Car shopping soon...advice?

[emily_in_nc]

Just to post a contrarian opinion on the much-beloved Subaru. I had a 2001 Forester I bought new. My first Sube, and I guess I just got unlucky since so many here have had much better experiences. It was great until three years old; then I had repeated problems with the Check Engine light that resulted in multiple and costly repairs. At age 4, the transmission started going out, and since Subaru will only replace, not repair, transmissions, that was going to be a VERY costly repair. At the time I was going through all this, my eyes were opened wide when I googled "Subaru Check Engine light" and "Subaru transmission problems". I was NOT alone. So, the car was only four years old, though I did drive it a lot of miles - had 80K on it. Only got $7K for it b/c of the transmission problem when I traded it in.

I traded it in in 2004 on a Honda Element and have never had a minute's trouble with this vehicle. Sitting at 124K miles now. Gas mileage is very similar to the Forester (both AWD), and with the back seats removed, it carries a LOT more cargo (four bikes, or two bikes, luggage, and a dog crate), or a huge load to Goodwill or the dump. Was sorry to read that it is being discontinued.