NFT: Subaru Forester (first time buyer)

great little car - I think it's a 2006 and has around 200K on it, but it runs like a champ and is the best vehicle any of us have in the snow.

It's noisy and lacks power, isn't fun or sexy to drive in any way, but it gets good gas, is reliable, and stays on the road in bad weather.

All depends on what you're looking for.

It's a great little vehicle and I imagine it will be great for city living, and for young ones (Congrats!).

Wife loves it.

my wife loves hers.

If your travels take you to rhinebeck, you're welcome to give ours a test drive!

as a buddy of mine noted when he borrowed it to drive home and get something once, it was like "driving a go-cart" which is funny and I still use that line to joke on my wife.

However, we've taken it on many trips and I've never noticed it seeming like it lacked power. I just like joking that on my wife that she drives a go cart.

Only has 45k miles on it, because like you, I lived in Brooklyn for a while and wasn't driven around much except weekends and trips out of the city.

Now that I'm the suburbs, its my beater car for bad weather.

It has superb AWD, but thats its only redeeming value.

I don't know about new models, but its nowhere as reliable as my Lexus's, Toyota's and Infiniti's.

A lot of minor things broke down and major things (transmission cooler line cracked). Fortunately I'm a DIY mechanic and fixed them cheaply myself (Subaru Stealerships all suck). But its not a reliable car except for the AWD.

I haven't driven it up a fire road on the Blue Ridge Mountains or anything though.... yet :)

still running strong and about to be my son's first car. Great, great car.

I will say that when I got it, my daughter (then 7 yrs old) asked me why "every time I see a car like ours there's a woman driving it?"

But it's been great. CRVs and RAV4s are also pretty great. Can't go wrong with any of those three, IMO.

couple of years... We've never had a problem and always had great service from our Subaru dealership, which could be a recent thing as it's all over the Consumer Reports as one of the best vehicles to own, etc....

We had to be put on a waiting list in 2015 to get one. Took a month or two. They couldn't keep them on the lot here in VA.

Only thing.....2020 model had a major change to their frame

Test drove all the similar models, the only one that was a better drive was the Mazda CX-5. But the Mazda interior was cheaper feeling and not as roomy. I really appreciate the sight lines, no obstructed views at all.

identified as a lesbian?

NTTAWWT

A little bigger, but that will work for you in the future with a family. Really good mileage AND the Hybrid is the big engine in the RAV 4. Combined 220hp with 40+mpg. Toyota's are also known to be reliable.

meaning the pistons are horizontal. This gives the car a lower center of gravity, and in the case of a frontal collision, the engine will slide under the car, rather than into the front seats. big safety features.

In comment 14629280 pjcas18 said:

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identified as a lesbian? NTTAWWT

A Cobra Kai reference!

but the older ones were fine.
Link - ( New Window )

Since moving out to CO. By far the safest car I have ever driven. You really do feel control over the road driving it.

I bought one last November. I am utterly in love with it. Incredibly safe, incredibly fun to drive. The "eye sight" features are incredible. It's a joy. It's my 2nd Subaru. I had an Outback which I loved, but I much prefer the Forester. You're set up a little higher and it handles really well in all weather. You're going to absolutely love it...and you shouldn't have to worry for 10 years at the earliest for a new car. And then you'll go buy a 2030 Subaru Forester.

I live in a snow belt in NH and would buy nothing other than a Subaru. I don't generally put on snow tires even though I live at the top of a hill at 1600' above sea level. My daughter plays lax in college and we drive out to Ohio a fair amount. The eyesight system is awesome. I set the speedometer in Albany and turn it off again in Cleveland. The value/performance ratio on the Subaru's is pretty great.

In comment 14629280 pjcas18 said:

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identified as a lesbian? NTTAWWT

No, but we made sure that was the first demographic we checked with before choosing a car.

In comment 14629251 Britt in VA said:

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It's a great little vehicle and I imagine it will be great for city living, and for young ones (Congrats!). Wife loves it.

Thanks Britt!

two years ago and absolutely loves it. It's a great car.

will get you a great price

Seems like Subaru and Prius and 1 and 2 most likely cars to be in the left lane at 61mph or less. Right lane for you.

is that you will be free to move to Vermont or Colorado, where state law requires ownership of a Subaru. (And, yes, it is a chick car [safety! safety! safety!].)

Currently have two of them.

They just keep buying them because they work well for them, particularly since they live in a rural county that gets a lot of snow, and he used to commute over 100 miles a day to work.

In comment 14629303 Motley Two said:

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but the older ones were fine. Link - ( New Window )

The older Foresters had some real burners, the turbos could do 0-60 in 5 seconds flat. They are more geared towards fuel economy now.

I got Option Pkg 15 (all Weather Pkg, Blind Spot & Cross Traffic alert, etc)& Popular Pkg 1

MSRP

Forester Premium Base $ 26,695
OP #15 $ 1845
PP #1 $ 931
Destination $ 975

Suggested Price $ 30,446

I negotiated a selling price of $ 27,500 not including $ 250 dealer fee and NM state tax.

If you are willing to buy out of state: https://www.planetsubaru.com/

and there is a lot of good tips here:
https://www.subaruforester.org/threads/how-much-off-msrp-is-a-good-deal.806370/

Engine Power is adequate for my daily needs.
Good luck!

Before that was learning a 2016. My brother also has a 2019. (He lives in Cleveland.) I think we'd agree that we like the Eyesight feature for safety. Very practical family car. Fits in a compact space but is surprisingly roomy in the front and back seats. The rear storage area isn't huge but if you put the back seats down you can fit in quite a lot of stuff.

As observed above, the boxer engine is an indirect safety feature -- it makes the car less prone to rollover due the lower center of gravity. (It also makes it more difficult for Subaru to build a hybrid version, because they don't want to put batteries under the engine.)

My main complaint is I wish the fuel economy was better — I get around 16.5 mpg in city driving. And that's with the feature that turns your engine off when you stop for more than few seconds. (In city driving, that cuts way down on idling, but it doesn't save a ton of gas out of every tank. Something like half a gallon for every hour you're not idling. I think to get the mileage I want I'd have to get a hybrid.

The 2016 Forester had the "PZEV" tag on the outside — Partial Zero Emission Vehicle. The 2019 doesn't, probably because PZEV was a little misleading. I think the idea was that under certain conditions the exhaust coming out of the tail pipe was cleaner than the outside air. However, I'm sure that didn't account for CO2.

As for engine power, it's really not an issue in city driving. Highway driving, yeah, it doesn't have a lot of zip but it's just fine. The electronics have occasionally been glitchy -- rear lift gate wouldn't stay open yesterday.

It also can be hard to tell whether the engine is off, so you have to pay attention to that.

I ended up with the highest trim level, which has more technology than I really need, but I do like it.

Subarus are supposed to be good snow cars but I haven't had to drive it in snow.

If you plan on driving the vehicle too, get something more masculine. I'd drive with a bag over my head if I had to drive a Subaru.

In comment 14629600 fivehead said:

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If you plan on driving the vehicle too, get something more masculine. I'd drive with a bag over my head if I had to drive a Subaru.

Will I need to cut holes out of the bag so that I can at least see while I'm driving?

in the older generations were prone to have leaky head gaskets. Otherwise, pretty solid and reliable.

In comment 14629614 Giantology said:

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In comment 14629600 fivehead said: Quote: If you plan on driving the vehicle too, get something more masculine. I'd drive with a bag over my head if I had to drive a Subaru. Will I need to cut holes out of the bag so that I can at least see while I'm driving?

Use the force.

In comment 14629600 fivehead said:

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If you plan on driving the vehicle too, get something more masculine. I'd drive with a bag over my head if I had to drive a Subaru.

What car do you drive that makes your penis feel big?

In comment 14629631 penkap75 said:

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In comment 14629600 fivehead said: Quote: If you plan on driving the vehicle too, get something more masculine. I'd drive with a bag over my head if I had to drive a Subaru. What car do you drive that makes your penis feel big?

Matchbox car

We have owned multiple Foresters but this year purchased an Outback. You may see if your dealer has any specials on them. We went in March to get a Forester but the Outback had better deal.
Outback is a little bigger than Forester and riders wonderfully.
Good luck and don't listen to the fools on here.

Much more fun to drive. Sleek design.

Peace of mind in the Upstate winters. That thing is as good in the snow as any 4WD SUV or truck I've ever driven, and likely better than some. It's a 4-banger without much kick, but like Britt mentioned, it's great on trips. No downside, really. Set the cruise and go. Solid mileage, plenty of room. My guess is you're going to like it.

...I passed several vehicles on the steep road to my house, including an Outback and a Forrester.

My ride that night? A one-wheel drive, 2000 SL.

Knowing how to drive in the snow more important than 4x4.

(That's Morgan Rd, Beez. I've NEVER gotten stuck on it.)

One of the least fancy roller skates I've ever owned.

I know, cue the jokes. Actually, some of my best friends are lesbians, so there's that.

Anyway - got 85k miles on my 2014 and before that I had a 2009 that one of the kids now has. I commute between Brooklyn and Dutchess County on the Taconic and especially in the winter there's no other car I would drive (except maybe another model of Subaru). If you know the stretch of the Taconic in Putnam County, you know what I mean.

Add to that, I play upright bass and the boxy shape is perfect for just tossing in an upright and a couple of other pieces of gear.

In comment 14629681 Rong5611 said:

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Much more fun to drive. Sleek design.

This, I was gonna post the same.