Morris Minor Owners Club

Righty o. I'm looking for a new modern to replace the wife's 1.0L Yaris. I've narrowed the search down to a Subaru Forester, preferably a 2.0L non turbo manual for best fuel economy. Does anyone own one or have much experience with the Subaru boxer engines? How are they for home repairs. I know Subaru have a good reputation for reliability and the engines are used in VW campers as upgrades so they must be relatively easy to set up.

I would like to go for a Volvo XC70 but I reckon the running costs will be more. I love Volvos, got a 2.4L 940 1994 auto estate sitting on my dads drive but it's does 24mpg at best!

Basically I just need some real world experience with the Foresters.

cheers

David

my porker runs a 2.7 non turbo boxer engine and is easy enough to work on (have to take the back wheels off to change the spark plugs) have heard the subaru are awkward to get to spark plugs and often dont get all of them changed

Oil however, should be REALLY easy to change. That blue thing right there is the filter and it's even in a special dish that catches the oil that drips out when you remove it.

No personal experience but friends with Subarus say they're pretty easy to work on.

Now that is impressive. I've had various modern cars with oil filters that seem to be hidden away as much as possible! The dizzy on a 2.4l Volvo 940 is on the back of the bloody head against the firewall. Not helpful.

We have a 2004 non turbo 2L petrol subaru forester. It has been (touching wood) very reliable, mpg is 34/5 on a run and 26 in town. Insurance is quite manageable but £270 road tax is a sore one.

Oil changes are very easy from underneath(My engine isn't the same as the one pictured above), as is the air & fuel filter. Spark plugs are awkward I have to take out the airbox on 1 side and washer bottle on the other but all very mangeable with basic tools at home. Pray you don't need a new exhaust they can be expensive so shop around, timing belt was about 350 inc the belt & tensioner kit.

Plenty of other cars better than the Subaru imho

Examples?

I have a 2007 Impreza which has much the same running gear. Some notes below:

1) Plugs aren't fun to change.
2) Make sure you don't buy one with inverted struts - you WILL need to change them.
3) Transfer box bearing can fail on all models. Mine are on the way out after 70,000 miles.
4) Don't buy one with Emission Control Valves on the engine. They will fail and are approx. £700 a pair plus inlet manifold off to replace.
5) Gearbox and diff oils should be changed every 30,000. The oil isn't cheap.

Otherwise they are a very good 4x4, mine loves snow and never gets stuck in muddy fields. They also have less of an image problem like some other makes do....!