2003 Subaru Forester Awd 40k Miles Clean Carfax on 2040-cars

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Edmunds ranks the best used cars for 2013

When people ask us what car we would recommend for them, it's usually not easy to answer. To make a useful recommendation we must consider which of the numerous vehicle segments fits their needs best, and then choose one of the many vehicles offered in each segment. For some people, new cars don't meet their expectations of value, because they lose so much of it the moment they are purchased and driven off the dealer lot. For them, there's always the used-car market, where great deals can be found, but cars' histories of reliability and maintenance records - and perhaps that Certified Pre-Owned warranty - become ever-important factors playing into purchase choice.
To help out, Edmunds has done us the favor of assembling a list of the best used vehicles money can buy, covering model years 2006-2011, according to what it considers the most important criteria when shopping for used autos: reliability, safety, value and availability. That means unreliable, unsafe, super-expensive or limited-edition models don't appear on the list, but instead cars from each segment that are more likely to satisfy the general population.
There are some real goodies on the list, including but not limited to vehicles such as the capable Honda Fit, the cultish Honda Accord coupe (which can be had with a 240-horsepower V6 and a six-speed manual transmission some years), and the powerful Chevrolet Corvette. While Edmunds' choice of the Volvo C70 for best used convertible baffled us at first (not that it's a bad car), it redeemed itself by stating that the Mazda MX-5 still is an unofficial top choice if you don't require more than two seats.

2015 Subaru WRX looks to set a new benchmark in LA

Subaru has just taken the wraps off of the new, 2015 WRX at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. The totally redesigned sedan - the five-door option won't be offered - is more powerful, more fuel efficient (with the right transmission), better looking and more intelligently designed than the car it's replacing.
A new 2.0-liter, direct-injected, turbocharged flat-four sits thumping away under the hood, its top-mount intercooler getting force-fed air by a rather prominent hood scoop. Power output sits at 268 ponies and 258 pound-feet of torque, accessible between 2,000 and 5,000 rpm. While the new car only has a three-horsepower advantage on the current Impreza WRX, it delivers 14 more pound-feet of torque and delivers peak output across a much wider swath of the rev range (the old car netted 244 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm). All this extra grunt comes at a negligible weight penalty - a 2015 WRX with the six-speed manual is just 59 pounds heavier than a 2014 model.
As we said, a six-speed manual is will be available, and as a bonus, it packs one additional cog over the current, 2014 WRX's five-speed DIY transmission. So equipped, the WRX will scamper to 60 in just 5.4 seconds. As for the previously-confirmed continuously variable transmission, it will come with both six- and eight-speed manual shift modes, but will take half a second longer to get to the magical 60-mile-per-hour mark.

Junkyard Gem: 1984 Subaru GL 4WD Wagon, Colorado Stereotypes Edition

I live in Denver, which means my local junkyards are well-stocked with used-up Subarus. These days, that means mostly Outbacks from the 1995-2005 period, but sufficient 1970s and 1980s Subarus remain in service that they show up from time to time. Here, in a Denver self-service yard, is a second-generation Leone wagon, from the era when this car was called just "the Subaru" in the American market. It appears that this car's final owner named it The Little D. Right next to the rag being used as a gas cap, a Yoda-ized Steal Your Face skull. This sticker from Incredible Extracts is easy to find in and on the cars in Denver-area wrecking yards. Someone made a pretty good Hunter S. Thompson stencil for the right-hand rear side glass. Neither of the two other members of the Male Hipster Holy Trinity (Kerouac and Bukowski) are to be found here, but then those two didn't live in Colorado. Anonymous is everywhere, even the junkyard. In 1984, the GL was the top trim level of the Subaru wagon, and the MSRP on this car was $8,168. That's about 19 grand in 2017 dollars. The going rate for a hooptie '84 GL wagon in 2017 is about $250. This car has manually-actuated four-wheel-drive, rather than the center-differential-equipped all-wheel-drive you'll get with your 21st-century Subaru. This meant that drivers were supposed to use front-wheel-drive on dry asphalt and four-wheel-drive on snow or dirt, but many didn't understand the concept and tore up their tires and/or powertrains by running 4WD at all times. These cars would get you to the slopes every time, and they'd do it cheaply enough for you to afford your preferred intoxicants once you got there. This car's 34 years on the road are done, but many of its kind remain. Related video: