We only Get The 2.0 Lirte in austrlia at the Moment, Good handling, fuel economy,Starndard Equipment Level

Reliability. Had the Car 18 months since New,Replaced so far, Cruise Control,Sump Guard,Starter Moter( without Car for two weeks)Washer Moter and Exhaust Shield rattle ( when back to subaru Garage Three times two days later still the same rattle took to local Garage still going good three months later and cost a 10% what subaru charged me)Ground Clearance.

Bought The Forester From New to Travel around Austrlia for Reliability and its four wheel dive, good on Sand until very soft and you have to follow in the tracks of Larger 4WD (Ground Clearance} good in Snow, watch out on water crossing add to turn back many times and go the long way. when Larger 4wd would have no Problem. Main problem has been Reliability and subaru service car, as spent 27 days in a garage waiting for parts and being repaired and serviced( well thats what they called It)over a 18 month period Not Good.Selling soon and will be buying a real 4wd.

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Compares well with Honda CRV, Rav 4 on handling and performance. cant comment on reliability!!1

Handling. Pick-up. Bad weather driving. Mileage for a car in this class.

Rear leg room (yes, it is a weakness but I'm not complaining about it). Front cup holder is poorly placed. Defogging system is poor unless used with A/C.

I love this car. The handling and pick-up are outstanding. It left the other "small" SUV's (e.g., Honda CRV, Chevy Tracker) in the dust. I agree the Forester is not a true SUV, but neither is the Honda CRV, Chevy Tracker or other "suvitos" in this class. If you want a true SUV, buy a Blazer or a Jeep Cherokee. Me, I wanted a car with good handling, pick-up, the ability to handle bad weather driving, more cargo space than a sedan, AND didn't guzzle gas like it was going out of style. This is exactly what the Forester provides. In the end, I also agree with the complaints lodged against it. However, the complaints are things I knew of at the time I bought the Forester (e.g., low clearance, poor rear leg room), and should have been clear to anyone you took 30 seconds to examine the car before they bought it. It strikes me as a little foolish to rail against shortcomings that were apparent at the time you bought a Forester. I'm at a loss to respond to those people who complain about the Forester's poor rear legroom. This was apparent to me before I bought the car. If people didn't like the legroom, why did they buy a Forester in the first place? Also, someone complained that the styling was bad. If this is so (and I disagree), why buy a car when you don't like how it looks? Worse yet, why buy it and then complain about it? That makes no sense to me. Again, if you want good handling, pick-up, the ability to handle bad weather driving, more cargo space than a sedan, AND decent gas mileage, this is the car for you. If you want a true SUV that will take you off-road, go elsewhere. That's not a complaint, it's simply reality.

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Honda CRV. Toyota 4Runner. Chevy Tracker. Suzuki Vitara.

The best qualities are many. Seats are comfortable for long trips. Good gas milage, extremely reliable. Easy to drive. Lots of pick up. fits in my small garage. Seats are easy to fold down for extra cargo storage.

The bad qualities are few. I don;t like the drivers sun visor, it should be longer and more flexible. There needs to be a sun visor between the rear view mirror and the roof.

I am very happy with my choice of the Subary Forester S. It is sporty to drive, gets good gas milage and extremely dependable. I have nearly 50k miles on it over nearly 3 years and it still performs like new. I drive the 5 speed and get 23 mpg around town and 26 mpg on a trip. I am constantly on the road and it runs smooth, always starts, doesn't drive like a truck, excellent storage, great in the snow and rain. This past winter dropped nearly 2 feet of snow one night. The forester drove through it while staying stable and not sliding off the road. The winter package of heated mirrors, heated wiper blades and heated seats are great. I thought I'd never use them. The New england winters proved me wrong.

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I drove the Honda CRV. It seemed like a vehicle that was rushed to the market. Not a typical Honda. For example: window controls are on the dash, it takes 3 steps to open the rear for cargo loading (1 in Forester), it takes 4 steps to lower the seats (1 in Forester). The CRV while riding smooth had no get up and go and ther are lots more.

Subaru All Wheel Drive. Subaru dependability. Good buying experience. The S model has about everything you could want, and we love the massive moon-roof! The side air bags are now available with the leather (nice!!!)

Price (The tax is a killer, I guess it wasn't the cars fault). 2nd seat leg room is a bit cramped. The cup holder placement does suck. The front windshield is darn expensive to replace!

After researching mini-utes for quite a while, we decided on the Subaru. Honda and Toyota have great contenders, but the Forester was right for us. It's true that it isn't a "real" SUV, but it was never meant to be. So far, this car has been excellent, and from my friends past experiences with the Forester, it will continue to be great. I am very much looking forward to the Utah winter and know that nothing beats a Subaru in these conditions.

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Outback--similar, but it's more of a wagon. The Toyota & Honda seem excellent, it just depends on your needs.

Awesome AWD! It is heaven in the snow, better than ANY 4WD.

The only weakness is the abundance of ignorant critics.

People, if you think it is ugly, DONT BUY IT!!!! If you want the best small SUV on the market, this is for you!!!! The CRV and RAV 4 are unbelievably weak (not to mention smaller and uglier)! They do not have a proven AWD system, as does the Forester. It does ride like a car, BUT WAS NOT BUILT TO BE AN OFF ROAD MONSTER, and neither was ANY of the competition (if they were, they failed miserably).

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Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4, both are VERY weak and underpowered, look at the stats before you buy!

The rash went away with in weeks

You can only fit 3 naked people in the back seat.

Great buy, just wish I could have bought two. One for the summer, one for the winter

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Jiffy pop popcorn, Tasted salty and was sometimes burned.

Boxer engine, AWD and the vehicle's lower center of gravity when compared to other vehicles in it's class. Suspension is great for the urban jungle, but not for true off road.

Subaru Customer Sevice. Body. Finish. Dash design

The initial quality of this vehicle was poor. Shaky front axles, noisy radio, poor fit on interior and exterior trim, Weak Windshield. Subaru and the dealer took care of the problems, but only after many phone calls and letters from my attorney. Once fixed and the car was driven more ill quality traits started to show up. Weak finish that pits and scratches easily. Sheet metal that allows for ugly door dings and waves. Carpet pulled away and tore near the seat mounts. Annoying rattles from the seat-belt mechanism, which Subaru would not replace since they think it's due to normal wear and tear. The dash rattles and creaks, but it's nothing a Fonzi thump can't fix.

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CRV, RAV-4

The 166 ft. lbs. of torque supply ample umph, especially with the 5-speed. Overall reliability is high.

The Yokohama tires don't grip well. The Bridgestones on the Legacy grip much better. The rear seatbelt mechanisms in the post rattle on bumps.

This is my second Forester (I had a '98 S automatic). The watchword here is "value." You get a lot for your money. There are better SUVs, but not for the money, and I'm a tireless researcher. The Toyota RAV4, however, is not superior at any price. It has sound basic mechanical engineering, but its own fit and finish are only adequate, like the Forester's. The Toyota 4Runner, on the other hand, is indeed superior--and much more expensive. If you're the frugal sort who likes highly competent, if not always elegant, equipment, the Forester is for you.

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RAV4, Ford Explorer

-durability -usable size; fair cargo space in a non-bulky car -price (cheaper than most SUVs) -inboard full-size spare -cool designs of interior cloth (headliner, etc.) -front-seat interior room -control layout; nothing hidden or inaccessible -high rear-door liftover -good gas mileage -all-wheel drive system a no-brainer, yet stunningly effective

-anemic Clarion stereo system -high cost of accessories, particularly the Bose subwoofer -2.5-liter engine not quite enough; could use a 2.8 or so -tough seat cushions, at least for the cloth seats -brakes; mushy and not very predictable -pillars make for a blind spot on drivers side -windows fog up to a fault in cold weather -the dealership I bought it from (we won't go there!)

(1997 Model) - Wow! The first review of my car on this site? Quite an honor! It's gonna be a good review, too. Let's start with the bottom line, then work our way down: I'd say the Forester would be a fine choice for a family of four or fewer; bigger families should probably look toward the Durango or some other full-size SUV. I'm a single guy, making $40-50K a year, and when I went car-shopping I wanted a small to mid-size SUV with maximum utilitarian value, and I must say the Forester, at $23,000 with tax, was a perfect choice. I'd owned a 1984 Honda Prelude up to that point, which was a great car but was somewhat lacking in overall usability. I'd never bought a new car, and I figured if I was going to spend that kind of money, I wanted get the maximum amount of value out of it. Believe me, I did! Where do I start? Cargo space, I guess; the Forester has as much as I've ever needed. If this gives you any idea, anything smaller than a major appliance (dryer, stove, etc.), and shorter than a pair of skis, should fit without a problem. The rear seats fold down, of course, offering a completely flat space. The shortfall, though, comes in the form of vertical depth. The full-size spare sits underneath the floor of the cargo area; do the math. I've found it to be just right for me; anything smaller would make me wonder why I bought an SUV, anything bigger would take away from the car-like ride. Make no mistake; the ride is indeed car-like, resembling that of a Taurus or Camry more than an Expedition or other SUV. The size couldn't be better for me, but I'm of medium build; I heard a larger fellow at the dealership commenting that there didn't seem to be enough driver's-side room for him, and he'd be right. Plenty of room for me, though, up front. The back seat is another matter; most of my passengers have BARELY sufficient legroom, and for some I have to move my seat up a notch or two. A related complaint: the styrofoam feel of the seat cushions. The leather seats might be a different story, but the cloth seats don't offer much give. I had to ride about an hour in the back seat one time, and I exited the car with a moderate case of numb-butt. The Forester's instrument cluster is simple but effective, no suprises, no frills. Seats are fairly easy to move, and the driver's seat gets lumbar and upper-leg support (no such options for the passenger, unfortunately). Four cupholders keep you hydrated, and the passenger seat can lean all the way back for sleepy passengers. There's a myriad of handy little storage spaces, including an overhead space for your glasses. I recommend having the simulated woodgrain installed; it makes for a more handsome, high-end feel to the overall interior. Another nicety: the interior cloth on the seats and headliner can be had with cool patterns, as opposed to simple monotone cloth. The aesthetics of the black dashboard-top left me cold, but the tan-color velour protector for said surface handily remedied that problem. Accessories for the Forester are bank-breakers for the most part, and I've only found a few worth having. The Clarion stereo sounds uncannily like my old My First Sony, and upgrades are a joke. Under NO cicumstances should you mess with the Bose subwoofer; $400-plus, and I challenge anyone to detect any significant bass-response improvement. My advice: scrap the whole thing and get a good Sony deck with Infinity or Polk drivers. You can get side runners, a trailer hitch, and a tire/wheel upgrade, again all at substantial cost. The better-value upgrades include a bug shield, a rear cargo tray, and as mentioned the sim woodgrain. In the plus column, you can get about any roof-rack attachment imaginable, with prices not much more than what you'd pay aftermarket. I opted for the Yakima bike rack (see my review on the Speedplay Frog mountain bike pedal system!), probably close to their top-of-the-line model. One interior accessory that any self-respecting techno-geek MUST have is the gauge pack, consisting of a compass, altimeter, barometer, and outside thermometer. Again at $400+, it's overall value is questionable, but as a techno-geek I have a rep to uphold! Let's see what else: stock tires are Bridgestones, good for about 40K miles for me anyway (I'll probably get new Goodyear Invictas next month). Brakes are substandard, which was the case on my Honda as well; I seriously wonder if Honda and Subaru use the same brake manufacturer. They actually recalled the Forester a few weeks back for a brake problem with the master cylinder in extremely cold conditions (20 below Farenheit and colder), though I'd be skeptical of ANY braking system at those temps. But there's no getting around the mushiness and lack of feel from these brakes, even when new. In the plus column, though, they don't lock under any circumstances. Paint and trim have held up nicely, even where I had my fender-bender until it was repaired last June. Overall looks are quite regal IMHO, much classier than either the RAV 4 or the Honda CR-V (which would look much better if the rear bumper actually COVERED the transaxle assembly), and you get 6 or 7 stylin' colors to choose from. Forest Green (dubbed Acadia Green by Subaru) for me personifies the rugged Subaru style, but you can also get white, black, and metallic among others. I must admit to one problem that would have been somewhat major had it not been for the warranty; for whatever reason the rear-driveshaft bearing (where the driveshaft meets the transaxle) went south on me at about 33K miles and had to be replaced. There was a known problem with the transaxle overall, namely that the factory had the wrong weight of axle grease in the assembly; the dealer put the correct weight in at about 12K miles, but still that may have had something to do with it. There have been no recalls in this area, and I doubt it's a widespread problem, but I thought it worthy of note. The all-wheel-drive system is icing on the cake, no buttons or shift levers of any kind, just foul-weather bliss. A guy in a some big fancy SUV spun out in the snow as I drove by going the other direction; at that point I knew I'd made the right choice. Why? Turns out that merely getting power to all four wheels isn't enough for true sure-footedness in crummy weather. It has more to do with the steering geometry of the car. Driving the Forester, you get the feeling that no matter what you do within reason, the car won't LET you lose your overall line; it's supremely predictable on anything short of sheet ice. I bought the car in July, and that October we had a real doozie of a blizzard here in Colorado. I drove about 50 miles in it, and wondered what all the fuss was about. My only complaint was that the windows fogged up to excess, and no amount of defrosting seemed to get them clear. A friend of mine is telling me about anti-fog spray as I write this; perhaps that would help. At any rate, there it is. You pay less for the Forester than for any of the fancier SUVs, less even than the Forester's predecessor, the Subaru Outback. For the money you get a fine mix of utilitarian value and good looks. Be on the lookout for a revamped Forester possibly next year, and if it looks anything like the current Japanese version, it'll be killer. As it is, unless you have to move a lot of people or cargo, you'll love the Forester!

Great engine
Good fit and finish
Basically everything

Just the fact that it has a lot of mindless critics........

WONDERFUL! This is a great vehicle for most everybody. Car-like ride and wonderful components. Unless you're off-road more than on, I would seriously consider the Forester. The AWD system is great. I'm having a great time in my Forester. Also, I read something like "Stay away from Subaru, Hyundai, etc." Well, read through Consumer Report's car issue from the past couple of years. They recommend every Subaru available, especially Forester. They don't recommend any Hyundai or Kia. Totally different.

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Toyota Camry (car)......Chevy Suburban (SUV)
Basically, i drove my mom's camry here and there and i liked the handling and everything, but i wanted an SUV. I drove my dad's suburban. Good engine, but didn't like the handling and other things.