A real road warrior

We bought our 1999 Forester S new in October 1998. Since then, we have taken it into the Canadian Rockies-up to Jasper, down the icefields parkway, into Banff, the Glacier and Yellowstone. The only repair needed: a flat tire in Yellowstone.

We also took it on a vacation around the perimeter of Oregon one year.

It has taken us on many trips to the Oregon Coast, up to Mt. Hood, to Victoria and Vancouver B.C., and also to the gravel and dirt roads of Southeast Oregon, to the Steens Mountain loop Road.

The only problems: worn spark plug wires after about 50,000 miles. We had the master brake cylinder and some kind of oxygen sensor replaced on recall notices at no charge.

The only thing that has broken recently is the digital clock.

We have about 95,000 miles on our Forester. IT has had its regular 30/60/75,000 mile servicing, along with an oil change every 3-4,000 miles. I put new tires on it at about 60,000 miles--excellent wear!

It still has original brakes, and I'm getting them done this month.

I love the front seats--extremely comfortable, even after marathon driving sessions. The back seats are a bit snug for adults, however.

Our Forester still, as always, can pass larger SUV's going up long steep grades such as I-5 thorugh Roseburg, Grants Pass, and the Siskiyous-- usually in 5th gear on the 5-speed!

My only complaints are minor--it was idiotic to put the cup-holder in front of the middle air vent. If you have a cup of coffee and cold air blowing...or if you have a can of pepsi and have the heater blowing--well, you get the idea.

The keyless entry remote is very spindly on a keychain--maybe it should be made of a harder plastic-I've had to super-glue the part that goes through the keychain a few times. Although I will say this about the keyless remote--it went through the washer and dryer by accident, and kept on working!!

The front windshield does tend to fog too easily. The rearmost windows should be able to open-our dog goes crazy back there without the fresh air!

I have driven through snow, ice, extremely heavy rain, gravel roads, mudded up roads(watch the wheel wells for packed mud, though), on the sand on the beach with no problem.

I have gotten a solid 22 mpg in the city, and 26-28 mpg highway driving. It gets the best mileage on long stretches, like the 600+ miles I drove in one day when I had a toothache and had to drive straight home from Idaho.

I'm going to keep this little low-maintenance SUV until it doesn't want to go any further. It has been a real gem.