I'm not sure if many folk will be interested in reading about my experience of owning a Forester, but thought I'd post anyway in case anyone wants to read my comparison between the Forester and the Freelander 2 I owned previously for 9 years.

I've fancied owning a Subaru since the Colin MaRae days of the 90s and decided to bite the bullet with a 2.0 XT (Turbocharged) Forester. I couldn't find what I wanted private so bought from a Subaru dealer (couple of years old).I liked the idea of Japanese reliability and the boxy shape rather than being another fashionable SUV. I like a good view out, sat high up, and whilst not as high as the Freel2 was the best of the others I looked at. Too many SUVs have a sporty driving position for my own personal liking.

On my drive home from the dealer on a hot day the Subie aircon wasn't working at all, despite supposedly having a full service prior to collection. Apparently its a common fault and it was fixed straight away. Despite the new condenser and re-gas I found the arcon very weak compared with Land Rovers...it could never get the car fully cool on a warm day even in Northern England.
The two main points people warned me about were the CVT and the poor fuel economy, although I found both of these excellent actually! Fuel economy for a full time 4x4 turbo petrol was pretty good and identical to the Freelander 2 diesel auto I own now. And the CVT worked great with the powerful engine...so smooth and rapid..it's what lured me to make the purchase after a test drive.

After a couple of weeks though I began to realise the flaws with the car and I realised I actually preferred my old Freelander. Although the car never broke down a number of faults came to light which were terribly annoying and the dealer couldn't sort. The build quality seemed poor, the paint thin (a bird poo left a permenant mark) and a number of annoying noises, clunks and even smells which couldn't be resolved. If the car was left a few days it wouldn't start due to the power-sapping alarm system which a dealer admitted was a big problem in UK Subaru's. Even changing to the best battery available didn't help.

Long story short, I ended up inheriting my late fathers Freelander 2 auto, so getting rid of the Subaru was a no-brainer. Not the experience I expected from Subaru as so many owners worship them, but just thought people considering this brand may be interested. I really wanted to like tha car and thought I'd be a loyal Subaru owner for life, but it wasn't to be.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I found it interesting.

Think you were very unlucky with your Forester. I'd owned a classic Impreza for years, had it remapped and running at around 285bhp; fabulous motor, went like a dream. Really only sold it as I needed the extra boot space so decided to move to the Forester. Only real issue I had during my five years of ownership were with the nearside headlight ballast and driver's door window motor, both of which were known faults. Other than those items, nothing major.
Dodgy knees and a few back problems forced its eventual sale, I simply needed something easier to get into and the Freelander fitted the bill and came along at the right time.
Yes, the Freelander is undoubtedly more comfortable, more refined but I don't feel you're truly comparing like for like beyond them both being called SUVs. For raw performance, no one would deny that the turbo-powered Forester would leave the Freelander way behind on the road at least.

Traveling around Australia, in the outback we noticed very few Subarus. I would even suggest there were more Land Rovers.

Country Australia mostly Toyotas

Click image to enlarge

Interesting review, always quite liked the look of a forester. Shame they stopped selling diesels completely. Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Lightwater wrote:

Traveling around Australia, in the outback we noticed very few Subarus. I would even suggest there were more Land Rovers.

In our street. 2 Range Rovers, 2 Land Rovers D4 & a D3, 1 Defender previous have seen a new one in the street once, 2 Discovery Sport, 3 Mercedes & 2 Audi & 1 Porsche not the cheap ones, 1 Alfa Romeo Giulia very noisy, 1 Touareg & one peasant with a white Freelander & a renter who moved in with a Subaru.

The remainder are run of the mill cars. We did have NSW licence plate number 3 on a tired 15 year old Toyota for a few years parked in the street. Couldn't work that one out.

Most of the Subarus must be doing shopping & school runs. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

I’ve racked up over 55,000 trouble free miles in an owned from new Subaru Outback auto , one warranty visit at 3 months to have the oil dilution checked . I can’t speak highly enough about the Outback , I love it . The Freelander at 70k and 12 years old drives like a dream , it belies its age . The cost of maintaining it over 9 years has been eye watering , but at least now it runs just as it should have done if Ford hadn’t left early model development to the owners ! 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .