I have owned a Subaru Forestor 2003 for 10 years and found it to be a good family vehicle. The only issue with the car, and it is a common problem with Subarus is the head gasket needing replacment. Be prepared for anywhere between $2,000 and $3,000 to repair. I contacted Subaru Aust. about it as I believe it is a fault due to the amount of failures reported on the internet however they were not prepared to assist in any way.
Car like driving, can cope with light off road tasks, good on holiday trips with the family. Love the pillarless doors.
Head Gasket failure...expensive repair. Also the motor is fairly flat initially in non turbo form. Carpet seems cheap, not plush.

Purchased new in 2005. Limited leg room in the back however very happy with the car except for maintenance costs. Have only done 70k and have had to replace timing belt ($1700) now head asker needs replacing and dealer quoted $4,500. Eac service costs between $300 and $700. I intended to keep for 10 years and replace with another Subaru but due to poor service from Subaru dealer and no feedback from Subaru company I won't be buying another Subaru
Good handling. Plenty of cup holders.
Very expensive to maintain

I was quite satisfied with the car, never used oil or coolant or anything until the 4 years service (car only had 70000) had to change the timing belt cost of service $1040 while servicing they found that the car needed new flywheel, new clutch, new head gasket cost: $5600 none of this was ever mentioned the previous services???. I never drove the car hard??? (I am 60 years old). My opinion is that it's a very good car if you only keep it 3 years.
Forester X: practical, lots of small but helpful gadgets, good safety rating.
Service is very expensive, big expensive repairs strait after the warranty periode.

Love my Forester so much I'm intending to upgrade to a new 1! My only problem is with the carseats as Ive pointed out in the cons section. I also love the vision it has because of its shape. I recebtly drove a mazda & Honda CRV - it is so much better than both of those as far as drive and blind spots!
Arm rests, charger points(3) & other gadgets such as cup holders (4) and storage spaces. Very reliable & looks great. Has great vision - reducing blindspots.
Small backseat. Baby carseats consume the space & attach to the roof eating into boot space also.

I have owned the car since new. After 7 years and 125,000 km it has only had routine servicing and I am still on the original brake pads ! Great performance from the turbo engine and practical space for luggage and carrying toys.
Performance, reliability, good resale
Rear seats a bit small for passengers and child seats, servicing expensive, turbo is a bit thirsty and needs premium fuel

195000 kms, average 8.8 l/100kms. Consumption range high 7's to 10 around town on ULP, High 7's to 10+ with E10 fuel.
Uses about 1 litre oil between services.
Have taken back seat out and is very comfortable 2 seater with heaps of luggage room.
Excellent car. Mine has been lifted and has a 1.592 to 1 low range making it very versatile indeed.So far has been very reliable.
Expensive to repair.Service costs high. Too high.Dual mass flywheel a pain in the A!!!Some dash features a nuisance, for instance wipers come on on Accessory setting. Too easy to turn on wipers onto a dry screen when cleaning dash with radio on. Should be with full ignition position.

Would definitely buy another one, but probably the 6 cylinder version. Visibility to the rear is average, and I added reversing sensors which help a lot
Excellent durability, handling and economy. Not quite as sure-footed as the Liberty wagon but better ground clearance.
Not enough room to fit a bike in the back (unlike its sister the Liberty wagon). The 4 cylinder engine is just a little underpowered.

For me the visbility, particularly when reversing is the key plus. Then there is the comfort of having a full size spare. Also the security on Tasmania's roads of the all wheel drive, given our a ttimes very ordinary weather conditions.
I have owned an 07 Forester X auto since the end of April, have run some 4,000kms and like the entire package, partucularly the visibilty.
I have had 4 instances of the engine pinging when under load in top gear, but have cured this by now running it on premium unleaded. A it's first service the dealer will have to sort this out, as I want to return to running it on regular unleaded.

Overall it is a good solid car. While I have not driven the manual I have heard that it is better in the automatic and I could definetly testify to this. There is plenty of room in the boot for my 2 dogs to travel comfortably. In fact it is a very comfortale car for the whole family with convienent storage compartments and the features have clearly been given considerable thought. I have enjoyed driving it and could highly recommend this car.
It drives very nicely. It feels solid on the road and can definetly go. The space in the boot is great and is very versatile (seats down and removing the sun shield).
The back seat is a little squishy

Great Car. I will flash the CPU with UK or Jap spec to see if this will fix speedo error
Forester XT Luxury: It's got grunt, wish I could take one back to 1973, would make XU1 Torana and GT Falcon look stupid.
Speedo is set to read 120 kph when actually doing 110 kph [Stupid ADR mandate]

I have the Forester basic model for 2005. This 4wd is probaby one of the smallest in the range but is a great family car. I upgraded to this vehicle because I have a newborn and a 19 month old and I needed the extra room at the back for the 2 baby car seats as well as a large boot to fit my double pram. I love this car as it is not too big for a 4WD.
Great family car, not too big in size but plenty of space
None really since there are plenty of additional extras to cater for most needs