Where for Art Thou, Subaru?

With the lease on my wife’s Subaru coming to an end, we trekked to Creekside to test drive replacement candidates for our family hauler this past weekend.  Long story short, we ended up in discussions with a Galpin dealer on a different brand.  In the middle of the negotiations, the “sales manager” (a common title, methinks) asked a curious question.

“How do you like your Subaru?”

Puzzled, my first thought was it was a negotiating tactic along the lines of “do you really want to do this deal?”.  I answered sheepishly that we enjoyed it quite a bit, but the journey to Van Nuys for service was a pain — and we have been less than impressed with the dealer network, which is few and far between in north LA County.

He then admitted that there was a strong chance that Galpin would stand up a Subaru dealer in the old Saturn space – confirming the Natalie Everett’s reporting a few weeks ago that revealed Subaru amidst a number of other brands that could potentially occupy that location.

Subaru. One of the more polarizing brands in the automotive world.  A subsiduary of Fuji Heavy Industries and largely built in Indiana, the name means many things to many people and hits niches across the consumer spectrum.  Its legendary, pervasive use of all wheel drive technology get serious props among street racers, off-roaders, rally car aficionados and a various assortment of petrol heads.

The blokes at TopGear went for a spin (quite literally) with rally car superstar Ken Block and his amp’d up Subaru Impreza at Inyokern Airfield in Indian Wells, CA.  It’s one of my favorite TG clips, for both the action and the cinematography – culminating in an incredible stunt at the end.  Newhall Land take note: this is the real definition of Awesome.

Subaru also has some design cues that set it off as something different – an alternative from the sea of sameness that sometimes defines the cliches on wheels.  Beyond being considered the most gay friendly marque, Subaru has raised eyebrows with designs that push the envelope of “different.”  I know one individual that was in the market for a family hauler last month that bristled at my suggestion of a Forester (one of the two back-to-back winners of Motor Trend’s SUV of the Year) because she couldn’t get the image of the ill-fated Baja (pictured, right) out of her head.

So – it it a good idea to stand up a Sube dealer here in the suburban jungle?  Are we different (dare I say chic) enough to attract a brand like Subaru to our hallowed auto center?

I say “aye”.  It will definitely add a welcome automotive alternative to our valley.  And perhaps we’ll make a return trip to Creekside in the near future to trade-in our recently acquired Mazda.