Looking to buy Subaru---questions

Same ball park.

Forester is definitely the best of the soft-roaders on tarmac, but just as good as the two you mention off-road. Only limitation would be ground clearance. (Forget the Outback spec. - that's just a cosmetic con-job. Strictly a road car.)

David Betts snipped-for-privacy@motorsport.org.uk

For your needs, either a Forrester or Outback Wagon (OBW) will do. Note that the term "outback" applies to either the Imprezza or Legacy. EIther one can be "outbacked". The Imprezza is referred to as the Outback Sport. The Legacy wagon is the OBW. Outbacking a vehicle gives it a raised, tougher suspension, as well as a few other things. The OBW has a higher ground clearnce than the Forrester, which, BTW is built on the smaller Imprezza chassis. The Forrester is a smaller vehicle than the OBW, though the roofline is higher.

You need to try them both to determine which is better for you. Some like the OBW, others like the Forrester. They both will go in the snow or sand equally. I strongly suggest getting the 6 cyl in the OBW, and the XT model of the Forrester (4 cyl turbo. Faster 0-60 than almost anything out there).

Why would you say the Forester is better off-road than the Outback? The Outback actually has a bit more ground clearance than the Forester. I've had my two Outback wagons on plenty of rough dirt fire roads, with no problems. The OBW is certainly not as off-road capable as my body-on-frame 1991 Isuzu Trooper, but that's not a fair comparison anyway.

However, I agree that neither the Outback nor the Forester are true off-road vehicles. But, they do pretty good on the occasional off-road foray, and the OBW is great on the road.

I'm new to Subaru, having just come from six Hondas, and a Volvo. I can only claim 2,600 miles with my Forester to date, but so far I'm extremely pleased. You can "come on over" to Subaru without concern, and only positive expectations.

HW

"H. Whelply" wrote in news:XDkEb.19821$gN.10576@fed1read05:

After Toyotas, a Saab, and a Honda, my Baja is my first Subaru. But i'd been driving Subarus for awhile in a previous career as a rental car area manager. I found that the best vehicles in our fleet were the Subaru line and the Nissan Maxima. Since we(my wife and i) are "outdoor-prone" i thought i'd go with a Subaru. I was hoping my dealership would have a Legacy GT wagon/sedan but didn't. I didn't want a WRX, Outback, or Forrester, not because they aren't great vehicles, but rather they're everyone's great vehicles.

We've only put a lil over 6,000 miles on my Baja but its been great and i wish you luck in your search for your ideal Subaru. Welcome to the gang.

My Forester has had fewer warranty repairs than any of my Hondas (3 Accords) or Toyotas (1 Corolla, 1 Camry). In almost 10,000 miles, not a hint of trouble. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

James '03 Subaru Forester XS-P '03 Infiniti FX35/AWD/Tech Santa Fe, New Mexico

I put 5200 miles on my 04 Forester in just two weeks and am now up to 7,000. No problems, smooth sailing, and so far, most satisfied with the Subie!

Riiiiight...

Hello,

I was a Honda fanatic and was scared to change brand of car. I personaly loved the looks and feel when I test drove a Forester 2004. I made the change with no regrets, I love it and don't regret my Honda

2 seconds oups!(not true) I regret the gas consuption. But the reste is great. Just need to see how it will react as I told myself I would run it has hard as my Honda's, even after I told the dealer how bad I pushed my Honda's he told me he was not scared that the car will take it ( of course he is a sale rep and could not tell me: you need to be carfull). One of my car was a Ford the dealer told me not to be scared to ruff the car up, that it was good mecanic, I brought it in at 30 K to replace transmition and 80K with engin problem. Of what I read Subaru is mutch better then Ford.

As far as I can tell the AWD system in manual trans Subes is better than competing wagons. I can't tell tell what RAV 4 and CRV use, but I wouldn't expect too much. Murano, while possibly having the best engine & trans in its class, is fully front wheel drive until slippage. Saturn VUE I think is similar. Sube automatics (except for VDC Outbacks) are similar too (I think 90/10 front rear torque split until slippage).

I've read complaints of twitchy handling in slippery conditions for Outbacks, but I think only for automatics. A friend from snow country says her manual trans Outback has the best handling in the snow of any car she's driven.

Any AWD should help avoid getting stuck. A good one should improve handling in slippery conditions too.

I was pretty close to buying a Forester, but the Outback wagon impresses: it seems slightly more practical, and felt a little more car-like to me. The practical stuff includes a longer cargo area (a little better for sleeping in back), and higher ground clearance (or so I've read; I would have guessed the Forester had more). The Forester looks like a better bet for carrying bikes upright in back. And it has the best sunroof in its class. Still trying to make up my mind...

Sine I'm looking through the Consumer Reports 2003 auto issue (closest to buying an '03 Forester), I'll share what I see there for reliability estimates and overall ratings.

In the small SUV class (that's tall wagons to me), for reliability, CRV & Forester seem to be tied at the top, with RAV4 a close second. In "Overall Ratings" (which includes product testing), RAV4 leads the group, with Forester just slightly behind.

For reliability ratings, the Outback falls under under "Family sedans", where it's placed just behind the Maxima (what I drive now; a really fun sedan. If they still made it in a wagon, it'd probably be my next car too), and the Buick Regal (that's a shocker to me: the last and only time I owned a Buick, it wasn't so nice).

For overall ratings, Wagons & Hatchbacks, the highest ranked wagon is the AWD Passat (which probably has a nice AWD system shared with Audi). Next AWD wagon is the Audi Allroad, followed by the Outback H6 VDC (like the ones above, it's out of my price range new, and I don't see any VDCs on the local used market), just a hair above the Volvo XC.

I always had Toyotas and would have gotten another, but I felt the Rav4 was too big for me. I'm glad I got my Outback Sport. The all-wheel drive makes a huge difference and I never feel like the car isn't totally under my control. Repairs-wise, it's matching my Tototas - nothing to fix.

I have a 2000 Forrester that is about to turn 150,000 miles.

The only problems I have had is the transmission had to be replaced at jsut over 1,100 miles (probably just a fluke), The idler pulley for the timing belt started making noise at about 50,000 miles and the head gasket had to be replaced at 89,000 miles and when they did taht , they found out it was the timing belt idler that needed to be replaced.

I drive my cars hard and put a lot of miles on them in a hurry. I changed the oil on this car at the first 4,000 miles and at about 6,000 miles the next two times. After that I usually change the oil at 12,000 to 15,000 miles I have to top off the oil a couple of times between oil changes.

I am really sold on having the AWD and not have to change into 4wd when I need it. Before I drove the Forrester I tried the Rav4 and the Forrester had a lot more power with only a minor loss in MPG.

I also liked the Outback except it seemed like the rear view mirror took up half the windshield and severely blocked my view.

David