Car Shopping: Prius vs. Forrester

In My Humble Opinion
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I also own a 2000 Forester here in Colorado. I absolutely love the car, and consider it the most reliable car I’ve ever owned. I drive about 40 miles each way to work, and get about 25 mpg with quite a bit of stop and go traffic. We’ve packed suitcases for 12 people into the back area (with the back seats down) - the cargo space is unbelievable. My only nitpick is that I wish I bought it in a manual versus automatic transmission. Going up into the Colorado mountains gets tough on the automatic (although I can keep up with the traffic). I understand the manual transmission is much better for power than the automatic. And having AWD is nice when it’s snowing.

I’d definitely buy another Forester, and recommend it for anyone with a need for a car version of an SUV.

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I bought a 2003 Forester XS last November. My commute is 35 miles one way, mostly highway but some hilly San Francisco streets as well. I love it. They must have improved the gas mileage, b/c I keep a log of the mileage I get (I’m a geek) and I average in the high 20’s. In fact, last week I got to 30mpg. (But I drove in on fumes). Mine is a 5-speed, certainly the Automatics get slightly worse.

My favorite thing about it, other than everything already mentioned by others, is the sunroof. The sunroof is HUGE - it goes halfway into the back seat. Cruising up Hwy 1 with all the windows down and that big sunroof open is nice.

My only complaints - no Seek button the radio, and it’s not as fast as my last car. But neither am I. :slight_smile:

:confused: Mine is on the driver’s side…

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I know that this is not one on your list but you might want to check out the Volkswagon New Beetle TDI. Now before everybody freaks out let me say that this car fills a lot of your needs. It uses diesel but is extremely clean burning, I was told that it rated as a green vehicle by the dealer (take that for what it’s worth, it is after all coming from a car salesman). My wife and I own a 2001 and love it. We traded in a four-wheel drive Suburban on it. It gets the stated milage of 43 mpg. Oh and it’s an automatic so I have to assume that the standard tranny will get the 49 mpg tha VW claims. There is a tremendous amount of leg room up front. I am 5’ 10" and still have plenty of head and leg room. We have two boys ages 9 and 7 and they have tons of room in back. Adults would be a little uncomfortable on a very long trip but short trips, no problems. The hatch will hold a surprising amount stuff and you can fold down the back seat for even more space. You can get some really cool-looking roof racks for holding all kinds of bulky items. The car comes standard with electric windows, locks, and the remote open switch for the feul tank is on the driver’s side (tank is on the right). I have also seen a Bug running around here in Savannah that has a receiver hitch that she has a bike carrier on.

Well that was a bit long winded but I think you might be very pleased with the New Beetle TDI if you check it out. Well that’s my 2 cents for what it’s worth.

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To semi-second Testacleaz, the VW TDi is a wonderful thing. We have a 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI and absolutely love it. It’s so much cleaner and quieter than “traditional” diesel engines that it almost doesn’t compare. Plus you can fill it with Biodiesel and be completely independent of OPEC etc. The range is 710 miles highway, and the wagon has more than enough room for our dogs and backpacking stuff. VWs come with a ton of stuff as standard that you have to put on as options with other makers. It comes with a base roof rack, and we ordered it with leather (multi function steering wheel, yummy smell), cold weather package (heated seats, heated washer nozzles), ESP (an anti-slip electronics thang), and the Monsoon stereo (nice sounds) and even with all CA taxes, tire fees, etc. got it for thousands less than you will pay for the Prius or Forrester. We really love the wagon, tons of room, but it sounds like you could get by with the Golf TDi too. www.Tdiclub.com has forums and a FAQs sheet that will make a believer out of you.

With the Prius, you have to buy special tires, the horsepower is weak, and the body is based on the Echo, which, IMHO, looks like a little tin cat toiletbox.
The TDi requires no special tires, and after your first, 5,000 mile break-in oil change, only needs 10,000 mile increment oil changes. The diesel engine has a LONG life (500,000 miles is not unheard of), the cars are SOLID, has more horsepower (apparently more than the spec sheet says even, as TDI club members have dynoed and found more with no mods) and just kicks ass. Hmmmm…what else? VW has good financing right now, and the TDI is less trendy and harder to steal than the Prius.
I don’t know too much about the Forrester, as fuel mileage was my major point when I was researching, but the TDI wagon is front wheel drive and can’t accept chains (we have to buy some outset tread things called a spider or somesuch) but there are many TDI owners who live in snowy areas who swear by the ESP on the forums.

Geez, can you tell we really love our wagon? It seems to have made a car salesperson out of me…one caveat, however, the VW TDI is awesome, the dealers are not. Generally uninformed and math-impaired, we did all the dealing over the phone.

One more thing: Consumer Reports gave the TDI a bad reliability rating based on outdated info–the window regulators and relay 109 have been fixed and the coilpack issues are inapplicable to the TDI.

Happy research!

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P.S. I live in a very hilly region and definitely don’t hold anyone up (unless they’re tailgating me at prime deer-wandering-into-the-roadway time) and the wagon is a joy to drive on our twisty, hilly roads. Shifting is very smooth, suspension the same… I think the dogs and I are going to go for a spin right now.

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That was not the most well-constructed sentence! I meant that the fuel filler door is on the passenger’s side. :smack:

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hijack:
And you should be thankful for this rather than annoyed. It is, after all, a safety feature. Those thoughtful engineers have realized that the most dangerous fuel-filling situation would occur if you run out of gas on the road and are forced to fill from a jerry can. With the fuel filler on the passenger’s side, you will be standing away from passing cars (in the US). Despite the fact that they drive on the left in Japan, thoughful Subaru has swapped the filler for the US to keep you safe and all you can do is complain :wink:

/hijack

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The 2 cars mentioned aren’t really in the same class so I’m a little confused how you came down to those 2.

Other cars to consider (in more the forester class) would include the Matrix AWD, Aerio AWD, Focus or the Mazda MP5.

I have the Matrix XRS (only FWD) and it’s great but not very good on gas. If you need the space, the AWD Matrix is a good bet (and it’s much cheaper than a Forester). The 123 HP engine is much better in gas than my 180 HP engine and hey, it’s a corolla so it’s reliable.

Check out carpoint.com for more choices.

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Ah, that makes sense now ptr2void. My fuel door is also on the passenger side.

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So who’d you pick?
This thread needs an update. :wink: