It doesn't have the turbo, they didn't have turbos in 2002, or at least not on the Forester (I think, Chris did most all of the research). But it does have the AWD, of course. We just kind of tested it out that night, we've been really careful with it since, mainly because I don't want to rag it out. This has to be our nice reliable car, since the Trooper is at almost 140K miles, we're trying to take it easy so we don't have to buy another car for a while.
In addition to just being beautifully built and handling so well, every little dash piece and speaker cover and what not pops off without too much trouble (just a little piece of cloth wrapped around a flathead screwdrive does the trick with little prob). There's also a lot of little built in compartments in the cargo area for stuff like amps and what not. Chris just bought an amp and a couple of speakers and is going to mount the LCD screen for the car-puter in the double din. All he had to do was take the dremel to the casing on the LCD and shave a little off each side and it fits perfectly where the in-dash 6 disc changer is. Kind of hate to waste an in-dash 6 disc changer, but can't argue with 80 GB of MP3s, plus GPS, plus Simpsons episodes, plus. . . in the car.
Yeah, I'm really happy with it, I feel like we got a good one too, even not knowing a whole lot of background on it. The 2005 is rated #1 small SUV right now (for reliability, safety, hell, pretty much everything!) and they've been in the top 5 for several years now.
coming from you, that's a major compliment!!
In addition to just being beautifully built and handling so well, every little dash piece and speaker cover and what not pops off without too much trouble (just a little piece of cloth wrapped around a flathead screwdrive does the trick with little prob). There's also a lot of little built in compartments in the cargo area for stuff like amps and what not. Chris just bought an amp and a couple of speakers and is going to mount the LCD screen for the car-puter in the double din. All he had to do was take the dremel to the casing on the LCD and shave a little off each side and it fits perfectly where the in-dash 6 disc changer is. Kind of hate to waste an in-dash 6 disc changer, but can't argue with 80 GB of MP3s, plus GPS, plus Simpsons episodes, plus. . . in the car.
Yeah, I'm really happy with it, I feel like we got a good one too, even not knowing a whole lot of background on it. The 2005 is rated #1 small SUV right now (for reliability, safety, hell, pretty much everything!) and they've been in the top 5 for several years now.