Buying a 2001 Forester

[bigaldover]

I just had a road put in at our cottage. The contract has told me a 2wd car will never drive the road, as the grades are to steep.
I asked him about a Subaru with AWD and thought it would be ok. He did suggest a 4X4 but I really don't want to go there.

A Subaru Dealer has a 2001 Forester automatic for $ 10000 with 73,000 Km Prices is not to bad, but concerned that the road may be too much for it.

The first grade is 35 degrees roughly.

I also saw someone post that the automatic transmission is 80 front 20 rear split.

Does anyone know it the manual is better ?

Any advice feedback is greatly appreciated

[jg09]

Allow me to respond with this picture. Sure it's an Outback, but the Forester and Outback are about the same off road (the Forester might be a little better, actually):



The driver got it into and out of this position just fine (and on purpose, for the record). It's got an auto transmission, 4 cyl motor, and stock suspension. The auto should be fine for light off roading like what you have planned. I give only one word of advice. Again, it's in the form of another Outback picture (this time, it's my own car). With not much ground clearance, don't attempt to go up hills that don't have a gradual increase in steepness, or else this could happen. lol:

[bigaldover]

Hey,

Thanks for the reply, I ended up getting a 2004 Forester 5 speed for the same price. I have done the hill a few times, with no problems.

I am thinking of getting some skid plates ( primitive ) and really have some fun. I love this car.

Originally Posted by jg09

Allow me to respond with this picture. Sure it's an Outback, but the Forester and Outback are about the same off road (the Forester might be a little better, actually):



The driver got it into and out of this position just fine (and on purpose, for the record). It's got an auto transmission, 4 cyl motor, and stock suspension. The auto should be fine for light off roading like what you have planned. I give only one word of advice. Again, it's in the form of another Outback picture (this time, it's my own car). With not much ground clearance, don't attempt to go up hills that don't have a gradual increase in steepness, or else this could happen. lol:

[jg09]

Cool! Look at rallitek.com for some sweet skidplates!

[jg09]

Oh, and post up some pics here sometime of your new toy!

[bigaldover]

Hey jg09, thanks for the info on rallitek.
They have some sweet stuff for the foz.
I bought some new Traction T/A tyres and have had no trouble with my hill, my previous tyres were almost worn X-Ice and were noisy.
I want to get my buddy to come to the cottage and takes some pics of the Forester tackling the hills, and the un-finnished part of the road as well.
I'll post soon

[jg09]

Sweet! Looking forward to it.

[Galoshes]

So I'm looking at getting my first car and I was considering getting a forester, but my dad is convinced that Subarus don't hold up well. As Subaru owners is there any truth in this? And how do you feel about the over all quality of their cars?

[RahX]

It is all about the maintenance. They hold up as good or better than a lot of cars that are considered 'reliable'. I see a lot of them that are used and abused and the owners don't spend money on em and they are rough by 100k miles. Then I see others that are regularly maintained that have 150k miles on em and they look excellent.