Subaru Impreza reviews

My current car is a 2006 Subaru Impreza R Sport in the the so called "wagon" body style (small estate car/large hatchback). It is without a doubt the best car I've owned (I've owned a Ford Escort, a Fiat Regatta, a mk1 Vauxhall Astra and two Subaru Impreza's previously). The current mileage is just slightly over one hundred and seven thousand miles and engine is faultless (touch wood !) The car is shown some "wear and tear" on the bodywork but it is nearly 11 years old (55 plate) ! I was a loan car at the local Subaru dealership so it had a bit of a tough life before I bought it. I used it for towing a large two berth caravan for four years and it never missed a beat, even when fully loaded at it maximum legal towing weight. I did upgrade the front brakes (to four piston calipers and fast road pads) as I thought the standard items wouldn't cope with towing (stopping !) the caravan. As it's a non turbocharged model the servicing intervals are annual - it's recently (May 2016) had a cambelt and major service including all fluids and brake pads and disks all round - again performance disks and fast road pads along with HEL stainless steel brake lines - with an all in cost of seven hundred pounds via a local specialist. The next thing I need to replace is the suspension as it is well overdue ! It's comfortable (my parents don't complain) but it has come to the end of its useful life now. The big issue of fuel consumption is not bad considering the turbo models do fifteen to twenty miles per gallon of super unleaded and I can get up to thirty five miles per gallon. As I said at the start it's the best car I've ever owned.

The Subaru Sportswagon we have is the nicest car we have ever owned (and we have owned lots) We live at a high altitude in the countryside, so it is very reassuring to have the grip and 4 wheel drive in the winter, without the car looking like a tractor or jeep. The perfomance is lively but not too sporty. The reliability over the 8 years we have owned it has been excellent. It is a very robust car. We never have much difficulty at MoT time, and we have done 170,000 miles so far. I can't imagine many petrol engined cars last so well. The only downside is that it does only 30 mpg on average, though it will do up to 39 mpg on a long non-motorway run. In this day and age this fuel consumption really isn't good enough, so we are planning to sell it in the spring and get a diesel car. Probably an Audi. We will miss the 4 wheel drive, but we are both now retired, so getting to work in bad conditions isn't necessary any more.

I have had a number of Subaru Imprezas but until this one they have all been petrol which have been expensive to run. When the Boxer diesel was introduced I decided I would buy one which I did and have been very happy with it. I have had one or two minor problems ie cover on drivers seat started to wear at about 12 months and subaru were not prepared to replace two years old alloy wheel rusted but was replaced 3 years old back light cluster developed rust behind gals but once again subaru refused to do anything. I was going to replace my car this year as it is now over 3 years old but subaru no longer all Impreza in the uk. But there again I have found there after sales service not to good so would probably look at another make preferably with a spare or get you home wheel as I do not approve of these inflation kits.

The Impreza is simply the best car I've owned because it is such fun to drive. It is always so firmly planted to the road that it instils you with confidence every time you turn the key and set off on a journey. It's almost as if it wants to go places; a journey is never dull. Some luxury saloons I've driven are perhaps more competent and sophisticated, but, to me, they leave you feeling slightly remote from what's happening as you drive. The Subaru keeps you in touch with the road; it seems to sense what you want it to do and invariably, it delivers. A joy to drive. The problem for me is that I don't like the shape of the new Impreza and I can't hold on to this one forever. Or can I?

The Impreza Sportwagon gives you the fun of the Impreza with a cavernous boot. Perfect for someone who has had to give up his 2+2 sports car to have a family, but still wants something fun. Cheap examples could well make amazing workhorses.

Fun to drive, all-wheel drive gives great confidence in all weather conditions, particularly good on snow and ice with winter tyres. More internal storage space would be nice to have.

Excellent model which has been very reliable.