nicolaidenmark

Hi all,

I'm a new member here, and I'm looking for a piece of advice.
I currently own a Suzuki Swift 1.3 as my first car, and it's a car for a disabled driver: me. (CDD)
The only thing special about it is that it has auto. Otherwise, it's perfectly standard.
In Denmark, when your region gives you funds for a CDD, you're stuck with the car for a minimum of 6 years. By then, the car is no longer considered contemporary and you are allowed to switch to another (new or max 1 year old).

So, I'm almost sure I'll end up with a Jap car as I'm married to a Japanese. I have Been considering the Toyota Avensis or the Prius BUT:

I've heard that Subarus are very reliable cars and I'd LOVE to have AWD. I'm, however, not looking for a race car by any means, and whilst I don't wnt a car that takes 20 secs to reach 62 , I don't care to much about the "all important" 0-62 thing

I just want a reliable-as-hell family car for the wife, me and our future child. The AWD will be a bonus in the winter (and in case of gravel, but I drive such roads seldom, (they are few and small in DK) and my current Swift has handled them just fine til now).

So, We have a lot of tax (180 per cent) on cars in DK, so if I use the UK prices as a measure, you should have a better idea of what I'm talking about.

My maximum price would be that of the current 2.0X (petrol) Forester with the auto or that of the Avensis TX Wagon with CVT.

My complaint with regards to Subaru is the KM/L or MPG rating- especially because I'm stuck with the car for 6 years and who knows what the price for one litre / gallon of petrol will be by then?

That said, the rating for the Avensis Wagon 1.8 with CVT is 33,63 MPG, and for the new Forester with the new updated engine with auto it's 31,28 and that is for a tall SUV with permanent AWD. Also, the torque will be improved with the new 2.0 engine, which is nice as the current vers. of the Forester has been criticised for it's lack of torque in the lower RPMs.

Currently, however, I am considering the Impreza 2011 vers. This one will be available with a 1.6 litre and CVT, hence, the MPG should also be OK (for a Subaru that is). But I'm wondering if the Impreza will be too small considering that within a few years we may be handling a pram on a daily basis in an out of the car.

Due the fuel prices, I lean towards the coming Impreza, but I like the hight of the Forester as I can practically walk right into it instead of "crawling into" my current Swift. I also have a feeling that the Forester is the easier to load a pram into.

Help a (potential) Subaru owner please!

Greetings from Denmark.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Welcome
What sort of price range is your forester? Have you considered the Legacy diesel, not sure how much difference in price it is???

Tony

awdx4

At the time I got my Forester they were generally very reliable, not sure what the current crop are like, but one of my mates bought an old one for using on a large farm which had 150k on the clock. It was then subsequently used and seriously abused for three years. He then replaced it and gave the car away, the person he gave it to spent a few hundred quid on some second hand parts, got an MOT and now has it back on the road.

nicolaidenmark

The current forester 2.0x N/A with auto is £43,210. The Legacy Diesel is not available with auto / CVT and I must have that due to my disability. Moreover, buying a diesel is a no go for me as I probably won't drive more than 9,000 miles a year.

The Legacy is way to expensive for me. I'll never buy that.

nicolaidenmark

What year is your Forester if I may ask? I've heard that Subaru's quality has gotten worse since 2006. (Anything to do with Toyota getting their cut?)

nicolaidenmark

Help me out here guys. What to choose?

nicolaidenmark

Please guys- what would you do?

tarquin crispin

any jap stuff really what about the new nissan xtrail thats my next motability car

dnc

Welcome Nicolai,
Even the non-turbo petrol Subarus have high (poor) fuel consumption and I think there are better AWD alternatives for you out there, though maybe not in sedan form. Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Suzuki etc have reasonable 4 x 4s at a good price and better fuel consumption, though they are mainly Land Rover 'mini me' types.

Good luck
dnc

nicolaidenmark

Hi dnc,

Thank you for your reply.

Do you know anything about the coming Impreza 1.6?

As a matter of fact, Sedan is not my favourite chasis, I'd prefer a hatch, however, the new Impreza won't be a available with that kind of chasis.

My wife is Japanese, so chances are that I'll stick with a Japanese car.

I have considered an Avensis as well, as I think it would be a good family but: with my annual number of miles, Diesel is a no go for me and the 1.8 petrol with CVT only manages 33,6 mpg, and from what I've heard from the Danish importer of Subaru, the coming Impreza is likely to match that, have AWD and probably won't be more expensive, however, smaller than the Toyota. Moreover, I don't like Toyota's equipment levels: a year ago, the CVT 1.8 came with everything I would ask for, but today they include rear view camera as the expense of auto wipers etc.

Then there's the Prius: great mpg and a hatch at that, but is it big a enough to be the family's number one (pram and everything)?

Essentially, what I'm looking for is a car with first class reliability as it will also function as a CDP (i.e. I depend on it more than other people depend on their car). High MPG is a plus as the price of fuel is outrageous. However, I do not think I will drive more than 9,000 miles a year, so I might be willing to give up on the MPG (a little).

Thing is: the cars with low error rating are expensive- but that is what I want