Cons: Seats (for tall people), gas mileage, exterior design.
The Bottom Line: If you want a small SUV, stop looking. It is safe, handles well, and is surprisingly fun to drive. If you can, spring the extra $$ and get the turbo.
UPDATE - JANUARY 2007: I decided to put this at the beginning of the review rather than the end because I think it's really important.
Just before Christmas my wife was in what could have been a horrible car accident. She was driving about 65 mph on a major freeway when someone cut her off. She took action to avoid being hit and ended up slamming head-first into a guard rail at around 60 mph.
The two front airbags deployed. All four tires stayed on the ground. She walked away with some garden-variety whiplash. What's really amazing is that the car wasn't even totalled. Damage came to around $8,000.
So, I'm feeling pretty smart about paying attention to safety ratings when we picked her car. And she vows to never buy another car that is not a Subaru Forester.
Accident aside, we love the car now as much as when we first bought it. We've had no problems of any kind. Thank you, Subaru!
Now, on with my original review...
We decided to buy a Subaru Forester XT after lots of research, and we couldn't be more pleased. This is really a fine little SUV. My only gripe is that the seats are a little uncomfortable for my 6'3" frame on long trips, but they suit my wife's 5'4" build just fine.
I preface my review with the warning that I am not an auto expert, merely a reasonably well-educated layperson who loves to drive and thinks I know a good vehicle when I see one. You will certainly find reviews from others who can tell you more about the nuts and bolts (pun intended) of this and other autos more expertly than I can.
After purchasing a Honda Pilot for me last year, my wife was well overdue. We first decided what type of vehicle she wanted; she is an avid gardener and quilter, so we wanted a vehicle into which she could easily throw plants, peat moss or piles of fabric. We are also a little tired of not being able to get down our street to a well-traveled road the once or twice a year there is significant snowfall in Northern Virginia. Finally, she wanted something smaller than my Pilot. We decided that a small SUV was just the thing for her.
We drove the Honda CRV (my first pick), but my wife vetoed that because she wanted leather seats and the CRV only offered them after-market. We also drove the Toyota RAV 4, and would likely have bought it if I hadn't checked the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's ratings. The IIHS rates the Forester as the safest small SUV on the market by a pretty wide margin. We were also impressed with what leading consumer and car magazines had to say about the Forester's reliability.
The only real obstacle for us was its appearance. Let's face it, this thing looks like a bread box on wheels. I've seen parking garages with more style.
But once we realized that we are old and married and that we didn't need to impress anyone with our sleek vehicles, we decided the Forester was by far the best choice for us.
PROS
Safety - this was really an overriding concern for us. So much has been written about this elsewhere that I won't repeat it all here, other than recommending you check the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety web site. Read everything you can about SUV and car safety, and you'll end up with a Forester.
Handling - this thing is remarkably fun to drive. It handles well, has a tight turning radius, excellent brakes, and just really sticks to the road. I've read the complaints about the Forester's tires, but I haven't noticed any problem at all. Granted, I haven't taken it out and pushed it to the limit on a closed course, but I have not noticed any problems with tire grip even in fairly aggressive street driving.
Acceleration - given what I said above about safety and handling, we would not have bought the Forester without getting the XT turbo version. Our area has lots of highways that have no merge lanes, making us uncomfortable driving anything that doesn't have at least a moderate bit of pep - and the Forester with turbo is more than modest. The manual just flew out of a dead stop; the automatic we bought is predictably less of a race horse, but it is still more than plenty.
Interior (other than seats; see below) - Our XT featured the Premium Package, which includes leather, a premium sound system, and the biggest sun/moon roof I have ever seen. Even with these features the Subaru is still more spartan than opulent (that is really one of Subaru's signature features), but it is quite nice. The leather is plush and soft - more so than my Pilot - the sound system rocks, and the huge sun/moon roof makes you want to never drive a vehicle without one again. Fit and finish are excellent.
CONS
These are really pretty few.
Seats - the seats just aren't deep enough to accommodate my 6'3" comfortably for long road trips. It's fine for around town, but I wouldn't drive this vehicle across country. They suit my wife's smaller frame just fine, and are probably good for anyone in the under 6' range.
Gas Mileage - the downside of turbo. My wife is a pretty careful driver and gets around 18 mph around town. There's a price to pay (especially these days!) for that turbo.
Exterior Design - the thing looks like a breadbox. If exterior style is important to you, you probably aren't reading this review. It didn't matter too much to us.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $26,000
Condition: New Model Year: 2004 Model and Options: XT
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