04 Forester A/T 2.0X or 05 Legacy 2.0 M/T

C

CeeJayCee

New member
After getting caught the last few winters I decided its not going to happen again this year and plan to buy a cheap Subaru to put on the road for Dec/Jan/Feb and stick it in the garage again till next year.


Don't have a huge budget but have spotted two cars close to me in Donegal which are contenders.

First one is an 05 Legacy 2.0 5spd. This is a UK car with the 162bhp quad cam engine as opposed to the earlier 138bhp engines but the body is the preface-lift. The car has 127k miles on it, NCT till the end of October. It has a very good service history and doesn't need for anything as far as I can tell. It does however have a very faint DMF squeal/rattle at idle however its not bad and there are no howls or squeals when launching higher up the revs.

The other car is an 04 Forester with 143k miles on the clock and is automatic. In very good condition and has a good service history and NCT till next April (and tax till the end of October which is a bonus) It has the all-weather pack with fogs, 16" alloys, headlight washers, heated seats, cruise control etc etc and has 4 good tyres.

Both can be bought for similar money but I cant decide which to go for. I'm a bit concerned about the DMF in the Legacy as it appears to be the original, the car had a new clutch fitted a few years ago. The Forester should be trouble free in that way as its auto but its the lower power 123bhp engine which will feel even more underpowered with the auto transmission however I'm not buying it for speed and so the low power isn't a deal breaker.

Anyway, any advice on which would be the best to go for given the two are the same money. I'm leaning toward the Legacy but love the looks of the Forester.
 
CeeJayCee said:
After getting caught the last few winters I decided its not going to happen again this year and plan to buy a cheap Subaru to put on the road for Dec/Jan/Feb and stick it in the garage again till next year.


Don't have a huge budget but have spotted two cars close to me in Donegal which are contenders.

First one is an 05 Legacy 2.0 5spd. This is a UK car with the 162bhp quad cam engine as opposed to the earlier 138bhp engines but the body is the preface-lift. The car has 127k miles on it, NCT till the end of October. It has a very good service history and doesn't need for anything as far as I can tell. It does however have a very faint DMF squeal/rattle at idle however its not bad and there are no howls or squeals when launching higher up the revs.

The other car is an 04 Forester with 143k miles on the clock and is automatic. In very good condition and has a good service history and NCT till next April (and tax till the end of October which is a bonus) It has the all-weather pack with fogs, 16" alloys, headlight washers, heated seats, cruise control etc etc and has 4 good tyres.

Both can be bought for similar money but I cant decide which to go for. I'm a bit concerned about the DMF in the Legacy as it appears to be the original, the car had a new clutch fitted a few years ago. The Forester should be trouble free in that way as its auto but its the lower power 123bhp engine which will feel even more underpowered with the auto transmission however I'm not buying it for speed and so the low power isn't a deal breaker.

Anyway, any advice on which would be the best to go for given the two are the same money. I'm leaning toward the Legacy but love the looks of the Forester.
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I’d just get winter tyres for the other car. I’d go for 2wd with winter tyres over 4wd without winter tyres anyday

A Forester with winter tyres would be awesome though��

Some of them have low gearing thing I think which would be helpful for going down steep hills in slippery conditions
 
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TurboPaul said:
I’d just get winter tyres for the other car. I’d go for 2wd with winter tyres over 4wd without winter tyres anyday
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I have a set of 17" Yokohama Ice Guard tyres on 5x100 rims which I'd fit to the Legacy (they're not the right size for the Forester) so it wouldn't be on summer cars. There is Bridgestone tyres on the Forester and they look a little chunky so I don't think theyre normal road tyres.

I live on high ground and we have snow when no one else does, I also live on a rural road which isn't gritted and my house is up a very steep lane so winter tyres on my regular car aren't much help.
 
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Fozzy said:
Forester all day - but I’m biased! You’d get a turbo of that age for little money if being underpowered is a concern

https://www.adverts.ie/15719312

https://www.adverts.ie/16098557


https://www.adverts.ie/15834241
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I don't want a turbo model, I plan on keeping whatever I buy for a good few years and there is less to go wrong with a non-turbo model. I love the looks of the Forester but its the 123bhp engine with an auto-box that putting me off slightly. If it had been a later model with the 162bhp engine then the Forester would have been bought already.
 
Seen that Forester for sale looks nice and right spec
Id go for the forester for the extra space / versatility & Hi Lo box
both nice cars to be fair
 
CeeJayCee said:
I have a set of 17" Yokohama Ice Guard tyres on 5x100 rims which I'd fit to the Legacy (they're not the right size for the Forester) so it wouldn't be on summer cars. There is Bridgestone tyres on the Forester and they look a little chunky so I don't think theyre normal road tyres.

I live on high ground and we have snow when no one else does, I also live on a rural road which isn't gritted and my house is up a very steep lane so winter tyres on my regular car aren't much help.
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I live up the hills too, I’d Go for a Forester with winter tyres and hi/low box thingy. If you are mainly focused on getting around in bad conditions, you don’t need much power either, less is more if anything (definitely in snow or icy conditions)

btw during the beast of the east earlier this year, despite 4wd and winter tyres I was fairly stranded when there was a 7 foot snow drift on the road and 2-3 ft drifts outside the garage... would have needed a vehicle that had tracks to get anywhere
 
TurboPaul said:
I live up the hills too, I’d Go for a Forester with winter tyres and hi/low box thingy. If you are mainly focused on getting around in bad conditions, you don’t need much power either, less is more if anything (definitely in snow or icy conditions)

btw during the beast of the east earlier this year, despite 4wd and winter tyres I was fairly stranded when there was a 7 foot snow drift on the road and 2-3 ft drifts outside the garage... would have needed a vehicle that had tracks to get anywhere
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The Forester is auto so no hi/lo box but it does have a 'Hold' button which I think limits revs and starts the car in 2nd gear.
 
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