New Car - opinions

[Boggo]

Just wondering if anyone on here has or is familiar with the Subaru Forester 2.0 litre turbo diesel SUV.

I am just about to put pen to paper on a nice new one of these after having nothing but Honda's since 1992.

Cheers

 

[sptrawler]

I think the Forrester diesel only comes in manual, no auto available, may be a bit of an issue if you tow regularly Other than that it should be a good car.

 

[Boggo]

I think the Forrester diesel only comes in manual, no auto available, may be a bit of an issue if you tow regularly Other than that it should be a good car.

I actually prefer the manual much to the surprise of many of the sales people.

Cheers sptrawler

 

[McLovin]

I think the Forrester diesel only comes in manual, no auto available, may be a bit of an issue if you tow regularly Other than that it should be a good car.

I think they do have them in auto now, or at least they make them in an auto but may not be selling them in Australia yet.

Iirc, the reason for no auto on the diesel was that the engine was too torquey for the automatic transmissions they had.

I had a Liberty when I was at uni (sort of a hand me down), low k's was only a few years old but it was a pile of junk. Constantly needing things fixed. Maybe I was just unlucky because everyone else who ever had a Subaru raves about them. Boggo, I went the opposite way, I drive a Honda now.

 

[skc]

VW Tiguan... if you can live with a small boot.

 

[pixel]

According to the latest RAC magazine, it may be worthwhile to consider Kia Sportage and Holden Captiva.

 

[gordon2007]

It's a pretty decent vehicle. However don't go thinking it's a proper 4x4. Whilst it's quite capable in a lot of elements, it doesn't really have the clearance. IE I wouldn't try crossing the simpson desert in it. Doing a bit of soft roading on it can be a bit of fun though.

 

[Tannin]

It's a pretty decent vehicle. However don't go thinking it's a proper 4x4. Whilst it's quite capable in a lot of elements, it doesn't really have the clearance. IE I wouldn't try crossing the simpson desert in it. Doing a bit of soft roading on it can be a bit of fun though.

Foresters cross the Simpson Desert regularly.

As a rough-terrain vechicle, you lose on clearance (1 inch less than a Land Cruiser) but win on footprint (roughly the same contact patch but much lighter, so floats better over poor surfaces, especially sand). As with any vehicle, it's really about the driver, not the car. If you drive within your limitations and use some sense, you can take a Forester almost anywhere you'd ever want to go.

Off the rough stuff, you win on economy, and win big on handling - because the Subaru engine is a flat 4 sited low down in the chassis, the centre of gravity is lower than any other 4WD, which makes it handle the long miles of bitumen better than (e.g.) a Cruiser or a Prado or a RAV. On the gravel, the low CofG and the the light weight make it very well behaved.

And anywhere you go - off-road, gravel, or freeway, this applies to all - the constant 4WD provides a huge grip advantage. With constant 4WD, you have power to all 4 wheels when you need it. (With the common auto-sensing 4WD systems, you only get power to the other wheels after you have lost traction - i.e., the 4WD kicks in about half a second after you needed it to prevent loss of traction.) All Subarus use the constant system, as do many other quality cars - Range Rovers used to (don't know if the new ones still do or not), the legendary Audi Quattro pioneered it decades ago, plus various others.

Over the years I've owned 3 Holdens, a Mazda, a Volkswagen Golf, and a Forester. All of those cars were good ones, each in its different way, but the Subaru is in a different league. It's just built better. Engineered as though engineering mattered. I bought a manual 2.5 litre Forester new in 2004 and I've done over 250,000 kilometres in it now, nearly all long outback trips (I'm a wildlife photographer) and lots and lots of rough stuff. Never missed a beat. Brilliant car. At this stage, I am planning to trade it in on a new Diesel Forester when it hits 300,000 kilometres - and it looks as though I'll still be on the original factory clutch, 'cause at 250 and counting, it's still just fine.

Buy with confidence.

 

[MrBurns]

Subaru's have an impeccable name.....you're very unlikey to regret it.

 

[ROE]

According to the latest RAC magazine, it may be worthwhile to consider Kia Sportage and Holden Captiva.

Trouble with these magazines they test new car, they don't know what it will be like 5 years down the road..
I would never buy another Holden in my life time or my kids...These guys just pump out car they don't know how to make quality car and I don't think they know what quality is at Holden...

and they wonder why people aren't buying their cars

If stuff look new and shiny they call it quality, 5 years down the road it becomes junks

I'm Subaru and Mazda (these are quality made car from the screw to the engines) all the way having owned Holden and Honda....

 

[MrBurns]

I had a Mercedes E500 I traded that on a Maserati Coupe' drove that for a year until it drove me crazy as I only do short trips in traffic, sold that and walked into a Holden dealership and said "I'll have that one" it's perfect for what I do, I can park it anywhere without worryng, it costs nothing to buy or service.
I still look at other cars but I cant find a reason to sell the Commodore, it's not good quality but perfect for around town.

 

[Crows]

Trouble with these magazines they test new car, they don't know what it will be like 5 years down the road..
I would never buy another Holden in my life time or my kids...These guys just pump out car they don't know how to make quality car and I don't think they know what quality is at Holden...

and they wonder why people aren't buying their cars

If stuff look new and shiny they call it quality, 5 years down the road it becomes junks

I'm Subaru and Mazda (these are quality made car from the screw to the engines) all the way having owned Holden and Honda....

I would agree that Holden don't make good 4WD cars.. But I'd say that they make good sedans, well mostly. I've had my Holden 2001 VX SS for 2 years and never had a problem. I previously owned a Ford and had spent thousands trying to fix it and ended up giving up after the head gasket went on it.

 

[MrBurns]

I would agree that Holden don't make good 4WD cars.. But I'd say that they make good sedans, well mostly. I've had my Holden 2001 VX SS for 2 years and never had a problem. I previously owned a Ford and had spent thousands trying to fix it and ended up giving up after the head gasket went on it.

I'm not saying Holdens are good as such but they do the job cheaply for city driving without you having to worry about supermarket trolly dings.

 

[Boggo]

It's a pretty decent vehicle. However don't go thinking it's a proper 4x4. Whilst it's quite capable in a lot of elements, it doesn't really have the clearance. IE I wouldn't try crossing the simpson desert in it. Doing a bit of soft roading on it can be a bit of fun though.

Mainly just light stuff, bikes, camping gear etc gordon, no heavy duty off road.

Over the years I've owned 3 Holdens, a Mazda, a Volkswagen Golf, and a Forester. All of those cars were good ones, each in its different way, but the Subaru is in a different league. It's just built better. Engineered as though engineering mattered. I bought a manual 2.5 litre Forester new in 2004 and I've done over 250,000 kilometres in it now, nearly all long outback trips (I'm a wildlife photographer) and lots and lots of rough stuff. Never missed a beat. Brilliant car. At this stage, I am planning to trade it in on a new Diesel Forester when it hits 300,000 kilometres - and it looks as though I'll still be on the original factory clutch, 'cause at 250 and counting, it's still just fine.

Buy with confidence.

A husband of one of the wifes friends is on his second one and tells a similiar tale Tannin, they just keep going.

Subaru's have an impeccable name.....you're very unlikey to regret it.

Agree so much MrBurns that I did sign on the line today, pick it up in around ten days time.
Going to miss my years with Honda but they just don't make a good all round SUV that compares with either the Nissan X-Trail or the Subaru Forester and I wanted an SUV this time (just to keep up with 'er indoors )

Another aquaintance has just bought a Mazda CX-7 but they seem a bit big or bulky for what I need but Mazda do build good vehicles.

Thanks for your input folks

Piccy of similiar...

 

[CanOz]

Well we've decided on our new vehicle after much family discussion. Our prior vehicle was a 2006 BMW 320i with over 250,000 kms on it...and it died recently...RIP

It went something like this:
I thought the Honda CRV, Hyundai Sante Fe, Toyota Rav4 would all be good value for money and we could get a top of the range vehicle for about 300,000 CNY.

Since we'll only be here in China for another 2-3 years or so and the father in law needs a new vehicle I thought "kill two birds" and get something he can use on long trips and permanently after we leave.

Now we're onto the Audi Q5. They feel the quality is far superior to the Asian cars and is worth the extra price (almost 200,000 CNY). So although my suggestions have been basically discounted, I'm ok with the Q5 after taking one for a test drive. The quality of the car is noticeably different, the ride, steering, even the door handles and closure is blindingly obvious.

So now the next dilemma, should we buy the 2013 model of the 2012 model. Now, from a laowai's POV you would never buy a prior model unless you were getting a really good discount, They've offered us 8000 CNY...

The new model has suspension improvements as well as better fuel economy and a few more std features...as well as some cosmetic changes.

I'd be interested in hearing from any Q5 owners, as well as opinions on buying the latest model versus the prior model...

Cheers,


CanOz

 

[CanOz]

Boooo Yahhhhh....finally got it home!

 

[Tyler Durden]

Boooo Yahhhhh....finally got it home!

Very nice!

I would like an Audi A5 coupe one day, but I can't seem to justify to myself spending $60k on a car when I don't even have my own property yet.

 

[sammy84]

Boooo Yahhhhh....finally got it home!

Congrats! I'm in the market for a Q5. Test drove one the other week and was very impressed.

 

[waza1960]

Just keep in mind once out of warranty parts are incredibly expensive so an Audi can be expensive to maintain.

 

[Julia]

Lovely. Hope you really enjoy it.