There is always something special about getting a new car, be it leased or more so, in my opinion, when getting one that is purchased for the long haul. My wife’s 2017 Subaru Forester XT (turbo and very sporty for an SUV) was a special purchase for us when we traded in our last family minivan as we downsized a bit. Back then, we cross shopped many brands and enjoyed the trips to upstate, NY around Middletown, where there were plenty of dealers that would let you take a car out, alone, with just a copy of your driver’s license. Freedom to drive on a highway or an unpopulated back road. My son loved doing this with me and would rate the car by the feel he got from the back seat. He is now a car buff like myself, likely from my taking him anytime we felt like going for a test drive. We finally found a near new used Forester XT (only 5,000 miles and six months old, in white that she liked, at a LI Subaru dealer) with all the features she ever wanted and made the transaction. We luckily, against my resistance, took the advice by the finance officer and bought the extended warranty. We babied that car, doing oil changes religiously every 3,000 miles (triple the frequency recommended in the manual, as the service manager at the dealer said, with the turbo, you need frequent clean oil for longer life). Over the years in NY, it got her through storms and never got stuck. She fit the car perfectly and loved the safety features, conveniences, and power the turbo engine gave her, often telling me how much she loved her car, even years later. The old car looked nearly as it did some seven years ago as it was very well maintained, and always serviced at a Subaru dealer.

Well, the love affair started to wain in the last two years, especially after moving down south. We got odd engine sounds at start up, and frequent strong odor from the tail pipe (also happened in NY but was told the strong exhaust smell was normal, not). We started to need to use that handy extended warranty. Could it be the dealer in Florida just had bad technicians or was the car in some way defective? All we know was, the dealer would give us a “newer loaner” and we got to know the entire Subaru lineup. Head gasket, then front bushing, then wiring harness, then intercooler pulley belt was loose (leaving her stranded on the way to work), and the last straw was the need for a new turbo charger just a week after the intercooler issue, with only 58,000 miles on the car. This took a month to diagnose and repair, as there were not enough “experienced” techs at the dealer that could spend time on it. We put over 1,700 miles over the course of a month with the last loaner (a brand new 2024 Forester, nothing as special as the last generation XT by the way). It also marked the end of our relationship with her beloved Subaru as our extended warranty was going to be up in a few months.

After a few weeks checking out new cars and seeing what “fit her” well, cross shopping fewer brands this time and doing my usual research…Welcome to our new Mazda CX-5, in a beautiful Soul Red color. No more turbo for us. No more premium gas, no more wondering what will go wrong next, or listening in the morning at cold start up for an odd sound or scent. It was a bittersweet relationship and my wife shed a few tears as that Forester made her smile when it ran well. We gave up a few features, but that also means less can go wrong. We look forward to new adventures with our new red car (first time for us). My wife is smiling again and that is all that matters in the end.