Question about the Legacy b4

"Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder" (pabuuu4)
09/24/2015 at 07:41 • Filed to: Legacy, Subaru

Why is the Subaru Legacy b4 RSK twin turbo such a relatively cheap car to buy? It is a factory 300 hp, awd sleeper, and still I see them for sale between the 4-8 thousand euros.

Why is this? are they not as fast as I think they are?

Or is this just a forgotten brother of the more popular Impreza STI?

DISCUSSION (19)

bob and john > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 07:45

seeing as your using Euros, i can only assume it becuase of high running costs (relativly speaking) due to insurance

Flavien Vidal > bob and john
09/24/2015 at 07:48

Owning a car pretty much anywhere in Europe costs about the same as in the US... Only difference is the gas. That is unless you live in the UK, are 18 yo and want to drive a Ferrari of course.

KatzManDu > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 07:53

Sleeper Sleeper; not enough press or street cred. And, since many people (insurance companies) see them as family sedans and wagons insurance is cheaper than for a boy racer STI or Impreza WRX.

davedave1111 > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 08:01

Sky high running costs, not that quick by modern standards. For comparison, a BMW 330d of the same age will do 0-60 in about the same time, and will use literally about half the fuel and have much lower road tax.

If you think Legacies are cheap, though, have a look at the prices for Mazda RX-8s. Even higher running costs relative to the competition, and the whole engine rebuild image problem to boot.

duurtlang > bob and john
09/24/2015 at 08:07

Meh. You can insure a car like that for a rather limited amount of money, assuming you’re not too young. The high running costs are related to the fuel consumption. Gasoline is still over $6 a gallon (US) here.

edit: just looked up a 2005 3.0 Spec B. €23 a month for me, as an only car. Liability only obviously.

georgechristensen > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 08:20

High maintenance, not well looked after by many owners and they don’t look all that different from a normal Legacy.

duurtlang > davedave1111
09/24/2015 at 08:22

Road tax depends on the country. In the country Pabuuu lives in, which I share with him, a 330d will have far higher road tax than a gasoline Legacy. Mostly because the BMW is a diesel. Road tax here is based on fuel type (diesel = expensive) en vehicle weight. Slightly over €800/year for the Legacy and about €1750/year for an e46 330d Touring.

davedave1111 > duurtlang
09/24/2015 at 08:26

“ In Pabuuu’s country, which I share with him”

Wait, he owns a country? I thought you both just lived there... ;)

Didn’t realise your road tax regime was that different, though - I thought the whole EU did it based on CVO2 emissions.

duurtlang > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 08:27

Because no one has a clue they even exist. You mentioning this version is the first time I’ve read about it. It has zero image, zero recognition and high running costs. Only true Subaru enthusiasts who are knowledgeable about the brand will be interested, and that’s a tiny market in Europe.

This is coming from a former Subaru Legacy owner. Shittiest car I ever owned, but that’s besides the point.

Hoccy > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 08:29

People don’t know what it is. It doesn’t have the rally history of the Impreza, and are quite rare so most people have never come across one. If I found one at that price in Norway, I’d buy it.

duurtlang > davedave1111
09/24/2015 at 08:35

No, we have road tax as explained above and a one time CO2 tax on a new registration (=brand new car or newly imported used car). The CO2 tax is prohibitive when buying a factory new car and trickles down to inflated newer used car values, but it’s irrelevant when looking at older cars as we’re doing here.

I’d gladly adopt the car related tax structure of almost all non-scandinavian EU countries. It can only get cheaper than what we have now. What we have now is nothing but a cash cow, and has zero to do with emissions or road usage.

also: ninja editted :)

davedave1111 > duurtlang
09/24/2015 at 08:52

I see, I remembered something about the CO2 tax from when we spoke about this a while back.

It’s always seemed to me that most countries have silly systems in this regard. It’s so much easier just to tax fuel - takes into account usage, etc, so it’s fair.

random001 > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 09:05

Wait...wait....TWIN turbo!?!?!

duurtlang > davedave1111
09/24/2015 at 09:06

Agreed. Maybe a tiny tax on ownership to pay for registration costs and the like, and throw the rest on the most fairest of car-related taxes: fuel tax.

The problem is that they already tax fuel excessively, just compare Western European fuel costs to the comparatively laughably low fuel costs in the US. It’s just not seen as enough, apparently.

davedave1111 > duurtlang
09/24/2015 at 10:30

Apparently most of this end of Europe has petrol/diesel taxes that are actually too high for their stated purpose of combatting climate change - so it’s just the politicians getting their hands on extra money in a way that’s politically (just about) acceptable, but economically terrible.

Meanwhile in the US they only need to raise their fuel prices by something like $1/gal or thereabouts (IIRC) to comply with the IPCC’s advice.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > duurtlang
09/24/2015 at 13:15

You had a bad experience with your Legacy? My father has a Forester and it has gotten nothing but praise, its been the most reliable. I figured most if not all 90’s and 00’s Subaru’s were bulletproof in terms of reliability. Gas mileage is bad, but that’s why it runs on LPG.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > random001
09/24/2015 at 13:18

Yuup..

duurtlang > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 14:59

I had a 1997 Legacy, bought for €500 for the 2013 Carbagerun winterrally. It was rusty and just generally shitty. Not much character either. It needed a lot of work as well. It was cheap though. Still, far worse than the €500 Citroen BX I bought this year.

Kanaric > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/24/2015 at 16:51

Wasn’t on Fast and the Furious, Initial D, or Wanagan Midnight.

Pretty much that is the only real answer here. If it was on any of those as a featured car it would be popular.