Wish list:

Manual transmission
AWD
Wagon
Diesel
Under ~$20k ish, preferably much under

Basically I'm looking for my current Subaru as available in Europe/Japan with the turbodiesel and 6 speed manual. What's the closest I can get here?

Yes, I have looked into doing a swap. Totally possible, but not sure I actually want to undertake that PITA. Swapping to just a manual might be a good compromise, or(much more likely) dumping this car and buying one that's a manual.

Any input?

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

I have a 2011 Outback. It's been rock solid reliable. I have the 2.5 gasser w/CVT. It's only fault is that it has that soulless boring feeling typical of Japanese cars. They do import them with the manual 6, but not with the diesel.

Jeep Liberty diesel.

Motori Diesel

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

Subaru mostly. You may be able to get what you want in a VW, but I don't think I would buy one these days.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

You can get a VW Cheating Diesel that meets all but one of your requirements.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

If you feel like spending more than your budget, you can order a new BMW 328d xDrive Touring with a manual transmission.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

I say go the same awd car, same gas engine, in manual gearbox variant. Sounds like you know and like the platform, and you could definitely find some good options in your price range in a gas variant.

The diesel plus manual plus awd at your price might be unobtanium.

The fun factor of the gearbox might make you forget it isnt diesel. Plus as a dd the bone stock nature of a widely sold version will make it easy to have serviced when you dont want to bother repairing your DD at some point in the future.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Thanks folks, appreciate the input.

I do really like my current Subaru, only interested in letting it go because of the auto trans. Never have been keen on autos, but this one has been something else entirely, mostly got it for my girlfriend and because I got a good deal. This past week it went beyond "grit my teeth and deal with it" and into "this is a flatly unacceptable situation, either the automatic transmission has to go or the car has to go."

So, ditching the automatic is absolutely top priority. I'd sacrifice the AWD and the diesel requirement long before that.

Currently looking at an '11 Forester w/ 35k miles. And a manual.

If I could find a shop that would do a diesel/manual swap on my current car, someone I could just write a check to and drop off the car for a couple weeks, I would strongly consider it.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

It might be really involved to convert to manual, Im sure there are people who have done it and posted about it to get an idea. I had a similar situation with a 99 explorer. I liked the truck, was extremely useful for my job, and I absolutely HATED the automatic. Boring boring boring and unreliable. I figured I would just grab a manual setup out of one of the millions of rangers tooling around.

It turned out that even for a 1999 simple vehicle like an explorer, getting the engine originally mated to the automatic would require a tremendous amount of work around solutions to spoof the ECM and PCM and some other work. Most of the work was computer control modification to create a running reliable vehicle, as compared to the simple installation of the gearbox and transfer case.

It was enough of a PITA on a low value vehicle that I looked for a stock manual vehicle to drive instead. I ended up with a 2wd 5 speed 2012 escape which I love. Simple and fun to drive.

Since you same vehicle came in AWD in stick, id be all over that. Ive driven several of those and they are a blast. Diesel would be wonderful, but might be more trouble than its worth on a DD. Newer you are basically limited to VW in this country.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

I'd look for a older Jetta wagon,and rebuild engine if I had to. This new crap is junk,payments are house payments.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

You need to look at better houses...

Get a life that involves no driving.

If those are your priorities you need a new life.

LOL where'd that come from?

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

Unless you find a diesel with a low profile, you have very limited choices for a swap. Your best bet would be to get a gas/manual SH chassis Forester if you can forego the diesel engine (unless doing an auto to manual transmission swap on your current SI chassis Forester is feasible).

Oregon should have plenty of shops that could work on Subarus.

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