Subaru Forester - 2008 Review

I put a LOT of research into the purchase of this vehicle for a dear widowed friend of mine and her two small children. She had never bought a car before and since I am a highly educated consumer she entrusted the task to me.

The major requirements were that it had to be all wheel drive (we live where bad weather can be an issue), excellent marks in safety features and crash test and, as a new driver, she had to be comfortable driving it.

As a devotee of the non-biased Consumer Reports I narrowed the field to 3 models. The Toyota Rav4, the Subaru Forrestor and the Honda CR-V. They had similar price ranges and going in I really thought the Rav 4 was going to be the winner.

I was VERY surprised that not only was the Rav 4 a poor ride, but the "base model" price barely included a steering wheel. The controls for everything from the dashboard to the seats were not well placed or easy to use. The dealership was obnoxious and the salesperson took the attitude that "our cars are in such demand that I don't have to deal with you". The Honda turned out to be more expensive than we had anticipated and the Subaru was a real surprise for us.

Not only was the Subaru Forrester a great drive with all of the safety features I was looking for, but I was pleasantly surprised at how the vehicles were configured. EVERYTHING was included in the price. A base-model price was TRULY the price.  The vehicle itself, much a much smoother ride than the Rav 4 and the controls were far easier to use. Even for a new driver. Where the Rav 4 was giving us only manual seat controls, the Subaru had a variety of electric seat adjustments (important for a short driver) and even the nice touch of heated seats (a feature my friend was VERY excited about). The fact that car also took regular gas as opposed to the higher octane required by a lot of cars these days was another plus.

The whole dealership was very pleasant and the manager took all the time needed to answer my many questions. I went in knowing ALL of the pricing that he dealers get and this guy came in right on target. He even helped us get the best financing deal and a discount we didn't even know about. (check for Costco discounts if you're shopping at Subaru!)