Just based on the photo shown here, you might assume I have a cool old Subaru Forester. Unfortunately for me, the truth is that I used to have a cool old Forester. As the license plate suggests, that picture was taken back when I lived in California. It was great for camping and even proved to be a shockingly capable off-roader. Plus, the visibility is absolutely fantastic.
Ultimately, the parking situation in Koreatown got to be too much of a hassle, and my younger brother needed a car, so he flew out to LA, picked up the Subaru and drove it back to Georgia. It’s not like I needed it at the time. I was working from home, and the area was so walkable, I had my choice of two coffee shops without even having to cross the street.
Fast forward several years, though, and our situations have reversed. Atlanta proved to be too rough for my old E39 540i, so it’s been sent to stay at my parents’ house where it will hopefully live a long, stress-free life where the streets don’t threaten to shake the windshield out of your car. Also, my brother recently bought a new car, so he no longer needed the Subaru. Perfect.
Well, not necessarily. At the very least, it needs a head gasket replacement, as well as a valve cover gasket replacement. Even the mechanic I took it to told me it wasn’t worth fixing, so I’m going to have to sell it. The check engine light isn’t on, so presumably, I could sell it to someone naive enough to not get a pre-purchase inspection, but that would be wildly unethical. I can’t make myself do it.
Then it dawned on me. What if there’s someone out there who wants to STI or WRX-swap an SG Forester? My car would be perfect for that person. It had quite a few dings and dents when I bought it, so it won’t make a great show car. So I guess the person who wants to engine swap a Forester is also going to need to plan to use it off-road. Maybe give it a couple more inches of ground clearance, some all-terrain tires and a roof tent? My car would be perfect for someone like that.
Unfortunately for me, there aren’t exactly millions of people out there looking to lift and engine-swap a banged-up 15-year-old Subaru Forester. Then again, if you happen to be that person, boy do I have the car for you.