Subaru Outback or Forester operators

Anyone out there with a Subaru Outback or Forester?

I’m contemplating one to replace my current diesel Kuga AWD.

I need more cargo volume than the Kuga has, as there’s a large dog taking up all the boot space (maybe 2 of them in the future… that’s for another thread) and do a fair bit of camping, + obvs bike trips etc.  And a fair amount of stuff on the roof too like kayaks.

The Kuga is OK, but lacking in space and 2nd row leg room (my daughter’s knees are up against the front seat, and she’s not overly tall. No fun fpr her on a journey to Cornwall or the Highlands.

Mild AWD preferred for all the shiiity lanes and muddy fields I end up in on a regular basis (and the increased road clearance given the fecked state of Derbyshire roads).

Don’t want a VW Transporter or similar- they drive and ride like an uncomfortable empty transit van from experience.

Most cars seem to have an excessively raked boot these days = style over practicality (current RAV4 the worst – I couldn’t get anything more than an chihuahua in there !)

Pity that Volvo XC70s not brought into the UK any more as that was idea.

Main downsides I see seem to be a thirsty Boxer engine, no hybrid option on the Outback (and only a token hybrid on the Forester).

Any users with experience?

Can’t help with those models, but the Subaru AWD system and boxer motor are one of the most impressive performers in snow or wet grass you will find (so long as it isn’t more than about 8″ deep). I drove an old Impreza estate (non-turbo) for about 11 years. Best car I owned (and I have had a few). Shame they no longer equip their AWD models with a low range box like they used to do. That car would crawl anywhere.

Forgot to add. Lots of horror stories with the Diesel Boxer. Probably best avoided unless there has been some improvement.

Pity that Volvo XC70s not brought into the UK any more

You can still get V60 & V90 Cross Country, they aren’t as tufty tufty as the original Xc70 but are still Haldex AWD.

Sorry can’t comment on Subaru as I’ve never owned one.

It’s a shame the only robust engine/gearbox combo they have made is the 1.6

Coupled with their love to rust inner arches sills outer sills and subframes

I’m out Octavia scout for me unless towing heavy trailers out of the muddy fields and wanted a hi/lo  and if that was regular I’d buy something heavier and longer

.

Forgot to add. Lots of horror stories with the Diesel Boxer. Probably best avoided unless there has been some improvement.

I almost bought a second hand Diesel Forester from a dealer. Deposit paid and the deal was contingent on a compression test. I got the deposit back.

I had a Mk1 Forrester Turbo. Great on offroad tracks for pissing about, not sure about proper offroading. Hilarious acceleration from such a square box bus but couldn’t corner for shit.

We’ve had 2 outbacks, a legacy, 3 imprezas, a forester, a BRZ & now an XV, so I guess we are Subaru fans ?

Early diesels were crap & had a habit of spinning the main bearings, it’s unlikely there are problem ones still around.

I did about 160k in my last (63 plate) diesel outback, it had many tyres, a few sets of brakes & 2 rear wheel bearings. Unfortunately we got a bigger caravan & so needed a bigger tow car, or I’d have another one.

Standard petrol engine has a reputation for being bomb proof, is about 150bhp but isn’t terribly quick of the mark. I loved the CVT automatic gearbox in the outback, I’ve heard stories they are less reliable than the manual though.

Import car parts are way cheaper for OE parts than main dealers.

180k on my 2010 diesel Outback. Getting a bit tired now but just went through  mOT with a couple of advisories. Rattles a bit but most Subarus do from what I can tell.

As stated diesels were problematic and not that efficient. Mine had a new short block at 120k (thanks Subaru UK) but all the problematic ones should probably be dead by now. I think they have since dropped it if you are looking newish.

What year you looking at? I’ve a 69 plate Forester with 90k miles, came with a five year warranty, but they’ve stopped that now- had two issues- had to replace the aircon condenser, and the drivers seat ‘leather’ is cracked/peeling by the bolster. Fuel economy is lousy- struggle to get the onboard computer to register into the 30’s unless I reset it and take a motorway drive.  CVT takes a fair bit of getting used to, but there’s flappy paddles on the steering wheel if you want to pretend that you’re in command of the gearbox. Boot is actually quite a bit larger than I’d thought at first- I’ve managed to fit the proverbial wardrobe inside.

Previous car was a 2011 forester diesel.
Owned for 5 years, the only actual fault in that time was an external temp guage that occasionally told lies.
My car was on 140k miles when I sold it to a cousin.
He’s still using it.
It went through every mot with minimal work/cost.
Averaged 43mpg the whole time i had it.
Went through a couple of wheel bearings at around 120k.
Tyres lasted close to 50k miles, the 50/50 split awd is kind to them.
Great cars to drive.
Forester probably slightly easier to live with than outback.
It’s rust that kills them, rear wheel arches and surrounding.
Although it doesn’t seem to affect scoobs in Canada, we spent a day in montreal in February, 1 in 5 cars was a subaru, the climate there is a lot harsher than ours in uk.

Don’t they use grit on the roads, not salt?

mine says it does 43mpg on the dash. It lies.

id like to replace it but it owes me nothing so I’ll keep driving it until something catastrophic goes wrong.

brother had a full fat forester, the massive bonnet scoop one. Amazing vehicle. I had a chance at an auto version of the same  but balked at the consumption figures!

Would love one of the early Foresters but I’d probably end up on first name terms with all the petrol station staff within 20 miles of my house.

My neighbour is on his second outback estate, both petrol. The current one he has had for 18 months is the non-turbo four cylinder with an automatic transmission. He really likes it and reports that it is more economical than he expected, at least on longer drives regularly making roughly 40 mpg, rather better than the six cylinder three litre he had before this one.
As far as reliability is concerned Over the past eight years of combined ownership both have had to have wheel bearings and brake discs replaced at about 120K miles. The six cylinder car was eventually sold because of a serious oil leak that a specialist told him would cost more than the vehicle was worth to repair (apparently a known issue and a full engine out/ head skimming fix)

Loved my 2002 Forester. Had to sell it though as the mpg was crippling. Less than 30 on a non-turbo 2.0. I was driving 20k per year. Swapped it for something that got closer to 50mog and it paid for itself pretty quickly.

Cheers folks.

I see current versions are petrol only:

– 2.5 litre non-turbo (assume 4 cylinder) in the Outback. About 170hp (from memory).

–2.0 litre non turbo in the Forester + a pokey little hybrid motor + battery.  Think the engine is something like 150hp and the elec motor about 13hp.

I’m looking at new or near- new (maybe 1-2 years old so someone else took the hit on initial depreciation).   I usually run a car til dead. (The kuga is 6 years old / 55k miles – the youngest car I’ve had, and debating whether to just keep this.  But as I say it’s a tad small (mid-covid purchase at 19k miles  when options were limited)

Not towing, but using a tow ball for the bike rack.

Xc90 is a good shout.

Checked out out 2 days ago. Mrs really likes it. Ticks all the boxes, except the price   (Big volume, big boot, 100kg roof load, etc.   Insurance not as horrific as I’d feared either.  Just rather spendy.  But maybe the fuel costs will offset some of that over the life of the car.

We had a Forester S – one of the most fun and capable vehicles ever! it was in a very unusual gold colour – god knows what the original owner was thinking when they picked that on the option list…

Xc90 is a good shout.

Friends bought a 2017 XC90 after being impressed with our legendary old/high mileage V70. Thankfully it’s been great for them, it replaced an absolute garbage Merc ML.

I’ve mentioned this before but Volvo engineering/design/materials quality is outstanding. Our V70 has so much thought / shortcuts to make life easier for whoever is working on the vehicle in years to come. Same goes for the XC90 I’m rebuilding. However these are both Gothenburg built cars – I don’t know if Geely era cars are similar.

Being a DIY tinkerer I’ve always been put off by Subaru and their flat boxer engines – namely because it’s twice the cylinder heads & gaskets, the timing belt is fairly lengthy/convoluted and spark plug access is poor.

Don’t know if it’s of any use to you as it’s mostly for older cars, but, for Subaru JDM imports can be a really good option. You don’t tend to get recent ones and it misses the point anyway, what we mostly get is 10-year-old plus cars that have had slightly stricter maintenance/roadworthiness standards and more importantly never seen a grain of salt. Plus the only ones that get imported are in good condition so it’s a bit like buying used cars except without the bottom 80%.

So I have a 20 year old turbo Legacy frinstance which is in better condition than a 5-year-old UK car would be. Obviously no modern stuff, no hydridisiation etc, but it’s just a really good solid car, old enough to be not totally computerised but new enough to get parts for (and the grey market means that while some parts are a little rare, mostly it uses the same bits as the UK cars), super practical except for a thirst for fuel. And cheap to tax, because it was never homologated for hte UK so it gets taxed on engine size not emissions. Though that does have some downsides for LEZ schemes, it’s London ULEZ compliant but isn’t allowed in some regional ones.

You’re obviously not in the market for a 20 year old car but maybe for a more recent one? The Outback is essentially a Legacy with longer travel and some spacers, but for most purposes a standard ride height legacy will do anything an outback or foz can do.

Had two 2007ish Foresters, one auto one manual. Loved them for being well made and reliable and pretty comfortable. Hated them for being so unbelievably fuel inefficient! Would love another one but they don’t seem to have got much better on fuel.

My old man bought a forester new in 2019 the 2l (170bhp)one. Not had a single problem with it and gets around 40mpg. Its only done 23k.  I liked it so much having driven it quite a lot over the years for him that when my old x-trail went in for the chop bought a slightly older Forester XT 2l and 240bhp, on the motorway will get around 40mpg but drops dramatically when on the country lanes around here whit the turbo adding bags of fun to the ride.

I had a 2005 Forester and loved it. Surprised by comments above that they don’t go round corners. It’s the only car I’ve ever owned that I’ve been too scared to find the end of the grip in it.. On tarmac, anyway. Off-road performance similarly exceptional for a family wagon. I had mine on beaches, riverbeds, sand dunes, snow. The only time it felt like it might get stuck was in deep sand. It didn’t though.

I was all set to buy a new-ish Forester XT but after a few test drives it felt pretty uninspiring. Except foot down in a straight line. Handling was meh. The CVT gearbox isn’t much fun and has a reputation for self-destruction.

I went with an AWD Mazda CX-5 in the end and it’s great.

Surprised by comments above that they don’t go round corners

Travis Pastrana wouldn’t agree with that comment

https://youtu.be/LXzPkkQirnM

It depends a lot on the actual forester but my mate’s one is basically an impreza on stilts, loads of interchangable parts.

I have a 2020 Outback with the 2.5 petrol engine.  Real word fuel economy is 34mpg.  This is a mix of long and short journeys.  You can get 40mpg, but only on a very long steady motorway journey.  Go at 80 and the fuel economy goes downhill.  They seem to hold their value better than some.  For me it was between a Superb and the Outback.  There aren’t many decent estates left!

I’m in the same ball park as you ref use case. Need a biggish capacity car with a estate type load area, room for kids, dogs, bikes, long trips to west Wales and northumberland from down south. Am an actual Forester (by profession) and spend time driving on gravel tracks and grass rides. Need to tow a trailer from time to time to get my logs in etc. I’ve had a few Land Rover freelancers over the yrs and am now on Skoda Kodiaks. The aid one with the big Diesel engine has been good for me, lots of flexible loadspace, really relaxing to drive, good supportive seats etc. 48mpg fully loaded with 4 of us going reasonably well and a full boot on the way back from Northumberland yesterday.

My slight issue now is that I need a car with lower emissions if I want to continue using it for work, and getting expenses paid. Has to be a plug in hybrid or electric really.

Don’t forget a new Forester should be out in the UK in Spring, so there might be some deals on the outgoing one.

Had Imprezas and Foresters. Our current one is the last of the Forester XTs. It’s a bit bland compared with the earlier stuff TBH. Rugged, AWD works well, useful space, never gone wrong.

It seems to get through lower control arm bushings and wheel bearings for some reason. Suspension is a bit odd too. Both harsh at low speeds and bouncy at speed. Maybe my dampers are getting old.

Keeping an eye on that exactly as the current one could come up with a deal.

From the American sites the 2025 version seems to have a bit more volume than the 2024, if they are to be believed- but no hybrids in the USA, so maybe it’s the boot space where the battery sits on the hybrid that us the difference??  (No spare tyre at all on the hybrid, which is a bit rubbish – I’ve had 2 tyres totally unrepairable with a foam can in the past. And Christmas plans screwed up with one of the wrecked tyres  on Christmas eve.).

Only common complaint so far is the clunky slow new 11″ infotainment screen and the lost physical buttons for air con.

Test drives being arranged soon !

New Dacia Bigster is out soon and looks interesting – bigger than a Duster and can be specced up utilitarian with 4×4

Only common complaint so far is the clunky slow new 11″ infotainment screen and the lost physical buttons for air con.

I ditched the infotainment screen in my earlier one, was pretty bad. Replaced it with a Sony CarPlay/Android Auto one. Perfect setup now, has all the buttons plus phone nav on the screen. Can’t do that now I guess if AC and stuff are on the screen.