The base price including freight PDI, etc is $25,646. Subaru dealers aren't known for haggling a whole lot, nor are they making a huge profit off the car (about $1200). I was told by a friend of mine that the local dealer expects to make about $800 off every car they sell before I went in to negotiate. Low and behold, I received a discount of about $400. Then as they were trying hard to close the deal, I just started asking for accessories, cargo cover, tray, net, all season floor mats, armrest extention, etc. The other bonus, they gave me $600 more on my trade in than anyone else was willing to give me. Price wise, I felt good about it.
As for cons, every car has some and this one does too. The stereo just sucks! The factory system in my 83 tercel was better than this. I plan on rectifying this problem soon. There is no cargo area light, not a huge deal, but should be there. There is some road noise, but I don't find it any worse than my old protege5 (or any small car that I have owned). Even with the armrest extention, I cannot comfortably rest my arm there like I could in my P5. My list of pros is very long and far outweights the cons. It's a terrific car for the price. I did drive a leftover 05 before making the purchase. I hated the 05, but loved the 06. Quieter, more power, seems more refined.
I looked at getting a Mazda3 Sport or the Impreza. What it came down to is I work two jobs and have to get around easily in the winter. Even with winter tires, the P5 was not cutting it. I decided I wanted awd and didn't want an SUV, nor did I want to spend $30,000+ for another car with awd (well at least not right now!). Take one out for a test drive. The dealer let me have one for almost 2 days so I was really able to use it as I normally would.
