck, which I had bought new. I like to keep my cars twenty years but what the hey, I was retiring from work so why not treat myself? Plus the 12 to 14 MPG was going up my butt sideways. So over the next four months I drove nearly everything in the mid size class. I did not drive the WRX however, because I knew it’s power and sporty-ness would skew my comparisons. I would tell my friends my findings of particular cars I test drove but after a few months of this they started asking me if I was buying or just window shopping? They called me “the educated non-consumer”. Long story short, with the lust for a sports car drained from my system… mpg, safety, reliability, spacious interior, cost and practicality won over. I bought a 2013 Honda Accord Sport CVT. I love it. 25 to 37 MPG. Four cylinder, easy maintenance, seamless transmission. Roomier inside than my friend’s Grand Marquis! BUT WAIT.. There’s a new car coming out that has caught my eye and it deserves a look. I told my brother-in-law, who always drives expensive speedy cars, about it and all he did was snicker at me until he gave it a gander. He said “I’ll buy two.” Here it comes… (don’t say anything until you review it) … the 2023 Toyota Prius! Less than the WRX but probably double the MPG. It’s 0-60 times are impressive. And if you get the plug in hybrid, you’ll never put gas in it unless on long trips. You’ll pass every WRX in a gas station.
One of my daughters has the plug in Prius. She loves it. Her commute eliminates the need to buy gas. Every few months a light comes on telling her to start the engine (probably so the gas won’t gum up).
Still, that tangerine WRX…
I know, I know. But check out the 2023 Prius. It’s as if Toyota finally figured out that most people think the Prius is ugly. So the new Prius doesn’t look like a Prius.
I’ve seen the new ones. They are much better looking cars.
I’m really disappointed in Subaru right now. I bought a used 2012 Legacy for my son to drive while attending college. According to Subaru, the CV transmission is a “sealed unit” and the transmission fluid will last the life of the car. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Unfortunately, it appears the previous owner of the car bought the line of BS, because the transmission just failed after we had the car a year. Like a moron, I bought the line too and didn’t change the fluid when I bought the car. My mechanic said the fluid was filthy.
Sorry to hear that.
Hey, if you’re financially secure why not? We are all getting older and only have so much time left to enjoy the things in life that really turn us on. I’m getting up there and in about 10 to 15 years I doubt if I will care about or be able to run hot cars and bikes. Or go to the range. So, I have a collection of bikes and firearms that I’m enjoying and now that I have those things I get to enjoy them. I’m tapering down on buying things and putting more money into retirement planning now but I’ve got most of what I want and when I have time I’m enjoying them to the fullest. Maybe have a talk with the Mrs. and give it some thought.
I’ve had similar thoughts, Bob. I have a ton of toys and I, too, am slowing down on my purchases.
If it comes in a 2 door then maybe I would consider it.
A performance car in 4foor? Yuck!
I even saw s 4 door Maserati the other day. Double Yuck!!
Also, Please bring back 2 door short bed pickups!
But alas ,
America has lost its cool.
Can you imagine Steve McQueen driving an orange Subaru 4 door in the movie Bullet? Or how about one of these replacing the early corvette in the old Route 66 tv show? At least that show was in B&W . Lol!
Nerdism. Well to each their own . But I find the lack of cool in todays society to be very uninspiring.
Make America Cool Again!
Make America Cool Again. I love it.
I, too, mourn the loss of cool.
To add to your list of questions: Can you imagine Dirty Harry with a black plastic Glock?
You should write a guest blog.
I get it. I really do.
Plastic Glock with and orange barrel tip. Lol.
I don’t think you have to worry much . Anyone whom reloads their own ammo is wicked cool.
Wicked cool until we blow a gun up.