7th Mar 2007, 17:11
You are right. I should not have called it a piece of junk. I love Subaru and have for a long time which is why I am disappointed I guess. It is a great car to drive and with the Blizzak tires I have on it right now, I'm having a blast this winter in the Toronto area. My lower back is still killing me though.
7th Nov 2007, 19:33
Do people test-drive cars anymore? The seat design should have been an apparent problem on the test drive if your back is indeed this bad. Your opinion kept bouncing back and forth in this review, so it's hard to get a picture of your overall opinion of the car. You love it, wait, you hate it, but you still love it, right?
21st Nov 2007, 21:50
My opinion is pretty straight forward I would think. Great car, terrible seat. Not hard to grasp. As for test driving a car, a seat design flaw would not be readily apparent in an average length test. It would take at least a couple days before your back would feel the lack of comfort. Search other reviews on this car and you will find I am not alone regarding this issue. Thanks for your input just the same.
13th Dec 2007, 21:16
I think lower back trouble can show up days or weeks after the initial test drive. Things could have been fine for the first few days -- maybe it depends on your level of sensitivity and pain threshold.
The car has _a lot_ of beautiful features, and the seat is highly adjustable. You can make small adjustments in one direction at a time, day by day. See if it gets better.
Also strengthening the stomach muscles can help lower back pain (or so I've heard).
25th Feb 2008, 11:03
It must be frustrating for anyone who has just spent a significant amount of money on a vehicle to have what would appear to be a serious issue occur, and then be told by the dealer that it could not be addressed because it could not be duplicated.
But let's look at it from a dealer's perspective.
You test it (manually as well as looking for any fault codes through the diagnostic tool) and are unable to duplicate the complaint. The customer insists the car is defective or 'a piece of junk'. Well, customer first! So you take the car in the shop to look at it overnight. You drive it personally and during your use nothing untoward happens.
Now, back to the customer perspective - They took my car, if they're keeping it that long, it must have some fault! I was also inconvenienced by this whole experience and am angry and suspicious of their explanation. They tell me the car is fine, but I don't want it back.
Dealer - How do we appease this customer? Do we take down and service the transmission? OK, let's do that!
Customer - I just got back my car and am driving it. Now that they have 'interfered' with the mechanics, I begin to notice every little thing, real or imagined.
...
My point - the issue could go on and on, but the reality is that it is very difficult to even begin diagnosis on something that cannot be reproduced.
Would you get back surgery for a spasm you got once?
6th Aug 2008, 20:05
I have a new Impreza. I'm not thrilled with the lumbar support either. I think it's because the headrest is too far forward (it's a safety thing for whiplash... but the crash test dummies don't complain about the awkward position). Having it too far forward puts your whole back in a bad position. I've found that making sure my butt is all the way back in the seat and sitting more upright helps. You could also reverse the headrest.
7th Mar 2007, 14:02
I never had a problem with my back in my Subaru Ltd 2006 with leather seats. My height is 6 ft and I'm kind of skinny. The seats like made exactly for me – I'm enjoying them and they are totally fine to drive my car for long distance.
Did not have any technical problems with my Subaru for 14 months of owning and 20K miles on it. My opinion - you cannot call any car a "piece of junk" after 1 minor tech problem which was not even replicated.