My best friend has bought one about a year ago. We took it to the OBX and a few other weekend trips.

From my limited time in it, it's a nice car.

My brother has had an Outback for a few years and really like his also.

I have a 2014 Crosstrek. I'm only commenting re: the CVT. It is fine. Maybe even better than fine -- pretty great. Fear not that. I also have an old MB E430 that was in for service the other day. They gave me a loaner MB GLE with a turbo 4 cylinder and like, 13 forward gears. I'd prefer a CVT all day long.

Had a CVT on a 2003 Saturn VUE. Went out at 32K, and again at 105K, and started having the same problems at 110K. If the transmission goes out it has to be completely replaced at the tune of 4,500 dollars each time. First time it was under warranty. Second time it was not, and I wasn't going to pay for a third one with obviously the same defect in each one. They may be good now, but I still don't trust them.

I thought only hippies and liberals drove those things.

Our 2016 has 130k on it. The CVT has so far not had a single issue. Other than rear wheel hubs replaced under the powertrain warranty, no issues period.

I had a Forrester traded it in for a Crosstrek. Both cars were very good. If you hate CVT’s because they are maintenance hogs I can’t speak to that because I haven’t broke one yet. If you don’t like it for driveability, then you are nuts. It’s smooth and much nicer than any std auto transmission I’ve ever owned. In fact my new RAV4 doesn’t have CVT and it’s annoying now compared to driving now my sons Subaru.

Wife had a 2018 forester and now has a 2020 Mazda CX-5. Go drive the Subaru then the Mazda and tell me which one you like better. The one thing I hated about the forester is that the passenger seat was way to high, it was always awkward for me to ride in it.

The Mazda we bought is a much nicer vehicle all the way around.

My wife has a 2011 Forester Limited and I have a 2016 Crosstrek Limited. We love both.

The Forester has a lot of useful space considering it drives like a smaller car.

I think the ‘Trek is better on road in the snow than my former 2000 Jeep GC.

My friend drives one. We tease him because they were heavily marketed to lesbians at one time.

quote:

Originally posted by lunchbox:
Wife had a 2018 forester and now has a 2020 Mazda CX-5. Go drive the Subaru then the Mazda and tell me which one you like better. The one thing I hated about the forester is that the passenger seat was way to high, it was always awkward for me to ride in it.

The Mazda we bought is a much nicer vehicle all the way around.

We've got a 2017 Forester and a 2020 CX-5 Signature with the 250 hp turbo. The CX-5 has it over the Forester in comfort, quietness, and of course, power. But the Forester has better all-wheel drive, higher ground clearance, and far more cargo and passenger space. The Forester can even go off-road (not that we do); the CX-5 no way beyond maybe a dirt or gravel road. They are both cross-overs but have different design priorities and capabilities. They both excel in their priorities. I would say if it's between one and the other, both are great choices but the best choice depends on the buyer's priorities.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
We tease him because they were heavily marketed to lesbians at one time.

Not necessarily heavily. But Subaru certainly was the first car company to market specifically to gays/lesbians, back in the 1990s, and they got a reputation as being a LGBT brand as a result.

(They also made a good chunk of money off of their marketing monopoly at the time, as the LGBT crowd flocked to them as a result of their appreciation of Subaru's efforts to reach out. It's considered by business experts as one of the smartest marketing moves of the past several decades, basically allowing them to corner a previously ignored/untapped market for those first few years.)

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
We tease him because they were heavily marketed to lesbians at one time.

Not necessarily heavily. But Subaru certainly was the first car company to market specifically to gays/lesbians, back in the 1990s, and they got a reputation as being a LGBT brand as a result.

(They also made a good chunk of money off of their marketing monopoly at the time, as the LGBT crowd flocked to them as a result of their appreciation of Subaru's efforts to reach out. It's considered by business experts as one of the smartest marketing moves of the past several decades, basically allowing them to corner a previously ignored/untapped market for those first few years.)

Hasn't hurt their sales in my area. I will own another I believe. Great little car for the money.

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
Had a CVT on a 2003 Saturn VUE. Went out at 32K, and again at 105K, and started having the same problems at 110K. If the transmission goes out it has to be completely replaced at the tune of 4,500 dollars each time. First time it was under warranty. Second time it was not, and I wasn't going to pay for a third one with obviously the same defect in each one. They may be good now, but I still don't trust them.

Not really fair to base CVT on a 17 year old model from another manufactorer !

Never said my bias was logical or rational. I had a very bad and expensive experience with this type of transmission.

Bump. I really like the new Crosstrek with the new 2.5 that we drove but I still want to drive the Forester.

FYI, she did get the Forester. She loves it.

So the old CVT on your Saturn sucked? Shocker.

I have had a Forester and a Crosstrek with CVT. Both were outstanding auto transmissions. Smooth as you could imagine. I own a 19 RAV4 now with a NON CVT auto transmission. You feel every friggin shift. And no you sports enthusiasts, that is not a compliment. The CVT on my older Crosstrek that son drives is far superior.

As for Eyesight. It’s amazingly good. Best in class against the equivalent Toyota or Honda safety equipment. If you are taking corners in your friggin Forester so fast that the eyesight is taking it away from you, then I’m glad you drive multiple states away. This is a non issue.

Buy a Forester with confidence. Personally I really like my new Toyota but ever since I found out they bumped up the engine choices (20% more in their 2.5, 150ish to 180ish) in the Crosstrek I regret I went Toyota.

And do you really buy a car based on its emissions? Seriously I don’t real give a damn about that. If it’s street legal 2021 model it’s about a hundred times cleaner than what I drove in HS.

Some of us can appreciate the feel of a real transmission shifting Pedro.

I know I do.

Subaru sets the AWD bar for which all others measure. Just make sure you get the differential oil changed at the recommended mileage.

It’s not uncommon to see 300,000 miles out of a Subaru. Just do the routine maintenance.

I have a 2009 Legacy. It might be the last car I own. And I’m not even 50 yet. Plus it’s a stick.

I was getting my 12k mile service on my '20 Crosstrek on Monday, and, like always, I checked out the cars in the showroom and on the lot. As always, I sit in the front and rear seats, and check out the cargo area of each on all of them. I'd be happy with any of Subaru offerings, but I specifically chose the Crosstrek for its small size and styling. If I had to pick another vehicle on the lot, it would have been a Forester.

I was up in Colorado last week where I got to test my 'trek in the snow and ice. It went up and down relatively steep icy/snowy roads like a champ. I used the XMode option to test it out, but I really didn't need it - the regular AWD system was more than enough.

A note, it was strange that I went from a highway and then up a relatively steep snowy/icy dirt road where we stopped about a mile up to take pics. There was a smell of hot brake pads, which I thought was strange since I was ascending only. That's one of the places I had XMode activated, and I thought it would have been more active controlling the brakes descending rather than ascending.