Versatile wagon with almost unlimited grip

When I bought my 2003 Subaru Legacy L SE Wagon, I wasn't even in the market for one. What attracted me was the price and allure of AWD in a cold climate. I'll put this in point form to save time:

Pros: With winter tires, this thing is practically unstoppable; 12 inches of snow is like child's play. The ABS coming on is the only thing that let's you know the road is remotely slippery. Engine is quite torquey for a 4 cylinder and has pretty good power higher in the rev range. Seats are excellent but require a little "male adjusting" upon entering...if you catch my drift. Driving position is very well laid out. Nice shifter (on manual). FANTASTIC leather wrapped steering wheel. Enormous space with rear seats folded down. Long wheel base makes for very smooth highway driving. I put "performance" brake pads on the front (non-ceramic) and the thing stopped as if it weighed 1000 lbs less. 16" mags look great. Good headroom for tall drivers provided there's no sunroof. Highway mileage quite good for a large car.

Cons: The exceptional traction will make you impatient with all the FWD or RWD cars on the road having trouble. The ABS is pretty sensitive and will actually lengthen your braking distance slightly at slow speeds. (that goes for all ABS, not necessarily just this car) The engine has very little get up and go at low rpm's so you often have to rev it higher than you'd prefer, causing disappointing fuel mileage around the city. The manual transmission makes for a jerky ride in the city, which is ultimately why I got rid of it, it just seems like you're never in the right gear. Automatic would cure that but also rob a lot of the desperately needed power. From what I've heard, this is a common thing on Legacy's but for some reason not on the Impreza or Forrester. It might be the added mass that taxes the powertrain too much. Finally, the resale isn't that hot especially compared to its Japanese counterparts Honda and Toyota.