euro as a family car?

Remember the Impreza is based on a 20k econo car. Oh yeah sure it's 60k but it's intention isn't exactly luxo.. however I found the MY01 onwards WRXs to be a huge leap ahead in quality and pretty decent and up to the standard.. maybe you just copped a Friday car ;)

Haven't had such issues or know of any from other owners of the Liberty. Other than the odd rattle or squeek which I've read Euro owners here have experience so I'd say they are on par

I've not had quality problems with a Subaru - MY03 WRX seemed to be fairly well made. Not everyone's experience from the WRX forums but I was lucky. The interior design itself was a little dated but otherwise I was happy with quality having always had at least 1 Honda in the garage for 30 years as a good benchmark. Narrower than a Euro.

My wife's Mazda 3 is just too small for a family car. Interior hard plastics mark easily. Looks more upmarket over a Jazz which is why we got it.

The ivory coloured Accord Euro seems a a wrong choice for young kids. I currently have the ivory leather interior and it's high quality materials but shows marks and stains. My workmate's cloth interior Euro is also ivory and doesn't look good for kids either.

I regularly carry tall teenages in the back of the Euro and I'm aware it doesn't have a lot of room. Mazda6 is a bit roomier if you want an equivalent priced car.

We had all sorts of Accords as our family car from the baby capsule to the teenager. Up until then it's more than enough although I sometimes miss the rear hatch of other cars.

Just a few thoughts.
Want a Euro? Get a dark interior for a family and tinted windows to keep it cooler. The Mazda6 isn't a bad car either. I'd not want a 2.5 liberty, but the 3.0r or b is just too expensive.

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Originally Posted by aaronng

I tried sitting behind myself (you know), and there is just 1cm of space between my knee and the rear of the seat. The rear seats themselves are good. Just the lack of space....

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How tall are you aaronng? I sat in the back once and my knees hit the rear of the front seat but i was more annoyed by the lack of head room. I think the Euro is ok as a family car but it's not really designed to accomodate very tall people. When i think of a cramped car i automatically think of a Mazda 3 for some reason. :)

WRX is a fun car to drive but the plastics are very cheap compared to the Euro. I took the 3.0R for a test drive a while ago and it's excellent - but it's way too expensive imo. In terms of power, the Euro has more than enough unless you demand something very fast.

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Originally Posted by sodaz

How tall are you aaronng? I sat in the back once and my knees hit the rear of the front seat but i was more annoyed by the lack of head room. I think the Euro is ok as a family car but it's not really designed to accomodate very tall people. When i think of a cramped car i automatically think of a Mazda 3 for some reason. :)

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I'm 185cm tall. The thing about the Euro is, if you get into a Toyota Corolla hatch, there is the same amount of legroom! The space inside is narrower than the Euro, and there is nada bootspace, but I was surprised when shopping for my car that the Corolla had the same rear legroom length when I adjusted the driver's seat to my liking. And the Accord had heaps of legroom, plus width. But I wanted the handling of the Euro. Hehe. Too bad for those sitting behind me.

I agree, the rear headroom is limited because of nice slope of the rear windscreen. But my head/hair doesn't hit the roof, so it is fine for me.

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Originally Posted by euro1978

No problem

I owned an MY02 Sti.

The roof lining, carpets, dash, etc were all terrible compared with other jap cars. The liberties run a better spec interior but it is still no where near the accord in terms of it's finish. I had other quality issues with my subaru and whinged plenty at the time. That was my experience and if you are happy with your subaru then good for you.

Mazda has had quality issues for a long long time and it has survived in Australia by the skin of its teeth as a consequence. Before the 3 and 6 were released, with the exception of the MX5 which has always had a strong following, mazda has failed to find success with any of its models except for its low end range. The 626 and 929 were both taken out back and put out of their misery and just because mazda has clawed its way back with a novel suicide door rotory rx 8 and a mazda 6, I for one wouldnt hop on the bandwagon just yet and I wouldnt pay the best part of 60k for one(MPS)

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Sorry dude but I'd have to disagree with you on Subaru build quality, my folks have a 'o4 Liberty GT Premium (has leather interior, lesser models may differ in quality) owned since Christmas day '03. The reviews these cars have been given regarding the interior have been excellent, and importantly a big improvement over the MY02 Impreza in all areas.
I don't think I'm biased as we have 2 Hondas in the family too, but personally prefer Liberty interior over Euro but it's a close call. Good luck jOnbubz! :)

I am going to contradict myself here and I hope I get flamed for it BUT I bought the euro just before subaru brought out the new lib and more importantly the RB model.

If the RB would have been available I would have bought it over the euro. I am ready for it so :wave: flame me bitches :wave: .

(I still think the euro is much better value though)

O mY gOd!!

I say go for the euro, honda build quality luxury, there is leg room definetly if you adjust your front seats properly. The boot is big and nice, if you think euro isnt big enough try accord V6 just needs a suspension upgrade to start handling like a euro, its big and roomy. Subaru looks to conservative for my taste, the commodores and falcon i donot recomend at all. Mazda 6, stay away from it!

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Originally Posted by The-Genesis

O mY gOd!!

I say go for the euro, honda build quality luxury, there is leg room definetly if you adjust your front seats properly. The boot is big and nice, if you think euro isnt big enough try accord V6 just needs a suspension upgrade to start handling like a euro, its big and roomy. Subaru looks to conservative for my taste, the commodores and falcon i donot recomend at all. Mazda 6, stay away from it!

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Falcons are ok. Not too bad I think. Just that the interior styling is not like the jap style that I'm used to. What's bad about the Mazda6 (other than the engine)? I think it is a good car.

The Euro boot is narrow inside, because the multilink rear eats into the side space. But there is no way to get near to the Euro's handling by upgrading the suspension of the V6. It's just heaviers both overall and at the front. And it's auto only. I agree that the Accord, both I4 and V6 are good as family cars. If I had 3 kids, I would get the Accord instead, but for now, it is me, me and me! Oh and plus my gf. :D

I don't think Subie has any quality issues, my friend has a Liberty GT and just the sound system and AWD is enough to justify to pay the extras if you can afford it. However, I think the non-turbo liberty, Euro and M6 are all good family cars. The point I was making before was if you want a 'performance' Sedan, you will need to pay a little more to get the Lib GT, just go for a test drive and you know what I mean by performance. Or pay alot more for a BMW 330/M3 or Audi S4/RS4/RS6.

1. M3 and RS4 are both not available in sedan in Australia at this juncture.

Just remember not everyone wants turbo. Its an extra $1000 bucks a year on insurance alone plus all the other associated costs.

I am the first to say that the RB is a great car. The fact is its the best part of $15,000 more than a euro luxury. I would have bought it if it had been available at the time but it wasnt and there was nothing that could compare to the euro in my opinion.

4wd and a sound system is not worth the extra money in a lot of people's opinion and I dont think affordability is the deciding factor for many.

Hate to disappoint but no flame from me, haha! I definitely agree the Euro is excellent value for money. Actually Dad test drove one before buying the GT but just wanted a more serious performance sedan ( please don't take that the wrong way), RB quite nice too.:)

I say get a falcon XR6T...that way you get a nice roomy family sized car with real performance.

Thats what Im intending to do (leased car)...:D