Subaru Forester or something else?

[pinkxray]

DD17 is going to be taking over my current car by the time summer comes so I am beginning my search for a new car. (Yes I am aware it’s a horrible time to get a car but it is what it is)

I currently have a Nissan Rogue which is fine.
Looking at a Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV. Probably a 2021/2022 depending on what’s available.

I drive maybe 5,000 miles a year. I live in CT and work in a hospital so driving in snow is a must.
Anyone have anything good/bad to say about my choices? Should I add something else to look into? Don’t want anything much
My only real dislike of my Nissan is the back window has a pretty big blind sport and would prefer something that has good visibility if possible.

Thanks!

 

[GreatLakes]

I can't speak about the Forester specifically but I have an 11 year old Subaru that was in a very bad accident and it is terrific. I would never know it was within $250 of being totaled and I would get another Subaru in a second. I'm leaning more towards the Outback than Forester but I have driven one and it was a nice ride.

Of the three you are looking at I would get the Forester but I suggest driving all three and also checking out some car forums to see if any, especially whatever year you are looking for, have known issues.

ETA: I want to add that while the Subarus are all good in the snow you have to make sure you put decent all weather tires on them. If you put garbage tires on them even Subaru's great AWD system isn't going to help you. You can only engineer around physics so much.

 

[MillauFr]

I think any of those choices are good. I have a Forester and would buy one again. They don't plow any of our residential streets in Seattle when it snows so having the Subaru works great to get around the steep hills in our neighborhood. I would have gotten stuck last Winter without the all wheel drive.

 

[Kae]

I think Forester are so cute. Resale value seems to be good. My niece has one and loves it. I would go sit in a new Rogue to see if the blind spot is gone. Have you sat in a forester? My mom had the Lexus small SUV and I was the only one that said it had a blind spot must have been how I sat and where the seat was.

 

[robinb]

My BIL's family live in CT and they all have Subbies. My DD just moved to Colorado to be a ski bum and has a 2015 Outback. They are great in the snow. The only problem I have with Subarus is that the gas mileage sucks. But, if you're only going to drive 5,000 miles a year that really won't matter a lot to you.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I love Subaru but the Forester is too small for me. I'd go to an Outback or even an Ascent.

 

[kdonnel]

5000 miles a year, you might be able to get away with just Uber/Lyft. Could be cheaper than the annual cost of a car.

https://thecollegeinvestor.com/19174/uber-vs-owning-car/
https://www.commoncentsmom.com/owning-a-car-vs-uber-everywhere/

 

[MillauFr]

5000 miles a year, you might be able to get away with just Uber/Lyft. Could be cheaper than the annual cost of a car.

https://thecollegeinvestor.com/19174/uber-vs-owning-car/
https://www.commoncentsmom.com/owning-a-car-vs-uber-everywhere/

Depends where in Connecticut they live. But I get your point. What I can't understand is why some of our neighbors have 2 and 3 cars in Seattle. The public transportation system here is excellent and as you point out it would be far cheaper for them to take taxis and Lyft rather than own extra cars. 98% of the they sit unused in front of their house.

 

[HeatherC]

I have a Volkswagen Tiguan which I really like. It is AWD and fantastic on gas which surprised me when I first got it. Mine has a power panoramic moon roof which is also fun. And it is very good in bad weather.

 

[pinkxray]

Thanks everyone so far for the responses.
I LOVE the Ascent. It would be my top choice if I was comfortable driving larger suvs. I also don’t think it will fit in my garage.
DH has a Jeep Grand Cherokee and that is right where I start to draw the line in size. His car is very comfortable but I hate driving and parking it.
The parking garage at my hospital is tight and hard to maneuver so I prefer something small. We use DH’s car as the family car.

Uber/Lyft is an interesting option. I think I’m just too nervous to do that. I prefer having my own car. I know there have been some bad storms where people in the hospital who depend on ubers couldn't get in. Plus I have two kids still in car seats that I drive to daycare/school.

I will probably have this car for another 12 years if lucky and then it would pass on to DD5. My 2012 Rogue that is going to that goes to DD17 has 53,000 miles on it. I like knowing she will hopefully have a well maintained car that I took good care of to hopefully get her through college and early adulthood. I hope to do the same for her sister one day.

I did sit in a Forester this weekend and I didn’t hate it. (Back in 2012 I wanted a RAV4 and only a RAV4. Sat in one hated it.)
I guess I don’t get too excited about cars bc it was fine.
Will see if I can test drive one along with the others soon. I know the CRV and RAV4 look much different than when I test drove them 10 years ago and decided against them.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Thanks everyone so far for the responses.
I LOVE the Ascent. It would be my top choice if I was comfortable driving larger suvs. I also don’t think it will fit in my garage.
DH has a Jeep Grand Cherokee and that is right where I start to draw the line in size. His car is very comfortable but I hate driving and parking it.
The parking garage at my hospital is tight and hard to maneuver so I prefer something small. We use DH’s car as the family car.

Uber/Lyft is an interesting option. I think I’m just too nervous to do that. I prefer having my own car. I know there have been some bad storms where people in the hospital who depend on ubers couldn't get in. Plus I have two kids still in car seats that I drive to daycare/school.

I will probably have this car for another 12 years if lucky and then it would pass on to DD5. My 2012 Rogue that is going to that goes to DD17 has 53,000 miles on it. I like knowing she will hopefully have a well maintained car that I took good care of to hopefully get her through college and early adulthood. I hope to do the same for her sister one day.

I did sit in a Forester this weekend and I didn’t hate it. (Back in 2012 I wanted a RAV4 and only a RAV4. Sat in one hated it.)
I guess I don’t get too excited about cars bc it was fine.
Will see if I can test drive one along with the others soon. I know the CRV and RAV4 look much different than when I test drove them 10 years ago and decided against them.

FWIW, the Ascent drives much smaller than a Grand Cherokee. I have what I'd consider a normal/standard sized garage and it fits perfectly, with room to walk around it in both the front and the back. Our other vehicle is a Grand Caravan and the Ascent is definitely the smaller of the too (shorter and thinner). (Plus, the Ascent's panoramic moonroof is sexy.)

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Son works in the auto industry and he has the same opinion of Subaru's that Klayfish who used to post on here (not sure what happened to him) had. Ok car, great marketing campaigns, but not in the same class as a CRV or Rav4.

DD bought a CRV a year and a half ago. DS said to her I can tell you where all the flaws are. When I said then what should she have bought he said she bought the right car. I can show you many more flaws/issues in the others.

His comment was he hates working with Honda as they are a pain in the tail, but they make the most reliable and safest cars in the overall grand scheme. He said Toyota is good, just not as fanatical as Honda.

FYI, 53k miles in nothing. DS traded in a 17 year old CRV with 275k miles on it and it was treated like crap. All kids learned to drive in it and hit multiple stationary objects. It spend 6 straight years on a college campus getting beaten up It still ran fine, but he felt is was time to not drive something quiet so worn looking.

He also was rear ended in an Accord on the highway by a semi that did not realized traffic had stopped. Truck barely touched the brakes before impact and son was shoved into the Acura in front of him. His Accord was totaled, but DS was perfectly fine. Car was even still able to be driven even with the significant damage to the front and rear.

Gook luck with your car search.

 

[tvguy]

All seem like good choices. With the Subaru just be sure to check the oil regularly as that seems to head off the engine problems some folks have had with them. I'll be honest, I think Subarus are okay cars, but a lot of folks I know who buy them tend to be a big abusive of them.

 

[design_mom]

We looked the CRV and the Forrester when I bought my most recent car in 2018 (and I know the Forrester has been redesigned since then and I'm not familiar with the new one.) I *loved* the Forrester. It had amazing visibility. It was like driving a fishbowl!

We were replacing my 2007 CRV and I assumed that I'd just replace it with another CRV. (I loved my CRV.) But I didn't love the new one and they weren't "dealing" on them at the time. We also looked at the Forrester and I loved it. It would have been my hands-down first choice *if* it had had more cargo room. At least at the time, it was similar in size to the CRV. The CRV had less passenger room and more cargo space. The Forrester had more cabin space and less cargo space. (The kids loved it, too... but it was going to be our car for family trips, etc. and I wasn't sure everything would fit.) We ended up opting for the Outback, which we got for a really good price. I have been happy with the Outback, but I will definitely check out the Forrester again when I'm looking for another car.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Love Subaru! I bought my first Subaru in 2005. I went with a Legacy. Drove it for 13 years with no issues. It didn’t even have any rust on it. Gave it to our son. Bought a 2018 Legacy. Then back in August we took it in for a oil change and while we were waiting we looked at the newer Legacy’s. Ended up leaving in a brand new 2022 Legacy. I only had about 15,000 miles on the 18 and it was in excellent condition and they gave me almost 20 grand for it. I don’t think I would ever buy anything other then a Subaru. Excellent AWD, great quality, good company to do business with.

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

I have a 2010 Subaru Outback with 154,000 miles on it and my husband keeps bugging me to get a new Subaru (I don't want a car payment) but my mechanic (who works for Subaru but does repairs on the side at his own garage) told me that I could easily get another 150,000 miles on this car and the frame is still in really good shape. I find that the Forrester is a little too small for me but the Outback is just right and I have hauled my daughter to college in Boston for 6 years (Pharmacy doctorate) to her eventual move to Virginia and you can really pack things in this hatchback!

 

[mrodgers]

I have a Volkswagen Tiguan which I really like. It is AWD and fantastic on gas which surprised me when I first got it. Mine has a power panoramic moon roof which is also fun. And it is very good in bad weather.

I am looking soon to replace the divorce car with something that fits more needs than "I'm broke" now. Probably not a good collection of people to ask this, but how is the power in that thing? It's one of the few on my list.

I have certain requirements others don't look for and relates to driving rather than just guiding around an appliance. Must be comfortable as in a good driving position. None of this silly weight sitting on your legs in an office desk upright position. That takes most of the small SUVs off the list. Power is what is holding me back from the Tiquan at only 184 hp, that's not a lot for that size vehicle as that's only 30 more than the little econobox that doesn't have enough power, however I know how VW turbos run and the low RPM torque is more important, which is 220 at 1900 RPM. I'm not looking to NASCAR around, just looking to easily accelerate rather than sit waiting for the car to accelerate while all the throttle smashers around me race off to 10 mph below the speed limit.

If the stupid thing turns off at a stoplight and I can't disable that permanently, then I won't even look at it. Can that be turned off or does it actually have that start/stop garbage?

I actually want the Audi Q5 version of the Tiquan, but it's not worth an extra $15,000 to have decent power (I could get the Tiquan tuned for $1000 with warranty.)

 

[georgina]

I'll pile on. Bought our first Subaru (a legacy wagon) in 1990 when first child was born. Have since had a 2001 Outback, a used 2004 Impreza for the kids to drive, and currently have a 2011 Outback. They were great when we needed all-wheel drive in snow and poorly maintained roads. ( Except for the Impreza, all have been manual transmission so no problem accelerating!) Outback does use oil. Next car will be a hybrid or EV so no more Subarus for me!

 

[MGMmjl]

We just bought a 2022 Subaru Ascent on Friday, and we really like it so far! My 2015 Nissan Altima was totaled in a wreck earlier this month, and we decided to look for an SUV to replace it. My wife has had a 2014 Subaru Legacy since 2014, and I am driving it now and she is driving the Ascent. We had concerns with the Ascent fitting in our garage, but it wound up fitting perfectly.

 

[robinb]

I'll pile on. Bought our first Subaru (a legacy wagon) in 1990 when first child was born. Have since had a 2001 Outback, a used 2004 Impreza for the kids to drive, and currently have a 2011 Outback. They were great when we needed all-wheel drive in snow and poorly maintained roads. ( Except for the Impreza, all have been manual transmission so no problem accelerating!) Outback does use oil. Next car will be a hybrid or EV so no more Subarus for me!

I am hoping that Subaru will come up with a good EV. We own a Honda Clarity and I won't go back to a non-EV.