scandalxk

Interesting thought! I think rubber spacers are only for the rears, aren't they? It's the clearance under the sump that causes problems. Probably a bit late in the life of this particular Skoda to be thinking of new springs...

Thanks Mr. B, that's really useful. At the moment I have a budget that is limited to an earlier Forester. I could just about afford a '95 model with at least one crank redesign. Perhaps my Skoda will last another couple of years and then I would be able to afford a slightly later model - but then, I need to get up those pesky construction tracks in the meantime...

So here's an interesting thing. My friend (who is a significant petrolhead with a long Subaru history, and owns a Richard Burns Special Edition Impreza) has a very high opinion of the local dealers here in Carlisle, Stan Palmer Ltd. So I went in to find out how much they would charge for a replacement Forester DPF, fitted. They replied - - "Dunno, mate, never had to do one. We have cleaned the odd one, but only on cars which spend their lives pootling around town with a cold engine. We charge £50 to clean the DPF." They also said that to avoid crank problems I should look for a 59-plate or later (i.e. one that has a VIN where the 10th digit is "A", "B" etc., meaning late 2009, 2010 etc.) because the crank and bearings were redesigned at that time to cure the crank breakage problem. An interesting alternative view...

Crikey! Nice work if you can get it...

Thanks daveyjp. I think the question of whether you regard the DPF and DMF as consumables or as "WTF???!!!" shockers is crucial. If you regard the DPF as a consumable that WILL need replacement, then you can include it in your budget calculations and work out whether the other benefits of the Forester over (say) a Honda CRV are still worth taking on board. So I think I need to test drive a CRV and a Forester (and maybe a Scout, maybe even a Kia Sorento), find out the DPF (and DMF) outlook and costs of each, do some sums which include some assumptions about the price movements of diesel relative to petrol over the next few years, and ask the vendors some detailed and searching questions about exactly how their car has been driven: down to the shops and back every day on a cold engine, or up and down the motorway to Scotland? Thanks again.

Thanks W444AJD. Yes, I've seen that thread - including your contribution - and the one thing it did not give was the cost of a DPF. I'm not particularly frightened by big bills: I replaced the camshaft on my Skoda at 180k, which my mechanic thought was mad, but it has paid off! I assume that a Subaru DPF would be very roughly the same as an Audi...? As for the Octavia Scout, yes, that is certainly on the list. Not so good off road as the Forester, and in particular less ground clearance, but still a very good car. Better than a Yeti, which has a much smaller boot. According to a friend, who has owned two Scouts, the DPF on the Scout will almost certainly fail at around 160k. My current Octavia is pre-DPF and is still going strong at 201k. The big, big problem with my standard Octavia is extremely poor ground clearance under the sump, which makes even good-quality forest tracks difficult. Thanks again.

Yes. I like diesels but I can't see the price of diesel fuel going anywhere but up in the next few years (relative to petrol). Noises from the government recently seem to be designed to prepare the ground for some future action. But a cheap diesel car may still be a good bet for a couple more years. I certainly would not buy a new one.

Thanks very much for that clear explanation, Hawkeye. You're right, the fact that your mum's car only has 35k on the clock means it is not really useful for my purposes. I can't afford one that new; as I wrote, I think I could get an early one with 80 - 100k on the clock, and as I can find only a few with over 100k, I do wonder whether that is the limit of their expected life! Thanks again.

Hi All, I need a car for work, which will take me several hundred miles up the motorway in reasonable comfort and economy, then a few miles up forest tracks and construction site access tracks, some of them moderately steep, rough or slippery. My budget is up to about £7k, and I like diesels for the economy and reliability (my current Skoda Octavia has just clicked over 200k miles). I was considering a Honda CRV (the 2007-on model) on the basis of reliability, economy, and the fact that the auto-AWD is mechanical, not electronic. (I am not looking for extreme 4x4 ability, I have to emphasise. Ground clearance is as important as 4x4. I know that the CRV is not exactly a farmer's wagon.) Then someone gave me a lift in a recent Forester diesel, and I was very impressed. He loves it. According to the specs it should be more economical than the Honda, have better off-road capability, and have all the few accessories I need - in particular cruise control for the (Scottish) motorways and the average speed cameras on the A9. I could afford a 2008-9 diesel model with about 80k on the clock, but not much newer than that... ...and then I started reading around and I keep hearing about DPFs, DMFs, "injector relearning" (whatever that is) and broken cranks. Oh, and I noticed that there are very few 2008-13 Forester diesels on Autotrader with more than 100k miles on the clock! So here are some questions: 1. DPF: How likely is it to fail? What are the implications of failure? How much does a replacement typically cost, fitted, at a main dealer or independent? Can you expect it to last as long as the original? Can you get used ones, and if so it is worth while? Is it practical to remove it completely (could it be detected on MoT)? 2. DMF: How likely is it to fail? What are the implications of failure? How much does a replacement cos? Can you get a non-dual mass replacement? Does failure cause any other damage to the car? 3. What is "injector relearning" and why is it a problem? 4. Broken cranks: I think I read somewhere (I can't find it now) that this problem stemmed from poorly written engine management firmware that fed too much torque to the crank, and that the cure was revised firmware. Is this true, does the revised firmware actually cure the problem, and how can I check whether a given car has the revision? And I suppose finally: If not a Forester, then what? Back to the CRV? Sorry about writing an essay for my first post! All advice gratefully received. Many thanks.