3747 messages,
Last post on Oct 15, 2012 at 3:22 PM
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Subaru Forester Forum.
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Subaru Forester, Future Vehicle, Wagon
Sep 23, 2008 (1:03 pm)
I owned a 2005 Forester for a year. It was a pretty good car, except that the seats were rock-hard, the gold fabric interior was impossible to keep clean under any sort of hard use, and one had to go to the LL Bean edition to get self-leveling rear suspension and a hard surfaced load area.. I went back to a Chrysler minivan.
I took some interest when the 2009 Forester was announced, even though SOA appears to be ramming that useless (to me) moon roof down my throat if I want any of the useful options, but decided that it wouldn't be worth the almost 40-mile (one way) trip to my nearest dealer to look at one until SOA offered a 5-speed automatic. I recently came back to this forum and read about the European diesel model. That caused me to visit the Subaru UK site and what I saw there REALLY made my blood boil!
EVERY Forester model there - from the lowest to the highest - has the self-leveling rear suspension and telescoping steering wheel as standard equipment! Unless and until SOA gets its occidental head out of its corporate backside and offers a sensibly optioned Forester here in the USA, I can quite easily live without their wares.
#2402 of 3747 Re: VW Tiguan [ateixeira]
by rsholland
Sep 23, 2008 (2:19 pm)
You must have sat in a different Tiguan than I sat in. Actually I sat in two, and liked them both. I didn't, however, "study" them closely like you did; but my overall first impression was quite positive.
I do agree that it is pricey, and towing is slightly less than the Forester (2200 I think). I liked the larger tires on the Tiguan, however.
Bob
#2403 of 3747 Re: SOA sucks! [veritasusa]
by p0926
Sep 23, 2008 (4:40 pm)
Next time tell us how you really feel
#2404 of 3747 Re: VW Tiguan [crashdavisfm]
by ateixeira
Sep 24, 2008 (8:16 am)
Yes, I do like that microfiber materials, but more importantly it's well padded underneath, so my elbows have a nice place to rest.
volkov: brrr.
It's only now getting cold enough for us to really appreciate the seat heaters. Wifey loves 'em.
Bob: did you sample a higher level model? Mine was base. It has cloth seats with manual adjustments.
Our Forester is loaded but it was still about $4 grand lower in sticker price.
#2405 of 3747 Re: SOA sucks! [veritasusa]
by ateixeira
Sep 24, 2008 (8:21 am)
one had to go to the LL Bean edition to get self-leveling rear suspension
Name one competitor in the compact crossover class that offers this feature.
(crickets chirping)
#2406 of 3747 Re: VW Tiguan [ateixeira]
by volkov
Sep 24, 2008 (8:47 am)
The other big bust on the Tiguan is that the promised Diesel has no fixed release in NA. Before anyone jumps on me, I am quite positive about the new clean diesel they have developped for the Jetta. I believe that they thought it was underpowered for the Tig, but I'd bet most potential diesel customers wouldn't mind given its efficiency. That plus the fact that in Europe it comes with an even smaller less powerful engine.
#2407 of 3747 Re: VW Tiguan [ateixeira]
by p0926
Sep 24, 2008 (9:41 am)
It's only now getting cold enough for us to really appreciate the seat heaters.
Hey Juice, when did you move to Alaska? Last I checked, DC morning lows were only in the 50s! Even us wusses living in the desert don't use our seat heaters until it gets a lot colder than that
-Frank
#2408 of 3747 Re: VW Tiguan [ateixeira]
by rsholland
Sep 24, 2008 (9:54 am)
Base FWD model for me too. The universal complaint about the Tiguan is price.
All road tests that I've read speak highly of the vehicle, until the MSRP comes up.
Bob
#2409 of 3747 Re: VW Tiguan [p0926]
by ateixeira
Sep 24, 2008 (11:35 am)
I'm from Brazil, 50 degrees is cold to me! LOL
#2410 of 3747 Re: VW Tiguan [rsholland]
by ateixeira
Sep 24, 2008 (11:37 am)
That's just it.
You're paying a Tribeca price for a Forester competitor. So it should be a lot nicer, but it just isn't.
Mostly, though, it's smaller than we would have wanted. Just get a GTI 5 door and save thousands of dollars.