The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

Hi all. I'm looking into getting rid of my BMW and thinking bout buying a new. Or well newish Subaru.
It's mainly for the misses. She seams to like the 2011 tribeca the r model.or something 7 seater and auto
But I'm mainly interested in war other people think of the newer models mayb outback. Forrester or tribeca.

Would possibly do a little bit of beach driving but no serious off roading. ( still have hatchie for that)



Thanks Tristan

Gotta love the TD forester, we do. just can't use it as a short trip car, as the EGR and dpf get clogged with diesel soot

TOONGA

theyre all pretty good. I was in the same boat as you afew months ago but ended up with a VW wagon hahaha.

The gen5 outbacks and liberties are cheap because theyre ugly, but theyre a really good car.

Obviously a forester isnt going to have the space of a tribeca, and foresters dont come out in the 6cylinder if thats what you want.

Id be going an outback or tribeca...leaning towards the outback though.

alex

Subaru have ceased production of the Tribeca so it will either become a collectors item or one of those hard to get rid of things down the track.

Well, mum's car is an '09 Outback Turbo Diesel. This is really the only new-ish Subaru I can offer thoughts on.

As a car, it is a solid machine. I used to drive it a fair bit before I got an apprenticeship (and got the MY wagon fired up) and moved out, and still do drive it when I visit the olds on a Sunday. It is a 2.0 TD, 6-speed manual, 5-seat wagon. Heaps of room, the rear seats fold down nicely, and as a passenger or driver there is plenty of room for even the tallest or widest of the family. It has top economy (unless you fang it) handles quite well, it feels very safe to drive and is very much reliable. The olds live about 40km from the nearest town so there has never been a problem with the much feared 'shudders' from the DPF not re-generating properly. It feels very solid and nothing has been broken yet, and believe me, it cops a fair hiding.

Some gripes we share about it are the plasticky feel, the factory head unit (bad, and the speakers are just passable), the dead-fish feeling from the steering and the on-or-off brakes. These are things that I deal with every day though when working with newer cars, which I do a lot of as an auto elec. It retains Subaru build-quality, so even though there's so much plastic, you know it isn't just going to fall apart. The gearbox can take a bit of getting used to, with a very short 1st, but on the whole it is a nice car. Leather, dual-zone climate control, traction control, pretty solid. When driving (at the speed limit) the traction control can be felt working, but it can also be turned off and from my experience shits on the equivalent from many of our favourite car manufacturers. I personally do not like it though, the very light and un-feeling steering gives me a "yuck" feeling, but I carry a certain bias, being spoiled with a '99 Vienta Grande that has had engine work and runs Tein coilovers and bigger brakes, as well as the ol' faithful MY wagon, and a quiet little Clubsport when I'm in town.

As for maintenance, there are four things under the bonnet that are user-serviceable, and they have yellow handles. As you may expect there is a big fancy plastic cover over the top of the engine, and heaps of little wires going in and out of plugs. Removing the cover reveals more of the afore-mentioned wires and other crap. But basic services are easily done with the right gear. Since we bought it, it has racked up about 180,000 km's and is in no way deteriorated from it's original condition, aside from a couple of the usual suspects, stone chips, a couple of carpark dings and about ten bucks of loose change rattling about in the coin tray. Any questions then feel free to ask.

Both the new Forester and Outback are nice cars. I wasn't keen on the looks inside or out but after being in a few and driving a few it changed my mind. The 2.5l n/a in the Foz behind the auto goes alright, with the new CVT coming out next year it should make it really good.
The 3.6l in the Outback has a fair amount of get up and go, the car has heaps of room, it's comfortable and quite nice to drive.

Depends how much space you need and what motor your looking for. There is always the turbo option for the Foresters...

I haven't been in a Tribeca or even looked into them so I'm not sure there. The diesel options only come in manual with no low range and the 1st gear isn't very low. I've seen first hand how they go at Two Rocks and I wasn't impressed. The EJ25 has more torque from idle until the turbo starts to spool up in them!

Oh by the way the Ford Territory with the 4.0l turbo is pretty nice to go, absolutely f***ing flys and seems pretty nice allround. Not sure what it would be like offroad though... Got to drive on today for the first time..
Don't bother looking at the Craptiva if anyone recommends it!

If you need a 7 seater and don't really want to take it offroad, then I'd be considering the Subaru Liberty Exiga

http://subaru.com.au/liberty/exiga-2.5i

The CTV auto in the GEN5 Outback is actually quite good. I ended up with the 6 speed, but test drove lots with the CVT and would have been happy with it if the car was right.

Talking of the floppy paddles, I drove an XV a while ago and apart from the engine turning itself off all the time it wasnt too bad it has the CTV as well

TOONGA

thanks for the replys ill be looking into it wen I get bak on the 26th and hopefully be able to get something.
Will have to be auto tho. will test drive hopefully all three

Would like to do a bit of light 4 wheel driving in it tho

TribeCa ? Maternal instincts or you already got five ankle biters

I came upon a Lib wagon, saw it either from a new angle or never seen one of this edition before, maybe it was the colour too, pearlish white, gawd it was ugly, upright, boxy.

Surely you no go wrong in a Subie petrol so long as picked for its intended purpose,so wise would be for the missus to make the decision ?

Impreza's weren't built to go light beach driving but I've seen a couple do some special stuff on the beach

Exiga with a lift

taza wrote:
Don't bother looking at the Craptiva if anyone recommends it!

Nothing wrong with a Captiva...

The CVT is good to drive! Both in the Outback 3.6 I drove and my mothers new XV. The XV, although not the car your after isn't half bad. Has heaps of power for a 2.0l (similar to that of an older EJ25) and behind the CVT is sporty and fun to drive. Offroad it goes alright as I did some minor stuff when Mum wasn't around
Has enough grunt to spin them up and the auto is extremely smooth, you can't even feel when it changes gears. Plus the economy is bloody amazing, I think it even has good figures for the FB25 in the new foz with the CVT that is coming out...

What Mick2642 said about the Outback basically applies to the Forester too.

The basic engineering and build is sound and available across the range. A ~$30k drive away base model X (if they do that again) gets basically the same engineering (chassis, drivetrain, safety, electronics, etc) as the $50k . The $45k diesel's not worth it compared to say a $30k base model. Diesel doesn't have auto available. Put the $15k away for fuel... you'll go far! Good space for a mid-size SUV, esp cargo area, due to squared off design. Adults fit in the rear seats. Comparatively good vision.

Plastics are cheap but well put together (no squeaks/rattles after 61k klms), radio's appalling, climate control has bipolar disorder and outside air temp gauge is hopelessly optimistic, mirrors wobble at speed, gears easy to misselect repeatedly, electric steering will self-steer over particular bumps (repeatable) and the gear ratios have multiple personality disorder. Trip computer fuel economy readout used to be dead accurate but is now out by 10% (for the worse). All of them seem to be 'unfinished business' as if Subaru ran out of money and/or time, or gave it to an out for revenge disaffected employee / bad work-experience student.

We have the 2010 diesel Forester. Fuel economy is getting worse (measured against bowser). Cannot get anywhere near quoted figures, roughly around 7.6l/100km now- used to be able to achieve as little as 6.2l/100km. It's an awful, awful drive if it's doing a DPF regeneration. Haven't had a 'shudder' in 2 years, I believe now what I had was possibly some of the learning calibrations the thing goes through at certain intervals. Dunno how it could tow 1600kg if ours can't get out of its own way on a hill during a regen. It's so bad it you can't change up gears, sometimes I have to change down (to 2nd even) on even moderate grades with only 2.5 people on board and a small amount of luggage. And it will regenerate on you as soon as you try to ascend a hill in the country with people behind you. They get upset. So do you. They're upset at your dawdling. You're upset 'cos there's nothing you can do.

Roly-poly handling. Good on dirt roads until you trail-brake. Stability control cuts in late. Heater won't heat in winter for approx 6km.

those quoted fuel usage figures are computer generated to be used as a comparison for other cars with computer generated fuel use guide not an actual what you will get - I hear

taza wrote:you can't even feel when it changes gears.

Well, technically a CVT doesn't really change gears, does it?