<p>I considered the Forester and the Outback and at that time, one required premium gas and the other didn’t. Don’t know if that is true today or if you care. Whe I drove them, I really loved the superb visibility of the Forester. It’s like a glass box - no blind spots. </p>
<p>The thing about exterior color is that you don’t see it as you’re driving. Both use regular gas, and you’re right about the visibility in the Forester - that could be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>LOL, back when I bought my brand new 2007Forester, I took my best friend for a ride. She immediately commented on what I had admired… How easy it was to see every car around you…like driving a fishbowl. We collapsed into giggles of the “you know you are middle-aged when the best thing about your car is visibility” type. Yep. We’re that age.
Glopop’s description of Vermont Subaru owners seems a lot like much of Washington. D2 decided that “Mom’s old forester” was the official car of her student body.</p>
<p>Lefthand, I don’t want a white-silver-gray-black car. That leaves a few paltry choices. After 14 years driving a band-aid colored Volvo, I decided color does matter.</p>
<p>One of the things I love about Suburu’s - the color selection! Love the green, blue and red!</p>
<p>The Forester green is pukey. The red and blue marginal. outback has different shades, which makes no sense to me. </p>
<p>Which has led me to decide to test drive the Volvo XC60… Any opinions, or start a new thread?</p>
<p>Any particular reason you want an SUV over a wagon (e.g. Volvo V60, Toyota Prius V, VW Jetta Sportwagon), small van (e.g. Mazda 5), or hatchback (e.g. Ford C-Max or Focus, Mazda 3, Toyota Prius, VW Golf)?</p>
<p>I love my old Passat wagon but am looking for something taller - again with the visibility. The Passat is old enough to have celebrated it’s carmitzvah, and if it weren’t for the pitted windshield that acts like a prism when the sun hits it, or the headlights that no longer put out much light because the glass covering has degraded, the electronic keys that work when they feel like it, the broken gas cap tether, I probably wouldn’t be looking. I suspect I’ll have the next car at least 10 years and I’m bound to shrink so a taller car might be nice. I did read that station wagons aren’t doing well in the U.S. Market so makers have cut the number of models. I do like the storage space of a wagon and the Subarus are basically tall wagons. The Tiguan doesn’t have as much trunk space. The Volvos are very nice cars but I think more $ and not as tall.</p>
<p>I spend a lot of time on I-80, and then in Chicago traffic, making the 600 mile trip to my elderly parents’. I love the visibility in the Forester. ((If I’m driving alone I actually take the passenger side headrest off to make it even better.)</p>
<p>I just discovered that the towing capability of the Forester is much less than the Outback. I’d like to get a T@B trailer in the not too distant future so we may have to make a change. :(</p>
<p>Visibility is very important to me because I am blind in one eye. I think the subaru’s are designed with much better visibility than what I have previously driven, especially my H’s Murano, which I HATE.</p>
<p>Today is day four with my new Crosstrek and I love it. For those of you who think color is important, I agree. This car is Desert Khaki with black interior and it is awesome!</p>
<p>Here:
<a href=“http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpictures.dealer.com%2Fburlingtonsubarusne%2Ff1ffce880a0a006501cbf6bb9824eec7.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.subaruvt.com%2Fshowroom%2F2013-subaru-xv-crosstrek-colors.htm&h=419&w=648&tbnid=VTdUMFW9G-dOXM%3A&zoom=1&q=subaru%20crosstrek%20desert%20khaki&docid=PkDq8G07a4nTAM&ei=3jPhU9-kLYK3yASGs4GwDQ&tbm=isch&client=safari&iact=rc&uact=3&page=1&start=0&ndsp=8&ved=0CDYQMygDMAM”>http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpictures.dealer.com%2Fburlingtonsubarusne%2Ff1ffce880a0a006501cbf6bb9824eec7.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.subaruvt.com%2Fshowroom%2F2013-subaru-xv-crosstrek-colors.htm&h=419&w=648&tbnid=VTdUMFW9G-dOXM%3A&zoom=1&q=subaru%20crosstrek%20desert%20khaki&docid=PkDq8G07a4nTAM&ei=3jPhU9-kLYK3yASGs4GwDQ&tbm=isch&client=safari&iact=rc&uact=3&page=1&start=0&ndsp=8&ved=0CDYQMygDMAM</a></p>
<p>This is timely for me, because I’m thinking about replacing a 2008 Subaru Outback, and I’d like something around the same size. The 2008 outback has great visibility; the new model doesn’t. I rented a Forester on a trip, and didn’t love it–it just seemed like a cheaper car than the Outback. I might go a bit higher than what has been mentioned here, so I’d be interested in hearing about it if anybody has one of the smaller Lexus, Infiniti, BMW, or Mercedes SUVs. Visibility is a big deal for me–that Crosstrek would probably not work for me, for example, because of the small back window and the raked windshield.</p>
<p><a href=“http://consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/best-worst-visibility/index.htm”>http://consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/best-worst-visibility/index.htm</a> has some best and worst outward visibility lists. But if you don’t like the outward visibility of the new Subaru Outback (on the best list), then you may have trouble finding anything you actually do like the outward visibility of.</p>
<p><a href=“The Danger of Blind Zones | Vehicle Blind Spots - Consumer Reports”>The Danger of Blind Zones | Vehicle Blind Spots - Consumer Reports; may also be of interest.</p>
<p>@Hunt Six weeks in to my second BMW X3 and I am very happy. My first was a 2006, purchased with 10K miles for a smidge over 30K, the new one is a CPO 2011, purchased with 30K miles for 32K. </p>
<p>Comfortable, great performance, very good mileage for the comfort/performance combo. My dash says I am about 22 mpg and that’s with allowing S2 to drive it while I was out of town. I think I get 28-30 on the highway.</p>
<p>Mine has all – ALL – the bells and whistles. My son says he really likes the amenities in the new X3. I would enjoy a bit more cargo space, but I didn’t want to splurge on a bigger vehicle. Instead, I splurged on a unique dog crate (not available to me as a pet retailer so you know it was a splurge). And IMHO the visibility is very good. Backup camera is awesome, but I can see all around. Car is not too high, but high enough.</p>
<p>My 2006 was still going strong with 130K miles and no major repairs – but I really needed to fix the sunroof and I just wanted a new vehicle.</p>
<p>EPTR, that’s a beauty! I’m definitely going to try this out. (something else we have in common, I am also mostly blind in one eye! Severe lazy eye…)</p>
<p>I knew I liked you, abasket.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>EPTR, very nice! We didn’t have a real color choice because there were so few Foresters available with manual transmissions. Because we are nominally a one car family and have had a few running injuries that made it hard to use the clutch we are going to an automatic. (I guess we are getting old and feeble.) It will be nice if we actually get to choose this time.</p>
<p>Hunt, you are basically right about the Forester.</p>
<p>Last night I sat behind the wheel of my neighbor’s new Tesla. I’d happily make space in my garage for one of those. 
</p>