GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi, My husband and I are looking at purchasing another vehicle. Right now we're looking at the Vibe or the Subaru Impreza WRX Sport Wagon. I don't want a Subaru at all!!! My husband thinks he wants the WRX. Can you give me some reasons not to get the WRX?ThanksCasey

I've never owned anything but Pontiacs, so I'm already biased.That aside, if it were me, the Subarus are UGLY!!!! IMHO of course...

I don't like Subarus either, but he does and he has 50% of the vote. I need something that will convince him.

Hi Casey,I looked at the Subaru Imprezza TS while recently purchasing my vibe (my friend insisted I at least look at one!) and the 2 major reasons why I decided to go with the Vibe were:1) Price...not only initial but down the road maintenance. I know somebody who has the WRX Sti and while he's still under warranty, he's been asking how much some 'under warranty repairs' would have cost if not covered and it's scaring him enough that he may sell it once off warranty!2) cargo space. The vibe can haul more. Look at the cargo space numbers and I think you'll be surprised at how much you can actually fit in the vibe! So depending on what you want...the Subaru is a NICE car with (in my opinion) the best all-wheel drive system out there that one can afford (Audi impresses me also, but...$$$) but I decided that I didn't want to spend/be spending in the future huge amounts for that feature and instead decided to get the more affordable Vibe with more cargo room and I also agree with ragingfish in saying that the vibe looks MUCH better....

That's a good point atomb:A guy I work with has an early 90s subaru -- and it's in the shop every other week. He openly admits he never knows when it will start and when it won't...I don't know how their quality has changed (if at all) in the last few years, but if that's any indication...

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Get a Subaru WRX Wagon.But she doesn't want one. I don't like them either, personally. My friend has the TS wagon and he and I love to "bicker" over who's car is better - maybe his is better performance wise, but mine's much more fun!

well, to be quite honest, had i been able to afford the wrx, i would have bot that over the vibe in a heartbeat! but i've heard they do tend to have some issues w/ their engines, but it's more or less how you drive it. i love the vibe styling over the subie, altho their new 05 xt legacy's... well i'd trade the vibe in w/o much remorse. pricing you have a much better deal w/ the vibe over the wrx. are you looking at the awd vibe, base, or gt? makes a big diff. subies are overall very good vehicles. in alaska, very few driveways DON'T have one parked there... they are all around great cars for driving and pretty reliable at that.the older early 90's subies are diff just like most late model cars are diff from their early 90's counterparts. we had a 93 legacy wagon, fwd before they made awd standard. it sucked! hated that thing, always in the ditch! so it really depends on what you want. if he's looking at it domestic vs import reliability, then remind him that the vibe is a toyota w/ the domestic price tag! very very appealing. and as for appearance and utility, the vibe is great!

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Subaru comes with a 5 year/ 60,000 mile Drive Train Warranty and they have extended warranties just like another company. What is he having problems with?Does he play hard with his car? If you play, you will pay..... he has been bringing it in quite a bit for problems with the transmission. i'm not sure what the issue is exactly but everytime i talk to him he's telling me about his latest trip to the dealer!i don't think he drives it any harder than the average person who likes to accelerate a bit faster on that long stretch of country road on the way home from work ( sound familiar?)i'm of the opinion that ANY manufacturer will have it's 'problem child' cars on the road...some might 'statistically' have fewer 'problem children' but that doesn't mean they don't have any at all!my issue has more to do with the fact that if i had a Subaru problem (or VW, etc.) vs a Pontiac problem...after warranty...which will cost me more??5 year/60k mi sounds good but seriously, i don't know of ANYBODY (in my 'real' world...there may be a few on this board) that drives, on average 12,000 mi a year for 5 years! so i only look at the milage on the warranty, not the length of years. Up here in canada we have:3 year/60,000 km (40,000mi)(whichever comes first) TOTAL warranty5 year/ 100,000 km (60,000mi)(whichever comes first) Powertrain limited warranty i only look at the distances as I know I'll reach them sooner than the time period! so based on that, the subarus have the same warranty in my eyes.

From my experience as a service advisor... extended warranty is a pain in the (removed) pardon my french. You buy this package that then has someone decide if they will cover your repair... They can turn down anything at their descretion.But on topic, go Vibe for sure. Thats my Vibe opinion.

the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$as stated by others, the vibe is cheaper, and looks better. Vibes have toyota reiliability. Subies have always been the japanese odd ball.vibes have more space. vibes dont break trannies like wrx's do. Wrx's have AWD and will always beat me at the track, but my turboed vibe is just as fast, save for STI's. the end

And you show me a Subaru that has a household-style outlet right in the dash! Uh huh, tha's what I thought.And in some models, XM radio too!!!All right from the factory.

I think raging is talking about coming straight from the factory like that. You don't have to do extra work to get it how you want it.

It's tough to give you really good, really specific reasons without knowing exactly what you don't like about the Subaru, or what you do like about the Vibe...but.- Price, obviously, is a huge factor.- Mainenance. Most of what has been seen with the Vibe is fairly minimal problems early on, whereas there's been quite a bit of talk about the Subaru's requiring more mainenance over their lifetime. Keep in mind, the Vibe is built on a Toyota platform. I have a video of someone running a Toyo engine for about 8 minutes, revved high in neutral before it blew, i'll be fairly confident that the Subaru can't handle that kinda punishment.Granted, the Subaru has some nice handling, but...as it's a very 'desired' car at the moment, i'd stick to the price battles. I'm sure insurance on the Vibe is going to be a LOT less than the Subaru.

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »= I'm sure insurance on the Vibe is going to be a LOT less than the Subaru.Good point, Jahntassa....we're getting nailed pretty hard by the insurance companies up here in Canada and I KNOW the Subaru insurance rate was approx 15% higher for my case....that was for the Imprezza TS