In a message dated 98-02-01 22:27:53 EST, you write:

<< The largest number of respondents mentioned Subaru Wagons- from used early
'80s models up to the currently popular Outback. >>

Michael -- I've mentioned "ICEBIRD", my '92 Subaru AWD SW on occasion in my
postings to 'tweeters'. I'm totally sold on it and Subaru in general, having
been a solid owner since 1978. They handle so well in snow and on PacNW wet
streets and roads, I think that there is nothing better or more reliable.
I've had no serious problems with it all. Subaru by far seems to be the car
of choice around the PacNW, and this didn't go unnoticed recently in the
northern tier of Washington counties where snow, cold, and winter driving is a
significant fact of life, the Subaru among locals was in a majority.

Subaru is not the best choice if you expect to be doing a lot of 'off main
roading' but common sense in those areas must prevail. In 2-4 inches of
untracked fresh snow, it's great; 6 inches is okay but that's about the max
I'd feel comfortable taking on, and by 8 inches, I figure I'm pushing my luck.
Six inches and rutted already is about the maximum as I don't care to get high
centered and then end up somewhere where I can't turn around.

As for birding, whatever you end up with, seriously consider spending a little
extra to have a retractable sun roof installed, even if it means skipping the
CD player, or GPS, or cell phone options. Your car then is like a moving
blind and you can 'pish' through the top and the birds are totally confused
and have no idea where it's coming from, hence they sometimes drop down and
almost inside (some Okanogan White-winged Crossbill encounters is an excellent
example!!). Just the extended views of things flying over which would
otherwise be lost over the closed roof makes having one worth the investment
and of course you can almost stand up and 'peek' out the top. However, the
only problem for me is that in having the sunroof installed when I bought it
new, I didn't realize that I would lose 2 inches of headroom. As a fairly
large and tall person, this is a bit of an annoyance but one I've gotten used
to. A retractable sunroof may not work on a pickup however.

I was considering trading mine this year for a Subaru 'Outback'. However,
I've eliminated the current 'Outback' from consideration until they've done
something with the design. Great looking car, but with the roof design and my
continued desire for a retractable sunroof, installation would put it over the
backseat -- useless for me. The other option then is the 'new' Forester model
which also has a high roof. It's like a mini-SUV and a sunroof over the front
seats would work fine, but, I don't like the name; 'Forester' . Had they
called *that* the 'Outback', then I might get one. Picky, picky, picky '-)

Whatever you get, don't get anything with the automatic shoulder belts. Those
are really annoying and I am constantly smashing my head on the moving clip if
I'm jumping out of the car at a sudden stop. Also, if you use the car for
birding a lot, you might want to have the 'warning chimes' disconnected. You
have no idea how impossibly annoying those are when birding, owling
especially, and you open the door to have those going off non-stop to disrupt
the night silence and frighten all the birds off to the next county.

The only other problem which I have still not managed to overcome to my
satisfaction yet is a good useful windshield wiper for snow and winter
driving. Even when just a little bit freezes on the arm or blade, the
windshield wipers are next to useless. This can really be bad when waging
battle with all the big trucks hell-bent to make everyone elses life miserable
on slushy I-90/Snoqualme sometimes. This may just be a Subaru design flaw or
something. Anyone with a suggestion, I'll consider all options, short of
staying home of course '-)

The Subaru (at least mine) is a bit of dust pig. Shortly after I bought it
new, I went off on an exploratory trip around the backside of Mt. St. Helens
and Mt. Adams. Fine talc powder ash from the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption
still covers the dusty backroads and now, going on 6 years later, I'm still
digging out from that trip. Generally, I don't like dusty roads around here
and often deliberately avoid them. Fortunately, that's not a problem most of
the time when I'm out and about around here. So, while Subaru seems to be the
popular car of choice in the PacNW and points north where there are real
winters, they are not popular at all in sunny Southern California and southern
'hot' areas. Maybe with good reason, or perhaps it's just mine with the
sunroof, but the interior can get horribly hot, even on the road with the air
conditioning running full tilt on really hot 100+F days -- and too hot too if
parked for very long in the sun and the windows not cracked a bit. That's
partly why I live here and not there I suppose. Too much sunshine for long
stretches makes me ill and bored '-)
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**Dear Subaru: Please deposit $80,000 in my account for this commercial
endorsement. Thank you.**
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Richard Rowlett (Pagodroma at aol.com)
47.56N, 122.13W
(Seattle/Bellevue, WA USA)