When will the 2003 WRX's be available?

I'm currently in a lease until March 2003. I'm thinking by that time, it may be too early to get the '03s and the '02s will probably be gone.

02 model appears in 2001,
03 model appears in 2002,
04 model appears in 2003.
http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

Well seeings as how the 2002 WRX was out in March, 2001, then I'd say between March 2002 and mid-2002.
Gotta fly!
Skippy

No way! The 2003 WRX will probably debut at the normal time for new model year cars do - August/September of 2002. Just because Subaru released the 2002 Impreza early doesn't mean the subsequent years will be on the same schedule. Lots of manufacturers debut a new model early and then get back on a regular schedule. Ford did this in 1997 with the release of the redesigned F-150. Like our Rex this truck was a 97 that came out early (February) and the 98's came out on schedule the following year in September.

Punk

Sheesh, what more do you want? You wanted a turbo Impreza and now you got it, but oooooh no thats not enough. Now you want the 2003 model. Man, some peeps just can't take what they can get. Like that one time Santa gave me a PSOne..I went over to my neighbor's house and kicked down the door, drag that fat man out on the street, beat him silly and was like, "Yo it's 2000 wheres my Japanese PS2!?!?!?" Fat man got smart with me and was like, "Your being naughty, you'll never get your PS2.." I wasn't having that man, I climbed to the roof and jumped in the fat man's bag and got some kids PS2..haha Noy rules!! http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/biggrin.gif http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/biggrin.gif

Dude, chill out! http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

2003 models will debut the sti model wrx...So ive heard.

Seems like they wanna compete with mitsu's evo http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif.

[This message has been edited by Blindeye_03 (edited May 29, 2001).]

I'd tend to agree with the Punk! http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

Subaru don't need to force an early release to capture more spring/summer market share so why rush a Feb/March release for a car which will probably be almost identical to the '02?!

Just a guess. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

Man, you one angry dude, Yellow!

Dave.

but what will happen if the 2002 WRX is all sold out by then...and i presume it will...will Subaru let potential buyers wait or just increase allocation???

The dealer warned me that they were expecting a $5,000(CAD) price hike for 2003 models to recoupe their huge $26 million EPA and crash safety certification costs once Subaru felt they penetrated the North American market. I know, it's a pressure tactic for the dealer to warn of impending price hikes but obviously the current demand is WAY outstripping the supply - anybody wait less than a month to get their WRX from the dealership?

I bet they'll sell out their 4000 unit North American WRX production alotment and use the hype and fevered demand to justify a price hike next year. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/frown.gif I don't see any Mitsubishi Lancers around the corner any time soon and I don't think there's any other competition at the current selling price - obviously - otherwise I wouldn't have bought one! http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

Dave.

I think your dealer is full of it. Even Subaru itself does not know the price schema for '03 model at this time.

Yes, the price will be up but that's mostly because Subaru puts some real good stuff into the WRX that were stripped out in '02 cars to reduce the first year price.

Foxbat

...and just to confuse matters the rest of the world (Japan, UK, mainland Europe, Australia etc) are still on MY2001. We get our MY2002 in October 2001. It won't be the same as your MY2002 as we already have 4 pot brakes, 17in wheels, 215/17ZR45 tires, rear wing, as standard.

Steve

I walked up to a dealership unnanounced, test drove one, picked out one with pretty close to ideal options that was on the way. and picked it up like 3 days later.

so...

that was in houston texas.

I saw a WRX on the internet for the first time on a Wednesday. Saw one at a car show that Friday, test drove one later that evening, drove it home the following Tuesday. Six days from the time that I found out that they even existed, it is in my driveway.

If the 2003 model brings a big price hike I think they are liable to price themselves right out of their target market. Sure there arent many cars like it but a $25k-27k+ subcompact jap car just isnt going to sell many cars. Especially one with such subjective syling.

Concerning the Evo, according to this review it doesnt sound too promising that we will see one in the USA anytime soon. http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/firstdrive/46525/article.html

You guys who got your cars in less than a week are all a bunch of lucky ba$stards! http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

Yeah, I don't think it'd be a good idea for Subaru to hike the price either considering there are fancier cars out there for more money (e.g. Lexus IS300, used BMW 328is, Audi A4s, etc.). But common sense doesn't always prevail when it comes to marketing! Who knows, maybe they'll drop the price for '04 if they get their noses bloodied in the '03 year release.

My point was that Subaru discovered a huge demand for WRXs in North America and it currently doesn't have any meaningful competition based on performance alone at today's price-point. For example, I put a deposit down on the Acura RSX Type-S, but in the end, the WRX won me over for its safety, practicality, and of course, all-out performance. So who's to say they won't try to push a good thing a little further? It seems everybody's in a big hurry to drop cash on this WRX craze!

Dave.

The thing I wonder about is why Subaru spent so much advertising dollars on those TV commercials that everyones sees, and then only produce 10K in N America. Seems like they really want to create huge hype/craze for future releases, or maybe its just a way to test the N American waters. Well, reguardless, I think that the '03 WRX sti is worth at least $2k more than '02. The interior options will most likely get improved also. And if Subaru can somehow improve on the slow acc at low RPM, what more could you want. Everything else (hint A4s etc) in its class are way over priced. Can't wait to see what improvements they'll make.

Calibretto
Maybe I read your post wrong but I think you're being way optimistic by thinking that an STi will only be a couple grand more than the current WRX. I'm thinking more like 10 to fifteen grand more for the STi.
Also I doubt the 2003 WRX will be more then a few hundred bucks more the 2002 with very few changes.