Seriously. Every third car in Asheville is a Subaru. New...from the 80s...it doesn't matter. It's the car in demand and they are completely overpriced. And of course my short list was Subarus or an old Saab 900. Well there are no Saabs south of Philadelphia apparently, and any Subie in my price range had serious problems: blown engines, sideswipe damage, missing glass, you name it—and these hippies still wanted $2,500!
Well, I'm the luckiest guy in town, because I found this mint little Impreza (and I DO mean MINT—check that paint job—like a pack of Orbitz!) for book value—$1,800! Turns out this woman needed to unload this car in a hurry and just asked what KBB.com told her to. Any other person in town would be demanding 3 grand. For real. It gets better—she ended up being a neighbor, and turned down more money from other buyers to sell to me at her asking price.
It's bare-bones: crank windows, no stereo (yet), but it's a 5-speed, in great shape, a blast to drive and I'm getting 26 mpg around town and 32 on the highway! Mrs F was mortified when I brought it home, but I'm smitten.
Behold the new Furymobile!
NOTE: It's not QUITE as obnoxious as my High Dynamic Range photography makes it look...but almost.
9 comments:
It's the rims that make the car.
Wait, no stereo? Was it stolen or was the car manufactured without one? Is that even possible?
Nifty car, Rickey likes it. We Saab enthusiasts think alike...
Please answer this:
Why does anyone south of the Mason Dixon line need a car with awd?
I live in Michigan and drive a rwd truck. WTF?
I love that you parked it next to an equally-brightly-colored bit of graffiti.
Why does anyone south of the Mason Dixon line need a car with awd?
Is that question directed at my desire, or the demand for Subarus in Asheville? Or both?
I'm a hatchback/small wagon guy, so old Saabs and Subarus are right up my alley. I've owned both and loved em. If I had more than two grand to spend, I'd get a Mazda3 or Vibe. I didn't, so those were my best options...
As for everybody else, living in Asheville/Western North Carolina is pretty much like living in Vermont, at least terrain-wise. Plenty of dirt secondary roads, mountains... etc. Everybody's into kayaking, camping, mountain biking, etc. so Subarus and old 4Runners are the vehicles of choice.
Weather-wise, there's not nearly as much snow as MI or VT, but we're at elevation, so we do get some—downtown Asheville is at 2,200 feet, and you can go ten or twenty miles out of town and be at 6,000 feet in a hurry. So an inch of snow at my house could mean a wicked ice storm on the other side of the ridge or six inches a couple towns away. Doesn't sound too bad after living in MI, but it ain't flat here and roads aren't straight, plus they aren't equipped with the salt and plow trucks to keep on top of that shit. I'll appreciate the awd in the winter on rare occasions. My Volvo was worthless in the snow.
The photo shoot I had to do tonite was down a three mile dirt road that went up and down a good 600 feet. Never would have wanted to take my Volvo down there...
Rickey, there's the original tape deck in the dash, but it doesn't work. I'm not in the car on a normal day long enough for that to be a big deal, but I have assignments out of town that make that a chore. I was in the car today for two hours, so I listed to my iPod with headphones—okay on the highway, but not around town.
"Is that question directed at my desire, or the demand for Subarus in Asheville? Or both?Probably both but thanks for the explanation.
(I still think awd owners are sissies though.)
Welcome to the subaru family! :-)
Bob is calling someone a sissy?? That's rich.
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