HelloFL

Well, maybe for rich some people Tesla car is a reality, but I am just a middle class American and Tesla's price tag for me is a dream, not a reality.

I see your point carfreak85 about the EPA mandate, however, IMHO here in the US most people, except for California, do not care so much about the fuel efficiency IF the gas/fuel is cheap. I would argue that the times of expensive oil are gone forever. Because of oil fracking, because there is just too much of it in Venezuela, because of alternative fuels - many reasons. Electric vehicles are still a dream as far as I am concerned because nobody has figured out yet a good economical way to save electricity needed for a passenger vehicle. Would be nice, of course.

I think in future Subaru models we should see more HPs, even at the expense of the fuel economy. Most car companies are still under inertia of the high oil/gas prices and are selling underpowered models. So does Subaru. But that's not what consumers want now. Low oil prices are here to stay for a long-long time. There is just too much of it in the world and not enough demand to keep the prices high. People are not commuting to work as much because many work remotely. Vehicles like base model Forester, Honda HR-V, Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-5 are clearly not what most people want in terms of hps. It's just a matter of time till everyone starts offering more powerful engines. I hope Subaru will do it sooner.

After all info I gather so far it seems that Premium XT with additional 80 hp is a better choice than a 2.5 with the EyeSight because: - the EyeSight, Blind Spot Monitoring etc have quite a few limitations - those safety gadgets are plain dangerous for people who rely too much on them and do not pay enough attention to the traffic situation for that reason - the turbo engine can potentially help you to get out of a dangerous situation faster - XT has better wheels, suspension and ride which makes it more fun to drive If Subaru did offer EyeSight package with XT Premium for and extra $1,600 or so, I would still go for it. I am just not sure I wouldn't turn it off most of the time though. As of now they don't offer it on XT Premium 2017.

You are probably right about getting a lot of value out of used cars purchases, especially when it come to buying luxury cars, but except for my very first car (Toyota Corolla) which I don't have anymore, I only buy new cars and intend to keep them for a long time. With Subaru Forester my expectations are at least 200,000 miles of service. If you spread it through the years you use it, extra 6K for XT/Turbo may appear not a lot but only if you really need those additional 80 hp. With my sedan (Hyundai Sonata) I feel frustration with the 4 cylinders (as opposed to 6 that I could have) only when I am merging in the highway traffic. Passing other cars on a highway or going steady at 80 mph is never a problem. Of course, we are not comparing apples to apples because one is CVT and the other is AUTO.

2-3 thousand dollar car for the teens financially is a smart choice but those cars are usually not safe

Thank you for replies. Yes, the teenagers will drive the car and passing on a highway is not important to me. I just put my cruise control at 80 and stay in one lane. There is one more option though - to buy a more expensive 2.0 XT Touring trim that has the EyeSight and other safety things from 2.5 plus leather seats plus Active Torque Vectoring. The question is - are all those nice extras worth additional $6,000? $36,000 price tag opens up a lot of alternative possibilities - 4Runner (also made in Japan) and many more.

Trying to stay under $30K budget and I am trying to decide what is better - to buy a 2.5 Premium with 170 hp but with EyeSight and all other safety features or for approximately the same price just to get a much more powerful 2.0 XT Premium Forester but without EyeSight. I live in Florida - so going to the mountains or snow will not happen often if ever. On a highway I drive for long periods of time but always at 80 miles per hour. Will have my wife and 2 teenage kids in the car. What would you recommend to choose? Thanks.