2005 Subaru Forester 2.0 X from Romania - Comments

Nothing wrong with the car.

The service is professional and prompt.

Suggested improvement: separate interior light for front seats (to go on when opening the doors), preferably in the lower part of the cabin.

The car runs smooth both on road and in difficult conditions (mud, snow, sand).

Roomy and comfortable (the so-blamed hand rest is very useful for long trips, especially with the cruise control).

Fuel consumption is reasonable for this type of car & engine (10-11L urban, 7.5-9 @ 120km/h with passengers and luggage).

The steering is incredibly easy.

The Air Conditioning cuts off automatically when the engine needs all the power - very useful feature.

I have only one issue to comment on: the service in Bucharest is very poor, they barely know the car and if God forbid you need a part to be replaced in guarantee they don''t have it in stock and the order to process it needs months (in my case three months).Also I have to comment on the costs of service which are very high (I also have a BMW 523) compared to other services. A 10000 Km revision went to approx 400$ which is outrageous.

Update on the initial review:

- 60,000 km, only one problem (sunroof malfunctioning, no wonder considering the dust and dirt in the city; it will be repaired under the 3-years warranty) ; all others (transmission, engine, brakes, dashboard & controls, audio etc.) work as new; no rattle, no other noise, not even from the trunk;

- the car handles excellent in all types of terrain; misses some power occasionally but it's something to live with; Low Range very useful in mud, sand & snow as well as at high altitude (2,500m - 3,000m) where the lack of a turbine is more obvious;

- new dealer in town (Subaru Motors) - cost of periodical inspection is now half of what it used to be with the previous dealer in Bucharest (Radacini) ; dealers in other cities had the cost low already;

- as the kid grows we tend to realize there's not too much legroom in the back; we'll probably upgrade to the new Forester

- fuel consumption still reasonable (I tend to drive more aggressively in the city and faster outside yet I get maximum 13l/100km in the city with AC and up to 10 outside, sometimes with ski-box and 140km/h cruise speed)

- very comfortable to use in the city (drive & park) due to the power steering;

- very good visibility around the car;

- changed summer tires after more than 45,000 km - I believe it's reasonable for the type of car and driving style;