stevan

i drive a 98 audi a4 right now with a decent amount of mods but its starting to show its age. ive had nothing but problems with it lately and its time for it to go! im starting a new job in august that will require me to be on the road 4 days a week! (sales rep, skate industry) so i need something i can throw some gear in, get good gas milage and not have to worry about reliability. ive pretty much narrowed it down to a toyota tacoma extended cab or a forester.

foresters seem to be in the lead but ive been looking up reviews online and ive read from a few people they arnt as reliable as they seem? or is that just a fluke with the 98's (first year models)?

im probably only going to spend a max of 5,000 so i wont be getting anything fancy like a newer turbo model (although ide love to...ill miss my moded turbo audi for that reason..) but gota make sacrifices right?!

so i guess im just trying to find out how reliable they really are? im assuming gas milage is going to be alright, its a 4cyl..

i found this which i was interested in, until i started reading reviews of 98's and foresters in general and a quiet a few people claimed they had long lists of repairs (head gaskets, etc.)

^^^^^^^^1998 SURBARU FORESTER L AWD($2,000 under kbb)

**** Subaru Forester L - Low Miles ****

Forester9886

Welcome to the forum! Both of the Foresters you have found are exactly like my 98! You are correct in saying that the 98's do have their share of problems. Mine has required its fare share of repairs since I bought it used in 2004. If your budget can't afford anything newer, you'd probably do just fine with a 98 that's had some recent work done. Probably the biggest issue is that of the head gaskets. Most 98's that have higher miles have most likely had that problem solved. However, if you can I'd try and buy a bit newer.

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Jason
98 Forester L

TheEmrys

Considering you have a '98 Audi right now, I'd assume you are going to get a newer model year. My wife and I just bought a '99 forester. The '98 is a model I'd avoid, personally. It was a DOHC is unique among Forresters for that. I like to be more of a main-stream'er. If you are looking for an '03 or later, I believe that was the year that the headgasket thing was licked (more or less).

Here is why my wife and I love our forester: Tons of room, pretty good mileage (less than thirty, more than twenty-two) for its size/shape, handles like a dream, bad weather is never an issue. Easy to work on! Basic Maintanence is a dream. Only car I've owned with a drain plug for the AT fluid.

But what I really love is that its practically the definition of versatile. It holds a ton of cargo. It drives phenominally on any kind of roads. But my wife and I can go camping in just about any area of Colorado without issue. Camping is so much nicer when you can drive 200 miles on roads, and then hit the logging roads and still get great mileage.

I've had a toyota, honda, ford, jeep, and a chevy. My wife and I will always have a subaru. I highly recommend them to anyone.

The only caveat is to make sure you change the timing belt when you are supposed to. Its a bit spendy, but it doesn't need to be done till you have 105k miles (or so) on it.

toecutterz

Hello i am new to the forester forum. I have a 98 forester S and was wondering what mods are available since i am new to this hobby. We bought an 04 liberty jeep so the forester is mine and was thinking of racing it up a bit. Any tips would be very helpful.
Thanks. Toecuttterz

ddavidv

Search.
The info is all on here. This forum format tends to not show older threads. Use the search function and you'll find tons more.
There isn't much in the way of power improvements that don't cost a fortune. You can bling it out with exhaust, a cold air intake (generally useless), lower it, better wheels/tires/brakes. Pretty much anything you can do to an Impreza you can do to a Foz.

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'02 L 5 spd FTW (For The Wife)