Subaru now offers more kit for a lower price
February 4, 2009 by Matt Brogan
In times when we’re all looking to gain every last piece of value from our hard earned, Subaru has announced a second round of price reductions and added features across the Impreza model line-up despite recent increases in prices seen in several of the brand’s rivals.
Most noticeably, the Impreza RS has had a $1000 decrease in the recommended retail price whilst R models pick up free alloy wheels and the RX gains a sunroof (worth $2000) at no extra charge.
The RS can also be optioned with leather trim, sunroof and Xenon headlights with pop-up washers for an additional $3000 – a package worth more than $5700 recommended retail price.
Subaru also recently announced a $1500 reduction in the price of Impreza R sedan and hatch, and a $2000 reduction on entry-level Liberty 2.5i Sportshift automatic sedan, wagon and Outback 2.5i Sportshift.
“Our currency hedging strategy has again enabled us to offer customers more value at a time when many competitors are looking at price increases,” said Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia, “Inevitably we will have to consider our pricing in the future, but for now we intend to pass on the benefit of our successful currency strategy to our customers.”
Print it: 
*****PRIMO!*****
Once again this type of action destroys resales and future values.
subaru are way overpriced, they are now heading where the price should have been all along.Nissan have this issue too.
LOTS more of this in the coming months as the recession hits home and hard.
If your in the market this year will be a good year to buy, just wait till the sellers get a bit more desperate and name your deal
Cheers
F-0
Frugal one, I disagree that Subaru is overpriced. Usually, I am the first to whine about prices, but not with Subaru.
An AWD Impreza is only about 2k more than a FWD Corolla.
now the base impreza is only $1.5k more than the corolla. Not bad considering it comes with all the safety features + all wheel drive.
^Actually Sam the Impreza is only $1500 more than a ‘Rolla. Plus the Impreza has standard ESP aswell.
Milobob you beat me to it :D
F-O, Subaru are anything BUT overpriced!
Whatever people think of Subaru’s styling direction, they build reliable, safe and in most of their range – fun cars! The only real burden is the Tribeca…
Subaru are definately not over-priced. One of the best quality cars you can buy. I have work for Subaru for a couple of years and its VERY rare to hear of subaru owners complain about there car, but common that they give them praise.
100% THEY ARE OVERPRICED!
Why do you think they are lowering the prices and offering freebies?Not just to win friends….
They can make all sorts of stories and excuses, they are not selling so the ONLY way to move stock is reduce prices and offer bonuses [as they and others are doing]
Oh, and confirmed 100% subaru are the new haonda owners
a real fickle and weird bunch, vehicle is no better/worse than any other Japper.
Cheers
F-0
Frugal – What is a haonda?? Oh and by the way, I actually own both a Subaru and a Honda. And let me tell you, you hate these 2 companies because they don’t offer you a bench seat option, nor an LPG option. Now go away, head back over to Drive forums. Plus, you constantly remind everyone of the Mazda CX-7, so it is fairly hippocritical of you to say things like this.
Having owned both Subarus and Hondas, they are excellent cars, better than your Base model Falcon LPG Ute with its awesome Bench Seat for you and your boyfriend.
Umm F-O, stop pulling stories out of your behind.
Subaru was one of the few brands to make an increase in their profits for 2008. The new Forester is a top 10 seller in Australia (sells more than Mazda 2, Astra), new Impreza has cracked the top 20 and Outback/Liberty continue to perform at a required level. Subaru are selling more cars now than they have ever sold.
And if you had any idea about economy you would know that what Nick Senior said is 100% true. The currency exchange between AUD and Yen is at its best which lets Subaru play with the prices to invite even more buyers.
And just to quote the latest sales figures, Subaru has overtaken Honda to become Australia’s 8th largest car brand.
Oh, and confirmed 100%, F-O comes up with his own facts and never actually explains his opinions.
Cheers
Tim
Hopefully, every car brand will drop prices during 2009, to meet the competition to move stock. If the Jan. 09 sales figures are an indication of how tough it will be to sell new cars from hereon, many car manufacturers will have problems selling.
Tim, stop acting like you know what you are talking about. The Australian dollar is in ruins in comparison to the YEN. December last year the Australian dollar was worth even more then the Japanese currency. Now its trading at 58Yen to the AusDollar. Meaning that it is more expensive to buy things from japan when dealing in the Australian Dollar.
They hedge the currency obviously as stated in the article.Which is making it cheap, the Australian dollar its self is in Tatars,
This is really annoying though, I wish these price drops and options such as the leather seats on the RS had come out earlier. Ill be in the market to buy a 2nd hand 07/08 RS in the next 6months. Very annoying timing.
very interesting this rolla vrs rx.price is one thing.insurance is another…
I take back all of my Subaru bashing comments, nothing can compete with a Subaru.
Not even my falcon ute with LPG!
Cheers
F-O
In the latest Wheels Magazine Feb. 09 issue, on page 100; it was stated “news came through of price reductions for most models … ” (regarding the Mazda 6). I have asked Wheels Magazine to confirm this news in its next issue. If correct, Mazda is prepared to raise the level of competition in the new car market.
F-O: You should be on your way home now to do your homework. You are so immature. I didn’t ask you for your cyncial and sarcastic comment, however, I think before you typed your first comment you need to do some research, and not be so hippocritical, and I was not asking you to agree with what I said, however, your comments had no ‘meat’ to them, with nothing to support them. This isn’t the first comment I’ve seen of yours that is like this.
AW^^
Yeah but, “i” never postet that, i was cloned so to speak.
subaru suxs, see, thats a genuine post by me!!
Cheers
F-0
PS *MAYBE* AW POSTED IT?
I am not sure that you can say subaru are the most reliable, I know of many disaster storys involving subaru’s auto’s and electrics.
My father has owned several liberty’s and a outback. The outback needed a complete gearbox replacement and had the ECU replaced twice in the 4 years that he owned it.
Parts and maintaince are also very x’y
I used to own a 2.5L Subary Liberty RX MY01. Electrics worked fine. I kept to the service schedule, but it still had engine rattles in the cold, and a shuddering clutch in the cold, and a very heavy clutch. Last year, the clutch hose broke and the steering developed more and more free play. Part of this can be attributed to the high mileage (190,000km) and the occasional drive to a national park on unsealed roads (few times a year). However, they are not as bulletproof and reliable as people believe Subaru to be. I also have a friends with a Subaru Forester GT, Forester XT and RS Liberty, and all have had problems. Even though they’re ugly, I still like the brand and probably would seriously consider the WRX now that it’s 195kw with dual xenons. When I was looking a few months ago before the power upgrade, I preferred the Golf GTI.
Yeah nice try Frugal One, I’d write something and then have a comment against. You really aren’t the brightest of the lot are you? That’s also very original, Subaru Sucks, wow, you could win a debate with an argument like that. (not)
I would never say a Subaru is bulletproof, no car ius, however, in my experience, they have been very relaible, with literally no ‘major’ problems. Certainly more reliable than the Commodore’s and Falcons I have owned before.
In the case of people I know, and myself, they hold Subaru in high regards, because of the reliability, and sure, while things may go wrong with their cars, it is certainly at a much lower ratio than many other cars on the road today
I use to love Subaru but will never buy one again. 1. They killed the interior in the impreza anyone who tells themselves that it looks ok is just plain lying to themselves. 2. When I went to buy a new Liberty they wouldn’t even budge a $1000.00 which I think they easily could of especially after I caught them lying about the RRP of the vehicle. They also tried to screw me over on my trade in by offering me 3K when both mazda and honda offered me around 7K. Team is also very rude at the Newstead Subaru in Brisbane.
I wouldn’t buy a Subaru if it was the last car on the market.
Aleks, I agree… in metropolitan Victoria, since the majority of dealers are run by “Subaru Australia”, they don’t budge on the RRP, and generally the staff are a bit arrogant. The better deals are usually from the outer suburbs, or in the case of my friend who got a company/broker to buy for him, the brought it down from interstate for much cheaper price.
Thanks guys! an amusing thread to read for the afternoon. Shows how little some of you know about business and the business of cars.
Subarus are overpriced for what they are (as are Hondas) and I for one say good on them. They are in the business of making money. If they can get a reputation for safety and reliability and trade off that and make profit without having to sell bulk vehicles then go for it. That’s good business. I mean think about how clever they are, first they tell us that we all need assymetric AWD to be safe on the roads. Then they fit it up with ESP! (Priceless :-))
But hey the smarts of the business have said this’ll be a tight year, so lets be a little bit softer on our income, perfect.
I just hope Toyota don’t try to hard at getting them to pump out huge numbers instead of making more money.
They pissed me of big time, so i just waited sold my trade in privately for 10K and bought a used C-class Merc with 40K on the clock. Best decision i ever made. I honestly doubt I will ever buy a new car, you just loose way to much in depreciation.
buy a new motorbike instead, they hold they value incredibly well!
I distinctly remember in the ads for the new Impreza that they said alloy wheels as standard. Anybody else remember that?
I’ve bought the Impreza hatchback for 3 months and already has noise problems, low whirring noise comes from the front of the car. I took it back to the dealer four times,even asked for a Subaru regional engineer took a test drive and they said it’s normal for the Impreza. I took it to about five dependent service centres and they all said that my car has bearing problem. I’m in the process of taking further to the WA fair trading & consumer protection affair to resolve the dispute. Here are some of the thoughts about my hatchback impreza after three months:
Unbearable noise when driving at any speed. Few rattles on from dashboard and squeaks from luggage cover.
Lots of body roll
Heavy on fuel (11-12l/100km)
Not much power for a 2little engine compare to mazda 3,lance,focus.
Poor isolation of petrol tank, I could hear petrol move around in the fuel tank when reversing or driving over hump.
Uncomfortable to get in and out of driver’s seat and terrible stereo system.
Maybe I got a lemon but never buy another Subaru.
Shame to read that people have problems with their Subaru’s, overall though – they are very reliable vehicles. My 04 XT has no problems, and I take out to the beach a few times a year.
Frontman, just curious – why do you think Subaru’s are overpriced?
The problem is not the price, it is that they look like RUBBISH.
Subaru have a long history of looking like crap. Remember the Vortex. Childish design.
The only good looker is the Liberty and they fixed that with the new model. It has been Suburued.
Rubbish fuel economy , very unpredictable sportmatic auto ,
The liberty 3.0r i owned was a great car besides these major faults , handled well , awd not really necessary unless its a rex , great build quality , comfort etc
The biggest problem with the imprezza is its downright 90s ugly .
God help us with what the first glimpses of the new liberty show , ugly again.
Not looking good for the future with toyota having a share in the pudding .
My last MY05 WRX wagon was far from reliable. I couldn’t handle the no. of warranty returns/warranty “discussions”/warranty delays with Subaru and ditched it after 18 months. After owning 2 previous WRX’s from new, never again…
GOOD TO SEE ALL THE SUBARU OWNERS COME OUT AND POST THE
P R O B L E M S with them
THEY ARE JUST ANOTHER CAR, NOTHING MORE
WHAT IS WEIRD AND FAULTY AND THE BIZZARE OWNERS
GET OVER IT JUST ANOTHER CAR, NO BETTER NO WORSE
Cheers
F-0
I think Subaru are admitting the pricing on release of the new Impreza was a little ambitious and have corrected to what they hope the market will bear. Why anyone would complain about a price reduction is beyond me!
Frugal, you seem to be very bitter for some reason.
Do you have personal experience with subarus?
My personal experience with Liberty’s puts Subaru as a far superior car, in dynamics, reliability and durability than most if not all Jap brands. Quality tends to be a class above Mazda and Honda, and several classes above Toyota and Nissan.
Exceptional resale value of Subarus and 11 years back to back brand growth tend to support my personal views.