9 out of 10 Legacy

We bought our 2003 Subaru Legacy L Special Edition Wagon new in Feb 03 with 17 miles on the odometer. Our horrible 1998 Ford Explorer Sport trade-in sat woefully as we quickly emptied the glovebox, hoping that the dealer did not change his mind on the amount he had agreed to give us. As we drove into the night, giggling about how the old truck had held it together just long enough for the dealer to test drive, we noticed how civilized and quiet the Legacy drove. Bliss. Dual moon roof, AC AT CD PDL PW PM just about everything we could have wanted in the nicely priced SE .....except non-adjustable intermittent wipers? Nope. Hello, My '95 Escort has that. Power lock/unlock button in the cargo area? Nope. Automatic overdrive lockout button? Nope. Little things, yes. Inconvenience? Kinda. But, we love this car. Ride is a little on the firm side, but swerve to avoid larger road-kill and it is quick to respond thanks to larger wheels and tires and lower stance than the Outback. 80+ all day on the freeway, no problem. Seats are very comfortable. Basic Stereo CD is surprisingly good. The speakers are tuned to be louder in the backseat, so passengers back there get blown out easy. Boxer 4 cyl does fine in 95% of the use that we give it. Hit the pass, and you may be alarmed to see the tach hit 4200 as it shifts down at 70 mph. To keep 68-70 mph, you have to lock out by shifting down and hold 4000-4100 rpm to keep it from getting too noisy. Around town and normal freeway driving it has all the grunt you need. One issue that worries me: Cold start the car, and shift into reverse, and it bangs into gear like you got lightly rear-ended. I mentioned it to my dealer and they said that the engine is just compensating for the cold start by keeping the RPM's high. But... I always tap down the idle prior to shift, and it still bangs in. No problem with Drive, only Reverse. And no problem when warm, only cold. We will keep an eye on that, and probably take it in one of these days. Other than that, love the easy (I do it myself) access to oil change filter and plug, love the handling and ride, love the interior and we think it is a good value. Look at Camry and Accord as we did, and take the Legacy wagon.