Performance, reliability, economy

A little small in the footwell for big feet, no CD player

I have had a Forester GT (MY) turbo for the past 2.5 years and have nothing but praise for it. It has great performance from the turbo engine, great fuel economy on the highway and has heated leather seats for thse cold nights and the largest sunroof on any car I have seen. I have had fullsize 4WD vehicles but this is the best all round vehicle I have owned. I can drive it the same way in wet or dry conditions. The tyres (Yokohama) are now in need of replacement after 78,000 kms!! I have taken on sand, through mud and down bush trails. I have driven it hard on the bitumen and the gravel and no problems at all. The only criticism of this model is that it didn't have a CD player as standard. I am looking at changing the ECU and exhaust to improve the engine output further from 130KW to 160KW as there are a number of places that specialise in this type of mod here. It doesn't require any "sugery" to the car or wiring so can easily be reversed on sale.

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Better the friends RAV4, Landrover Freelander,CRV. Much better performance (0 - 60 7.5secs)

Acceloration (alot of power!), "grips" the road, everything is in the right place, i.e. the shifter, brake, not too low, not too high. Backend changes easily from seats to cargo. Not too big, not too small. Built for rough driving, rough roads. The power steering doesnt oversteer easy, but not hard to steer.

The backend is ugly! Its got an ugly butt! Everywhere else is nice to look at but the back end!

Excellent feel. The clutch, brake, gas, and steering makes me feel like Im in a race car. Excellent excelleration. Excellent manueverablity on curvy roads. Alot for your money. Quality you can see, hear, and feel. Lots of room for its size, spacious. Anyone with 2 or less kids should buy it. I wouldnt recommend it to someone who doesnt want to drive. This is a car to be driven, especially a manual, like I have you can really have fun. I wouldnt recommend it to someone who has alot of kids, or needs alot more space, the luggage rack help some, but its not as big as a van, for example, but is bigger than a car.

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Ive seen better looking small SUV's. But everything else it beats.

Good handling, reasonable mileage consumption (25 mpg sitting at 75/80 mph for as much of the time that I can get away with it), spacious and comfortable - just completed a 3,500 mile 10 day holiday down to LA and TN with no back pain or 'numb bum' syndrome

Alignment alignment alignment alignment. Till I'm sick of it. The tyres had started wearing badly at 23,000 miles, despite having been rotated at least 4 times by then. New tyres bought before 30,000 miles (Dueller HT's). Subaru say the alignment is within their spec, which I believe is nonsense if the wretched things aren't wearing properly, but I'm duelling (sic) with them about this. One interesting point is that my fuel consumption improved dramatically when the tyres were correctly aligned. Not that this lasted for long. But even with this problem I get at least 24mpg with my very heavy foot

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the car, having done 32,000 miles in 10 months. I get reasonable mileage consumption and it amazes me how much shopping/junk I can throw into the boot, with room to spare. It has handled extremely well in some pretty grotty snow blizzards, surpassing the capabilities of the larger SUV's with ease.

It's the ideal car for someone who doesn't want the bulk of a larger SUV, and I think it's an attractive car. I even got talked into green, instead of the white I wanted and now I prefer it. Definitely a very suitable car for the ladies, with all the 'get up and go' that most people need.

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I found the HONDA CRV, which I really liked from a distance was very uncomfortable, even on the short test drive. Jeep was even more uncomfortable for a shorty like me, so was the Explorer. And the Kia, which I had highlighted as 'the' car before coming over here..... welll, it just didn't feature - uncomfortable and not well finished. Price wise though, I had to bargain hard and long with the Subaru dealer to get a reasonable interest rate. This was due to having no credit rating at all in the US and perhaps they think woman don't know how to bargain..... yeah, right. Though to be fair to the dealer, they came up with the financing where all the other make dealers just couldn't. And I don't regret buying the car. I'd buy again...... if Subaru sort out the alignment problem

It's fun to drive, reliable and versatile. I like the cover for the cargo area and the plug for an electric ice chest.

It's not really high enough or powerful enough to do serious off-roading. Cup rack is flimsy. Back seat area is a little crunched for tall people.

I have the S version and am very happy with the ride, feel, gas mileage, pickup, and more. It's put together very well. Feels tight and snug. I can hardly hear it when it's idling. I love the sound system. The seats are very comfortable (I have cloth seats).

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I checked them all out and believe the Forester is the best overall. The other strong competitors are Honda and Toyota. They are both nice cars but don't have the pick up and extra details. The Forester did very well crash tests (that helps insurance rates).

Acceleration is great, not bad on the fuel consumption. Good CD player and a huge sunroof. Will hold about 8 people (2 up front, 4 in the back, and 2 in the cargo area, although most people don't drive like that, I probably shouldn't either :)

The only one I've encountered is that the back window won't open by itself, you have to open the whole back hatch. Not that big of a deal for me though.

I love to drive my new S-Premium Forester. The only thing it lacks is leather seats, which is okay since they get very hot down here in Georgia in the summertime. The 6 CD in-dash changer is great. Another big selling point was the huge sunroof. I love the sunroof. Nothing better than driving along the road with a great CD playing and the sunroof back (then again, I'm also 17 so it's not like I have a lot to compare it to). Not the best choice if you're going to be hauling around tons of lumber and things, but my mom does lots of work in the yard and it carries potting soil and bags of sand and stuff like that just fine.

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None

Roomy and handles well on the road.

Service diagnosis problems and no response yet from the manufacturer. Difficulty finding filters and standard service parts at any place other than the dealership.

My first impressions were that this was a decent car for the money as I bought it as a present for my daughters college graduation. Now after about 5 months of ownership I believe it is a car with lots of electrical/computer/fuel problems. Our Forrester has been in the dealership for over a week with problems with the computer and the timing belt has slipped a couple of notches and there are fuel problems. I had one previously good experience with a Subaru, but now regret my decision to buy this vehicle for my daughter since it appears that neither the dealer(who has provided good service) nor the manufacturer can diagnose the problems we are having getting this vehicle to operate consistently.

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Much better experience with Honda, Toyota, and GM with comparable vehicles in the past.

Gas Mileage, good axceleration, lots of cargo room

Windshields, ground clearnce,tires, alignment I had to get new tires at 22,000 miles after routinly haviong my tires balanced and rotated. I was told by a dealer this was becuase you are to have all ballanacing etc., done at Subaru delaers otherwise the alignmet will be messed up. Low resale value, paint chips on front. AWD is useless in heavy snow times. I slid out on icy road. Be carefull in this car buy snow tires if you drive it in the mts

Disappointed. Huge investment for someone my age (21) Low ground clearance. I should have bought truck or suv. AWD became iffy in snowy conditions. I lived at 9,500 feet and when there's 2+ feet of snow on the ground the thing bogs out! Flimsy plastic parts inside and outside the car routinely fall off. Windshields!!! Huge crack above the defroster from one side to the other, directly above defroster. I think it was caused by using the deforester on-10 mornings. Also cracks on my side view mirrors, No rock impact I am puzzled. Low resale value, Great Investment - NOT Tires alignmet Ill get into that below

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