[gear1auto]

Hi All,

I am new to this site. I registered after reading some posts yesterday. Seems like a great place to get some info.

I had a 2001 Forester L, very bare bones but a great car with 170000...and I wanted to take it to 250000. That is, until I got broadsided over a week ago. The car was totaled but, thankfuly, nobody was hurt. Anyway, I started looking at the 2010s and made the mistake of test driving a turbo. I liked it but not sure I want to spend that kind of money right now.

Then I came across a 2006 XT with less than 36000 miles - it still has some warranty on it! I must say I am nervous about buying a turbo - new or used. Then I thought I'd check with you all to see what you thought. The exterior looks pretty clean. It's going for $19,995 but assume I can get it cheaper than that - for one thing I would deduct $500 for new tires! Does anyone have any experience with the 2006 XT? Are there any redflags to watch out for? What would be a good price? It is Subaru Certified Pre-Owned, if that means anything (I would hope it does).

I did notice that the Consumer Reports reliability for the 2006 XT didn't look as good as the non-turbo and I thought I saw an "average" rating for "major engine".

Thanks for reading. I look forward to your comments

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

I see this is your first post, so welcome to the forum from Oregon! :biggrin:

If the vehicle comes with a detailed service history, go for it. If it doesn't, have it checked over, have the basic fluids replaced & you'll be good to go! This month will be a year since I purchased my '07 FSXT & it's been entirely trouble free. If I wasn't into MODding, I'd be money ahead... but where's the fun in that?! :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]

 

[bbottomley]

Welcome!

I would suspect that the CR rating might in some way be a testimonial to the greater likelihood that a turbo Forester might have been driven a bit more aggressively than the NA model. And also the simple fact that there are more moving parts in there.

 

[gear1auto]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I learned that from reading some other posts so I will definitely ask if there is a detailed history of the service.

Another question - there are 2 (what I believe were stock) Geolander tires on the rear and 2 different tires on the front. Is it bad to have different tires on an AWD vehicle like the Forester?

Joe

 

[bbottomley]

Is it bad to have different tires on an AWD vehicle like the Forester?

YES! All four must be very close in circumference due to AWD, and without even considering this it's not good to mix tires of differing characteristics.

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

As a rule, the tires are suppose to be replaced as a set of 4, or the new one(s) needs to be shaved to match the existing ones. It might be something to check into.

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]

 

[gear1auto]

I just cheched CR again. Actually, it is the "fuel system" which got the "worse" rating. That was apparently improved for 2007 (average). It also received "average" scores for suspension and brakes. Does anyone know what the "FUEL SYSTEM" problems are about? That kind of scares me a little...

 

[gear1auto]

ah-ha...there are other forum posts dealing with this.

Looks like it was the fuel pump...and more...I don't know about this now. Looks like I will just go for the 2010 X Ltd.

 

[pleiad7]

If I remember correctly, there were some complaints about the fuel pump emitting a high-pitched noise on the 06-07 Foresters. Not anything that compromised their functionality, but a minor annoyance to some.

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

The fuel pump is easy to change out & suspension upgrading is done, even on new Foresters. :smile:

Nothing wrong with buying new, but I prefer to have the first owner take the hit... as in the reduction in value... depreciation, when it's driven off the sales lot. In addition, I haven't had a vehicle payment in years, which allows me to spend more moola on goodies... as in MODding! :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]

 

[gear1auto]

Thanks, all!

Bobby, okay, I will reconsider. But I wish there were more comments about folks' experience with 2006 turbos. I'll definitely take the car for a test drive at least and see what the service history report (if any) indicates.

I really appreciate your comments. I prefer to buy the right car used if possible.

Joe

 

[gear1auto]

Ya know, one of the reasons I like that 2006 is because it has that quirky old boxy style. That grew on me over the 10 years I had my 2001...it's different! And differnt with turbo would be realy cool!! :icon_biggrin:

 

[bbottomley]

Change through the entire 2003-2008 life of the SG model (2004-2008 in the case of turbo) was pretty much a slow evolution. I doubt that you'll find much of anything that is uniquely tied to 2006 and wouldn't have shown up in other years as well. It easily could be that a few bad (or good) apples in the sampling process caused CR's ratings to get inappropriately skewed.

 

[stan_t]

'06 was the first year of the re-designed look of the "boxy" models. Is this one the Limited model with leather heated seats (were all '06 XTs leather)?

I wouldn't worry too much about potential reliability issues due to having a turbo. I mean, anything can happen and things can break, but I wouldn't loose any sleep over it until something actually happens. Reality is, there are many XT owners on this board and we rarely have mechanical issues with our cars compared to owners of '98-'03 models which suffer from head gasket issues. Granted, oldest USDM XT is '04, but many people here have put 150K+ miles on their cars without any problems. Alot of XTs on here are also producing more power than stock.

Biggest issues with owning an XT are gas mileage (I've never gotten more than 24MPG and average about 19 and you need to use premium gas) and constant need to modify the car for better handling and performance.

Stan

 

[gear1auto]

'06 was the first year of the re-designed look of the "boxy" models. Is this one the Limited model with leather heated seats (were all '06 XTs leather)?

I wouldn't worry too much about potential reliability issues due to having a turbo. I mean, anything can happen and things can break, but I wouldn't loose any sleep over it until something actually happens. Reality is, there are many XT owners on this board and we rarely have mechanical issues with our cars compared to owners of '98-'03 models which suffer from head gasket issues. Granted, oldest USDM XT is '04, but many people here have put 150K+ miles on their cars without any problems. Alot of XTs on here are also producing more power than stock.

Biggest issues with owning an XT are gas mileage (I've never gotten more than 24MPG and average about 19 and you need to use premium gas) and constant need to modify the car for better handling and performance.

Stan
__________________
Stan,

Thanks for the input. I guess I am comparing the '06 to the newer models - still looks boxy and more similar to my '01 than the new ones.

Could you elaborate on "constant need to modify the car for better handling and performance"? I am interested in the turbo for the extra power but am ot planning on doing a lot to it other than the required maintainence. The mileage doesn't bother me that much and, believe it or not, I was putting 89 octane in my '01 all these years so the difference between that and the premium is egligible to me. Are the turbos that much more higher maintainence other than gas and using a premium oil?

Joe

 

[pleiad7]

Stan has suspension & handling ADHD. It's a condition. He constantly second-guesses himself and ponders how his setup could be improved. :biggrin:

 

[kheldar]

Since your interested specifically in 06 xt..

I bought my 06 FXT about a month ago with 72k and don't worry about it at all. The one thing you should consider is Subaru basically put this same 2.5 turbo in everything and everyone mods it. And it stands up pretty well. Also the parts are pretty cheap considering even if something does break.

Is the one your looking at manual or auto? Sorry if I missed that.

 

[SKSTI]

06 XT owner here.

As far as mechanical problems are concerned, this one (my first Subaru at that) has been trouble-free. And I'm not some docile owner either. It gets driven, and driven hard. To be honest, I didn't even follow the recommended break in procedure (we were just talking about this on the drive yesterday - right, Silke? lol). The wagon saw red line numerous times the first week of ownership. No oil burning issue.

I've made the switch to full synthetic close to 20K mark, the same time with downpipe and tune. The vehicle is closing in on 54K as of today.

 

[HoodRN]

My 2008 XT is Forester #3 for me. All have been as reliable as sunrise. My XT gets 26+ on premium fuel, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another :biggrin:.

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

Ya know, one of the reasons I like that 2006 is because it has that quirky old boxy style. That grew on me over the 10 years I had my 2001...it's different! And different with turbo would be really cool!! :icon_biggrin:

I know what you mean! I started looking for another Forester in June of '08. I'd just retired, had more time & I really wanted to move on to an XT. I wanted a low mile '04 XT. Like you, I liked the earlier styling. I spent nearly a year looking... lots of crap out there, but then, I may be overly picky. Finally last year, June/09... nearly a year ago, Ian (Arthrogrian19) spotted an '07 FSXT for sale that he thought I'd like. The rest is history! It wasn't perfect... still isn't & it needed some TLC, mostly cosmetic, but other than that, it's been trouble free. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]