Hello, Im looking to a buy a first car and Im really interested in a Subaru Forester. But I want to know if this type of car a good car. Ive seen a few of them online for sale for around 5-7K with around 150-200 thousand miles on them. Is this a fair deal or are they that good that they hold their value even at that high of milage. I just want to know about this car before I make a decision so if someone could give me good info about this car that would be great!
This is this guys 3rd post about what must be Craigslist ads.
Where is that IGNORE BUTTON.
No i just need help buying a car
Please don’t fall into the trap of believing that any one make of USED car is ultimately more reliable than other. In reality, with a used car, the maintenance that the car has received over its entire life is much more important than the specific make or model of car.
That being said, I have found all 3 of my Subarus to be the most reliable cars that I’ve ever owned, and that includes my Dodge, my Volvo, my Chevy, my VW, my Ford, and my Honda. However, I maintain my cars flawlessly.
If the prior owners (there could have been several with a 150k-200k used car) failed to do some very basic maintenance–such as consistently rotating the tires on schedule, or replacing the timing belt on schedule, or changing the trans fluid every 30 k miles, or even just doing oil changes on schedule–you could well be buying something that is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode in your wallet.
Excellent maintenance is important with any car, but it is far more important with an AWD vehicle, and unless you can verify that the car has been maintained at least as well as the mfr specifies, you should walk away and keep looking…
I’d avoid older Foresters, they have a known head gasket problem.
VDC is entirely correct. I own a 15 forester and like it. But for the reasons he lists, I have never bought a used car (except my first car in 1960, which lasted less than 6 months).
You’re talking about 150-200k miles car. All bets about reliability are off on any make of car with that many miles.
Depending upon the maintenance (records a must…) it could be a good deal but that depends upon year model and price.
I like Subarus quite a bit but you’re also talking about uncharted territory here.
The Forester has been a great little SUV but one with 150,000-200,000 miles one it would need to be inspected carefully. Preferably by a mechanic who regularly works on these, the head gasket is a known concern along with the automatic transmission but without knowing the service history of the particular Forester it’s hard to say if it will be a good deal or not. There have been several Foresters in the family with long reliable service. Find a mechanic who knows Subaru’s for the pre-purchase inspection to help find a decent one for the budget.
A Honda Crv or Toyota Rav4 would be good options too,
$5000 to $7000 seems a little steep for a Forester with 200 K miles, but if you could get one less than 6 years old with 120-140K for that price, might be worth considering Consumer Reports shows model years prior to 2009 some potentially serious engine problems were reported, showing much worse than average reliability; just guessing, but presumably this is the prior-mentioned head gasket problem. Years 2010 and later show better or much better reliability for the engine. Likewise the exhaust seemed to be a problem prior to 2010. The transmission report looks pretty good though, all the way back to 2005.
Owners posting here seem to like their Foresters, particularly those with dogs. Many say the “love” their Foresters. Probably best to stick with model years 2009 or later, and if possible 2010 or later, even if you have to pay a little more.
People this OP is a 17 year old who wants a car and admits his family doesn’t have a lot of money. He is ignoring his brother’s advice and apparently is not involving his parents. The last thing he needs is a high mileage vehicle that is not main stream. He also thinks he can go off roading on a budget. I doubt if he has even checked on insurance.
@cdaquila …can you please remove the “SPAM” flag from VOLVO V70 since the OP is way off base here.
Don’t buy a used Subaru!
^
When somebody buys one of my used Subarus, they wind up with a reliable, superbly-maintained car that comes with all of its maintenance records as well as a chart detailing its maintenance.
However, given the typical uncertainties about the type of maintenance that a used car is given by its previous owner(s), I would have to say that–in general–I would agree with your statement.
I think the spam tag should stand. Not because I have a bone to pick with @“VOLVO V70”, but because the tags we apply say at least as much about the tagger as the tagged. I consider it a mark of immaturity on the part of the OP. I don’t have a problem with immature teens because they all are immature. It is just part of growing up. If the OP wants to remove it himself, that is fine. A few spam tags is not a particularly damaging record, especially when we understand the situation.
@jstsanders … just curious, how do you know it was the OP that flagged the “spam tag”? I’m a little clue-less I guess, this is the first I’ve noticed that’s even a feature here.
@GeorgeSanJose - When logged in and you mouse over the “Flag” icon (or if you mouse over the bottom of the comment box) it shows a number and the name of the flagger. @jtsanders made a good point, but I had removed the spam tag by the time I read to the bottom. Not because I thought this would irrevocably besmirch @VOLVO V70’s reputation, but because I thought it didn’t apply at all. I leave a lot of the Abuse flags because they represent an opinion and I then choose whether to say something or not.