MnDel

Thanks all! - everyone has been so willing to give advice, with their great background experience. This has helped us make the decision,and decided to let this one go. Thanks all for taking the time to lend a helping hand in the advice department! Del

$3500-$4000 would be great! And yes, we were able to see a legacy that was next to the forester....and it actually seemed a bit longer! This has been a good learning experience......which subarus have the best mechanical reliability rating and such. We will keep looking - may have to drive out of state to find an older model that we can afford that hasn't seen rust. Living in the "rust belt" is a bit of a problem in buying older vehicles. Thanks all! Del

OOps!!! I meant "Folks".....not Foks!!!.....geez....where is the coffee! :-)

Hi foks - all of your input is much appreciated. We haven't heard back from the owners yet...not sure what's going on, but that's okey, as we have needed this time to commiserate with this group. We will need to call them this morning, to see "what's up". But we will likely let it go, anyway. To answer a few questions that came up - No - we are not at all set on the Forester....this one came up in the paper, and any Subaru's coming up for sale around here is rare (although we see them being driven all over town.) So we thought we should go look at it and maybe consider it if the price was right. That was before we knew about the problems that the 98's can have. Our focus on buying a vehicle, is one that has a good crash test rating, has dual air bags, and a good mechanicl repair record. And we would like a wagon. (I know that the Forester is sort of a cross breed). We like the AWD idea, but not essential. So, basically, we are wanting a vehicle that is safe and practical - don't need, or necessarily want anything with a lot of bells and whistles - just safe and practical. Our budget is probably about $5000-$5500 for whatever vehicle we buy. One of the posters asked what the blue book said on this car....we were shocked to see that it was rated at $5000-$6000, for good to excellent condition. But, I guess Kelly blue book doesn't know about some of the problems this vehicle can have... JT95 - yes! - we most certainly would consider a LEgacy outback. Does anyone know how they rate on crash tests? If anyone would care to comment further on recommendations for a Subaru - we are all ears. ....and are so appreciative of any and all feedback! Thanks again! Del

The owners of the Forester are now saying "make an offer".....hmmmm....(I think the high mileage with the $5000 price is scaring many interested buyers away.) Would any of you care to comment what they would consider a fair price for an '89 Forester with 191,000 miles on it? The body looks in exc. condition, very clean - mechanically, no obvious present concerns. Sounds good when running. It's helpful to have other folks input, as we are so new to the valuation of these particular vehicles.

Hello , - we are new to subaru's, but have been interested in buying one for quite some time. We are still learning the pros and cons of the different models, but yesterday we drove a 98 Forester, with 191,000 on it. We might get it for 5 grand or a little less?. It has had the head gasket changed recently, I think some sort of oil seal, heater blower. The body is in perfect condition and it sounds great. However, after reading some of the posts, we are a little hesitant as to what further problems it may have, since it has such high miles. At what point in price valuation is it worth it to gamble on all of the 98's problems? It looks like the sort of vehicle we are looking for, and I wonder how likely it is to find the more recommended 99 for anything like $5,000? We'll need to decide soon (likely today - Monday!), Can anyone helP? thanks! Del

Hello ,just joined because we are about to buy our first Suburu, been toyota folk for 30 years.... We are in a fairly remote area, so dont see many fo rsale. Today we drove a 98 Forester . Might get it for 5 grand or a little less?. It has 195k, head gasket changed recently. At what point in price valuation is it worth it to gamble on all of the 98's problems? ....(which we now know of thanks to spending 2 hours reading the archives of this forum!) It looks like the sort of vehicle we are looking for, and I wonder how likely it is to find the more recommended 99 for anything like $5,000? We'll need to decide soon, thanks! Del