Subaru Forester AWD

[Countrylass]

We're thinking of getting a new/newish towcar to replace our Primera as the clutch is too heavy for me. I have an automatic for day-to-day but now we're thinking that an automatic as our towcar would mean that I could share the driving on longer trips. A local dealer has an automatic Forester 2.0 AWD on sale at what seems to be a reasonable price (we've looked at Parkers Price Guide). Can anyone help with opinions on this car?

Thanks

 

[otherclive]

Subaru's are renowned for thier build quality and reliabilty, but do make sure that it has a full service history that can be checked. Dealers are generally good although servicing needs can be expensive. Look at its kerbweight as the dealers will talk about its towing performance but the kerbweight is quite low. Don't expect much in the way of good mpg!

My daughter had a 2.5 Legacy auto which she sold last year and then bought aJeep Cherokee followed by a Fiat Abarth Stilo, but this weekend she's off the look at another Legacy. Must say something about Subarus. Good luck.

 

[RogerL]

I have a Subaru Outback, big brother to the Forester - it's the best car I've ever had, by far - nothing's broken or fallen off - it's towing qualities are superb. The Forester was Towcar of the Year, but I'm not sure which year.

There are four downsides - kerbweights of all Subarus are light for the size of car - fuel consumption of petrol Subarus is below average - automatics need an annual fluid change if used for towing - the newly announced diesel is only available as a manual at the moment and won't get a proper automatic in future, just a CVT in 2010.

 

[Countrylass]

Thanks Clive and Roger. We think we might go and look at it in detail this weekend.

We have seen them on sites towing vans about the size of ours (a Bailey Ranger).

 

[Countrylass]

An update- the Forester we looked at a couple of weeks ago had a fair amount of wear - the plastic trim inside the rear doors was very scratched, the back seat cushions had stitching coming undone and there was a big scrape on the front bumper. All in all we felt that it was overpriced for what it was and didn't even test-drive it.

We found another automatic Forester at another dealer, test-drove it and liked it. It's newer than the first one, in better nick, lower mileage and a similar price. We've checked that it is a suitable towing match for our van and pick it up in two weeks!! The garage is fitting a towbar and it lets us have time to sell our Primera.