Subaru forester prices

[thinfourth2]

The wife has decided she wants a forester.

She wants a forester NOW

I've seen 13 year old examples going for over 2 grand and they seem to be selling like hot cakes.


So i want to wait until the snow has gone and buy one in the spring.

Am i right that the prices of small 4x4s is just silly just now

[sawman]

Well it's going to snow in october!

I bought a forester last november, it looks like the prices this year are similar or slightly stronger than last year I dont recall seeing the prices soften in the spring or summer tbh, and I was keeping an eye out for another to replace our jeep. The trouble with leaving your purchase til after the winter is you will be in the doghouse if it snows and she gets stuck over the winter - how much is that worth?

[thinfourth2]

sawman said:

The trouble with leaving your purchase til after the winter is you will be in the doghouse if it snows and she gets stuck over the winter - how much is that worth?

Not overtly worried about getting stuck

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...

[B.J.W]

I paid £1100 for a V Plate Forester 2 years ago - a 2.0 GL. Lady B.J.W needed a cheap 4x4 for popping up to the stables/meeting me at the shoot etc. It had never been serviced and was not in particularly good condition. Tough as old boots it was, and I actually drove it in preference to my Disco on really cold mornings because the heated seats were brilliant.

There are 31 Foresters under 2k listed on Auto Trader. An alternative would be to look at a Legacy - just as good in difficult conditions and more practical too. There are 41 Legacy's listed at under 2k - including a few Outbacks.

I've linked to this car before on another thread, well worth a look given the mileage and condition.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Having been in a similar position to you I would suggest that you will have to be prepared to travel for the right car.

[GTIR]

Not just Forresters but Justy as well. (the older 4x4)

Seen a few 95>00 go from £600 to £1300 mostly on EBay where most are listed. They are just not worth that sort of money. I paid £275 for mine (outside of eBay) and that's the listed Glasses price.
Only reason I went for one over a Forrester or Legacy is I wanted a small car and I've got four 13" winter tyres in the shed!

I can see all Subaru AWD increasing price wise (apart from Imprezza's) in the build up to winter.

[paulmoonraker]

It will snow for a few days. Why buy a car for that. Just sit in a drink, then tell your boss you cant get to work as you are snowed in... Play snowballs with the kids...

[paulmoonraker]

GTIR said:

I can see all Subaru AWD increasing price wise (apart from Imprezza's) in the build up to winter.

Someone will sure to come along now and tell you how good ludicrously powerful Impreza's are in the snow. Ignore them - they are st.

[66comanche]

paulmoonraker said:

Someone will sure to come along now and tell you how good ludicrously powerful Impreza's are in the snow. Ignore them - they are st.

Never had any problems with my classic impreza in the snow. Depends what you're comparing them with though, obviously not a proper 4x4, but miles better than say a 330i, golf gti, focus st, ctr etc ...

[RB Will]

paulmoonraker said:

GTIR said:

I can see all Subaru AWD increasing price wise (apart from Imprezza's) in the build up to winter.

Someone will sure to come along now and tell you how good ludicrously powerful Impreza's are in the snow. Ignore them - they are st.

To be fair my Impreza gets up and goes brilliantly in the snow, its stopping the bugger that is hard, the tyres are all wrong. You dont even need 4wd if you have the right gear. In the last lot of snow I borrowed the family Trooper which has BFG all terrain tyres on it. I never had to use the 4wd option and just kept it in rear.

[thinfourth2]

paulmoonraker said:

It will snow for a few days. Why buy a car for that. Just sit in a drink, then tell your boss you cant get to work as you are snowed in... Play snowballs with the kids...

it won't snow for a few days, it will snow for a few weeks maybe a few months like last year as belive it or not everyone lives in the south east.

Also my current fleet deals perfectly with snow, i can get to the main road even if we have 6foot of snow as i can use the digger to dig our way out. All the cars have a set of snow tyres apart from the Unimog

She wants a forester as its a bit higher up then most estate cars and a bit more rugged

[GTIR]

"Boxing day morning"

Why does that make me feel all warm and happy?

[paulmoonraker]

right on cue

[B.J.W]

thinfourth2 said:

She wants a forester as its a bit higher up then most estate cars and a bit more rugged

Sub 2k you will be looking at first generation Foresters - from experience there is very little, if any difference in ride height between the subaru and regular estate cars. My Allroad definitely rides higher. Better off looking at a Legacy Outback - not sure but ride height looks to be higher than the Foresters. You have the box ticked on rugged, but I would definitely check the back of a Forester - there is not as much space as you think, although the rear seats can be brought forward a touch.

Looking at mine the ride height is pretty much standard. I always liked the two tone brown and green paintwork, complemented nicely by the near side rear wing dents and scratches caused by an argument with a concealed concrete gate post. Ran it on part worn bridgestone H/T's, always amused me how the little forester could get to places that larger and more expensive 4x4's couldn't.

[GreatGranny]

66comanche said:

Never had any problems with my classic impreza in the snow. Depends what you're comparing them with though, obviously not a proper 4x4, but miles better than say a 330i, golf gti, focus st, ctr etc ...

An F1 car on full slicks is better than a RWD BMW in the snow!

(Says the owner of an E36 318is who got stuck on a perfectly level supermarket car park last year on 500 mile old tyres!)

[B.J.W]

hora said:

Looks nice- how long have you had it and any issues?

Looks can be deceiving

Sadly, Lady B.J.W passed away at the beginning of 2010, so it was surplus to requirements for a while. I sold the Disco and bought an Alfa 159 and ran the Forester until trading it on an L200 June last year. As mentioned, when I took it up to a friend who ran a garage he said that in his opinion it had never been serviced. It was only showing 90k on the clock when I bought it, so I had no idea what it was used for. After the service it continued to run without any problems at all (apart from the digital clock which didn't work). It was never cleaned and suffered a fair bit of abuse, but it never let me down. It did almost pack up on the way to pick up the L200, at which point it refused to go above 50 mph, but I assume that this was fixed as I later received 4 speeding fines from Yorkshire police after it left my ownership. Last I heard the owner (who hadn't declared that he was the owner) and car were being sought by the police!!!

I can't recommend them highly enough, but personal circumstances change and the Allroad does the job of daily driver and shooting hack well enough..... until such time as I can justify the expense of a Disco or Rangey. If I was after a tough as nails 4x4 under 2k and extreme offroad ability was not top of the list I'd buy another (or a Legacy)

[thinfourth2]

What is the 4x4 system in these?

Will they get stuck if 1 wheel looses traction or are they smarter then that

[GC8]

If you regard them as an Impreza high capacity estate, then you wont have gone far wrong.

[thinfourth2]

So what does the hi-lo do?

And is the hi-lo in all gears?

[GC8]

Low range, similar to that found in normally aspirated 1,800/2,000cc Impreza estates.

[rovermorris999]

Turbos have a rear mechanical lsd and the fluid centre diff does a pretty good job of directing power if a wheel loses traction. I'm sure this has been posted before but it's worth a look again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooQRxlChvMw