Next Car Advice Needed...

[Danny]

...for my Grandad.

He has a 1.9PD Bora and his partner has an Impreza (bug-eye ).

They're considering changing one of them for something a bit nicer. The Bora will probably go as the ride is "a bit harsh".
He's looking into a medium sized saloon. He fancies an A4 or Merc but not the pricetag and we've found a 2 year old Legacy 2.5 for £5995 here. Following the Impreza, they're impressed with the Subaru build quality.

A)Is the Legacy a good buy?
B)Would a Merc or A4 be a better second hand buy?
C)Are they any good?
D)Are they reliable?


Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[G.T]

Any Japanese car will be a good buy because of brilliant reliability, so the Legacy seems reasonable.

Mercedes, avoid. There are too many problems with them, unless I am mistaken. The Audi seems to be a very good option (even an option for my Dad in the next few weeks of deciding) as they're pretty reliable, good quality and comfortable.

Beemer 5-series maybe though?

 

[Leonidae]

beemers would be fine as long as they don't have those intelligent self-destructing differentials.

I'd say that he should go for Legacy. 4wd is always a good thing.

 

[Danny]

BMW is a definate no no. I've tried that already.

The Legacy seems good value for money, but it's almost too good to be true.

 

[G.T]

BMW is a definate no no. I've tried that already.

The Legacy seems good value for money, but it's almost too good to be true.

The depreciate bad from new, so they're a very good used buy because they're cheap.

Still, must be a load of miles on it though.

Edit: It doesn't say...

 

[Poverty]

You can pick up a very nice saab 9-3 for that money. Personally thats who id go with, as the depreciaton hit has gone, its a fun car with a nice interior.

9-3 or legacy. Either way both are very good cars.

 

[gibus]

I'm guessing you live in the UK since the car was in pounds.

Legacy's are very good cars, they even are quite fast for an everyday car. Where do you live? Around mountains? Lots of snow? Anyways.. there isn't any disadvantage of having a AWD for everyday life. Check the clutch though before buying.. who knows maybe it's about to die and who knows how much it will cost you to get that repaired.

In general, it seems as the best option to go with would be to go for a german or japanese car, in my eyes.. they seem to have a good reputation for being more solid.

 

[JCE]

The Legacy is a great car that's reliable, comfortable, and can be sporty when needed. Second choice of course is Audi--but I guess you knew I was going to say that. BMW's have a "harsher" ride compared to Subaru and Audi.

 

[YSSMAN]

The Legacy is a great car, but from what I understand from my friends who own one, parts can be expensive should anything break. Of course, they are driving an older Legacy Outback L.L.Bean, so I don't know what kind of translation that has the U.K. market.

The only kind of car I can think of (sold in US and UK, reliable, right size) would be maybe the Saab 9-3 or 9-5, or maybe a Volvo S60. The Sweeds make some nice vehicles, and if you can afford 'em, go for it.

 

[harrytuttle]

I'm in general agreement with everyone here: any post-1998 Legacy should be a good choice. I would only add that my experience with 1990-2005 German cars is that they are excellent for the first three years, then electrical gremlins just make life miserable. Of course, this could be because the Northeastern US' wide range of weather makes for a car-unfriendly environment, but the Subaru's I've dealt with come through pretty much unscathed.