Hi all, I was wondering if you would be able to offer me advice I am in the process of buying my first Subaru forester I am looking at the 2 litre models around the 03/04 plate. are there any things in particular i should be looking out for when going to viewings, are there any reliability issues that are commonly known. also would anyone  know what the timing belt intervals are . many thanks in advance for your replys     

60k miles for N/A or 50k miles for Turbo, or 5 years . Europe has really low mileage for belts, in USA & Oz it more like 90 to 100K miles.

Main niggles are ripped drivers seat on leather edge, mucky seats as light cloth stains easily, drivers window not working, roof bars faded & scratched, exhaust heat shields rattle (easy fix), sumps can get heavy rust spots (mainly as no oil leaks covering whole front car like most european junk)

Do look for hard use from towing, rear suspension is (SLS) self levelling hydraulically internally within strut & they fail & rear sags, this costs good £300+ from garage to replace with KYB struts & matching springs, they not SLS as that only from subaru parts & at almost £400 a strut.

Check transmision/clutch smooth & free from clunks.

Check underbody not dented up from off road use etc.

Check tyres for even wear as with AWD you don't want bad wear from possible accident damaged car or from faulty suspension

They tough vehicles & if serviced well & had good owners even 140K foresters have loads of life left.

Just take bit of time, test/look at everything & don't rush at first one you see.

older SF models are better built & in my opinion far better design than the SG so if you see one of those around 99 to 02 they certainly worth a look ...

thank you mr B for your help.

actually another thing look for on SG is corrosion in rear inner wheel arch.

Normally it near the lip seam to out arch & down side to sill edge tends be heavier rot & is mot failure. done odd one over years but done 2 for pre mot work and a failure in last 5 weeks so made me think about adding this as easy over looked, subframes & rear chassis rails always worth a good look too.

Easy to inspect so do have a good nose/prod & take a decent torch when viewing (you can buy half decent 24LED inspection lamps on ebay for £4.50)