Don't mean to pour a pail of water on to a burning fire...

but for your best interest, I still want to say -

(1) Forester 2.5 is noisy, particularly road noise getting into cabin; with very hard suspension, making it unsmoothy on highway.

(2) Engine bay design isn't people-centric: hard to reach for transmission fluid check and spark plug changing.

(3) Poor design on oil filter: It's under the engine and no way you can change oil without spilling on the floor.

(4) Gas mileage is poor: I was getting less than 20 mpg on the road average. In the first year you might get a little higher.

(5) Frameless door/window sounds like a fashion, actually it can't seal well with noise.

(6) Mine was a 02, maybe they have changed now - it had a drum brake on rear, cheapy meaning low braking effiiency.

The good part: all wheel drive; hard body making it safer.

Well, don't think I am picky but when you spend $33k you could and you deserve a better car/suv. Test drive it and look at it thoroughly before you purchase it. Good luck!!