Subaru Forester 2nd gen or 3rd gen

[auduwerella]

I am looking for a Subaru Forester with manual tranny. (2002 - 2009)Probably a second gen or a 3 rd gen

how is the availability of spare parts? Reliability of the vehicle? Currently I own a Honda FD1, so compared to that what are the things I should be worried about? 

PS. Which one is more fun to drive? Legacy or a forester?

[iRage]

19 hours ago, auduwerella said:

Which one is more fun to drive? Legacy or a forester?

Not going to answer the other questions...but in regards to which one is fun...it depends on what kind of fun you are looking for.

Both are very engaging cars with a nice crisp feel to it. The Legacy feels like a cruiser that will eat up miles on the road whilst the Forester feels a bit more adventurous liek you can throw it around anywhere.
Personally, I find the Legacy feels more plush and comfy. The Forester does feel a bit more nimble and firmer.

But like I said...both are fun cars. Its just that the two models cater to two different purposes.

[Muditha420]

Personally owned a 1999 Legacy B4 and currently using a 2020 Forester.

Like iRage mentioned above its two different models.

Legacy - Never had an issue sourcing parts although so many did say its hard. There are individuals who bring parts for Subaru's alone and I also got down certain parts through Yahoo Japan Auction (I did a lot of that😉) but you can stick to one who sources parts and bring it to you. Maintenance was done through Senok and didn't have any bad experience with those guys at all.

Loved the Legacy and would have never parted with it but sadly had to. Its a very good cruiser but you can always get it up a notch (If you hit both turbos you can literally watch the fuel drop). Its more like a civilized gentleman wearing a suit but with Nike shoes 🤭. Its planted around the bends, maybe a little stiff with those Blitzen shocks but its a perfect ride. The hardest thing would be is to get hold of a decent car.

Forester - Haven't had the pleasure of getting and driving one of these models you have mentioned above but obviously you will get the ground clearance and the AWD system of the Forester will do just fine on the rough stuff as well. Again getting a well cared for vehicle would be the hard part.

Good luck 

 

[iRage]

8 minutes ago, Muditha420 said:

Forester

The 2020 is a nice car...but I have to confess...the 1st and 2nd gen ones are much more hooniganish than the 3rd which is a bit more hooniganish than the 4th to the 5th .

So between the 2nd and 3rd gen....I would put my money on the 2nd for fun factor alone. But if I did care about refinement and comfort a bit...I would go for the 3rd.

[Muditha420]

True, There are some nice STI versions and conversions here but the price was almost the same as a new Forester so had no option there... Hoping at some point to get the STI bits down (Not much STI parts for the SK9 model to be honest). Just testing how the Customs work here before I get the big stuff 😅

 

Don't get me wrong the 2020 is pretty good and I don't get why reviewer say that its bit loud and not as peppy as the previous gens. But if you just cruise along a quiet road you can't here it at all. If you do floor it, you won't here the flat4 sound and you need to switch it to sports (sharpens the response here) rather than keeping it on Intelligent (for fuel economy). EyeSight tech is pretty much perfect, so safety wise its a great family car

Edited June 3, 2021 by Muditha420

[iRage]

45 minutes ago, Muditha420 said:

Don't get me wrong the 2020 is pretty good and I don't get why reviewer say that its bit loud and not as peppy as the previous gens. But if you just cruise along a quiet road you can't here it at all. If you do floor it, you won't here the flat4 sound and you need to switch it to sports (sharpens the response here) rather than keeping it on Intelligent (for fuel economy). EyeSight tech is pretty much perfect, so safety wise its a great family car

That is the thing...compared to what the Foresters of the past used to be...the new ones are...well.. too nice and refined  

[mazdaspeed]

Thank  iRage & Muditha420 for the feedback . As well as auduwerella for posting the question.

I've been thinking of doing a change to Subaru for a while (My 2nd Favorite from Mazda) and I've checked out 4 Foresters also. Was not concerned about Turbo being there ... but few said it's worth the investment.

With regards to a standard Auto Forester - Is there generally a slight lag or maybe a junk when you engage form standstill to first gear ? There after it moves swiftly with no issues .

As mentioned, finding a good one is hard and asking price as you would have seen in recent ads is crazy - specially as you are buying vehicle close to 20 years old.  

 

 

 

[Muditha420]

Ohh you know the highly educated and skilled run the country so bound to have a very logical answer to that... I would love to see how they will survive if they were to get vehicles like that🤣

[john cooper]

@auduwerella

If I am not mistaken I have seen a Gen 2 XT Turbo dressed with SG kit recently posted in SL.

I don't think I have done long trips with Legacy but my brother had a twin turbo model which seems good around corners compared to the forester.

I had the 2015 SJ XT Turbo which is okay with the CVT box, when I change hands it has done 215,000km, other than the usual maintenance I haven't noticed any issues. Most of the electronics from the DENSO brand so that's something you can trust on. looks for a Subi maintained well, stay away from early EJ's if possible.

Turbo engines not that economical to drive so i am sure you are aware about the fuel consumption with Subi's

In my view, any Turbo manual Subi focused on the driving experience and you won't be disappointed.

regards,

JC

[auduwerella]

Thank you very much iRage.

[auduwerella]

thank you Muditha420

[Muditha420]

On 6/4/2021 at 9:00 PM, mazdaspeed said:

Thank  iRage & Muditha420 for the feedback . As well as auduwerella for posting the question.

I've been thinking of doing a change to Subaru for a while (My 2nd Favorite from Mazda) and I've checked out 4 Foresters also. Was not concerned about Turbo being there ... but few said it's worth the investment.

With regards to a standard Auto Forester - Is there generally a slight lag or maybe a junk when you engage form standstill to first gear ? There after it moves swiftly with no issues .

As mentioned, finding a good one is hard and asking price as you would have seen in recent ads is crazy - specially as you are buying vehicle close to 20 years old.  

 

 

 

With regards to the price, don't get me started even😬

The price gap between cars here and in SL is mind numbing. I sold my 2009 Legacy for LKR 3.2mil in 2018 and once I came here got a 2013 Honda Accord VTi-L. At that time it was LKR 2.5mil when I converted it to Rupees and out of curiosity checked the "Quick"site for a similar car and found one which was priced at LKR 7.4mil 🙄 (Yes, it was not the same exact year and the trim but Damn..!!!)

[auduwerella]

2 hours ago, Muditha420 said:

With regards to the price, don't get me started even😬

The price gap between cars here and in SL is mind numbing. I sold my 2009 Legacy for LKR 3.2mil in 2018 and once I came here got a 2013 Honda Accord VTi-L. At that time it was LKR 2.5mil when I converted it to Rupees and out of curiosity checked the "Quick"site for a similar car and found one which was priced at LKR 7.4mil 🙄 (Yes, it was not the same exact year and the trim but Damn..!!!)

yes That's funny. I think if you even compare the price of a Maruti in India Vs Sri Lanka its very sad. Sad part is, thanks to this tax system, we rearly get cars with better displacements. I don't understand that how a car can be considered luxury just because it has an engine capacity of 1000 or 1500 cc.

[iRage]

4 minutes ago, Muditha420 said:

Ohh you know the highly educated and skilled run the country so bound to have a very logical answer to that... I would love to see how they will survive if they were to get vehicles like that🤣

C'mon ! Don't diss our leaders. Didn't you hear ? There are many who walk 250km on a daily basis..so they deserve to get the Prados and DIscos...and Disco Prados....

Heavy taxation to control vehicle imports to save landspace (like SG) or control the impact onthe environment or even to build and expand the national road and transportation network can be excused. I think all of us, at the very end, hate this high taxation mainly because it is nothing but a completely illogical method to steal money from the public to fund luxury vehicles for the a select few (who are undoubtebly the least educated and deserving in the country) and a piggy bank for them to just squander away.

[Muditha420]

4 hours ago, iRage said:

C'mon ! Don't diss our leaders. Didn't you hear ? There are many who walk 250km on a daily basis..so they deserve to get the Prados and DIscos...and Disco Prados....

Heavy taxation to control vehicle imports to save landspace (like SG) or control the impact onthe environment or even to build and expand the national road and transportation network can be excused. I think all of us, at the very end, hate this high taxation mainly because it is nothing but a completely illogical method to steal money from the public to fund luxury vehicles for the a select few (who are undoubtebly the least educated and deserving in the country) and a piggy bank for them to just squander away.

Explains why they look so athletic 🤭 I guess somewhere in the wilderness there is a Wakanda looking city where vehicles are inaccessible where the journey is long... I do hope they take us there one day... wait maybe there children might.. Advanced satellites and all😉

[auduwerella]

13 hours ago, john cooper said:

@auduwerella

If I am not mistaken I have seen a Gen 2 XT Turbo dressed with SG kit recently posted in SL.

I don't think I have done long trips with Legacy but my brother had a twin turbo model which seems good around corners compared to the forester.

I had the 2015 SJ XT Turbo which is okay with the CVT box, when I change hands it has done 215,000km, other than the usual maintenance I haven't noticed any issues. Most of the electronics from the DENSO brand so that's something you can trust on. looks for a Subi maintained well, stay away from early EJ's if possible.

Turbo engines not that economical to drive so i am sure you are aware about the fuel consumption with Subi's

In my view, any Turbo manual Subi focused on the driving experience and you won't be disappointed.

regards,

JC

Thank you very much @john cooper

really appreciate your input on this.

I have heard that boxer engine has some common issue related to head gaskets. Have you seen or met with any?

With regard to the turbo models, How do we recognize a car that comes with a factory fitted turbo or if it is aftermarket or a conversion? ( I would like to stay away from those. shouldn't I?)

Thank you again

[john cooper]

On 6/9/2021 at 7:13 AM, auduwerella said:

Thank you very much @john cooper

really appreciate your input on this.

I have heard that boxer engine has some common issue related to head gaskets. Have you seen or met with any?

With regard to the turbo models, How do we recognize a car that comes with a factory fitted turbo or if it is aftermarket or a conversion? ( I would like to stay away from those. shouldn't I?)

Thank you again

Early EJ20's had this head gasket issue (Maybe due to thin water jackets??) I was a bit lucky not to be in that territory as yet 🙂 

About the turbo models and other details, best to check the chassis plate and decode that (Plenty of details online to decode)

Should we need to stay away from modified??? I am not sure, some of them nicely done to a level that you not able to tell that by looking at them. eg: I have seen nicely done Starlet's to Glanza V's, but it's so hard to tell the original birth certificate of the car by looking at them.

regards,

JC