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in the market to buy A small suv awd, don t want to pay to much as it will be just togo back n forth to work , it will only see the hwy but will have togo thought 4 seasons . never had a Subaru before but I would think they be good on gas as well as going thought the snow? we just bought a brand new full size truck for our family and I don t want to use that drive back and forth to worth daily ( 175 kms per day) I knew it would be hard on fuel. so I want to replace my old pick up that I use now togo back and forth with a small awd suv. any helpful info on these Subarus would be great and thanks.
Check mileage and repair history before buying. A key is around 100K with these as they can develop leaky head gaskets in the model years 03 and before, occasionally 04s. The newer Subarus generally have very good reliability. I would go with the Outback if you can find a one owner one in great shape.
I loved my Subaru. Sadly they older ones tend to have rust issues. I would get another one if I was looking for a 4 banger wagen that get's great gas mileage.
I have owned a Subaru Forester X 2005 for many years. It has been very good to me even though I bought it with over 100,000 miles on it. I highly recommend a Subaru and the All Wheel Drive is awesome. Here is a nice review for the 2005 Subaru 2.5 X.
It seems like based on MSN auto reviews that one of the trouble spots in this vehicle is the engine during several model years. If anyone has owned this vehicle for a long period of time have you run into any major troubles? It also appears that crash test ratings improved from 2003 on with a five star ranking. I have had MPG of close to 30 highway with another Subaru. How does the Forester rank on the highway? Is the overall value for a used car quite good in the 6-8K range? Thanks. I am considering the 03-06 model years.
2002, 126K+ miles and it still feels like to me, a "new car" or one just a few years old. 25 mpg when I got it new, 25 mpg today.
GRANTED, at around 100K miles, 4 or 5 years ago, I had to do two $1000ish each maintenance jobs on it, one for valves, one for belts. Anything like that is costly at the time......but for a $20000 in 2002 car and who knows what now, well worth it.
When I got it in 2002, I couldn't find a used one that was only 2,3 years old, couldn't find one under 100K miles for sale.
It fits the dream criteria when I was car shopping in 2002; "I want a car that 10 years from now, I still can be driving.".
I owned a 2001 Subaru Forester from 2006 until 2013. I was disappointed in the reliability compared to the Toyotas and Hondas I have owned. Had to have the engine rebuilt due to the blown head gasket that plagues subarus. Lots of suspension parts. The fuel filler pipe rusted out. Lots of surface rust on the car; like it was from 1971... Just one guy's experience with one car, but I'll never buy another Subaru...
We have a 2001 Forester S with 245,00 on it runs great. Having said that it does need a new head gasket & some maintenance done on it but it runs great.
They are decent cars. The HG issue that some were claiming was resolved on newer models isn't entirely true. If you go here: Subaru Head Gasket Problems Explained. - Seattle Subaru Repair There is a good explanation of where the issue originates, and a good discussion of the cost/benefit of the repair as (a potentially interested) party sees it. The earlier engines tended to have catastrophic failures where you got the milky oil, overheating, etc. - these were internal failures. The newer ones are external, and thus tend to manifest more as weeping external oil/coolant that can actually go on for some time before a full replacement is necessary. As others have noted, I would get a close inspection of this area in particular by a mechanic who really know what to look for. Even if the rest of the car is a pretty reliable, overall problem-free vehicle, I think it gives folks a bad taste in their mouth for the car if they buy one for 8k, and then in 9 months have to drop 2k for the repair. This is just anecdote, and I know that people who have no problems tend not to post complaints on forums, but I have had 6 Subarus in my immediate extended family that range from an 03-08 and all except the 08 have developed an external HG leak that eventually required repair.
One other item to note is that the boxer engine actually ends up costing more for the HG repair because of where the gaskets are located. You have two gaskets, two heads to machine if they need it, and they are all the way down on the bottom of the engine, so replacing them requires at minimum, tilting the engine up, with most shops just pulling it. With an I4/I5 or V6, the HG still necessitates some substantial labor, but less than the H4. One other thing is to either get one substantially before, or right after the 90k service. The spark plug replacement also requires the engine to be tilted, unless you want to stack two extensions and a swivel on your ratchet (and draw out a schematic so that you know which way to turn it).
I got rid of my 06 Subaru, but I didn't hate the car. It had some nice features, like AWD in a sedan (I live in MA), and mildly sporty handling.
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and thanks.
