l am looking for OWNER experience driving and/or commuting in an '09 Subaru Forester. l know they are really new but still....people ARE buying them! l presently drive a Honda Accord and have no experience with Subaru's. l want comparable mpg and performance. Everything I've heard and read so far say they are similar. l wanna hear from real people and real-life driving.

Please describe the type of driving you do and the MPG you get.

Also, what drawbacks do you see, features you would change?

What model and features did you get?
At what price?

Thanks in advance!
We looked at a 4dr Auto X Limited PZEV and my husband really liked it.

We were told that the newer ones are getting closer to 27-29 on mixed driving. Is that not so? l find it hard to believe for sure.

My driving is mixed rural/highway. In other words, l live about 40 min. out of any sort of real town (where l shop once a wk), off a 50-60mph highway and drive around a lot out here with 5-10 min. up to more like 20 min. between stops. A lot of gravel roads mixed with paved. A weekend getaway might entail 5hrs or so of highway driving.
So, we decided on an 09 2.5x Limited with a long list of added features. Thanks to getting another quote online from another dealer....we negotiated our way to $400 under Invoice!

l do not own one but since u still have no answer l will tell u what l know. It sort of depends on what model u r talking about. l drive a WRX wagon which has the same engine & drive train as the Forester XT. My friend has a 2.5RS which is the same as the non turbo Forester. l get about 25.5 mpg which is better than they advertised but l drive a stick so l can manipulate it better. If u r looking for an auto, u will probably get around 23 mpg mixed driving. Not bad if u consider a car with one of the best AWD systems on the market. It is a true AWD as opposed to Toyota, Honda, GM, Ford & many others who say they have AWD but it is a FWD base system & often times does not send more than 20% power to the rear wheels. Subaru is system is always between 35F/65R to 50/50 split. They have also been best in it is class as far as safty for quite a few years. l really think u will be happy with one. They r every bit as reliable as ur Honda if maintained properly & l have seen many Subaru is around with well over 250,000 miles on them. By the way if u do go with the XT model with the turbo, it is awesome, They do 0 to 60 in around 6 seconds wich is unheard of for a compact SUV with a 4 cylinder but if u r looking for the base model it is still pretty torquey too so u can not go wrong either way.

Our dealership sells ALOT of the 09 Foresters & we have been asking them all when they come in for oil or service how they r doing & they all get 25-30 so 27 is a good average. This is NH so figure a good mix & alot of hills. There really is not alot of drawbacks to the new Forester, with the new suspension they r smoother, the added frame around the glass & insulation makes them quieter, they r not too big nor too small. No major blind spots, good ground clearance..the features to get depend on what u like, the basic breakdown is the Premium Package adds alloy wheels & a sunroof along with reclining rear seat (about 15 degrees back, or all the way flat forward), & a 6 disk cd, & for an extra $400 u can add the All weather Package which is the heated seats, mirror, & wiper blade area. Next up is the Limited that adds leather & fog lights, & finanlly a Turbo & Turbo Limited for anyone who wants more power. Expect to pay low 20 is for a base, mid for a premium & high 20 is for a Turbo or Limited. Also the PZEV is not a model it stands for Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle, & is a reference to its envirmental impact much like LEV, ULEV, etc u might see on other vehicles. To give u an idea how good vehicles like the Legacy PZEV & Forester score out a 9.5 on the EPA is 1 (we r shutting u down territory) to 10 (electric car-no emissions) scale, very close to ZERO emissions, the Toyota Camry Hybrid is an 8.5 in comparison. Dont worry too much about price they hold incredible value & last forever, u will get ur money out of it & dealers legitimitly only have about $1000 in markup from invoice to play with so dont expect huge discounts on them as their popularity doesnt require the dealers to drop their pants. You will enjoy it & compared to the price of its compeition ur getting a deal even at MSRP. l understand Im a dealer but Im basing this off our 100 is of customers feedback, & chances r Im not the one selling u a car either.

The Forester is a great choice.