The majority of new vehicles on the market these days have four passenger doors and a large rear hatch that open onto a cargo area. It’s not a new idea; it just took years for it to catch on here in the US. (We had to raise them up and put black plastic fender flares on them to make them` “cool” enough.) It’s an incredibly useful and practical way to arrange a car, so it’s no wonder it’s popular. One of these two is more wagon-y and the other more hatchback-y, but the basic idea is the same.
Yesterday we looked at a couple of cheap sedans in California, close in price but decades apart in age. I really didn’t know how this one was going to go down. A lot of you really loved that old Benz, rust and all, but for some of you that affection was a negative; the Sentra gained some votes precisely because it was something you didn’t have to care about. In the end, though, the old 240D lives to fight another day.
I really love the idea of the old Mercedes, and I really have trouble with the idea of spending money on something that feels like a rental car like that Sentra. The rust on the 240D doesn’t scare me, but the lack of air conditioning does; I worry that the interior smells like sweat covered up by patchouli. If it passes the sniff test, however, it’s Benz all the way for me.
I enjoy picking out cars for this feature, but if someone else wants to put in the legwork and give me a break, I’m all for it. Today’s cars were a suggestion on Opposite Lock, and they’re a great matchup: same basic shape, close in size, close in price, both stickshifts, and both with large sunroofs. But although they arrive at roughly the same place, they get there in very different ways. Let’s check them out and see which one you prefer.
2001 Subaru Forester S – $2,750
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter OHC flat-4, five-speed manual, AWD
Location: Cheshire, CT
Odometer reading: 174,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I’m not generally much of a Subaru fan, as regular readers are probably aware, but if I ever did go for one, a Forester would probably be my second choice. (First choice? A Brat, duh.) I like the tall boxy look of them, especially these early ones, and they’re a good size: not too big, not too small. It’s just a pity that you have to go back twenty-five years to find one as refreshingly free of bullshit as this one is.
Mechanically, the first-generation Forester is just a tall Impreza with a Legacy engine in it, a 2.5-liter version of Subaru’s famous flat-four. It’s all-wheel-drive, of course, and this one has a five-speed manual gearbox. Because of the relation to the Impreza, enthusiasts have found that lots of WRX parts bolt right on to a Forester, such as the lower and tighter suspension struts. This car has been so lowered, and it’s one of the few instances where I think reducing a car’s ride height actually improves its looks. It has had a lot of other work done, and it runs and drives fine, but the check-engine light is on. Why? It has no catalytic converters. Why do people do that? If you live in a place where you need to do emissions testing, you’ll need to put them back, and even if not, you probably should anyway.
This is the higher-trim S model, so it comes with all sorts of goodies like heated seats and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. If you’re looking for a nice, plain-jane Subaru station wagon, you’ll have to look elsewhere, like maybe 1983. It looks really nice inside, especially for the mileage. The seller doesn’t say much about the functional status of anything except for the air conditioning and heat, which both work fine. I guess that’s the important stuff.
Outside, things aren’t quite as rosy. The seller doesn’t say what happened to this car, but my guess is that a tree limb fell on it. There are dents all over the roof, including this nasty one on the A-pillar which cracked a corner of the windshield. If you live someplace that requires inspections, and they’re not cool with the cracks in the glass, this probably isn’t the car for you. Fixing that sheetmetal to fit a new windshield in is going to get expensive. At least the falling branch missed the sunroof.
2008 Saturn Astra XR – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Newport, PA
Odometer reading: 127,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Saturn’s S-series was a great little car. It was durable, reliable, and if equipped right, more fun than you’d expect. Unfortunately, after the S-series ran its course, GM chose to replace it with the weird, trouble-prone Ion. Nobody liked it nearly as much, and sales fell. After the Ion, Saturn turned to GM’s European arm, Opel, for a suitable small car. Enter the Astra. It was a much better successor to the S-series than the Ion ever was, but it was also too little too late. It didn’t sell well, and Saturn didn’t last much longer. But if you can find a used Astra, you won’t be disappointed. They’re nice cars to drive.
Instead of Saturn’s unique “Power Module,” the Astra uses GM’s Ecotec four-cylinder, displacing 1.8 liters. Here it drives the front wheels through a five-speed manual. It’s a nice combination, not especially fast, but well-matched to the car. This one runs and drives just fine, though it has an exhaust leak causing a check-engine light. The seller suspects it’s a cheap aftermarket header that’s to blame. If you can find a factory exhaust manifold to replace it with, that and some new gaskets should solve the problem. It does have a new catalytic converter, so that’s something.
It’s an XR model, and a pretty fancy one at that, with heated leather seats and a great big sunroof. This is the only image we get of the inside, but it looks pretty good. It has an aftermarket touchscreen stereo, which I’m personally not a fan of, but some people seem to like them. The seller says the stalk for the windshield wipers is broken, but the wipers still work fine.
It’s missing some clearcoat on the outside, but otherwise it looks fine – except that somebody spray-painted the wheels black. Why? That’s a trend that really needs to die off. I wonder how hard it would be to strip the black paint off? And could you do it with the tires still on, or would it have to wait until they needed replacement?
If you’re willing to do a little tinkering, either one of these would make a more-interesting-than-average beater. But they definitely will need a little work. Which one are you more willing to wrench on?
I’m going Astra. The 1.8 is easy to work on, it’s the same as the base Sonic and Cruze. No DI nor turbos to worry about. Just keep oil in it, inspect and replace the timing belt when needed and you’re set. The black wheels can be undone quite easily: go get a couple cheap deck of cards and insert between the wheel and the tire beads until you cover the whole round, then you can do rattle can primer followed by silver basecoat. Although white would probably look nice too!
I heard that the Astra was actually a somewhat decent car for its time, which isn’t that surprising since it came from a European part of GM.
However, I love those early Foresters with the small wagon looks and the blistered fenders. So, Subaru it is, despite the hard, rattly plastics, lethargic performance, diff noise, and head gasket leaks.
Not even voting. These are both trash.
Since I grew up in Kansas, whose state motto is “Ad Astra per Aspera”, my choice is clear.
I’m hoping that the missing cat in the Subie is the result of theft and not an intentional choice made by a sociopath. Either way, count me in for the Astra and it’s intact emissions system.
Ha, I like your voting option names today. Clever.
I love the look of early Foresters, with that super tall rear glass. However the A-pillar damage and lack of cats is a no-go for me, unless the stock exhaust is still in that person’s yard. It would probably double the cost of the car to get it emissions compliant so I can legally drive it.
All things being equal I would probably (maybe) choose the Forester, but that a-pillar/windshield damage looks nigh unfixable, so Astra it is.
Astra for sure. Better car more interesting car. Not a Subaru. It’s pricing seems about dead on. That Subaru is maybe worth $1k if it wasn’t so rusty. Scrap value $375.
An otherwise forbidden fruit Opel or a money-pit Scooby…………..Opel. The Scooby needs far too much money to put right for such an old car. The Opel does have a timing belt and the 5 speed isn’t particularly great-feeling. I’d rather swap a 1.4T/6-speed in there. The 1.4T is a little more refined and can make a reliable 160 hp with a tune. Even though those engines will need a turbo by 200k miles and a water pump about every 25k miles.
just wondering if a 2nd gen 1.4 from the Cruze would work. Those are way better and totally unrelated to the trouble prone 1.4 found on the 1st gens.
Overall the TB would be something to take care of if sticking to the stock 1.8, but the Subie also comes with the TB, so….
The first gen 1.4 was a decent little engine. As long as it was maintained, that is. GM specifying semi synthetic at first plus programming the oil life monitor to go too long in early cars led to a lot of blown turbos. After opening the hood and seeing all the German Bosch components underhood, that confirmed my hunch to run full synthetic oil changed sooner than what GM said to. I had an early MY 2012 Cruze from mid 2011 up until a few years ago. Great little car.
yeah I know the little guy, probably not that well but I owned a used 1st gen facelifted Trax for about a year. No problems with the turbo at 93K miles but the PCV valve integrated into the valve cover was something I wasn’t looking forward to. And I tried to do it myself but just wasn’t able to take off the RTV on the two spots near the timing cover so I just screwed it back in and took it to an Indy shop that took great care of it. Parts are now super cheap no those, including the turbo. But I’d still take the newer 1.4 LE2 engine over it, GM did the right updates to it. My sister has one of those and it has really endured over the last 2-3 years. I do the maintenance, though.
Was Astra Asia‘s best album? No. Was it their second-best? Also no. Was it their third? Yes, yes it was.
Voted for the Astra.
Certainly a downward spiral, starting with Alpha.
I’ll take the Astra, purely because that would make it the FOURTH Saturn on my block!
If the Forester was either a cat delete, or an A-pillar issue, I’d be in on the Subie. BUT, that is just too much. I would never own a car newer than 1979 without catalytic converters, and it’s not worth it for both repairs. I’ll strip the black off of those Astra wheels and look for a turn directional stalk and new manifold.
Body damage and head gaskets? Pass. I can get the bad paint wrapped.
I live in California, so there’s work required for either of these. Finding an exhaust manifold at a Pick-n-pull will be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting a new cat, so the Saturn wins, just for that. It’s also cleaner overall.
Editing to add that I know noisy cars. My wife used to commute in a 2001 Corolla. Every now and then, I’d get in the car and have to turn the sound system volume down immediately as it would be way too loud, even for my crummy ears. I thought my wife must have been blasting the rock music on her way home but it turned out that she had to have it up that loud just to get over the noise of that car on the freeway.
It’s looks like the exhaust manifold is available from a few different places
it’s actually the same exhaust manifold with integrated catalytic converter than a 1st gen Cruze or Sonic with the base non-turbo engine. Plenty of them around for cheap
Ad astra per alas porci.
I’ve had a Forester and have no more hair to lose.
So hook me up with the Astra. Time to start losing skin, I guess.
Tough call, the Saturn’s in better shape but the parts situation favors the Forester; especially locally to me where I can’t swing the proverbial cat by the tail without hitting 3-5 independent Subaru specialists vs. the Saturn Astra being the official car of knowing what interchanges with a Cobalt and being able to recite Halfords’ international shipping policy from memory.
Mechanically speaking, the 1.8 engine was used widespread in the 1st gen Cruze and Sonic. The Getrag transmission is probably shared with the Cobalt and HHR (don’t quote me on that). body parts are probably the hardest, though
I’ll take the one which hasn’t had a tree fall on it, or had the catalytic converter stolen from under it.
My vote is for the Astra because it’s cheaper and the idiot who owns the Subaru had the catalytic converters removed.
I always thought the Astra was a rebadged Vibe, which is a rebadged Matrix, which is a rebadged Corolla hatch.
The Vibe isn’t really a rebadge, it’s closer to a true joint venture, a true successor to the 80s Corolla/Chevy Nova that came out the same NUMMI plant in Fremont (now Tesla).
And the Matrix WAS the Corolla hatch for those years, at least in North America.
I wanted to like the Forester, but there’s no easy way to get that past a one-time Ontario inspection, so it’s a pass
Damn government cracking down on the “know a guy” safeties. Considering their entire focus seems to have been on the supremacy of cars and making it easier to buy beer I’m surprised that they just haven’t eliminated safety certificates.
Yeah, the move to stricter inspections did seem out of character for this government. I wish they could at least let up on the structural requirements. I can understand wanting to check cars for working brakes, steering, and suspension, but there seems to be a big gap between “rusty enough to fail a safety” and “rusty enough to actually be significantly unsafe.” I’ve been watching/helping my 18-year-old brother buy a first car, and with his budget of ~$3500 CAD I’m not sure I’ve seen a single vehicle around that could pass a safety and actually drive legally.
He first bought a ’06 Honda Civic 5-speed, but that needed too much body work I guess, so he sold it and instead bought a third-gen Dodge Ram 1500. That needs some rocker work, but the frame seems good, so maybe he can patch the rockers enough to sneak through a safety? It’s pretty tough on low-budget shoppers.
Astra!
The damage on that Forester is a little too much. If it were only cosmetic, it’d be a tougher call.
If only Saturn somehow convinced GM to bring over the OPC/VXR package. But it’s gonna be cheaper to fix than cats on a Forester.
Was ready to vote Subie until I read about the missing cats and saw the windshield. That’s all going to be expensive. And I’d want to know if that windshield is leaking near the impact point.
The Astra looks decent for the price. The miles are right. Stickshift GM Euro hatch with a common Ecotec engine? Not bad.