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14' Forester XT vs luxury brands, why even bother LOL

8811 Views 58 Replies 29 Participants Last post by  markfenlon
I don't get why people even bother to compare or get the luxury expensive equivalents of the 2014 XT, such as GLK, X3, Q5 etc.

The features they have need to be added on, for a price, which comes out to be almost 25k more than the top of the line XT. The power is either similar or worse than the XT. There's maybe a few options that we don't get like heated rear seats/heated steering and small little things. But overall for 25k less, you get 97% of what those other brand offer. So you're just paying 25k for a name that's less reliable, with crappier AWD and a heated steering wheel.

Why even bother? LOL

(Unless you got unlimited cash, sure go ahead)
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My sister has a GLK, and she hates it... She's getting another Subaru to replace it when the lease is up this fall.
Yup, it's exactly why I went with an XT.
My sister has a GLK, and she hates it... She's getting another Subaru to replace it when the lease is up this fall.
I imagine the maintenance is probably a nightmare on the GLK too

Nick C.
i'm coming from a GLK i hated it. It's all about paying for the brand - nothing more. Not worth it
Wow, my sister is currently looking at leasing the new GLK. I better stop her!! lol
They serve an entirely different purpose and look to many. I have always viewed Subaru personally as a more rugged look. If I wanted a luxury SUV, I wouldn't include Subaru on that list at all. It is as much about living a lifestyle and the image of that lifestyle that people perceive you in. A luxury SUV would be Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Cadillac... If it was about image I would get an used luxury SUV for the same money over a new Forester.
lol image matters, come on, it's just a car to drive and use.

Honestly, I compare not by "image" or "brand" but features each car has. So it's like AWD vs AWD, Power lift gate vs non power lift gate etc.

Who cares about other stuff... useless
My sister along with many other females only care about image. So yes, image matters man. It's not just a car. lol Sad but true.
Because you get what you pay for. People who can't afford something better will always claim that their cheap car is as good or better than a premium vehicle. It's called envy.

I have owned "value" cars and I have owned real luxury cars, and believe me, their is difference.
Because you get what you pay for. People who can't afford something better will always claim that their cheap car is as good or better than a premium vehicle. It's called envy.

I have owned "value" cars and I have owned real luxury cars, and believe me, their is difference.
Obviously there is a difference, mainly in build/interior etc. But the difference is not attributed to $25000. Maybe $5000-$7000 at most. The rest is brand recognition. Same as buying a SONY TV vs Haier etc.

I rather spend than $25000 on my backyard patio stone rather than something that depreciates off the lot.
You'll have to drive one to find out I guess. I can tell you that being a loyal BMW owner, there are a LOT of compromises in the Subaru. You can see it in the materials used from the leather to the dash to the sheet metal, even the paint quality leaves something to be desired. The wipers on this damn thing drive me insane, no heated side mirrors without jumping up to the highest model?(Common now, even my base VW Jetta came with these standard) Serves it's purpose very well though, which is to get me from point A to point B reliably.
Because you get what you pay for. People who can't afford something better will always claim that their cheap car is as good or better than a premium vehicle. It's called envy.

I have owned "value" cars and I have owned real luxury cars, and believe me, their is difference.
When it comes to the GLK you pay for the Mercedes logo. It's overpriced by probably 10k. If I got what I paid for I wouldn't have all the problems I had with it, thank god it was a lease. My aunt owns one - nothing but problems and high maintenance costs as well, she's only had it for almost 2 years. I didn't want to go the "luxury" route anymore due to all the issues i've had and high maintenance. I came from mainly audi and Mercedes. The suburu outperforms and feels more reliable. The only positive thing I could say about the GLK it was a very smooth ride and the sound acoustics were pretty amazing. But all that stuff is trivial, I would rather have reliability and performance.

I felt like I over payed for a nicer interior & sound system, that was still filled with cheap plastic parts (not visible to the eye) and mediocre performance.

high maintenance ladies like high maintenance cars. Makes sense i guess.
You can see it in the materials used from the leather to the dash to the sheet metal...
…to the plastic water pump impellers that break apart prematurely...

Luxury brands are full of cheap plastic, and dodgy electronics just like anything else. The parts you can see and touch are generally nicer though.

Fun fact: the rubbery dash material of a 2104 Forester is identical in feel and texture to the fully kitted out Lexus LX570 I was checking out at the dealership last month. The sticker price was over $100K.
I agree, I wanted mid-size SUV and for much under $30K got the forester XT , everything else for me to match the features would have been $35K or more, and I think the AWD is best with Subaru
My sister along with many other females only care about image. So yes, image matters man. It's not just a car. lol Sad but true.
I don't think it's purely a female trait. Lots of guys buy luxury brands for the "status" too.
…to the plastic water pump impellers that break apart prematurely...

Luxury brands are full of cheap plastic, and dodgy electronics just like anything else. The parts you can see and touch are generally nicer though.

Fun fact: the rubbery dash material of a 2104 Forester is identical in feel and texture to the fully kitted out Lexus LX570 I was checking out at the dealership last month. The sticker price was over $100K.
Plastic gets brittle over time. People always think of preventative maintenance by miles driven alone instead of age of car/miles driven. Yes, they had this issue in the 90's... Shall I start going through the list of problems that have plagued Subarus? Maybe headgasket failures galore? How about the hundreds of Subaru's that were stolen by using a flat head screwdriver to start them? I used to work for Subaru and have seen my share of issues with them. :shake: Let's compare cars from this decade maybe? Truth of the matter is that these are two very different cars. Yes the subarus are far superior in terms of reliability, but in all honesty most people who can afford luxury cars don't buy them used for that very reason. They know everything's going to be covered under warranty. Unfortunately, lots of people want to own them and can't afford to buy them new. So what do they do? They go buy used/abused ones and complain of how many problems they have... Let's stop comparing apples to oranges? This car is on the same lines as a Honda CRV or a Toyota RAV4. Try not to kid yourselves and think people are cross shopping a Subaru Forester to a GLK. Completely different demographic. Yes it may be faster and handle better, but what about the V6 Rav4?
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I don't think it's purely a female trait. Lots of guys buy luxury brands for the "status" too.
Yes, yes and yes.
lol image matters, come on, it's just a car to drive and use.

Honestly, I compare not by "image" or "brand" but features each car has. So it's like AWD vs AWD, Power lift gate vs non power lift gate etc.

Who cares about other stuff... useless
I have a 2001 5-series beemer wagon as a second car, and with 123K on it there are no rattles, car feels solid. It also isn't covered in small dings and scratches like my Subaru was. Build quality is different and it's noticeable.

I love Subarus and understand and appreciate them, but it isn't fair to compare them to a more expensive vehicle built to different standards and on differet budget from the very beggining.

Stan
Plastic gets brittle over time. People always think of preventative maintenance by miles driven alone instead of age of car/miles driven. Yes, they had this issue in the 90's... Shall I start going through the list of problems that have plagued Subarus? Maybe headgasket failures galore? How about the hundreds of Subaru's that were stolen by using a flat head screwdriver to start them? I used to work for Subaru and have seen my share of issues with them. :shake: Let's compare cars from this decade maybe? Truth of the matter is that these are two very different cars. Yes the subarus are far superior in terms of reliability, but in all honesty most people who can afford luxury cars don't buy them used for that very reason. They know everything's going to be covered under warranty. Unfortunately, lots of people want to own them and can't afford to buy them new. So what do they do? They go buy used/abused ones and complain of how many problems they have... Let's stop comparing apples to oranges? This car is on the same lines as a Honda CRV or a Toyota RAV4. Try not to kid yourselves and think people are cross shopping a Subaru Forester to a GLK. Completely different demographic. Yes it may be faster and handle better, but what about the V6 Rav4?
I don't think it's comparing apples to oranges at all. If someone can spend 30-35k on a forester I'm pretty sure they can dish out the extra 5-10k on the base GLK.

I don't know a single person who bought a used GLK, in fact most people I know would lease just because of how unreliable their cars are and to have some of the maintenance costs taken care of.

Just because someone can afford to drive a 40-80k car for the status doesn't mean they always want to. I don't consider going to an XT a downgrade at all, I don't base these things off cost, the XT outperforms and will make me much happier & at the same time drives better. But I also could care less about status either, can't speak for most.
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