I know it's not considered good form to reference Consumer Reports in some circles (like most auto discussion groups), but you may want to take a look at the April 2005 annual auto issue. For starters, check out p. 17, in an article entitled "U.S. autos narrow the gap." The section titled "Asia: Mainly positive, but with glitches," says, "Subaru showed significant improvement. This year, with just 8 problems per 100 cars, it had the best reliabillity rrecord of any 2004 make."
In the "Vehicle profiles" section, p. 72, the Baja and Legacy/Outback are "Recommended" models, and the Forester is rated even higher as a "Top Pick."
Under "2005 Cars Ratings" on p. 35, the Forester is the top-rated among "Small Sport-Utility Vehicles"; the worst they could say about it ("Lows") was "Gated shifter." Under "Highs" is "Ride, agility, steering, controls and displays, crash-test results, reliability."