Any experience with the newer Foresters?

[livingminimal]

Our family car is a '13 Forester.

We've had a couple of issues with it, but they're weird ones. Like, the rear view mirror has fallen off. And the sunglasses case is perpetually open and wont close.

We also just had to replace a drive shaft. Not terribly expensive at Midas. Like $250.

Tire situation can be rough, having to replace them all because of AWD wearing, the engine "pings" a bit which is weird.

We use it for all of our family road trips, and all of the kids activities all summer long, so we have about 84K miles on it in just over 5 years. Our kids have done from 4yo and 1yo to 9yo and 6yo and havent really damaged the interior at all, at least not in any meaningful way.

Id like to get another two years (at least? seems reasonable?) out of my 2005 Toyota Matrix w/ 135K miles on it and wait to see if more fully electric, family-sized vehicles come on the market.

I am not a car person. In fact, I am a person that essentially thinks we should have them at all, but that's another story all together.

[fmradio516]

Originally Posted by Ralph

Not trying to be argumentative but.....what does the value of the vehicle have to do with whether or not it's worth to fix up? Could be you could spend a few thousand dollars on the old Jeep, and get another 50,000 miles out of it at least.


I have a retired neighbor, who looks for opportunities like your Jeep. He will buy something for $500-1000 at auction, take it to his local garage (he doesn't do mechanical work himself), spend a few thousand on it (more than it was worth), and then resale it as a fixed up vehicle for $5000-6000.

I hear the argument all the time...."it's not worth fixing up", but it's rarely true. There is not much you can't fix on a car for the cost of the sales tax on a new car, and if you throw in the first years depreciation (which comes out of your net worth), I think it's always cheaper to fix up an old car and drive it VS selling and buying.

The only exception I can think of is body work. Fixing engines, transmissions, and suspension is relatively cheap. it's body work that is expensive, and often not worth doing.

I also understand a family needs a nice car...then having a beater OK. Shucks...I always keep one nice vehicle around. And I also understand buying a new vehicle is usually an emotional decision....you just want one. if that's the case....I understand that also, as long as you understand it's not really about the old car. Nothing wrong with spending some hard earned money either.

Well I already have spend a good chunk of change on it. Power steering hose went last year and that was a $700 job after all the bells and whistles. Radiator went last year which luckily was only a $60 item online and I was able to replace it. And then last month the master cylinder went as well as a brake line and I lost the brakes while driving. Spent about a $1000 to replace all that at a shop. So I guess its an even more of an incentive to keep it, but im not mentioning the two O2 sensors (out of four) and oil pressure sensors I've had to replace in the past two years. It just seems like theres always something.

If I clean it up, I could maybe sell it for $5k; or I can hang onto it for a couple of years and pay to junk it. We'll see what happens.

[JAGI410]

My 04 Forester XT just turned 144k miles and is still running like a champ. But like all vehicles with age, things will start to wear out and need replacing. I've been pretty lucky so far, just a few minor things that I've fixed myself. The hope is to make it to 200k with it, but as-is, it's still pretty valuable since it has the rare 5spd trans. I can't find anything else new like it, so I'll just keep it!

With your Jeep, if you've already spent money to keep it alive and you have a sort of attachment to it, might as well keep it going as long as you can! A rusted out Jeep that still fires up is still worth money just because it says Jeep on it. Put a chunk of the "new car" cash aside and wait until you actually "need" a new vehicle.

[fmradio516]

Originally Posted by JAGI410

My 04 Forester XT just turned 144k miles and is still running like a champ. But like all vehicles with age, things will start to wear out and need replacing. I've been pretty lucky so far, just a few minor things that I've fixed myself. The hope is to make it to 200k with it, but as-is, it's still pretty valuable since it has the rare 5spd trans. I can't find anything else new like it, so I'll just keep it!

With your Jeep, if you've already spent money to keep it alive and you have a sort of attachment to it, might as well keep it going as long as you can! A rusted out Jeep that still fires up is still worth money just because it says Jeep on it. Put a chunk of the "new car" cash aside and wait until you actually "need" a new vehicle.

Thats cool about your XT. I have been reading up on Subaru specific forums and they are saying that the XTs are experiencing less problems, but it could be due to the fact that there is less on the road.

There was a guy who posted about his Forester that is (iirc) 4 years old and has around 40k miles and he's already had to replace wheel bearings in 3 out of 4 wheels. Its crazy! When I had my old BMW, I had to replace one set of bearings at like 185k and those were replacing the originals!

[JAGI410]

I've never had to do a wheel bearing, ever. I've had a few high mileage cars too. That's crazy a Subaru needed one with that soon. The weirdest failure my Subaru had was the main driveshaft at 120k. $500 for a replacement and a few hours of work.

The availability of car parts online and the great YouTube community really make keeping old cars (or bikes, or toasters, etc) alive and out of the landfill.

[fmradio516]

^ Amen to that!