Summer 2003 Forward to a Friend


Your Turn Letters from our Readers



His Turn
Having read Drive for so many years, I noticed that you no longer carry photographs and stories of old Subarus parked at family Subaru reunions or cars with 200,000 plus miles and still kicking and other great old stories. This was my favorite part of the magazine. It made me feel like I was driving something special (like having an old, worn, yet very faithful and comfortable pair of boots). It was also funny and interesting. Where are the old cars? The Subaru family reunions? The stories? The fun? The adventure?

Bob Wise
Paoli, PA

Bob, the next owner story is one that we think you’ll like!


More Than a Million Miles

About every 5 years, I purchase a new Subaru vehicle. Each of the vehicles has had more than 250,000 miles on it when I retire them. I am now driving a 1996 Subaru Legacy Wagon, and it has 365,000 plus miles and is still running strong. From 1982 until the present time, I have driven over 1 million miles in a Subaru. I would just like to thank Subaru for manufacturing such a great car. At this time, because of the economy, I cannot purchase a new Subaru Legacy Wagon, so I will just keep driving the one I have – 400,000 or maybe 500,000 miles look good. By the way, the only major thing I had to install in my current Subaru was a rebuilt transmission at 345,000 miles.

Leonard W. Gaston
Trenton, NJ


Key-bored?

My wife and I glued more than 20,000 computer keyboard buttons to our 1993 Subaru Impreza for no other reason than we had access to the keys and we thought it would be fun.



Mike Roey and Jenny Brandt in their 1993 Subaru Impreza (above). Even the fuel door prominently spells out ?GAS? in separately colored keys (below).



We love our Subaru and have no intention of ever getting rid of this car. Part of the charm of this project is that people cannot understand why we would do this to a new car – a nice car at that. More importantly, this car never fails to bring a smile to anyone who sees it.

We just wanted to bring our car and our good feelings about it, and Subaru in general, to your attention. Thank you for making a good vehicle that has enabled us to have a well-made canvas.

Mike Roey and Jenny Brandt
Los Angeles, CA




John Otterness, red 2000 Forester; Jenée Gossard, blue 2002 Forester and Barbara Knight, green 2000 Forester.

Smiles All Around

Working for UCLA’s School Management Program, my colleagues and I don’t often work on the same school projects or at the same school site. Education, not cars, is the usual topic when we meet. So it was an exciting moment when the three of us showed up to work together at the same school and discovered that we each drove a Subaru Forester!

John Otterness
Via e-mail


Satisfied Spending Time in His Subaru

The odometer on Charles Brant’s 1997
Impreza Coupe exceeds 500,000 miles.
I work as a courier for a financial institution and a film processing company. I drive a 1997 Subaru Impreza Coupe approximately 325 miles each day. Thus far, there have been no major engine problems. Other than routine maintenance, which is done at the dealer as recommended by Subaru, I have had to replace only one transmission at 379,000 miles, a fuel pump at 348,000 miles and an alternator at 421,000 miles. The fuel pump failure is the only time the car left me stranded. I am a very satisfied customer. I also own a 1993 Impreza Sedan and a 2003 Forester. This is one very dependable product.

Charles Brant
Oil City, PA


Subaru Hybrid Vehicle

As a loyal Subaru customer, I’m interested to know if Subaru has plans to release a hybrid gas-electric engine in the near future. I take pains to recycle just about everything I can and would love to reduce the air pollution I create when I drive. A hybrid vehicle would be the answer to my dreams!

Marc de la Vergne
Via e-mail


Hybrid vehicle development involves many new technologies and designs. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), Subaru’s manufacturer, is developing a hybrid vehicle with improved fuel economy, focusing on a compact-sized vehicle, and aiming to commercialize it within the next several years.

While there are no specific dates or schedules available to us now, please be assured that you will be hearing more about Subaru’s advanced technology vehicles in the future.

For more about Subaru and its quest for electric power, see Subaru Hybrid Electric Vehicles and the Quest for Electric Power.






For comments concerning Drive magazine, send e-mail to: drivemag@subaru.com, or write to: Editor, Drive magazine, PO Box 514025, Milwaukee, WI 53202-3425.

For other customer service-related questions, comments and product information, contact us at (800) SUBARU-3 [(800) 782-2783] or simply visit our Contact Us page.

We reserve the right to edit all letters and articles sent for publication in Drive magazine. Letters and all materials submitted with them (including photographs) become the property of Drive magazine and may be republished in any form or medium and will not be returned.




THANKS TO OUR READERS for bringing the following photo corrections to our attention. The Legacy vehicle photo and the Legacy interior photo featured in “2003 Legacy L Special Edition Package” (Drive, spring 2003) depicted the 2.5 GT, not the Legacy L Special Edition.



The correct photos of the 2003 Legacy L
Special Edition Package are displayed here.