2005 Forester

Well, the Forester XT (FXT) is our 3rd Subaru. We also owned a Legacy and a WRX STi. My wife drove the Legacy on a mail route for 10 years and beat the crap out of it. We traded the STi in on the FXT because my wife just didn't like the STi. I loved the STi. It was a blast to drive. But, truthfully, it wasn't very practical. The Forester is comfortable, smooth riding, and quiet. My wife loves it. The only negative thing I can say about Subaru's is that the Gas mileage stinks! We've been getting about 22 mpg. And that is 95% highway miles. With the current cost of premium gas that hurts. But, then again, we didn't buy the Subaru for it's great gas mileage. We really like Subies AWD system and they have been very reliable and cost effective for us.

Yes, I suppose SoCal gets as hot as it does here where I live in Australia - up to 45 deg C in summer.

But we have lots of Subarus running around and no more stopped by the side of the road than any other make.

Ron

Not many places in the US get temperatures of 45C (113F). I believe temperatures like that are rare in SoCal.

Thanks everyone for your input. I decided to buy the Forester L.L.Bean and so far I am liking it very much. I do miss my Taurus SEL, though.

Thanks again. Your experiences and advice were invaluable.

Mark

Tom,

Come on out here in mid-summer and let me show you the error of your thinking!

I live about a half hour from Palm Springs--it will hit those temps EVERY day for weeks, from about the first of July into mid-September. And then we can go out to the desert where it actually gets hot... heck, even on my back porch, at the foot of the mountains (approx 2700 ft elevation) I'll see 110F too frequently for comfort during those same months. Rare? I don't think so!

Now down where I think Dr. Rasty is, 100F is about all it gets. He's much closer to the ocean.

Rick

Wow.

Thanks for the update! Fafoofnick will be dissapointed, I'm sure.

-Kurt

mn wrote:

But you couldn't possibly miss the ugliness of a Taurus. They are so ugly that in Australia they just didn't sell.

Ford were selling 2002 plated models in 2004. Fortunately they are pretty rare here so we don't have to look at them very often. The Falcon is much better looking.

Oz again gets a cool car not available in the US.

The Falcon looks like a Mustang hit a BMW 3 series, from the photos.

Barry

Wonder how Ford's fortunes would fare if they sold that car in the US? Pix look good...

Rick