What Forester should I buy?

[CalumA]

Hi all I'm new to this forum.

I come from Scotland and am looking for a car to go wild camping(possibly hold a roof top tent) and do a little soft roading. The car will be going on 1000 mile round trips a couple times a year and easily 500 mile round trips every second month but when I am not on these trips the car wont be doing much mileage, maybe 100 miles a week max.

I was between X-trail or Forester but believe the Forester would be the perfect companion for me with reliability, off road and on road ability, practicality and mpg.

Which model should I chose? I've been looking at 2.0D 2010 for around 6-7k with around 70k miles. Good option or too many diesel problems, dpf etc? 

My budget is around 7k.

Thanks

Calum

 

[Tidgy]

2.0 non turbo petrol, https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/subaru/forester/2005-55-subaru-forester-2-0-xe-5d-158-bhp/10315280

 

something like that, but i'd go with a manual myself.

[CalumA]

56 minutes ago, Tidgy said:

2.0 non turbo petrol, https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/subaru/forester/2005-55-subaru-forester-2-0-xe-5d-158-bhp/10315280

 

something like that, but i'd go with a manual myself.

Thanks for the reply

You recommend as old as that? And that kind of mileage? I know if its got great history you take away a lot of the risks but most of the parts will be 15 years old?

[Tidgy]

8 minutes ago, CalumA said:

Thanks for the reply

You recommend as old as that? And that kind of mileage? I know if its got great history you take away a lot of the risks but most of the parts will be 15 years old?

they were built well back then, also alot cheaper so could afford to spend a bit on spare parts etc

[Judd]

Sadly Subaru Diesels have a habit of trouble, look how many for sale for spares/repairs with blown engines, won't happen to all and some reach really high mileages but if you want a Diesel buy as cheap as you can afford to throw away, because the costs to fix them are serious.

That one linked by Tidgy i wouldn't consider myself, looks good though no mention of SH i can see, unless those 6 previous owners were all family members or is misleading due to private plate changes.

Be prepared to travel to buy, i will not buy a Subaru or Landcruiser (we have both) that have lived in Scotland or the north of England, purely due to the excess salt used up country during winter.

Foresters are good if looked after well, we have a 2008 XT and its a well made little motor, word is the later model isn't quite up the build quality but if you found the right one that had been cared for well then you could do worse.

Consider also Outback up to 2009, there are some really good examples of these floating about in England, the pick of the bunch is the 3.0 litre but if regd after March 2006 goes into £555 road tax banding, so a 2.5 would be a better bet, the 2010 onwards new shape model gains a CVT (i believe) auto gearbox and even if you found a manual it will be blessed with an electric parking brake.

I would say find a Landruiser 120 series, but they are still holding serious money for good examples, suits me already having a good one but its an expensive vehicle to buy into and unlike what the public seem to assume they require good regular maintenance and constant rustproofing measures under body for the ladder chassis, also consider Hilux and benefit from van road tax rates, Hiluxes are better on fuel than Landcruisers with the same 3.0 litre engine (2.5 better on fuel, manuals better still) because lighter and selectable 4WD unlike Landcruiser which is full time 4WD, we had a 3 litre Hilux automatic and i regret selling it, a much nicer vehicle to drive than you would expect and because 'dual purpose vehicle' you get car speed limits.   Those 4 cyl Diesel Toyotas have the easiest cambelt to change that i've ever come across, even easier than 200 series Volvos, 1 hour the first time DIY, roughly £80 buys the full kit, only need basic tools too.

[CalumA]

6 hours ago, Juddian said:

Sadly Subaru Diesels have a habit of trouble, look how many for sale for spares/repairs with blown engines, won't happen to all and some reach really high mileages but if you want a Diesel buy as cheap as you can afford to throw away, because the costs to fix them are serious.

That one linked by Tidgy i wouldn't consider myself, looks good though no mention of SH i can see, unless those 6 previous owners were all family members or is misleading due to private plate changes.

Be prepared to travel to buy, i will not buy a Subaru or Landcruiser (we have both) that have lived in Scotland or the north of England, purely due to the excess salt used up country during winter.

Foresters are good if looked after well, we have a 2008 XT and its a well made little motor, word is the later model isn't quite up the build quality but if you found the right one that had been cared for well then you could do worse.

Consider also Outback up to 2009, there are some really good examples of these floating about in England, the pick of the bunch is the 3.0 litre but if regd after March 2006 goes into £555 road tax banding, so a 2.5 would be a better bet, the 2010 onwards new shape model gains a CVT (i believe) auto gearbox and even if you found a manual it will be blessed with an electric parking brake.

I would say find a Landruiser 120 series, but they are still holding serious money for good examples, suits me already having a good one but its an expensive vehicle to buy into and unlike what the public seem to assume they require good regular maintenance and constant rustproofing measures under body for the ladder chassis, also consider Hilux and benefit from van road tax rates, Hiluxes are better on fuel than Landcruisers with the same 3.0 litre engine (2.5 better on fuel, manuals better still) because lighter and selectable 4WD unlike Landcruiser which is full time 4WD, we had a 3 litre Hilux automatic and i regret selling it, a much nicer vehicle to drive than you would expect and because 'dual purpose vehicle' you get car speed limits.   Those 4 cyl Diesel Toyotas have the easiest cambelt to change that i've ever come across, even easier than 200 series Volvos, 1 hour the first time DIY, roughly £80 buys the full kit, only need basic tools too.

Hi Juddian,

Thanks for the reply and insight. I have heard that with the foresters but wasn't sure if it was true. I believe the landcruiser is a bit of my budget, especially including the mpg they fetch. I have looked into hilux before and believe them to be pretty perfect yet maybe too big for me. I will reconsider though, what year hilux do you recommend?

[Judd]

Hilux you want is mk 6, so roughly 2006 on (2.5 engine available in mk 6 from 2005), 3 litre engine arrived in 2007 we had one of the first...anecdotally we ordered it only a week before that Top Gear Arctic special went out, got a decent discount that had i ordered a week later would not have been the case because the phone started ringing at Toyota dealers the day after it screened.

So, 2007 to 2011 would be ideal and HL3 spec is just about perfect, you can go later model but i'm not sure when they started to put DPF's in the exhaust, 2007 to 2011 you should be safely out of that danger, try and look at late 2008 on if you can, 2007 and early 2008 they were still fitting copper injector seals to the 3 litre which can leak, they changed production in 2008 to fitting aluminium seals which cured the issue, chances are the seals on affected engines might well have been retro changed in the meantime, so if a bargain 2007 came up it might be worth checking if that refit is in the history, you can search affected engine numbers for this problem, if you are interested in a Hilux suggest you log on or join HPOC forum, i was a member there at one time and there is a wealth of knowledge there to tap...ISTR the 2.5 engine had no such issues but please check that for yourself as its a while since i read up the latest.

We had front and rear parking sensors fitted to ours, and it had a quite remarkable turning circle for its size, so the length of it really didn't make much difference, like the LC120 they are comparatively narrow and not as cumbersome on the road as one might think, the autobox on them is a gem.

Be aware, some are badged VIGO, these are not genuine UK imports, and are sometimes different spec entirely, indeed some might not have been fitted with a heater as standard being destined for Thai market (european Hilux made in South Africa, far east etc made in Thailand) and aftermarket heater not up to Scottish winters, also odd things like rear isofix child seat fittings are missing.

[Brack]

I've not had any problems with my SH petrol model, its been 100% reliable. Best to have test drives to get an idea of which make and model of car suits your needs. Main points on a Forester -  FSH, 4x matching good tyres and the cam belt changed at 60K miles (if petrol)  Good luck 🙂