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2009 Subaru Forester

3747 messages,  Last post on Oct 15, 2012 at 3:22 PM

You are in the Subaru Forester Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Forester, Future Vehicle, Wagon

Messages Page 66 of 376

#642 of 3747 Catching up.... by ateixeira

Mar 28, 2008 (10:14 am)

I take one day off and this thread picks up the pace...figures.
 
Puddle lights - these are neat. I didn't realize how useful they'd be until my Sienna, which has them. Very cool feature. I will look in to adding these on or LL Bean when we get one.
 
kahanatina: congrats!
 
fanatical: same you to, congrats.
 
I have to get in gear and go buy one, seems like I didn't get the memo and have been hesitating.
 
FWIW, I rented a 2007 Accord when we went to Florida last October, for a wedding.
 
As throroughly competent as it was, road noise was my #1 complaint. The engine is quite, wind noise seemed normal, but we noticed tire noise. Perhaps it depends on tire choices, I dunno. The rental car was nearly new.
 
Maybe some Hondas are better than others, or maybe its the tire choice. Who knows. That's just my observation.
 
Also, I test drove the Ody and Sienna back to back. Again, I felt the Sienna was more isolated.
 
If I had been looking for a driver's van I would have picked the Ody due to the Sienna's numb steering alone, but we wanted a trip vehicle and comfort was a top priority.
 
Let's see what the instrumented tests say. The Forester has generally done well. Car & Driver measures sound levels at idle, at speed cruising, and at speed coasting. In the 2 comparisons I've seen for the Forester, it was the quietest in both.
 
Let's see for the 2009. Competitors have improved. Has Subaru kept up? I guess we'll see when they publish sound levels in the full road tests.

#643 of 3747 Re: CR-V vs. Forester [rmanke] by p0926

Mar 28, 2008 (11:24 am)

Replying to: rmanke (Mar 27, 2008 10:41 am)
On another note, I take back my impression that Subaru is customer focused. Our local dealer got a bunch of '09's in yesterday and most have them had $400+ optional "wheel opening trim." I hate when manufacturers put useless options on their vehicles at ridiculous prices to pad their pockets.
 
While I personally don't consider Subaru to be particularly "customer focused", I don't see them doing anything different than most other manufacturers. As has been previously discussed, Subaru decontented the 09 Forester to make it more price competitive with its peers. This resulted in a big increase in the number of available options.
 
Previous generation Foresters came with pretty much everything standard in a given trim level with very few options to choose from. Ironically, before we had people complaining about too much being standard and too few options and now some are disgruntled that there are too many.
 
Another thing, your average Subaru dealer doesn't carry a lot of inventory so they and Subaru have to guess at what the most popular options are going to be and stock their inventory accordingly. Obviously this results in many compromises on what the vehicles are going to be equipped with.
 
The good news is that it’s pretty easy to factory order a Forester to your exact specifications. The downside is that you have to wait 8-12 weeks for delivery. Also, refusing to pay for unwanted options is a viable negotiating tactic.
 
-Frank

#644 of 3747 Re: 2009 Forester underrated? [batman47] by ateixeira

Mar 28, 2008 (11:28 am)

Replying to: batman47 (Mar 27, 2008 3:40 pm)
I wait until now to order a 2009 Subaru after a comparison by Edmunds in two vehicles, i.e. 2009 Forester and 2008 Outlander
 
I see from your other posts that you are actually shopping for the best price on a left over 2007 Outlander. So low price was a priority for you, not rally fair to compare a brand new model that just came out. Of course pricing is higher. The 07 Outlander has very low demand.
 
The fact that there are still new 2007s left over proves that. You are buying a car noone wanted!
 
Subaru America wants to rip off loyal customers, because I think Subaru owners are Subaru patriotic
 
This is funny given what I've observed from Outlander fans - the most "patriotic" that I've ever seen. You obviously had a sip of their Kool Aid.
 
If you even bothered to read this thread, you'd see people like Kurt are first-time Subaru buyers. He came from a Chevrolet. Other traded in Hondas.
 
Going from 4-cylinders to 6-cylinders inflate the price above $30,000
 
Not true, look at an Outback H6. Plus, the Tribeca is not in the Outlander's league, the Endeavor is.
 
4-auto transmision that decreases performance by 15% in comparison with 6-auto
 
Source? Wait, don't tell me - Mitsubishi. Of course! And Subaru buyers are the "patriotic" ones?
 
same petrol consume
 
No, sir. Wrong. Outlander is rated 17/24. The Forester XT gets 19/24, and it makes more power and more torque. Why is the Outlander's V6 so inefficient in the city, given it makes less power and less torque? How do you explain that?
 
To make things worse, the gas tank on the Outlander is only 15.8 gallons, so your range in the city is a rather pathetic 269 miles. Forester has a 16.9 gallon tank, and with better fuel efficiency is can go a reasonable 321 miles.
 
So it seems like your V6 is only 15% better at ... displaying the low fuel light.
 
6-cylinders has longer life than a 4-cylinders.
 
Source? The most durable automobile engine in the world was a 4 cylinder diesel by Mercedes. Source: Guiness Book of World Records.
 
And before you look, 2nd place also went to a 4 cylinder.

#645 of 3747 outlander . vs. forester by kurtamaxxxguy

Mar 28, 2008 (11:52 am)

Most of my Subaru shopping was comparing '08 Outlander to '09 Forester.
Most of those comments are already here but I can recap if anyone wishes that.

#646 of 3747 Re: 2009 Forester underrated? [ateixeira] by p0926

Mar 28, 2008 (11:53 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Mar 28, 2008 11:28 am)
Whoa somebody hit a nerve
 
So it seems like your V6 is only 15% better at ... displaying the low fuel light.
 
LOL! Juice I think you have a future as a comedian
 
-Frank

#647 of 3747 Re: 2009 Forester underrated? [p0926] by ateixeira

Mar 28, 2008 (12:00 pm)

Replying to: p0926 (Mar 28, 2008 11:53 am)
I hate when someone trolls in to a thread, drops a bomb like that, then disappears.
 
I do apologize, though, for the 15% comment.
 
That was very unfair. I'm sorry.
 
Seriously, I apologize ... to Forester owners. Range is actually 19% better.
 
Won't happen again. I swear.

#648 of 3747 Re: Catching up.... [ateixeira] by rsholland

Mar 28, 2008 (12:01 pm)

Replying to: ateixeira (Mar 28, 2008 10:14 am)
Road noise is a common complaint of Hondas. Check CR's Annual Auto Issue. They mention that on just about every Honda.
 
Bob

#649 of 3747 Hitting A nerve by tkay

Mar 28, 2008 (3:53 pm)

Talk about me,talk about my wife,talk about my job,TALK ABOUT MY RIDE "THATS PERSONAL"

#650 of 3747 Sport Light by tkay

Mar 29, 2008 (8:33 am)

When I start the 09 Forester a blue light comes on for a couple of seconds that says SPORT, then goes out. This is in the area of the speedo,am I hallucinating? I thought those days were long gone!!

#651 of 3747 Sport Light by tkay

Mar 29, 2008 (10:53 am)

I must be hallucinating because it's a GREEN LIGHT (Sport) that comes on with ignition.

Messages Page 66 of 376

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