Used Car Showdown. Subaru Vs. Volvo. Better than stock?

"brakesnow" (brakesnow) 11/21/2013 at 12:44 • Filed to: Used Car Showdown

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Let's take a look at contestant #1. A 2004 Volvo V70R with 103,000 miles.

While it seems the owner couldn't be bothered to wash the car before listing it, this rare V70R still presents a tantalizing proposition of lust inducing attributes. A 300hp 5 cylinder turbo wagon with active 3-mode adjustable suspension and the most comfortable seats in the world? Sounds good to me. However, the owner did not think this was enough to whet his vehicular whistle. Inside this bastion of swedish speed you will find a full aftermarket IPD turboback exhaust, intake, and turbo control valve, which should serve to wake the car up a bit. Besides that you will find "professionally painted" 18" Pegasus wheels, and a slightly worn beige "gobi" interior. While the tints, aftermarket exhaust, and blacked out wheels scream "Look! I'm fast!" the auto-tragic transmission probably has a different point of view on that issue. For $8400 , is this wagon worth its weight in moose fur?

And behind door number two we have this lovely 2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT

With 89,000 miles, this is a two owner car, with the second owner buying it as a CPO vehicle after a 60,000 mile lease by the first. As you may have guessed by the peekaboo of the front mount intercooler, this car is not stock. The owner has gone Stage 3, which means an uprated turbo (18g) downpipe, injectors, fuel pump, and an electronic boost controller. This should allow the legacy to rip off 0-60 times in mid 4 second range. Also, as another added bonus, the seller claims with the current tune, the car gets 29mpg on the highway. It's basically a 300whp Prius! Plus Oppo points for manual, minus points for not being a wagon. But for $9,200 is this sleeper worth its weight?

dogisbadob > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 12:46

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The wagon is more useful, and it has a third seat :)

Coty > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 12:46

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Haha I was just looking at purchasing that exact R.

offroadkarter > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 12:46

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Thats tough, the Legacy GT is probably the only subaru I'd ever own, but the volvo is so unique.

I'd probably have to go with the volvo just because I like the S60/V70R's so much. The seats are amazingly comfortable, and quality interior materials was never a subaru strong point.

Also the interior on the volvo is called "gobi".

Gamecat235 > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 12:49

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Corey CC97, MAZDA DPI IS STILL BAE JOESTACTIV JOESTACTIV JOESTACTIV JOESTACTIV VISIT FLORIDA RACING LIVES FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 12:54

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Wagon is superior.

desertdog5051 > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 12:55

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The answer is always Subaru.

Nothing > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 12:56

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I'm all about the R. I've got a soft spot for nearly any generation Volvo wagons. I even stalked my old one last week and drove by to take a peek at it. Thankfully it wasn't too creeper, as we sold it to my wife's aunt.

E30Joe drives a Subaru > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 13:00

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Really tough choice. I'd probably go with the Subie though.

brakesnow > offroadkarter 11/21/2013 at 13:02

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True, although this generation legacy's interior is probably the best interior subaru has ever done, in my opinioin.

Fixed the interior description for the Volvo for you!

glassman222 > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 13:15

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Subaru

BarryDanger > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 13:32

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Subaru, +1000 if you can find a wagon version. The Auto V70R is actually slower than a stock Leggy GT.

brakesnow > BarryDanger 11/21/2013 at 13:58

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Been trying to get a manual wagon for months now... I think they only made around 1,500 manual LGT wagons. I'm convinced at this point everyone is holding on to theirs.

BarryDanger > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 14:07

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Maybe they've all just relocated to Colorado, I found 2 just now:

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/4181776077…

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/4188571693…

and the manual XTs seem to be around too!

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/4144437948…

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/4165186914…

http://boulder.craigslist.org/cto/4203545568…

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 14:17

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I pretty much went through this exact comparison in real life...and went for the 5MT LGT Wagon at the end of the day.

The V70R is almost impossible to find with the spaceball manual....plus the potential maintenance costs of a ~7 year old Volvo scared me (even more so than that of a turbocharged Subaru model known to have poor transmissions). Plus the AWD on the Volvo is front-biased, I believe? I was too chicken to even make the drive to test drive the V70R I found, because I knew I'd have irrational feelings towards it and potentially end up making a really bad decision!

Vandelay Industries > brakesnow 11/21/2013 at 14:19

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the auto in the Volvo was better than the avail manual.

if you have to pick 1 car for your do everything...it has to be the volvo.

brakesnow > BarryDanger 11/21/2013 at 23:33

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Holy price premium. Looks like you guys have even worse inflation on outback/legacy wagons than we do here in the North East. Those all look at least 1.5k over what they would list for here.