I drove a Forester today...

I would say that they are hit and miss. I drove mine for 13 years and, aside from the transmission and the head gasket, it was generally reliable. If we hadn't outgrown it we probably would have paid the money to have the head gasket repaired and just kept driving it.

Oh, and @Colt4587 is 100% right. My Forester rattled and squeaked like a can of bolts rolling around in a mouse cage when I was driving it. But I'm deaf in one ear and can't hear in the other, so that sort of thing doesn't bug me much. My 2003 Tacoma does the same thing.

They're fun to drive and give you really great off-road capability compared to other vehicles in their class. But if you're looking for rock-solid build quality or bulletproof reliability, you might want to look elsewhere.

 

Updated my post

And that is a fair point. But it's not one a lot of people find out until after they bought one. It had all sorts of tech and bells and whistles. I gave up nearly all of it when I got my Tacoma, and it is still night and day better.

I wouldn't of minded so much had I spent 24k on it. You're going to deal with some stuff at that level.

But I think I paid around 32k for it brand new. Now that's not a lot to some people, but that's still a chunk of change to me. I just expected it to not scratch if a dandelion brushes up against it, not to squeak like a methed out mouse, and not to have the engine shake at a stop.

 

I think they're reliable, and I think most of the build issues are limited to Foresters. I loved that legacy, and it was a great car.

My Tacoma has a few noises too, I get the Kazoo noise, and the door seal rubs. But it's nothing compared to that Forester

 

....^^^... I had an old 1980's Subaru Wagon (with hidden Cyclops grill light) in Canada and loved that thing and Subaru will be high on my list in the future when I don't need a truck.

Any good or bad experiences with the Forester or Outback in here ... just curious as both are about the same to me ... thanks.

 

Did you see my post(s)?

 

Or mine?

 

...^^^... I will look again ... thanks

 

Yep! The rep I dealt with was worthless.

Yeah, the new ones had a recall for burning Oil I believe too, I forgot all about it. I want to say that if it burned more than a quart a month, it was considered abnormal and Subaru would compensate. But thats a lot of oil burned!

Yep! The Forester I'm bitching about in my other posts was turbo charged. It's also how I learned about the difference between HP and torque. Forester put out I think 305 HP, but not near as much torque. Whereas my Tacoma has more torque, and at a lower end (at least it feels that way). I have more confidence in my Tacoma getting up to speed than that Forester. Granted once that Forester got going, it kept going like it didn't want to stop, which was fun.

 

I don't know, maybe I come off as a bit harsh. We used to load up the whole family and go driving off into the boonies with the Forester. We never felt like we were going to get stranded in it, even with 160,000 miles on it.

My wife swears that my truck is held together with old shoes and baby rattles.