USED Subaru Legacy Estate (03 - 09)

My car

I traded in an Audi A8 for my Legacy 3.0R Auto at Christmas 2004.

The car had been Subaru in-house and I got a £4000 discount as well as a very generous part-ex. My first impressions were that it was noisy and had a hard ride, especially at low speeds around town.

In its favour it was spacious, and well-equipped, and from 4000rpm on, decently quick. After three years, my overwhelming sense is of a machine that is completely reliable, much more so than any other marque I've had of late, including Mercedes, BMW and Audi.

In three years, nothing has failed so far, and everything works the way it did when I took delivery.

If anything, the engine has opened up, and it definitely thrives on high octane (and high-cost) petrol, so I feed it some for long motorway runs. With four wheel drive, the handling is always ultra-safe, and it copes easily with rain, snow, mud etc.

I've come to enjoy its discreet nature. It doesn't cause the same offence to others as the big Germans, so I hope Subaru will carry on with the less macho styling for this model (though not as unmacho as the new Impreza).

What other high-quality, reliable, quick, leather and sunroofed 3-litre estate car is there for anything like the money? A similarly-equipped Audi Quattro would be more by £10k, and in my experience, doesn't have the 100% reliability of the Scoobie.

I just wish they could do something to reduce the road noise, the only real downside to an excellent machine.

My car

This is my 3rd Legacy 2.5 Outback. I've driven over 220,000 miles across fields, countrylanes , A roads and motorways. The car is totally understated but remains perhaps the best drivers car available to the country car dweller. A brief change to Audi made me realise even more just how dynamic and involving the Subaru experience is. Off road it will go anywhere ground clearence allows , and will then quite happily travel many miles rapidly along country roads and motorways a like. Average fuel economy at 28mpg is always consistent and 30+ mpg is possible on a long journey. Services not the cheapest and parts expensive but thankfully not required very often. A great all round car - drive one and you will appreciate just how good the outback is for everyday motoring.

My car

I have owned a three-litre manual estate for 18mths. It was bought through a local Subaru dealer new with £6k discount. It is a stunning car which still brings a grin to my face when I push it on; fantastic - pace, engine music and handling.

Only problem is that I tend to pay heavily for spirited driving at the filling station. I tend to average 21- 24 mpg , whereas my wife gets around 30 mpg.

Despite around 240bhp, insurance is fairly reasonable at grp 15.

It's superbly equipped - sat nav/ climate / large sun roof / elec leather seats / 6 cd and has been faultless.

Best of all it blends into the background - no pretentious badge on a pompous grill.

Subaru have one of the best kept motoring secrets in it's model list.

My car

Now on my second Subaru Legacy and having previously owned this car before, it is perhaps not suprising that I would recommend this car to anyone. Put simply it remains the best car I have ever owned, or indeed driven and can say that having driven the likes of the BMW 5-Series Tourer, Mercedes C-Class and Jaguar X-Type. Its the perfect allrounder, fast, comfortable, beautifully made and excellently equipped, not to mention every bit as thrilling to drive as its younger sibbling the Impreza. The dealers are also very friendly and helpful though servicing can be a little pricy, but this aside I love it. Mpg, well I've had it do an average of 37mpg all the day is long and more on the motorway. The greatest thing though is the way it makes you feel as they are just so rare. Exclusivity is a guaranty as traditionally only Aristocrats, land owners and farmers buy them, so arriving at the Dorchester Hotel is a doddle. I have even had people coming up to me and asking what is it, or saying is it an E-Class Mercedes? With a massive boot its also bigger than a Volvo V70 so who truely needs anything else? All this and at mere 20K, you'd have to spend a hole load more to do better. Look at it this way, will a Golf, Mondeo or 3-Series be exclusive? Thought not. The Legacy Sports Tourer however is!