Faults:

O2 sensor at 120k.

Original clutch.

Burns oil like crazy, but passes inspections.

Nothing else replaced.

General Comments:

Excellent for the $$. Bought used for 12k in 2002 off eBay. Ultimate in traction and safety for 1999. It goes anywhere my Tundra will. Great beach car with the kids.

Faults:

I've owned my Subaru for a month and have driven it for about a week. The place I bought it, had to replace the drivers head gasket and the passengers side due to my breaking a spark plug off on the right side. The passengers side was covered under warranty. I was told the cam seals and timing belt were also replaced before purchase.

General Comments:

I don't find it to be that comfortable a car, but its OK. It does have a lot of road noise. I knew of the common problems with this model: road noise, head gaskets, timing belt and seals, heat shield and clock problems, and bearing problems, too. I only bought it because these were fixed prior to my purchasing it, and the place I bought the car is owned and operated by a few Subaru mechanics. If anyone is going to purchase a Forester, hopefully they will look into these common issues and make sure they are fixed before they consider buying one. It seems like a decent vehicle once these issues are addressed. One plus; it does handle great in the snow. I wouldn't purchase another Subaru unless it was from where I bought it, because of their experience with Subaru and the help they provide to their customers. I think these problems that are common on this model should have been addressed by Subaru and redesigned maybe the newer Forester's have.

Faults:

Leaking spark plug tube seals/valve cover seals...replaced spark plugs and wires, valve cover gasket, and tubes for the spark plugs. Glove compartment lock can' be unlock after I locked it, had to break it an replaced the latch.

General Comments:

Greatest handling car I ever had, but not too good on gas though. Overall great car and will buy another one I mean a newer model.

Faults:

The car started out by chewing up expensive tires. I now buy the cheapest I can find with the highest treadwear rating.

The clock stopped working. If you know how to solder, take it out and solder the components back on that have fallen off the circuit board (I found 3). They have a serious 'cold solder' problem. Mine worked after re-soldering.

The heat shield started rattling early on, and still rattles after several attempts to fix it.

I have a nasty oil leak from what looks to be the rear seal.

The ride has been rough since I bought it. Just noticed oil leaking from the rear strut. Bought new ones, not installed yet.

The knock sensor had to be replaced for the engine check light.

The radio knobs are now malfunctioning, can't adjust the volume without fighting with it.

General Comments:

Other than the problems I've had with the car, it's been great.

Nice paint.

I'm at 160,000+ miles and still haven't had to replace the rear brake shoes; the rear brakes must not be working either.

Faults:

Loved my car when I bought it used for about 2 months before I had to get the head gaskets replaced and there was a crack in the actual head. $3000 is what I was quoted for all the work and parts. The head gaskets were replaced by the previous owner at $100,000 miles as well. My car now has $206,000 miles. This is clearly an issue with these cars and there should be some system built in so that we don't have to continue paying for these repairs on the gaskets.