J + A : Fozzie

From J:

Our long car search is finally over! We're retiring Henry, our faithful 2003 Honda Accord, and upgrading to a car that fits our current (and future projected) lifestyle better. I give you...Fozzie.

Welcome to the family.

Fozzie is a 2014 Subaru Forester 2.5i Touring. He has all the features you would expect in a car of this caliber!

An engine!

2.5 liter boxer 4 with a CVT, in case you were wondering.

A steering wheel and radio!

With appropriately modern buttons.

A back seat and cargo area!

And even a seatbelt for the middle passenger.

As I do with most things, I obsessively researched cars before we reached this point. I've known for some time that Henry (good as he's been) was not going to be my daily driver for much longer. I wanted something safer, all wheel drive for our occasional snows, and something with more utility, as I find myself hauling around a dog and other things frequently that a sedan isn't suited for. Obvious choice: a Subaru. But for due diligence, I also looked at some competitors: Mazda CX-5, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4.

The Honda was too bland, the RAV4 was too expensive for what it was, and the CX-5 (while also expensive) had an engine compartment that nightmares are made out of (didn't even want to think about trying to change out that serpentine belt down the line) and pretty poor visibility out of the back. Never really considered Hyundais or Kias; despite their excellent warranties they just didn't impress on the spec sheet. And I REALLY never considered domestics. Sorry guys, you'll have to do better for longer to convince me otherwise.

Now, I'd casually visited this Subaru dealer before and walked around their showroom, as the Honda dealer where I used to take Henry for service is next door. That Honda dealer's service department ended up being a huckster-ridden cesspool, but that's neither here nor there. I was familiar with the offerings, so when the time came I knew that I wanted to test drive an XV Crosstrek (smaller) and a Forester (bigger). On paper, the Crosstrek seemed like it would be big enough for around-town stuff and a great commuting car, but not large enough for a vacation with two kids and a dog. The Forester's styling didn't gel with me in comparison and the gas mileage was a bit worse, but it was certainly large enough for almost any need. Time for test drives!

We drove the Crosstrek first. It felt like a go-kart. Very peppy off the line, but you had to really lean in to the accelerator to get up to highway speeds. Steering was solid and the overall feeling was decent. I liked the size of the passenger area. Visibility was so-so out of the back glass.

In the Crosstrek. It was cold, but the seat heaters quickly left sear marks.

Now for the Forester. Subaru clearly has their A team doing the design and engineering for this model, and it showed. The engine felt much more substantial, even though it's only 20-some horsepower extra. The visibility was ridiculous, with glass everywhere.

This is...the one?

I got over the styling reservations when I saw the Touring trim. Nice spoiler, dark gray (nice and masculine), good looking wheels. And all of the interior goodies - leather, navigation, automatic climate, power everything. It makes a difference. We ended up with a great deal on a used 2014 Forester Touring that was previously part of the loaner fleet at the dealer. It came with the Subaru Certified Pre-Owned warranty and the remaining factory warranty. The only real hassle: the printer broke at the dealer and it took 3 hours to complete the paperwork.