saraha Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) Did you have any concerns? Dh wants me to test drive one with 145,000 miles on it tomorrow Edited March 5 by saraha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Someone in the family has one. The seats have terrible lumbar support and make my back hurt. But otherwise it’s nice. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saraha Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 Just now, Katy said: Someone in the family has one. The seats have terrible lumbar support and make my back hurt. But otherwise it’s nice. Have they had any trouble with anything? We’ve never owned anything but Ford Focus and fusions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) Have a Subaru Forester 2010 and love it - currently 130,000 miles and no trouble. Have on backorder a new 2024 Crosstrek and will trade in Forester - Edited March 5 by Myra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigo Blue Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 My mom has one. She bought it used years ago. She’s had no trouble out of it and has driven it for a very long time. I agree with Katy that the seats aren’t great, but you can’t go wrong otherwise, as long as it checks out ok for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 My mom loved hers. It was her partner’s second one, at the time. We love our Forester, big puffy heart love it. It’s a 2019, no troubles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Once I finally aged out of the carpool/Minivan Mom era, I have only exclusively driven red Subaru Outbacks. I'm currently on my third; both the first and the second are still being used by family members at ~150K and ~250K respectively; and I plan never to drive anything else for the remainder of my life. Which simplifies MY life in a way I find extremely stress-reducing though it rather breaks my husband's heart as there is no decision process he enjoys more, or e x t e n d s m o r e p a i n f u l l y, than How Many Times Shall We Go Out to Testdrive? 1 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 We loved our 2010 Outback and only recently got rid of it. That said, I've heard that the transmissions can be iffy after 100,000 miles (I don't know which transmissions or if this is even true, but there it is). My mother has a 2011 Outback that has a sunroof leak (not good in the Pacific Northwest) that the dealer was unable to fix. Other than that, she loves it and wants to get another one. Preferably as soon as possible so that she can stay dry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogger Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 The seats are the worst! But they go anywhere. AWD often doesn't have as great of gas milage so I guess I can't complain about that. Ours are older and it was known that they had head gasket issues but I don't think the newer ones do. Not sure what year you are looking at. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I bought another Forester after test driving the Outback, only because I prefer to sit higher. I big puffy heart Subarus. Mine gets pretty good gas mileage (in the summer I can get over 40mph) and everyone who has been in it thinks it's very comfortable. Outbacks are extremely common here--well, all Subarus are given our climate and terrain, but I think especially the Outback. Everyone from teens to great grandparents drive them. They last forever! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 7 minutes ago, MEmama said: I bought another Forester after test driving the Outback, only because I prefer to sit higher. I big puffy heart Subarus. Mine gets pretty good gas mileage (in the summer I can get over 40mph) and everyone who has been in it thinks it's very comfortable. Outbacks are extremely common here--well, all Subarus are given our climate and terrain, but I think especially the Outback. Everyone from teens to great grandparents drive them. They last forever! I have a Forester, too, and they're just as common here. DS25 tried to follow me one day across town and lost my car as 3 other Foresters joined us on the road - all the same color and within a year of each other. 😂 It took me a while to convince dh that we needed a Subaru, but once I did he has been thrilled with it. No real issues, though the windshield wipers threw me for a loop when I first tried to replace them. They have a distinct connector that not all wipers come with. It's roomy inside and has enough cargo space for a large hockey bag, a goalie bag, and a Box o' Crap (containing extra gear, water, etc), though I will put down one side of the bench if I only have two players in the car. The seatbelts do NOT overlap on the bench seat, which is a problem with several newer cars. It means that I can absolutely put three people (or 3 car seats) in the back and not sacrifice safety. My one pet peeve is that the coin tray doesn't sit nicely in the center console. It fits and has a home, yes, but it's too easy to knock the darn thing in when looking for something in the console. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 We love Subarus- my parents drive them too, we all have for over 20 years. Upstate NY/ Vt area- literally everyone has a Subaru. We did blow the engine on one around 130,000 miles. They do start to need more frequent work after 100,000 miles, like other cars.. they aren’t magic 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 3 hours ago, saraha said: Have they had any trouble with anything? We’ve never owned anything but Ford Focus and fusions No, I don’t even think the normal maintenance stuff you would expect has needed work yet, just tire rotation, filter & fluid changes. It’s got to be close to 90,000 miles now, but the normal stuff we’ve needed to do on other cars between 60,000-90,000 miles hasn’t happened yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) I like my 2011 Forester. Agree that the seat is nowhere near as comfy as my Odyssey was, but overall an excellent car. It is light and doesn’t have a fabulous highway ride. It handles really well and is very responsive. Edited March 6 by ScoutTN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I’ve had two Foresters and I don’t want to drive anything else. The main issue with older ones is they’re prone to head gasket leaks, which I had with my last car and my current car has also had but was repaired by the previous owner. Oh and I had to have O2 sensors changed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 4 hours ago, Katy said: Someone in the family has one. The seats have terrible lumbar support and make my back hurt. But otherwise it’s nice. Oh yes interesting point. DH used to get back problems with our older Subaru. Luckily it seems to be a perfect shape for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathyl Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) We recently had some work done on our Forester and had a couple different new Outbacks as loaners. We drove them for a week or so. I prefer my Forester. The Outbacks felt more squashed and uncomfortable to me. I like the boxy feel of the Forester and the visibility seemed better in the Forester. Consumerreports.org rates all of the Subarus. The Forester is rated an 88 and the Outback is rated a 79. And if you keep searching, scrolling down, clicking on things, you will find actual reviews by owners which are helpful. Also, Car Talk guys out of Boston have an excellent article entitled "Subaru Maintenance: Cost, Repairs and Schedule" that explains some peculiarities about maintaining a Subaru. That was very helpful for me. Good luck with your car shopping! 🙂 Edited March 5 by kathyl 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 I have an outback from 06 and I love it. DD2 got a Forester and I like that one too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 I liked mine until about 90,000 miles. I have put about a $1000-$1500 into every 6 months since. In the last 1.5 years. Wheel bearing housing in two wheels, CV joint, a weird issue with getting water in the spark plugs when it rained. It would cut out when it was damp, but was fine when it dried out which meant it went to the shop 4 times to get diagnosed. I told the mechanic it seemed weather related, and he didn't believe me. LOL Leather cracked and ripped (known defect issue with the 2015 Outback). I got it replaced for half price on one seat about year 5 with the company partially paying, the other seat is now looking suspicious and I worry it will rip as well and it won't be covered. Coolant leak and thermostat last month. Seems like there were a few other things in there too. 😞 I am out less than a new car payment if you add up all the repairs/month, so it is either in great shape for the next year, or the next issue is just a couple months away. I take really good care of my vehicles......it is just at the end of its life for me to put up with. Luckily, boyfriend has an extra vehicle, so I haven't been out a car for all the time it was in the shop. It also had a few other items replaced under recall/warranty. I am going to trade it in soon. I don't want to keep feeding it money. Personally, I like the features on the 2015 Limited (auto lift hatch, rear seat heaters were two big upgrades in 15). I wouldn't buy an earlier one personally. (Had a 13 that I traded for the multiple feature upgrades on the 15. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 We have/had three Subarus as a family. One older Outback (2009) was a total lemon (electrical gremlins) but we didn't let that sour us on Subarus in general as we did not know anything about its history and it was very high miles. We replaced it with a 2015, that still has higher miles (110K) and have been happy with it. I find the seats uncomfortable but it is my 20yo dd's so I don't have to deal with that. If you live in a snowy climate, be aware that almost all Subarus that are older than 2020 have an issue with the gas tank door release pull ceasing to work in deep winter. That is true of dd's as well and we see them all over town with their gas doors always left popped open. I know several people that have attempted to get this fixed and if they do get fixed, they don't last. It has something to do with how the release cable travels through the car, snow build up, and corrosive salts. But I see that as very minor and with the easy workaround of leaving the door popped and/or carrying a junk credit card you can use to wedge it open if needed. We also have a 2021 Crosstrek that dh loves. No issues with that one yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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