Looking into a new car to drive till it’s falling apart, came across a 2005 Subaru Forester Cross Sports SG5 are they reliable or money pits

by Superb_Ad_7508

4 Comments

  1. Moist_Barracuda_2014

    Mine has been very reliable, though ask me again next week when it’s driven for the first time in a year for its annual MOT lol

    Was using it daily for 2 years, 25mile commute both ways and doing school run in afternoons. Also took it from UK to The Netherlands on holiday. Never had any problems, only replaced consumables and it didn’t seem to burn a drop of oil between changes. Fuel economy is shit for the performance though.

    It’s a bit of a head scratcher finding the parts you need though, but imagine this is the same for any JDM car. Took hours of research when I ordered my timing belt kit but got it right first time luckily.

    Oh and all the bulbs are weird (to me) ones that you wouldn’t normally find in a standard spare kit, so worth buying them cheap from a motor factor before you need them.

  2. InconsiderateOctopus

    With the exception of crank walk on OG Evo’s, I can’t think of a bigger ticking time bomb than a 20 year old Subaru. That being said, I absolutely loved my Bugeye but selling it was probably one of the best financial decisions I’ve ever made.

    For reliability, you can’t go wrong with a late 90s Toyota. Easy to source parts too due to shared platforms.

  3. If it was an sf5 id say go for it. The fact that its a sg id say stay clear. The ej25’s are the reason subarus have the head gasket meme.