[Northeasterner]

I’m on the hunt for a 2014 Forester. While Subies are popular here in New England, late model year Foresters in my area, where available, tend to command a high price. And salted winter roads eat up cars here.

I’ll be in Tucson in March. While there, I thought I’d look for a ‘14 Forester that’s in good condition (preserved by the desert) and that’s been problem-free for its previous owner. Tucsonans, where should I look? Are there reliable sources of used Subies known to locals? Of course, I’ll check Subaru of Tucson and Craigslist. CarMax, which I have no experience with, lists a few ‘14 Foresters in Tucson. And Davis–Monthan Air Force Base may have a used car lot.

If I can find my dream Subie while I’m there, I’ll have 2,500 miles to get familiar with it as I relocate it to the Northeast.

 

[ForesterBill]

There are a lot of Foresters in Tucson so just about any car dealer could have one or more on their lot but Tucson Subaru is likely your best source. Also, don't overlook the five Subaru dealers in Phoenix which is about two hours away. Just make sure you check a vehicle history report for the history of the car's registration location. Just because it's on a Tucson/Phoenix car lot doesn't mean it is a "local" car.

CarGurus does a good job of consolidating all used car listings: https://www.cargurus.com/

 

[Northeasterner]

Thank you for the recomendations and advice, ForesterBill.

I likely won’t have time after work to drive to Phoenix and back. On at least one past trip to Tucson I’ve used PHX. This (work) trip, however, I’ll fly into and out of TUS, so I’ll cofine my search to Tucson.

 

[Northeasterner]

Are there local resources there for advertising private sales? MY ‘14 Foresters advertised at Cargurus.com lead to dealerships. While I’m sure dealerships offer some great vehicles, I hope to find a selection of ‘14 Foresters being sold by owner (original, preferably) in/around Tucson. Before I visit Tucson I plan to scour Cargurus, Edmunds, Autotrader, the Air Force bases’s used car web page, and any other resources I learn of. Maybe Simply Subies of Arizona or other local Facebook groups alliw locals to advertise private sales.

 

[RainBird]

Not sure about your thinking that the desert is kind to vehicles (preserved by the desert), the heat & sun is really hard on the rubber & plastic parts of a car down here. Batteries, wiper blades, hoses, tires, gaskets, etc. don't really enjoy the high heat in the summers & don't last as long as that did when i lived in WA. My car is garaged when I'm not driving it & I've still had weird occurrences like an interior pillar cover up by the passengers side of the windshield that just fell off into the front seat with no warning when the clips got brittle & broke on my 2003 Forester.

 

[Northeasterner]

I take your point, RainBird.

 

[ForesterBill]

Not sure about your thinking that the desert is kind to vehicles (preserved by the desert), the heat & sun is really hard on the rubber & plastic parts of a car down here. Batteries, wiper blades, hoses, tires, gaskets, etc. don't really enjoy the high heat in the summers & don't last as long as that did when i lived in WA. My car is garaged when I'm not driving it & I've still had weird occurrences like an interior pillar cover up by the passengers side of the windshield that just fell off into the front seat with no warning when the clips got brittle & broke on my 2003 Forester.

Good point, especially if the car is not garaged. However, having lived in both the Midwest rust belt and Southwest desert, my experience is that the sun and dry heat are a lot less harmful than road salt and humidity. Rust is like cancer.

 

[ForesterBill]

Are there local resources there for advertising private sales? MY ‘14 Foresters advertised at Cargurus.com lead to dealerships. While I’m sure dealerships offer some great vehicles, I hope to find a selection of ‘14 Foresters being sold by owner (original, preferably) in/around Tucson. Before I visit Tucson I plan to scour Cargurus, Edmunds, Autotrader, the Air Force bases’s used car web page, and any other resources I learn of. Maybe Simply Subies of Arizona or other local Facebook groups alliw locals to advertise private sales.

Perhaps Craigslist and Cars.com