Finally tracked down what I hope will be a long lasting Forester X. 2010 model, 60k miles, petrol, manual. Drove it up the M6 from Manchester yesterday. (Bringing it home actually, since it originated in Ayrshire, Scotland). All seems well apart from a small metallic rattle/squeak over bumps, coming from the front-right, lower engine bay, or possibly wheel area. Haven't had time to track it down properly ( heavy rain here) , but tightening a loose front exhaust heat shield sadly hasn't fixed it. 

Some observations from the drive home:

• Steering vague in central, straight ahead position. Normal, or in need of tracking being set?
• Corners well. better than my current CRV. Nice on the twists.
• Wet grip from front Pirelli Scorpion tyres disappointing. Big understeer/slide on a well-known "test bend".
• Quite torquey engine given it's only a 2 litre N/A in a 1.5T car.
• Flimsy, thin metal panels. Felt like aftermarket repair items until I realised they are all like that. I'm used to much older cars and my 2006 model felt more solid. My 1997 Saab 9000 was like a tank compared to current cars. Feels like leaning on the car the wrong way could cause a dent. Still; lighter I suppose.
• Great CD player ( way better than CRV EX stereo) Makes a difference on a long trip. Decent radio too.
• Cheap feeling switchgear.
• Engaging to drive and quite fun in an old-school kind of way.
• Looking forward to getting it into the woodland where we gather firewood.
• Will put some grippier; winter/4 season/all terrain tyres on it after a bot of research.
• Brakes just OK but still better than the CRV. Worth putting better callipers or braided hoses on?

Hopefully this one is a keeper. I'm still at the nervous "what have I bought?" stage of ownership.

Thanks for all the advice & help on here to date. I hope to be able to contribute one day.

Pleased you've found a nice one Wulbert, it looks nice in black 🙂 enjoy.