Subaru Forester (2002 - 2008) 2.5 XTEn 5d Owner Review

As an owner of my second Forester you could say I'm a fan. Now it's as quick as a Range Rover SVR (I raced one, on a track, and won easily); I can fit two bulk bags of garden rubbish in the back, It's brilliant going off road and in the snow. It has comfy beige leather and doesn't rattle or squeak. I fitted Apple carplay, a reversing camera, USBs galore and got a new sat nav disc for £400. Only cost £7500 including the car, the tuning and the new tech. Yes, I know that Subarus are expensive to run compared to a RAV4 or Xtrail, with the average service being £400-£600, oil and filter change every 3500 miles and my lead-footed MPG being about 20mpg...BUT, priced against running (and repairing) a Porsche Cayenne, Supercharged Rangerover or Audi RS4/5/6 and you will see those numbers become amazingly good value. My insurance only costs me £294 and Tax is £505. It was so cheap, I don't care when someone scratches it or it gets parking dents. I love that I can park it anywhere and no-one gives it a second look despite it often being the fastest thing in the carpark. Be warned though, once you ignore the boy-racer vibe that visiting a "tuner" brings and realise what these things are capable of, your bank balance may start to be endangered. My tuner reckons for £20k he can get me 700 bhp, 0-60 in under 3 seconds and a 1/4 mile quicker than a Bugatti or Tesla whilst maintaining reliability and not standing out, all for the price of a base model Mondeo. If I break it before that, I'll flog it for parts, make back £2k and buy another. What are you waiting for?