General Comments:

My first Subaru... Enjoying it immensely. Downsized from a Honda Odyssey, which I had for 12 years and 146000 miles. Much smaller than the van, but has the all weather package, which has come in handy this winter so far -- especially the butt warmers.

Inside dash area is plastic, but lightweight and easy to clean. Moon roof is excellent.

No problems so far. The drive is nice.

As one person commented, the radio is not top of the line, but when you use the Aux input or CD player, the speakers do a nice job.

I wanted a small SUV, and the fact that the Forester is AWD all the time was a plus. I hope to have this car for 12 more years and 140000 miles. My dealer has been helpful, and although I received a notice for 3750 mile service, they advised that I didn't need to bring it in til I hit the 5000 mile mark -- or even the 7500 mark per the mechanic. Put air in my tires and checked fluid at no charge.

Faults:

The sunglass holder and overhead lamp was replaced by the dealer, not because it was malfunctioned, but because it wasn't flush with the roof. The replacement part looks great. It didn't take very long at all for the part to come in, and it only took the dealer a few minutes to put it in.

General Comments:

The longer I have this car, the more I like it. I haven't experienced the other problems people have with rattles or engine noise. In fact, sometimes I have to check and make sure the engine is on before going, because I cannot hear it.

The cargo space is good. Granted, my previous Honda Element was much better for cargo, but that is simply because of the shape of the Element.

What the Element lacked was a four wheel drive system that worked. See, Subaru has one of the best AWD systems on the planet. All 4 wheels move all the time. The Honda has what is called a "real time 4wd". This system is garbage. It only kicks in when one wheel starts to slip. In anyplace that has real winter weather, heavy snow, I found out the hard way that Honda's real time 4wd is real time worthless.

The materials used in the cabin leave a bit to be desired. There are hard plastics on the dash, and the materials scratch easily, especially if your big dogs are jumping around the car. So look out for that. However, most car companies use those satin-like materials in their vehicles that scratch easily, so it is not just Subaru.

I am about 6'4" 220, and am fairly comfortable in the car. There is tons of head room. I wish there were more leg room. Not to say it is uncomfortable, but for somebody with a 34 inch inseam, I just wish for another inch or two of leg room. I can still drive for several hours without pain. The seats are adequately comfortable, they could probably use more padding but this is not a luxury vehicle.

I drive 70 miles per day in mixed use. I am getting between 22 and 29 miles per gallon. Could be better considering it is only a 4 cylinder, but it is a lot of car to be carrying around with a four cylinder. I also don't really drive in order to conserve gas (I go 75 or above on the highway, and just don't drive miserly) so you could probably get better mileage if you really pay attention to it. For the few hundred dollars it might save me over the life of the car, it is not worth it to me to pay attention.

Braking is good on this car, and it feels VERY stable and keeps you feeling confident, even in bad weather conditions (just because you feel confident, please continue to drive safely and appropriately for the weather conditions).

Do not expect performance out of this vehicle. It is a slug. If you want performance, get the XT (which sadly does not come in standard transmission), or opt for a WRX or an STI, which are loads of fun to drive.

Overall, I am happy with this vehicle. There are some things I would change, but nothing worth giving up the vehicle, Subaru's awesome AWD system, the safety built in to every Subaru, or what I perceive to be a vehicle that will go 200,000 trouble free miles for me.