Amazing how far Subaru has fallen. We had the Spec B Liberty, GT Liberty and the turbo Forester in the mid 2000s.
The next models were trash.
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So true, I wanted to upgrade but they’ve lost their way.
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If you’ve watched Redriven you’ll already know any discussion of the Mazda 6 ends with Adam saying “Great, great car, but do not buy the diesel”, and Jim saying “Do not buy any Mazda diesel”.
Second the Mazda 3 SP25 with the manual. My mate, who spent his youth and young adulthood in motor racing, thoroughly enjoys his as something modern that he can fling around the city and pick up kids/light duties in.
A camry is a good base to build a luxury car imo. It’s reliable and will go forever. That’s a rare luxury right there. Add Lexus build quality and improvements and you’ll have something unexciting but certainly luxurious.
I think you are both talking about the ES which is the Camry based Lexus.
300 is a grade/engine level.
The IS is the RWD model that they stopped bringing to Australia in around 2022.
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I dabble with the idea of a Lexus, but always find them a bit too expensive for what they are. The only ones ive really ever liked have been the very expensive models.
I mean if I was doing a lap around Australia id pay the extra 30k for the GX 550 over say a Prado or paying the equivalent v8 in a Landy, that car is awesome.
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If you’re cross shopping them with a Toyota, and depending on the model I kind of agree.
I wouldn’t get an LX over a Landcruiser, for example.
Though I absolutely would get a GX over the current Prado. I can’t look past the compromised boot of the current almost ad-hoc hybrid - weird move by Toyota.
I think of their price and quality advantage as being in comparison to the Euros trading on name.
Not that I can afford any of them.
an old taxi driver on the peninsula swears by toyotas but he said the best one hands down that he owned was the Avalon. he was pretty happy he picked me up i had a cab charge for work and the fare was almost $200 to drop me off at the docklands.
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Yes, I was talking about the ES. I’m not really familiar with the Lexus range any more.
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Well I paid more than I wanted to but I did it… 2007 Subaru Liberty 3.0R B-Spec in wagon form! 6 speed manual, 117,000km on the odometer.
Have a feeling I’m going to really enjoy this one.
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Love it.
My wife took a booking on Hope Island near Sanctuary Cove. This place fairly reeks of money, lots of it. Anyway her client is young Indian guy with a couple of nice toys. He offered me a chance to sit in one, he didn’t need to ask twice. Enjoy.
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Memories…
It has the macintosh stereo, and you gotta pull that ■■■■■■ thing up to put it in reverse?
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Awesome, I reckon you’ll love it. My son has got his Forester on the road, it’s a mean silver machine too:
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Good thing I didn’t buy that first Liberty I looked at - I knew something wasn’t quite right. Turns out the gearbox was not the STI 6 speed box - i.e. not a legit B-spec. It should shift into reverse on the RHS of pattern - other one I looked at shifted into it via the LHS. Phew…
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Always had a soft spot for the Foresters… Just struggle to wrap my head around the 2.0 and 2.5L engines.
The poor mans Porsche engine wins every time.
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In a strange quirk of fate - given my recent postings in this thread - I’ve just been handed my Aunts 2007 Mazda3 Neo sedan with a manual gear box as she has decided that at 84 and recovering from a broken hip, driving is no longer her thing.
It’s literally a “one owner, little old lady shopping vehicle, always garaged, stupidly low kilometers” car. And I mean under 3500km per year for 18 years stupid.
Drives ok ( for a fwd) , the 2.0L four is perky enough ( and I like that it’s the older ported engine without direct injection) and builds reasonable power in 3-4k rpm range.
It has all the mod cons. Well, it has air conditioning. And a CD player. That’s about it. It’s kinda retro cool in a way, I guess. If my daughters don’t want it , it’ll probably become the general runabout. Since I’ve clearly lost my commodore to my son. 
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non-smoker? no pets?
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