It was time to replace my wife's long-suffering '98 VW Passat. The choice was to put $2,500 into it for a new flywheel/clutch and a dozen or so vacuum hoses, or to call it dead and move on. The economics were fairly clear to me. We managed to coax 165,000 miles out of Consumer Report's 'Most Unreliable Car of 1998'. It owed us nothing. My wife wanted a mini-SUV type vehicle. Top of the list were: RAV4, CRV, Sorrento, Rogue and Tiguan. The Sorrento didn't exactly inspire us and I would expect the Tiguan to be as reliable as, well, a VW. 2 down. The RAV4's price was unbelievable. Toyota are apparently trying to claw back market share, following their reliability issues. So, there's a price war going on. The problem with the RAV4 is that driving a refrigerator would be more engaging. The Rogue handles. I am familiar with its CVT, so I have no problem with it. However, the Rogue's usable space behind the rear seat is marginal. I don't like its snout too much. My wife thinks it looks good. Then again, she thinks I look good. Clearly, there's no accounting for taste. The Forester is all growed-up. Finally, Subaru have a mini-SUV (that doesn't look like a station wagon) in the low $20s. It looks good, it handles well. Spacious, comfortable with reasonably brisk performance. Available 5-speed (she wouldn't bite - wanted auto after a lifetime of manual trans). SOK dropped off the Forester yesterday. Louis and William were a pleasure to work with. Unlike just about every other dealership I have dealt with, there were no numbers games played. They were up-front and professional. They worked with me until I was happy with the purchase. Thanks SOK. I would recommend you to any prospective buyer.
Louis is great. They gave me all the time in the world to make my decision and gave me the numbers straight up. SoK is the only place to get a Subaru in this town, IMO.
I got my wife a 10' forester 2.5x automatic and we took it to the mountains this past weekend. Car handled great for stock but needed some stiffer springs and anti sways. Not to mention more power but we'll work on that. I did notice at some point the transmission had some lag and when you quickly decelerated and then gave it some gas, it had a loud clunk trying to shift back into lower gear to accelerate. It's still under warranty, so I'm not worried about it at the moment.
I agree with you about the suspension. Won't be modding ours though. I've got 2 other cars for going around corners quickly in. Mind you, compared to the CRV and the RAV4, the Forester corners like an F1 car. There's no doubt that the 4 speed slush 'box is its Achilles heel. When Subaru address that issue, they need to jump ahead to 6 speed.
My friend bought his WRX there and has been having problems with little annoying things. So he's been trying to get it fixed. Won't mention what they are cause it might rat him out.