Suddenly our local Subaru dealer has a lot of nice cars on the lot and available. They have a good reputation and their pricing is fair. So Mr Pique and I have put down deposits on two vehicles, one for each of us. The deposits are refundable if we change our minds, but I don't think we will.

Please let me know if you have any experience with either or both of these cars:

1. 2023 Subaru Forester Touring

2. 2019 Toyota 4Runner TRD off road

No experience with either of those cars, but getting a new car is always fun!

When I had my 4Runner I got a lot of great info from this bulletin board:

T4R.com

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
When I had my 4Runner I got a lot of great info from this bulletin board:

T4R.com

Excellent! What was your own experience with your 4runner?

Reliable as a claw hammer.

Yes, we had two 4 runners and I second Steve's opinion. At the time, around 2000, their 4WD was tough and the car had great clearance. It was basically built on a truck chassis, but I think that's changed.

My experience was really good.

Look like two great choices
Can the 4Runner tow a horse trailer? Will it need to?

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
Look like two great choices
Can the 4Runner tow a horse trailer? Will it need to?

In the back of my mind, if I can find a used Brenderup (no longer made) or a Boeckmann horse trailer, we could relieve ourselves of the upkeep on the Chevy truck. Both new vehicles have hitch receivers. I imagine, though, that we'd need to get a tranny cooler if we were serious about it.

Brenderups and Boeckmanns are both pulled by small SUVs in Europe, where they don't have the kind of trucks we do. I kind of doubt that they are used in the kind of terrain we drive here, though.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Reliable as a claw hammer.

What year? The 2019 seems to have the best ratings in CR.

quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
Yes, we had two 4 runners and I second Steve's opinion. At the time, around 2000, their 4WD was tough and the car had great clearance. It was basically built on a truck chassis, but I think that's changed.

My experience was really good.

glad to hear it! to me it looks like it is on a truck chassis, but I don't really know.

Nobody here has a recent model forester?

I had a 2005, which I sold after I bought the truck in 2014. Always kind of missed it, but the headgasket thing was worrisome to me. the newer foresters have much better reliability according to CR. this will be my first-ever new car. and probably the last car I ever buy. I tend to buy quality used low maintenance cars and then hang on to them forever, eventually selling them for what I paid for them. So, a brand-new car with the new car smell (that part I don't think I'm going to like) is a big indulgence for me.

MrsTuner has a 2018 Forester that has been reliable for light suburban and city driving. I think she might only have 50k miles on it...
No real snow or hill issues around Chicago for someone retired that can choose to stay home if the roads look crummy!

We end up taking my Kia hybrid on all road trips, even though it is smaller. I've had front-wheel drive on all of my cars except one Forester in the early 2000's, so I'm comfortable in all sorts of weather without AWD, but we don't have hills...

The new Foresters feel much more tame and refined to me compared to some we had a long time ago.

Is the Toyota a tundra? Or a Tacoma? We have the Tacoma. TRD off road. (2009) is got our pop up camper on it.

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Reliable as a claw hammer.

What year? The 2019 seems to have the best ratings in CR.

Mine was a 2000. No doubt the ‘19 is much different but I still think you can trust it. The guys on that bulletin board will tell you all about it.

Tow rating is 5K pounds and I see that a one horse trailer doesn’t weigh much more than that but I don’t think I’d use it to tow the horse trailer on a regular basis. Horse trailers don’t generally use equalizing hitches and the load is pretty dynamic. You could do it but it wouldn’t be fun.

Congratulations, piqué and Mr. piqué!

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
Is the Toyota a tundra? Or a Tacoma? We have the Tacoma. TRD off road. (2009) is got our pop up camper on it.

it's a 4Runner TRD Off Road with AT tires. Mr Pique is looking forward to using it for mountaineering treks. We could put a camping trailer behind it--if we have any money left after this splurge. But it is big enough inside to sleep in with the back seats down.