September17
Spy photographers have spotted a test mule for the all-new 2009 Subaru Forester. Covered in the body panels of a Subaru Outback, underneath is actually a much larger Forester. The mule was caught testing in the southwestern United States.
The current Forester has a wheel-base of 99.4 inches while the mule’s wheel-base measures in at 108.5 inches — only a half inch shorter than the Subaru Tribeca. The new Forester is wider than the current model and 2 inches wider than the Outback.
Subaru hasn’t leaked any other details on the new Forester but it is expected to bow in the fall of 2008 as a 2009 model.
September 17, 2007
this is great car! these cars are so capaable, so underrated. who else can offer a horizontal-opposed engine, great handling and great driving characteristics? wheres the STI btw?
^ You’re kidding right? I never saw a blander, more nondescript car in my life. Subaru is the automotive equivalent of lukewarm water. NOthing to say
I had Subaru for 5 painful years. It wasn’t my choice - my kids wanted it to drive after getting license. Common sense was on their side: full time 4 wheel drive, economical, handling better then SUV. Then reality of owning one: brakes had to be replaced after 8K miles. Dealer did not replace rotors, just drilled them. It was my turn replacing them at 35K miles just after 3 years passed by. Engine crapped out after 37K miles to a tune of $900 (again after basic 3 years warranty and Subaru told me to kiss myself about 60K engine/tranny warranty). Some people had them for years without troubles but mine and my neighbors were just horrible pieces of dog excrement. Although it has Japanese pedigree it is made in the same Indiana plant as Mitsubishi. Given Mitsubishi quality issues it may explain everything.
This car does not look bad. If you pay attention it looks like an airy car, however for whatever reason Subaru loves its drivers to sit close to the road: your knees are above your face. Look at the guy driving it: you can barely see his head, yet there a good foot of space above him.
I don’t like the path Subaru is going down right now. Subaru has totally lost its identity and their recent redesigns evoke absolutely no excitement whatsover. WRX = RIP.
I like subarus; they’re tough.
sry for your experience, but in the dc area, lots of people like them, especially my aunt and cousin in upstate NY. a forester is something I’d seriously consider since its functional and better than what the comp has to offer.
the legacy and outback are made in IN I believe.
Htay5500 funny you mentioned that: I agreed with kids and bought the car because of endorsements from the gal I worked with while consulting in Rosslyn who loved her Suby and was taking trips upstate NY camping with family. With my luck car was a pile of junk. I had 2 CR-V at the same time and still have those 2 CR-Vs. Those things are indestructible (my wife and children drive them). The first one is over 10 years old.
my mom bought a used 97 crv last yr, and its going well @115k. just some minor bumps and bruises that are visible hence my moms awkward driving. decent on snow covered roads suprisingly.
rosslyn drivers, better yet all VA drivers are idiots. my dad has to deal with them daily while heading to tysons corner from rockville.
i love those tables from the crv.
Since I have 2 of them never used them once. I drove 97 CR-V for my daughter to her school in St. Louis: 1000 miles no problem, wasn’t even tired driving it. Love seating position, view of the road, of course it is slow with 126 ponies for 3200 lbs trucklette, but except regular maintenance parts and gas I haven’t spend much on it. Did I mentioned my wife and children tormented it?
Its great to take it in nyc. Theres nuthing bad about bad I can say about it but its missing a owners manual and brakes squeal as they arent from honda. As being 16, its a great car to drive for its size.
autonut, the Legacy and Forester are actually built in a plant formerly shared with Isuzu. The Mitsubishi plant you mentioned was actually shared with Chrysler.
^ Legacy and Outback.. my bad.
i just threw up a little in my mouth… “Subaru - The Posers choice in 4×4s.”
I bet this is actually an outback mule, not forester. Way way to big to be based on the impreza platform.
Here’s hoping they fired the guy that re-designed the Impreza, eh?
What gives LLN…who is writing for you? This is the second time I’ve read the word “bow” in your descriptions. Isn’t bow when you exit the stage? How can something bow when it is being introduced?
SUbarus are some of the worst cars on the road. From a reliability standpoint they’re electrical nightmares, their engines crap out every 1000 miles or so and the interior might as well be cardboard. You can set your watch to the next oil leak. Nothing like a GM vehicle which people just drive and drive forever without having to worry a single bit whether their POS will leave them stranded.
GM-sales-guy, I agree with your assessment of Subaru, but did you know that 2 years ago it was 20% owned by GM? Would you say the same thing 2 years ago?
Thrith, conductors, soloists and first violins bow to the public upon introduction as well as after performance. This is not an error.
As a frequent visitor but new member, I couldn’t help but hop on and put my two cents in. I’ve been selling Subarus for over 4 1/2 years and I can tell you that the mule shown is definitely NOT the 2009 Forester. We’ve seen the car at dealer meetings, and while larger than the current Forester, it’s still clearly a Forester - somewhat boxy and tall.That car will be out in March/April of 2008, and while larger (based on the new Impreza platform, which itself is based on a modified current Legacy platform), it will not be as large as the dimensions listed in the thread. No doubt that is the 2010 Outback/Legacy product.
And autonut, as a clarification, GM owned 20% of Fuji Heavy Industries, not Subaru of America.
I’m not a “homer” and I’ll be the first to admit that we don’t build perfect cars. But we have one of the most fiercly loyal customer bases around, and my own real world experience tells me we have some of the most reliable, well built and safe cars around, bland in some cases or not. What our stylists are doing leaves a lot to be desired, no doubt. They are, and always have been hit and miss in that regard, and yea, it’s sad and frustrating to say the least.
SubieDoug, you are correct. Perhaps GM owned Fuji which is the parent company of Subaru. How do you slice it is irrelevant, since I don’t believe that GM was interested at any point in Fuji cameras. I believe GM was integrating Subaru components even in their own cars: steering went into production Solstice & Sky.
I personally and my neighbor (it was Gods punishment for him because he also helped my decision with Suby) had our share of problems with Subaru. Some of those can be attributed to horrible dealers in the area, but both our cars were lemons from the start. I will not claim that all of them lemons and I’m well aware of Subaru loyalties. Mine was piece of crap and dealers in the area are worse then crap.
I wish you well selling them, and perhaps things will even get better after Toyota purchased outstanding 20% of Subaru (or Fuji industries).
autonut…FHI isn’t the parent company of Fuji Cameras there’s no connection at all..All I saw in 4 years at the dealership level with GM’s involvement was quicker and more streamlined parts availability. What’d GM get ? A worked over Impreza or WRX that when it came to leasing, we’d get our asses kicked because of GMACs heavily subvented lease programs. Real lopsided situation, from a sales consultants standpoint.
It’ll be interesting to see where Subaru goes, now that Toyota has a small stake in FHI. They actually own a little more than 11% I believe; FHI kept the balance sold back by GM.
I’m in SE Michigan, and we’re in a strong market for Subaru. I know there’s some really crappy dealers out there, sadly it spreads across all brands. I’m pretty happy with what I do for a living, but I’ve always treated my customers the same way I want to be treated. A very simple concept, but far too many in our industry just don’t get it.
SubieDoug, the sales side of Subaru dealers is fine: if you don’t like salesman you walk out and go to the next one. Dealers in NY metro area are dime a dozen. It is Subaru service which was awful and on regional level (in my region). Also, Subaru headquarters are in South Jersey (across the river from Phily) and they were as helpful as breasts on the bull. Service was horrendous across the board. Let’s hope that partnership with Toyota will teach Subaru dealers something. Then again it may not trickle to individual dealers, since a lot of them already own Toyota franchises as well as Subaru (in my neck of the woods).
Fuji Industries being sold to Toyota will be a mistake. Subaru had it too damn good at GM, now they’ll be fodder like the rest of the industry. This is our Country
it was a nightmare when GM ownd Subaru.
AMGoff: whats wrong about what subaru has?
autonut,
I’m really sorry things are that rough in your neck of the woods. One thing very different in the NE part of the country, is that Subaru still uses an independent distributor for cars, where as every other part of the country gets their cars from SOA directly. I think the distributorship scenario isn’t good for dealers, and in the end isn’t good for consumers, either. Too much control by some dealers, bad attitudes, and it all trickles down. Sucks, I know. There are only 11 dealers in our entire state, and only one which is Subaru only; two of us have only one other brand, the rest are bundled with several others, and its that situation where I think Subaru is often ignored (along with their customers). I previously worked for a store that also had a Toyota dealer, and I can honestly say that we provided MUCH better customer service than our own Toyota store. It really is about the people at the dealer, no so much the brand itself.
GM sales: You mean their are some GM owners that ALSO own a POS?
Doug: Michigan, like nebraska, is where a tough car is more useful than a “cute” one. And the subaru dealership where I lived was a Chevy dealer first, a Subaru as an afterthought. They still cleaned up, bcause when a foot of snow falls in one day …
I have a 1998 Subaru Outback - 10 years and 108K miles. It’s had a few problems over the years, but they have been relatively cheap to fix. The dealer in our area is great. We are getting ready to replace the Outback soon, the ONLY reason the Tribeca is on the list of possible replacements is our positive experience with the dealership.
Automakers really underestimate the value of good dealerships, and the damage bad ones can do.
dl_caldwell - you sure got that right. I think so many still have the “build it and they will come” mentality, to putting up new stores, or providing new franchises to someone. The industry gets so much flack, and frankly a lot of it is well deserved. We’re often times our own worst enemy. Pretty low miles on the Otbk, by the way.
jadjimturkey - Snow is our friend, no doubt. While I personally am growing to hate winter more and more, even though I grew up here, it sure helps our business. When some other brands lag in the winter, we remain steady most of the time.
MAKE A BIG IMPROVEMENT