To buy or not to buy? Subaru Forester 2007

Asked by Annie Oct 23, 2018 at 12:34 AM about the 2007 Subaru Forester 2.5 X

Question type: General

Looking for advice on used 2007 Subaru
Forester
Hello everyone! I’m currently in the market for
a more family friendly vehicle as I have an
almost 6 month old!  I’ve always owned
Toyota’s but my husband and I love the
outdoors and sometimes our little Prius
doesn’t have clearance to get us to certain
trailheads. I am looking at a used Subaru
Forester- 2007 with 152k miles listed for $5k
on Craigslist. I’m don’t need something
flashy- just reliable. I feel like when I google I
find a variety of issues with the Forester pre-
2011 and I wondered if anyone could tell me
if this is a great reliable car or if I should raise
my budget, look elsewhere...etc. This
particular vehicle has only had one owner
and the following repairs in the last year:
miles to this engine (within the last year):  
Cylinder head gaskets replaced Valve cover
gaskets replaced Alternator replaced Timing
belt with tensioner and pulleys replaced
Water pump replaced Camshaft seals
replaced New radiator and cap Left Subaru
rear press in bearing replaced Left front drive
axle replaced Right CV axle replaced Thrust
angle alignment completed

***catalytic converter needs replaced

It seems like a lot of repairs for the mileage
at first glance. With all of this done though,
do you think this car will keep ticking for a
while or would you run away screaming from
this?  
Thank you so much!

5 Answers

This might be a good car. I would resolve the catalytic converter issues first as those can be expensive to replace. If your state requires a smog check make sure it passes Before you buy it. Keep in mind you it has high miles so it may not last a long time if you drive a lot. How many miles a year would you drive it? OFFER LESS!

BTW. Those repairs are normal for your car and the miles it has. I am concerned about the cat issue.

It would be an around town commuter. I mostly work from home currently and we would take it on hiking trips on the weekends and commute to see family a couple hours away here and there, so it would not have a ton of miles per year. I tried to get her to come down based on the CAT converter and potential o2 sensor issue but she is only willing to go as low as $4700. Subaru seems to retain its value or sell maybe for too much in Oregon compared to other areas....

Good used Subaru's are hard to find. If you need a current smog certificate to register it I would walk away as it will never pass until you spend hundreds if not thousands on the cats.

We do not need to pass emissions in my area oddly. Also she mentioned that the shop that told her it was the catalytic converter had cleared the P040 code in April and the CEL has not come back on in the past 6 months. It makes me wonder if she may have gotten a bad tank of gas....

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