Buying advice? outback vs. Forrester

[geneius]

This may bore some of you but if anyone wants to take a minute and help me out I'd appreciate it.

 

Ok here's the deal. My dad wants to buy a new Subaru. He's debating between the outback and the forrester. The particular outback he's looking at is a certified pre-owned LL bean edition '03. It's in Perfect condition because it was a leased car, and it's got every luxury you could think of, and has a 6 cyl. engine. We took it out for a test drive and it handles very well, smooth, dead silent cabin noise wise, powerful. It's got about 49,000 miles And considering it's going for $21,000 (original price was $33,000) it seems like a steal. Am I wrong? It should be noted that it looks brand new and it has gold rims and new tires, with not a scratch on it. Also, is this a rare find or is it easy to come across if I do some searching? We just looked at what was on the used lot next to the subaru dealership.

 

The other car, the forrester, would be a new one, and the '06 Forrester seemed a little noisier (possibly because of the fact that it was a 4 cyl engine so it had to work harder) and less well built, even though it was an LL bean as well. It seemed clunkier. Any opinions on the latest Forrester? at least in comparison with an '04 outback?

 

It should also be noted that the car will be used on a lot of dirt roads, which will be muddy in the winter.

 

Thanks

[mikem]

Welcome to the board. You will probably keep coming back.

I can't speak to the price with any authority but any price a dealer wants is open to negoiation.

It can't be rare if it was made in an automotive plant and is sitting on a used car lot after coming off a lease.

I have owned two 3.0 outback wagons, an 04 and 06. Both were of superior quality for the money paid. No minor problems with either and the one major problem with the 04 was resolved to my satisfaction eventually. I get 25mpg in town on regular. Same on the highway at about 70mph.

If it was a lease I would want to see all the maintenance records. No ifs, ands, or buts accepted.

Just as a note on the price. Subaru offered me only 61% of the original cost of my 04 3.0 Outback wagon when we swapped cars. It was less than two years old and had less than 25k on it. That was their assessment of their own products value. Not a very high opinion of their car but just the reality of the market system. I suspect that 03 you are looking at is probably worth about 12k to them plus or minus a few.

You just need to decide what it is worth to you.

Good luck with the hunt.

[1 Lucky Texan]

Although it is still low miles, our '03 H6 OBW has had only 1 'moderate' problem - A/C comp. hoses leaked out refrig., replaced under warranty.

 

A coupla other minor problems also fixed under warranty. It has enough power to get on the freeways here in D/FW no problem - engine is glass smooth. Several times a year we load it up with show gear - no issues at all. I actually prefer our 03's interior to the '06 loaner I drove. I also once had a Forester loaner, it was OK, just seemed to have more body roll that ecpected. Plus, the seats were a little less comfy.

 

Carl

[Setright]

I'd go for the Outback. Far superior handling due to it being lower and having a longer wheelbase.

 

Do take note that the 06 Forester has vastly improved suspension, and doesn't roll or pitch as much earlier models. Well, the 2.5XT anyway.

 

On muddy roads, the small difference in ground clearance isn't gonna sway it either way.

[1 Lucky Texan]

Price may be high - check here,

 

http://www.edmunds.com/used/2003/subaru/outback/100159772/options.html

 

good luck

 

 

Carl

[nipper]

i'ld go for the outback. i just think the outback (the 03) is a better looking and more liveable car. i dont like the new foresters.

 

Again make sure the car was well maintained, and see if they can throw in any kind of warrenty.

 

nipper

[otis]

it sounds like you already made up your mind.

 

Outback: "Perfect condition...every luxury... smooth... powerful..."

 

Forester: "little noisier... less well built... clunkier..."

 

looks like you jsut have to decide which features are important to you.

 

We had a hard time deciding between an outback and a forester. but it came down to a few things for us... the ride hight was PERFECT for egress/ingress for my wife (she was pregnant at the time). The forester had more cargo room. We didn't like the way the 2nd row seat folded down on the outback (had to raise the bottom cushion). and (this was actually a major point) we HATED the 2-tone color schemes of the outback. while the forester had it too, at least it was silver and grey, a combo we could live with.

 

Funny thing is now, those reasons are all irrelevent... wife's not pregnant anymore so who cares about egress/ingress. car seats occupy the 2nd row so we never fold down the seats anyway. and now subaru has FINALLY done away with the 2-tone color scheme.

 

So it all depends on what you like. BTW all those descriptive words you used above to describe what you liked about the outback, also describe the tribeca.

[zeppelinmrs]

it sounds like you already made up your mind.

 

Outback: "Perfect condition...every luxury... smooth... powerful..."

 

Forester: "little noisier... less well built... clunkier..."

 

looks like you jsut have to decide which features are important to you.

 

We had a hard time deciding between an outback and a forester. but it came down to a few things for us... the ride hight was PERFECT for egress/ingress for my wife (she was pregnant at the time). The forester had more cargo room. We didn't like the way the 2nd row seat folded down on the outback (had to raise the bottom cushion). and (this was actually a major point) we HATED the 2-tone color schemes of the outback. while the forester had it too, at least it was silver and grey, a combo we could live with.

 

Funny thing is now, those reasons are all irrelevent... wife's not pregnant anymore so who cares about egress/ingress. car seats occupy the 2nd row so we never fold down the seats anyway. and now subaru has FINALLY done away with the 2-tone color scheme.

 

So it all depends on what you like. BTW all those descriptive words you used above to describe what you liked about the outback, also describe the tribeca.

Sorry I love the foresters, Tend to be well beefier. More rugged. Never owned a outbackbut like the suv over a wagon.