I think I've decided on a Subaru Forester between 2001 and 2004 for my next purchase. Anything I should look out for in particular?

 

TIA

 

JohnF

Phoenix

Early Foresters suffered from unusually high rates of rear wheel bearing failure. Several changes were made in the hardware used as well as installation procedure, including a switch from caged ball bearings to roller bearings. For more details, you can check out this link:

 

http://endwrench.com/current/Current6/03/WhBearRep.pdf

 

The other issue to think about is the external headgasket leak. Foresters got the 2.5 SOHC engine from MY 99 onward, MY 2003 was a totally new redesign, including cast iron cylinder liners, which hopefully alleviated the headgasket issues.

 

You can check out this site for year to year changes:

 

http://www.cars101.com

 

Good luck!