Looking at Bajas, Have Questions

[WobblePizza]

Hello again, I am thinking of getting a baja and have a few more questions about them before I pull the trigger. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1) Rear seat folding flat: I see pics online of the rear seats being folded completely flat. On the model I test drove the seats did not fold flat, but came down to about a 30° angle with respect to the floor. What gives? Is there a trick to this, or did they remove the rear seats to make it go flat? I'd like it to go flat. This one had leather seats, maybe those are fancier and don't fold flat?

2) Hauling 8' lumber: Do any of you put 8' lumber in this thing? If so how do you make it fit? I forgot a measuring tape on the test drive. It looks like even with the pass through it would need to lay on the tailgate, is that true? Is the angle right for that or does it hit the top of the passthrough hole? Anyone use a bed extender? Anyone use the roof rack for this?

3) Towing: Hows the towing? Esp with a manual? I see it can do 2400lb, I want a small folding 4x8 trailer to use for sheet goods but I occasionally might put a small load of gravel, dirt or firewood on it. I have some good hills here in Appalachia.

4) General thoughts on the baja: Any general thoughts or complaints about this vehicle? I'm looking to downsize from a full sized truck (tundra). I find that I rarely use it's utility and wish it was a car most of the time. With a small trailer I don't see why the baja wouldn't do everything I need the truck to do, and it would be a car...sort of...most of the time. I'm hoping to get a manual, naturally aspirated model.

[bajaguy]

1) If you fold it without folding the bottom part up first it will rest at a 30 deg angle. There is a little trigger strap behind the back right seat to fold the bottom up.
2) For really long stuff I generally leave the tailgate open which allows a lot better access through the passthrough hole. Either that or tie it down in the front and leave the tailgate shut (allowing the wood to stick up).
3) I've seen others tow quite a bit...I haven't done much, but I would rather not hurt him
4) Good choice on manual NA. I personally love mine and it suits me perfectly. Gas mileage is a bit low but the AWD is usually worth it. On a rare occasion I struggle hauling big stuff but it drives like a rally car and seats 4 (well, mine seats 5... ). It's unique and just downright cool.

[hocrest]

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/baja/baja2003.html About half way down on this page is a picture with bed measurements. There is a lot of other general info on the page also.

[WobblePizza]

Thank you once again! I feel pretty dumb for not figuring out the rear seat flip-up actually. Though, I have never seen that before. I did a little more poking around and I think I am pretty much convinced on one of these. I just need to grab the right one. There is no rush luckily.

It sounds like it might be a bit of a hassle with the 8' boards, but honestly it already is in my truck. Unless you get an 8 foot bed you always have to do some kind of tying down, and 8' beds are getting kind of rare. I think the Baja will feel a lot better, and holy smokes do I miss having a manual.

What kind of MPG's are you seeing? I usually use fuelly (http://www.fuelly.com/car/subaru/baja) for this with some macros and excel to find real world average mpgs. Unfortunately, it doesn't differentiate between turbo and non-turbo models (nor transmissions) which makes it tough to get meaningful data. You have a manual NA?

[Hawk296]

Also, the Baja has a flip up license plate holder. you flip the plate up so that when the tailgate is down it is still visible and legal to drive while open.

If I know I am going to haul something really long like boards or a large aluminum extension ladder, I will unbolt and remove the rear seat bottom (when lifted to allow seatback to fold flat, it sticks up at a 90 degree angle limiting how far forward an object can be loaded) and recline the front passenger seat flat. This lets you load from the dashboard all the way out to the tailgate. It only takes 2 bolts and obviously does not work if you have a passenger, but it lets you carry some really long items arguably easier than a even a full size truck.

These were 8' sections of fencing carried entirely in the bed. It was not ideal, but it worked for the 6 or so miles I had to drive home.

[bajaguy]

I get 20-25 in my NA auto. some get a little more, a small issue can set you back a few but I get about average. I have milked it and gotten 27 in the city once. turbos get a little less than NAs but not too much less. They do, however, require premium fuel though...

[WobblePizza]

Thanks for the help guys. This is good information.

hocrest: That cars101 website is awesome. I didn't know about it. I usually use cars.com for stuff like that but I like the simplicity of cars101 more. That dimensional drawing is very useful. It looks like with a bed extender 8' lumber could just lay in there on the 90" line, which is nice. I often just want one or two boards which makes tie downs annoying.

Hawk296: Thats a nice looking baja. The monocolor blue is my favorite I think. Good to know about the seat removal. The flip down license plate is so thoughtful.

Bajaguy: That is about what I was expecting. It's not ideal but its a step up from the truck which gets 16 avg. The premium fuel is the reason I want to avoid the turbo.

[tsmart]

Only thing I do not like about my non turbo baja is that it has lousy accelleration. True, it will crawl right up a verrrry steep incline but regular acceleration is definitely lacking. That did not bug me enough to want a turbo though. I now have 22,000 miles on my 06 and have had no repairs at all. I will never buy another new car unless I could get a NEW baja.

BTW theres a nice blue one for sale on a lot in Franklin, NC. (sept 2014)

[mikenmel08]

DO NOT waste your time with that blue one in Franklin.......... Has had a lot of not so great body work done on it...My bosses daughter was looking at it and once we put it on the lift at eye level it was VERY noticeable......

[tsmart]

Hi Mike, you have worked on my Baja, oil changes and such, do you still have 2 of them?

[mikenmel08]

Yep, both still running great...... Had to put a turbo on my wife's a few months ago and a radiator in mine other than that they have been great........ Going to do the Timing belts, water pumps and all the seals this winter when I can go to work and leave the doors pulled down so I can work in piece one weekend.....