Forester purchase

Forester purchase

Author
Discussion

PositronicRay

Original Poster:

26,952 posts

182 months

Sunday 14th April 2019
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Early stages but I'll be looking for a workhorse, up to £6k workhorse with the following criteria.

Petrol, 5 door, reasonable ground clearance, dogs, cope with tracks, tough, 4-5k per annum, home maintenance, reasonable running costs, comfort more important than cosmetics.

Am I on the right track? Are the autos OK? Any major pitfalls? Anything else I should consider? Ability more important than 4wd

R12many

182 posts

91 months

Monday 15th April 2019
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I had a 55 plate XT 2.5 and it was constantly going wrong. Started in the first week of ownership with a new fuse box due to corrosion and ended 4 years later with a blown motor. Had 2 secondary air pump failures, secondary air valve failures, 3 headlight ballasts blow, seals in both headlights failed, abs pump failed and lots of corrosion fixed. It was quick but way too quick for the brakes and suspension. Ride quality was not great with lots of NVH. The whole car felt cheap. Don't buy one thinking your getting a tall WRX because it's nothing like one unless you get an FSTI. Oh and the auto box spoils any remaining chance of a fun drive!

ChampionRabbit

103 posts

64 months

Monday 15th April 2019
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I have a 2006 Forester 2.0 n/A which I look after myself. Before I had a Legacy n/A. I love the forester; comfy, nippy enough for me (post 2005 has dohc with more horses), strong, decent off road.
Super useful size. Not massive but lots of boot space arc.
Legacy was also great although slower and bigger.
Both have been very reliable and easy to work on. Also, loads of online info on subs as owners tend to be hands-on and loads of crossover between models so e.g. impreza wheel bearing replacement same as forester etc.
Don't know about newer foresters.

PositronicRay

Original Poster:

26,952 posts

182 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
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Thanks chaps.

rossub

4,400 posts

189 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
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You’d get a JDM Cross Sports for that kind of money. Proper 2 litre Turbo, so none of the 2.5s problems and only £260 a year road tax.

Find one that’s not been here long and it’ll be rust free too.

I imported one for £6.5k - 50k miles, manual, 220 bhp, 1/2 leather heated seats. A little softer than a WRX, but much better than the UK models.

Always a few on eBay, so worth a look.

EW109

290 posts

139 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
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I have had an 07 plate 2.5 XT for the past two years.

It isn't a luxo-barge; but it is practical and quick-ish.

Contrary to the doom and gloom above, it has not gone bork-tastically wrong: it has been far more reliable than the E61 530D it replaced. In about 20k miles I've replaced, in addition to tyres, the cam belt and the rear shockers (I replaced the expensive and dead self-levelling ones with normal ones).


R12many

182 posts

91 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
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I forgot about the rear shocks, the self levelling failed so they were replaced with Pedders units which bolted straight in. Also the exhaust rusted through which is no big deal if you can get a replacement but local exhaust places could not source one so we had to get one custom made.
Just in case you think I'm a Subaru hater, I have an 05 WRX wagon which is my pride and joy but has it's own issues!

vxr2010

2,554 posts

158 months

Wednesday 17th April 2019
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or push the boat out a bit more and by a forester sti , the only failure i can think of in 185,000 miles was a drivers window door motor welded for 5£ , plus a boost solenoid 20£ the biggest issue was the engine a rebuild half way through its life but i don’t regret that as over all a fantastic very quick car , and the cost of an engine re build over 12 years of ownership and all those miles covered well worth it , went like a stabbed rat and still got 35mpg on a long run, for grunt and drive ability the 2.5 is the better engine as has a lot more torque but does have its weakness the 2 litre less prone to failure , the jdm route is a good route

ChampionRabbit

103 posts

64 months

Wednesday 17th April 2019
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Maybe of assistance; if you want genuine spares it's often far cheaper to buy them from partsouq in Dubai, even with postage. Often I've placed an order for something domestic at the same time and the Partsouq parts have arrived first.

PomBstard

6,728 posts

241 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
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I ran a 2007 Forester from new for about 10 years and 100,000 with the N/A 2.5 engine and manual box. Only major requirement was new AC gibbons after about 6/7 years. Otherwise routine servicing.

A friend has the bigger-bodied 2008 with the same engine but auto box and whilst no ball of fire has also been relatively trouble free.

They’re tough cars if serviced properly. I’m now on my sixth Subaru.

Russ T Bolt

1,684 posts

282 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
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R12many said:
I had a 55 plate XT 2.5 and it was constantly going wrong. Started in the first week of ownership with a new fuse box due to corrosion and ended 4 years later with a blown motor. Had 2 secondary air pump failures, secondary air valve failures, 3 headlight ballasts blow, seals in both headlights failed, abs pump failed and lots of corrosion fixed. It was quick but way too quick for the brakes and suspension. Ride quality was not great with lots of NVH. The whole car felt cheap. Don't buy one thinking your getting a tall WRX because it's nothing like one unless you get an FSTI. Oh and the auto box spoils any remaining chance of a fun drive!
I ran a 55 plate 2.5 XT from new for 6 years and 70,000. It was a fantastic car, no problems at all until the head gaskets went.

It was very quick, Evo tested one at 0-60 in 5.7 seconds, or 5.3 with the Prodrive Pack from memory. I used to average 180 miles per tank so not cheap on fuel.

The HID headlights on mine were sealed units.

I thought it handled well for what it was. No problems with brakes either.

It wasnt an STi Imprezza certainly, but close to my classic Impreza i had previously (as a company car).

rossub

4,400 posts

189 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
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Hmmm that can't be right. The tank is 60L, so that's about 13-14 mpg.

Driving to speed limits, with the odd brisk over-take and I'm averaging 27-28 mpg. The same as I managed in a WRX PPP.

Russ T Bolt

1,684 posts

282 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
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rossub said:
Hmmm that can't be right. The tank is 60L, so that's about 13-14 mpg.

Driving to speed limits, with the odd brisk over-take and I'm averaging 27-28 mpg. The same as I managed in a WRX PPP.
It is right, consistently 180 miles. As I said, I tended to drive it hard. I never ran the tank out, so wouldnt have put 60l in. From memory it worked out as about 21mpg.

Roughly the same as I got from the classic Imprezza, which in turn started out at 17mpg when new and for the first 10k miles.

The 2 STi’s i had were about the same overall, even though one was modified (just over 400bhp).

RB Will

9,662 posts

239 months

Thursday 25th April 2019
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You must give em death lol.
Our 07 Forester with PPP used to average about 27-28 about 300 miles per tank, not hanging around. From new to about 120k miles. As far as I recall we only had to replace a headlight in all that time.

My classic averages around 20mpg on a trip out but is pushing over 500bhp. Taking it easy I can get nearly 30 from it

Sa Calobra

37,000 posts

210 months

Monday 29th April 2019
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OP you are describing a Forester. Ideal for 4-5k a year and it's interesting too.

You could get a Passat estate but dull dull dull.

I've got a 08 plate (last of 03-07) 160bhp non turbo. It's great but I've calculated that I did 16.000miles last year! So it's going soon sadly. 59,000miles but I'm too far from you.

Back on topic. Great cars and if ground clearance is not a biggie you could also consider the Legacy.

Hol

8,356 posts

199 months

Monday 29th April 2019
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RB Will said:
You must give em death lol.
Our 07 Forester with PPP used to average about 27-28 about 300 miles per tank, not hanging around. From new to about 120k miles. As far as I recall we only had to replace a headlight in all that time.

My classic averages around 20mpg on a trip out but is pushing over 500bhp. Taking it easy I can get nearly 30 from it
I agree that seems excessive. .
Both my STurbo and XTen Foresters did about 270-300 per tank. in comparison to my 330bhp Classic and 400bhp Newage imprezas that struggled to get 200miles.



Bansheemax

26 posts

74 months

Tuesday 30th April 2019
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That's because you had a heavy right foot biggrin


Teddy Lop

8,290 posts

66 months

Wednesday 10th July 2019
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Are the 2.5s really that bad? The mrs wants a forrester similar to the OP and the 2.5s do seem good value, someone we know who sold them for 20+ years said they're brilliant and take one over the 2.0 if you can yet so many uk threads seem to reference the 2.5 in ominous tones.

Would be a well cared for example fwiw, I gather the engines don't wear neglect well.

Sa Calobra

37,000 posts

210 months

Wednesday 10th July 2019
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2.5's need tlc IMO.

Depends what you are looking for.

My Forester feels granite like compared to my work cars. Feels unshakable and with it's non-turbo 2.0 great

But a big motorbike and a Toyota Aygo call laugh so it's off to PX.

SidJames

1,399 posts

232 months

Wednesday 10th July 2019
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EW109 said:
I have had an 07 plate 2.5 XT for the past two years.

It isn't a luxo-barge; but it is practical and quick-ish.
me too. Loved it, but didn't realise the alarming rate at which it ate engine oil.

Sad I sold it.