My Spirit Vehicle

 After 13 years and more than 600,000km driven in Honda Fits, it's time to say goodbye.

All good things must come to an end.

With a wide world of options out there, we went looking for something that would suit our needs: lots of cargo space for camping trips, solid reliability, maybe a bit more ground clearance for un-maintained trailheads and rutted, potholed roads to backcountry launch points, and - if at all possible - a manual transmission.

This rather cut down on our options, especially since it had to be something we could (at least hopefully) afford.

Fortunately, we found a rather attractive possibility..

You could say it had us seeing stars

With a test drive (though only on a CVT version as they didn't have an un-sold 6spd in stock) and a bunch of administrative legwork, the wheels were put in motion. Our bill of sale actually bears the exact date of our wedding anniversary, because 18 years is totally new cars, right?

First we had our original Fit - missing its ignition and not having been a running vehicle for almost 2 years - hauled away from its resting place on our front lawn.

After a bit more than 11 years of solid service, and over 548,000km

We waited eagerly to hear when our new ride would be available - I set up the insurance to take effect on Friday, August 20th, as I held out hope we'd have it by this weekend. I got a photo from our sales rep Jason on Wednesday saying she'd just arrived!

Still all wrapped up to keep her safe during her long trip from Japan

We tried to be patient while the pre-delivery was completed, and got an email on Thursday saying she'd be delivered on Friday - guess my start date for the insurance turned out to be pretty accurate!

Just after 10:30 this morning, a small Subie convoy came down our street and our new toy pulled into our driveway.

Jason actually came to deliver on his day off - now that's service!

Our 2021 Crosstrek had arrived!

They call it "cool grey khaki", but to me it's just a continuation of us buying blue cars

We got the base model without the push-button start - we don't need a lot of toys

It's basically an Impreza hatchback with a taller stance - almost 9" of ground clearance, vs. about 5.5" on our Fit.

Nice butt!

Some auto reviewers have complained that the 2.0L pushing 152hp is a little sluggish, but we don't need a speed machine...and really, after 13 years of a 1.5L pushing a FURIOUS 109hp in our little Fits it sure felt like it hauled along pretty well during our test drive!

And it came with a whole extra gear, too

I actually figured out that - with the AWD - this ride is actually sort of me, in vehicle form.

• It's got long legs - lots of ground clearance.
• Maybe a little underpowered for its size - not quick, but will get there eventually
• Capable of going off-road, but doesn't really have the chops for real 4x4 terrain - gotta go slow and easy over anything really technical
• Big trunk

This is perhaps an unflattering comparison, though.
I mean for the car.

I've been very good about NOT taking it out for a spin yet, as our license plates are still on our Fit...in Mississauga, with Tank at work. He'll switch them over when he gets home this evening.

Then it's GAME ON!

So we're pretty stoked, especially as this is just the 3rd brand new vehicle that Tank and I have ever owned - neither of us had purchased anything but used cars before we got together, and this is only the 4th car we've bought in the nearly 20 years we've been together.

..and our first ever with remote-control doors!

Update (later the same day): I GOT TO DRIVE IT

WHEEEEEEEEE
(Taken while parked)

I had no idea that all the gauges and switches light up RED!

Snazzy!

It's also our first car that has an "infotainment centre", which turns into the display for the rearview camera when you pop it into reverse.

It even displays track information when listening to the radio, which is such a silly thing but just indicative of how much even base model tech has come along in the last decade-plus

It'll take a bit of getting used to after our low-tech #hatchbacklife of so many years - not to mention a bit of time to figure out what everything does - but we're looking forward to it! Now we just have to hope that this will be the long-term relationship we hope for with all our vehicles, and that we're sufficiently awake not to bend it this weekend when we'll be volunteering overnight at Foxtail.

Perhaps Hobo Johnson said it best, though:

If you should happen to want to join us in Subaru ownership, I'd highly recommend talking to Jason Hoang at Gemini Motors in Kitchener. Jason was friendly and helpful without being at all pushy, and gave us a deal with which we're happy without any hassle. What more could you ask for?