Rumour has it that I was once a forester myself, but whether that’s true or not, we’ll never know – nonetheless, it gives some clue as to why a Forester. Moving on, we all know that the pre-facelift SG models are the most beautiful, and that the 2C6 (Green mica/Gray mat) is the best color for them*.

And why this particular one? I searched for a long time and tried to be reasonable, as one does when buying a car that could walk into a pub and legally ask for a pint. The Swiss gentleman diligently collected stamps from his local dealership, changed the oil when needed, and in general, it was clear he liked his Forester. The seller even went out of his way to provide many underside photos (I encourage you to browse listings on the web – it’s rare to see this), so I thought: I have to go and at least check it out.

The final decision was made democratically, through voting:

• The diagnostician from the dealership: yes,
• Tomek: yes,
• Paint thickness gauge: yes,
• Me: yes.

The deal was sealed, price negotiated, money exchanged hand to hand (this is wild-wild-east remember), and smiles per gallon began.

I read a lot about these cars, so it only surprised me the slightest. Despite black bitumen-like paste and the struts looking healthy during the pre-sale inspection of critical areas, it ended with a visit to a body shop, with the wheel wells rebuild:

*Statistically insignificant data

• Forester
• Sg