Hi all,
First, thank you for letting me join the forum.
I'm looking at buying an estate and I need something rugged and reliable for the roads up over the Long Mynd in Shropshire (where I live). I currently have an Alfa Giulietta (which is beautiful), but I'm slowly killing it by driving it along the cambered, rough lanes with it's belly scraping over every little hump and bump. I have decided that the Alfa has to go..!
I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, so need an estate for the boot space and a 4WD for the slightly higher ride height and more capability (especially during Autumn & Winter when the roads around here can get quite bad). I will also be making regular (once or twice a week) trips over to Worcester, which is about 45 miles each way on twisty A roads and is prone to flooding.
I've narrowed my choices down to a Subaru and would be happy with an Impreza, Legacy, Outback or Forester (although the Forester might be slightly more than I need).
Sadly, I am not made of money so have a budget of £4k as an absolute maximum.
I am not fussed between petrol or diesel (I probably do about 10-12k miles a year). I just want to get something which is relatively bombproof, and which I don't need to be precious about (as I do with my Alfa currently).
I've mainly looked at Legacy's so far (2.0 R) and there seem to be a few out there with fairly decent mileage which are within budget.
I'd really appreciate a few pointers as to what I should be looking out for in terms of common issues and what I should be checking for in terms of service history.
Any advice or guidance which you could provide would be much appreciated. Incidentally, if anyone is selling anything which might be suitable please feel free to let me know!
Thanks
