[PSYCHOFREAK3]

I need to find a vehicle for my wife. After tiring research on every small to mid size suv there is on the market I couldn't find anything that I actually liked (besides a diesel jeep liberty but good luck finding one of those) but I finally realized Subaru had the Forester. So far with everything that I have seen and read it seems like exactly what we need. I do have a couple questions for the people that are smarter than me.

We do have a one month old son and I am 6'2" do you thing there would be any clearance issues with the front and rear seats as I have heard they can be tight? I am looking to spend around 14k with about 40-60k miles, year range 04 to 06, what should I look for before purchasing? Anything common go out on these, any nuissance things that I should check on before buying? In other words what do you wish you would have known before you bought yours?

Any help would be very helpful,

Thanks in advance.

 

[PSYCHOFREAK3]

No one has any advice for someone looking to buy an 04 to 06 subaru forester? We are going searching tomorrow and I know you guys and gals are pretty smart with the foresters. So any advice or help of what to look for would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Duderotomy]

Check the axle boots, some tore or cracked prematurely. If the mileage is higher than you'd mentioned... (~100k) check that the timing belt servicing has been done. If the oil changes were done regularly, and the tires are all matching then you should be ok.

Your year selection has eliminated the head gasket issues that were apparent up until MY03. Although a few rare occurances have happened on the MY04 X models (extremely rare).
As for XT models, check for any possible signs of oil burning. Lower mileage like that shouldn't have a blown turbo though... if that does happen it's usually closer to the 200k mark.

For a rear-facing childseat, you'll likely have to install it on the passenger side due to your height. I'm not sure one would fit behind my seating position, and I'm only 6'-0". Forward facing seats shouldn't be an issue once your munchkin is big enough.

 

[ddavidv]

Take the child seat with you and try it out for size. If you don't have enough room, you may need to look at the Legacy Outback. It has a longer wheelbase.