Would you do it again?

[BAC5.2]

Go out to the garage and take a look at your car.

In the time you've owned it, the money you've spent, the good (and bad) times you've had with it, would you do it again?

Given the chance to go back in time, would you have done with your car what you did do? Would you spend the time, money, and blood? Or would you have bought something else and just lived a different future?

Now that I have my car running, I don't know that I could drive anything else. I see my car as a further extension of myself. Now that I've gotten used to the feel of the car, the clutch action, the shifting, the throttle, I feel connected to the car. Everything about it has become instinct to me. I no longer concentrate on shifting smoothly (although at one point, I really did, lol. Ask Matt about my 1-2 shifts when I got the new clutch). I no longer concentrate on anything but the road. Thanks to some of you here, Matt espically, I've become better in tune with my car, and better in tune with driving.

When entering a turn, I no longer think about what gear to be in, or how much brake to use. All I am thinking about is what it looks like 2 turns ahead. My car has a personality all its own, and that's something you can't buy. It takes work, time, and effort. Those that understand, respect what you've done and how you've done it. Those that don't understand will never know.

I guess I'm trying to say Thanks to the Legacy community. You have all opened my eyes to things I may have never seen. Had I not found Legacycentral, I probably would have never gotten the 94, and who knows what I would be like today.

I can't imagine having taken any other path. What about you guys?

[entirelyturbo]

See what I mean about starting threads?

Now imagine if you've felt that way about the same car for 4 years. I am the ONLY person I know in my age group who still has my first car. I get angry at it occasionally, the thought of selling has crossed my mind more than once, but somehow I manage to fall in love with it all over again. Even though I've spent over $5,000 on the car since I've had it and easily have $3000 more in plans for it, it doesn't seem to matter. I know the car so well, I've got so much of my life in it, it's so much a part of who I am, that I can't imagine my life without it.

And mine's not even a turbo

[petridish38]

Now imagine if you've felt that way about the same car for 4 years. I am the ONLY person I know in my age group who still has my first car. I get angry at it occasionally, the thought of selling has crossed my mind more than once, but somehow I manage to fall in love with it all over again. Even though I've spent over $5,000 on the car since I've had it and easily have $3000 more in plans for it, it doesn't seem to matter. I know the car so well, I've got so much of my life in it, it's so much a part of who I am, that I can't imagine my life without it.

And mine's not even a turbo

The Legacy is my first car (besides my Nissan that I sold before I was even old enough to drive, so that doesn't count.) and I am in your age group. My brother still has his XT which is his first car (not sure if you consider 22 to be in your age group or not) Since 2001 when I bought the car I have put quite a bit of money into it and nearing 60,000 miles (188,000 total.)

And to answer Phil's question... Of course I would do it again!

I plan on keeping it forever, even when I have the money to buy a new car *read Subaru*, I will keep it in the garage and drive it on the weekends.

Mine isn't a turbo either... its not even AWD, but its still a Legacy

Andrew

[THAWA]

There's a lot of things I wouldnt do again with what I know now. Headgaskets for one, because I wouldnt be an idiot while driving the car. Also I wouldnt do a transmission swap, as I dont feel it was justified. There's tons of shit I'd do again (and probably will) though

[evolutionmovement]

I don't know. Today I'd say I wish I saved the $3k on the bodywork and junked the car last week or maybe even given up on it when the transmission went at 180k. I've owned it for 6 yrs and still love driving the car but my confidence is shot. If I had a garage so I could have a second car I'd be happy keeping it, but unless that happens soon I'm thinking of maybe getting something else. Even with writing it into two novels, I can still change a couple sentences and have the collision at the end a fatal one for the car. It may actually be better that way as it would fit the car as analogous to my character's criminal life.

Steve

[azn2nr]

when i bought my car i didnt know there was a comunity like this one even though i was looking for it for a long time. when i found out about the turbo legacy a coworker had a friend who was selling one. it was such a breath of fresh air to see and drive. it was fast compared to most ricers out there and more importantly it was affordable to buy and it wasnt a wrx. althorgh i never did buy that car i found the one i have now not too long after.

to answer your question though if i was smart back then and took it to a shop to have it looked at before i bought it i probaly wouldnt have gotten this partiualr car. and because of the lack of first gen legacy turbos localy i most likely would either be driving my moms "L" or another car that i would have bought most likely a 97 GT.

i like my car because its fast, well at least faster than most including the GT but there are tons of things i find absloutely anoying about it like the wind noise at speed gas mileage and just the way it drives. it shakes too much at 80 mph though i becomes more stable when you go faster but it doesnt handle better with a good suspension on it than the newer legs do with a stock suspension and even though the suspensions are the same they just dont handle the same.

[entirelyturbo]

Sorry Andrew, forgot you and your bro...

I'm actually pondering buying an EJ22 reseal kit, a set of rod and main bearings, and just hanging onto them, so that I won't have a killer time finding them say 10 years down the road. Then when the engine finally does kick the bucket, I'll rebuild it from scratch.

Here's where I'll draw the line though, and this might sound weird to some of you: If the block is ruined in the engine failure process, I will junk the car. For some reason, I just don't feel it's right to just swap engines, it's not the same car to me...

[azn2nr]

Sorry Andrew, forgot you and your bro...
Here's where I'll draw the line though, and this might sound weird to some of you: If the block is ruined in the engine failure process, I will junk the car. For some reason, I just don't feel it's right to just swap engines, it's not the same car to me...

are you one of thoes people who always has to have matching numbers in your car

[LegacyPunk]

Im kinda with Steve on this one. After spending over $5k on it, Most of it in repairs, and everything that has gone wrong, I constantly worry about something breaking while im driving, I turn the stereo down whenever I hear a strange noise of feel something strange, even if its not coming from the car. I don't really want to mess with the engine anymore (since its my only car to get around in), I just want things to work and be realiable like the first year I had the car. But...I still love the car and couldn't imagine selling it.
Now I just want to tweak the hell out of the suspension. My ultimate goal for the car is to make the inside alot like a fighter jet cockpit (switches, readout screens, etc), I wanted to be a fighter pilot before I found out you can't if you have myopia (nearsightedness) . Kinda make the car like my own personal fighter jet, without the missles and guns (although if I through some of those on the car, I could take out all the stupid idiot drivers on the road).

[BAC5.2]

I wanted to be a fighter pilot too! Asthma held me back though

That's why I want a MKIV Supra, the whole interior is like a cockpit

[azn2nr]

1st gen dsm's interiors are like fighter jets too.

i should also say that i will never sell my car. in fact i will never sell any of the cars i buy. i may have got it from my dad. usless he totaled it he still has it. may be the reason why a house of 3 people has 7 cars

[evolutionmovement]

The Facel Vegas had aircraft-inspired cockpits that were really cool. The XT speedster I want to make woud have an aircraft-like cockpit to go with the stock fighter-jet stick for the shifter. I would like to make a small full-bodied central cockpit car based on a cheap old single seat race car with a sliding canopy and vertical tailfins (with third brakelights for visibility as it will be low). I've always been in love with WWII fighter aircraft myself.

Steve

[LegacyPunk]

I also had the Idea of some how modifying a joystick to be my shifter, then throw in a whole bunch of those switches with the red safty covers. oh and have a whole bunch of guages. I still could get EGT, oil pressure, oil temp, water temp,water pressure, voltomenter, fuel pressure. I thought about also having an extra tach just cause its one more guage heh heh.

[douglas vincent]

Would I do it again? Here are the cars I have owned in order.

1977 subaru sedan - Yes- but wife had it towed
1976 subaru sedan - Yes- but bought for parts, I had it towed
1979 subaru wagon - Yes- but was towed with the sedan _long story!
1969 Cadillac Sedan DeVille - Fuck Yes!!!!- But was totaled by uninsured motorist!!!!!
1976 Ford Econline 250 - Yes- 300,000 miles and still have it as back up van
1990(?) Buick Park Avenue - NO!!!!- Bought from my dad and my first lemon. Cost me way to much. I literally gave it away. I lost $4000 in 1 1/2 years at least.
1981 Volvo wagon - Maybe- Other than the mold, it was good for the price
1990 Ford Econoline 350 - Maybe- Great rig, but 10 miles to the gallon is spendy! It is my current shop rig.
1990 Subaru Wagon -Oh Yeah baby!- my race car, bought for $300, now have about $4000 invested.
1991 Subaru wagon - of course!- Wifes car, also bought for $300, now have a total of $650 invested in this car. Actually handles better than my wagon cause it had new shocks installed before it was wrecked.

I think that is all I have had

[Tleg93]

I may bitch a lot but I love my cars. I was on the fence about the turbo but I had just started to change my mind when fate stepped in. I've only owned five cars and three were Subies. I'm not completely obsessed with them though. Ultimately, I'm a practical person and I don't like spending all my money on my car. I love it when I'm working on it but it's not the only thing I want to devote my spare time to either. I have other expensive hobbies such as music that demand constant attention and money infusions. In the future I do see myself in a Subaru although it would be nice if they got just a teensy bit better gas mileage. It's got its ups and downs I guess. Every good relationship has a little tension in it .

[tris91ricer]

I think of my car the way i think of my girlfriend; both are high maintenance, but the love, affection, and feeling i get when riding them always comes back.
BAC5.2:

In the time you've owned it, the money you've spent, the good (and bad) times you've had with it, would you do it again?

ermmm.. I would have kept it strictly a street car. When first testing it out, even knowing it was only FWD, i insisted upon taking it up to some forest service roads in Wilkeson and beating the hell out of it, as well as later taking the side mouldings off.. both big mistakes, as the car isn't nearly the pimp it still should be. In retrospect, --and that's always 20/20-- the car was impeccable when i recieved it, but after my use of it.... well... it looks like it's had a hard life. I would have done more preventative maintenance, instead of hurrying now to pay off the local shop for the work on my new GR2s, trying to figure out a way to balance all my finances, and finding time to dig into the car and replace the timing belt.
I guess all my regrets are my fault. At this point in time, if i had waited on things and not rushed into them, so excited about modding the car, i'd have a stereo that works now, decent lighting in the front end, a cleaner looking car, and probably wheels, suspension, and speed mods. But instead, there were other things that seemed more important in the moment, like girls, Jack in the Box, and weed. (the last two not in that order) But still, like the rest of you, this car is a part of me, and i love driving it everyday. It's been kinda like an archive of my life cause things have gone down in that car, been places with me, and most of all, got me away from alot of the things that i didn't want to be around --like my mother.
ok, that's enough. i think this post might get moderated... haha

-=tris

[entirelyturbo]

are you one of thoes people who always has to have matching numbers in your car

Yes, I actually declined someone's idea to paint my Legacy the Sedona Red on WRX's just coz I want the plate under the hood to be correct.

But that's not the reason. It's like transplanting brains in a person or something. Yeah they look the same, but they're not.

Maybe I've watched the Love Bug series too many times

[evolutionmovement]

I think of the engine as the heart, I'm more the brain, but it's the soul that counts and the more a car's been through the more it has.

Steve

[NuwanD]

Definately would go through it all again... i've had a couple of headaches along the way; most notably not being able to drive it for 2 months when the abs unit cracked... but as usual, successfully completing the fix made it all worth while on the fist few kms of driving. I luckily haven't had many other mechanical issues with the car and the ones I have had are admittedly my fault from what I put the car through with the racing and overall hard driving.

I've driven many other cars and many will kill my car in the turns and in a straight line but then again they have spent more than 4 times as much money on their car as I have. In the same price range I have yet to drive something else that gives me the same sense of satisfaction. Watching a wrx/sti owner get frustrated trying to keep up with my 12 year old "POS" at a rally, track day or auto-x still puts a huge smile on my face.

These cars also have something no other new car has... character

I think my only gripe would be wishing I saved more money so i'd have a roll cage by now

btw, this is my 2nd car, the first being a '87 XT Turbo which I loved, and my family also has a '91 Legacy (auto/fwd), and '98 Forester.

[LaureltheQueen]

Um... Well, I sold my first legacy and I still sort of regret it, but financially, it was the best choice for me. I literally spent no money on repairs for that car. there was nothing that NEEDED replacing, the struts were blown, but it was still drivable, and that's the only thing that happened to her for the 2.5 years that I drove it. The battery was replaced twice, as well as the struts, and ac broke multiple times, but in 13 years, that's nothing. I sometimes regret buying the touring wagon, because to fully restore it, there's oodles of tiny things that need to be done, but once again, I know the car inside and out, and inheriting that old 1991 L wagon was the best thing that ever could have happened to me, broke my obsession with hondas, and taught me to think for myself. Learning to drive that car fast took more risk and resulted in more general driving skill. (IMO) I learned that perhaps what's popular isnt what's right, and having a car that impresses people is far less important than having a car that is useful, that I love, and I dont have to worry about getting a second glance in a parking lot.

Putting it into perspective, NO, I do not regret my vehicle choice one bit.