fuhkengroovin Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) Finally figured out what I want to buy. I want one in the 2003 - 2006 era since that's about all I can afford right now. It's intended to be the "work car" which can also be used to go on vacation/camping, etc. In light of the recent gas price increases I had been considering a VW TDI, but in the end, I decided I wanted a Subaru and the Forester seems to have a better price point than Outbacks or Legacys with little to none additional cost in MPG. I'm dumping a minivan and the Outback seems like a nice transition, although I've never driven a car for very long that got less than 20 MPG, so it's time to say goodbye to my old friend (1996 Nissan Quest - well equipped). I've owned an '86 4WD hi/lo bought right off the lot and drove it almost a quarter million miles. And I got 26 - 27 MPG in everyday driving. Me and Subaru bought more than one Y-pipes, but in the end, it was timing belts (which were non-interference which allowed me to truly maximize the time between TB changes ) but then I start reading on this site about all the HG problems and transmission problems and on and on. Of course, on these sites you only hear the bad stuff and if what people said was true the highways would be littered with broken down VW's and Subarus. So my question is the usual set: Does anybody know what the recommended interval is for timing belt changes on this era of Foresters? Would manual or auto tranny be preferable? I can drive either, don't mind shifting if it buys me MPG, otherwise, I would probably take an auto. Reliability is also important. My mechanic is good, but boy, is he a arrogant! What year, if any, would you recommend for reliability and MPG? I already learned that 2003 was the end of the Never Ending Head Gasket is Blown Era, so thanks to everyone for that much already! I want a sunroof, but if there's a model/year/tranny/color that's rock solid, I could give that feature up. Thanks in advance... Edited March 10, 2011 by fuhkengroovin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eryque Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I'll answer the one part of your post that I really know... On a Subaru, manual transmission does not save gas mileage. The reason is that the MT cars split the power 50/50 front/rear full time, which costs fuel efficiency. The auto cars are a 90/10 split, which is better on gas. The EPA MPG ratings for the Forester and Outback in those years is the same, so you're not really saving anything by going for the smaller car, except that the tires on the Forester are a size smaller and will be a few bucks less. Whether the Forester is big enough... you'll be surprised at how much you can cram in there if you can fold down the rear seats. If you're taking 3-4 people and a bunch of stuff... you'll probably want the Outback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuhkengroovin Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Thanks - I didn't mention it, but I'm still partial to the wagons and wouldn't turn down a good deal on those either. There are a ton of them up here in the Seattle area. For whatever reason, right now it seems like used car prices are more than I expected. Even the legendary '96 Outback will fetch $2500 for one with 200K+ miles. In fact, on CL someone is posting one for $6888 which seem ridiculous to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eryque Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I'm in the NE, and I'm finding Foresters older than about 4 years old are listed at about the same price as Outbacks. Since the economy tanked, reliable used cars have been holding their values more because people haven't been able to afford as many new cars. Higher demand on the used market means higher prices. In 5 years when they're giving money away again and most people can get low interest rates on new car loans, the used market will get flooded again and you'll find better values on the used market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuhkengroovin Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) Oh one more thing... Not to muddy the waters, but I notice a fair amount of Foresters are being sold with "rebuilt" titles. I guess there's all sorts of logistics around that, but it must all come down to how bad was it wrecked. I mean a fender bender can set somebody back a bunch of money, but it doesn't necessarily mean the car is trashed. My wife's wrecked nearly every car we owned but once they come back from the shop they are *almost* good as new. If a person intends to finance a car with their HELOC and wasn't worried about getting collision insurance on the car, with the intention that you were going to get it paid it off and literally drive it to the grave, would a salvage or damaged title be all that bad? Probably depends huh? Edited March 10, 2011 by fuhkengroovin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuhkengroovin Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 I'll answer the one part of your post that I really know... On a Subaru, manual transmission does not save gas mileage. The reason is that the MT cars split the power 50/50 front/rear full time, which costs fuel efficiency. The auto cars are a 90/10 split, which is better on gas. The more I think about this, the more I feel compelled to ask. In the 90/10 split on an automatic transmission, does it know to "switch" over to 50/50 or something close to it when it feels slippage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eryque Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Whether it's manual or automatic, the differential will automatically reduce power to any wheels that slip and redirect to the ones with grip. Remember those Judge Reinhold commercials? I'm relatively certain that the AT switches to 50/50 when it's in low gear and reverse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuhkengroovin Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Whether it's manual or automatic, the differential will automatically reduce power to any wheels that slip and redirect to the ones with grip. Remember those Judge Reinhold commercials? I'm relatively certain that the AT switches to 50/50 when it's in low gear and reverse. Thanks - that's good to know, especially that low gear and reverse give you total 4WD. I can't wait to drive one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 We have a 2005 forester 2.5 non-turbo. This engine is prone to an oil-only leak-to-the-outside-world head-gasket leak. I am not sure what years are affected by this. We caught ours *just* in time to have it covered by warranty. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuhkengroovin Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 Thanks everyone for the advice and words of wisdom. Ended up buying a 2005 Forester with about 98K miles on it. The body has a few scratched, the interior shows some wear, but it is fun to drive. I have yet to get a good feel for the gas mileage, but my brother, who drives a little more aggressively than I do, was only able to get 24.8 driving it home from Spokane. That has me worried. What is interesting is that it goes almost 100 miles on the first quarter tank, then starts to drop a little faster after that. I heard an interview on NPR the other day with a Ford engineer and he admitted that the car companies ALL do that trick with the gas gauge. They want you to think that your car is getting GREAT gas mileage, so they keep it artificially high at the beginning. Then, at the end, they make the reading artificially low so that you won't run out of gas. He said the reason they did it is that some people "top off" their tanks by adding that extra squeeze or two, so they want the non-topper-offers to see that their car is full too. Supposedly it's all being done so that we'll all stop topping off the tank. The only other thing I'm worried about is kind of a rough shift pattern around 35 MPH, but it's probably nothing. I'm trying to drive it very gently to see if I can coax more than 23 or 24 MPG out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Congrats on the Forester! What is interesting is that it goes almost 100 miles on the first quarter tank, then starts to drop a little faster after that . . . That's not intentional! It's been a Subaru problem for years, a result of two different senders in the split fuel tanks. Bothersome, but you get used to it after awhile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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