Whoo! This one’s tighter than an Arizona Senate race. But as of this writing, the Sky has the win by four votes. Personally, I’d prefer the Sebring. I have a fun sports car; a relaxed cruiser sounds nice, and not boring at all. Anyway, moving on: Despite how it may seem, there is very little art and almost no science involved in choosing the cars for this feature. I find one car that catches my fancy, then go looking for a mate for it. Today’s choices were inspired by a typo (or possibly auto-correct?) that literally made me laugh out loud. Let’s take a look.
2001 Hyundai Santa Fe – $1,899
Engine/drivetrain: 2.7 liter DOHC V6, 4 speed automatic, AWD Location: Los Angeles, CA Odometer reading: 187,000 miles Runs/drives? Yep Hyundai’s long road to being taken seriously took a big step forward in 2001 when the brand introduced the Santa Fe, its first SUV, technically a crossover because of its car-derived platform. While it was a bit crude and plain compared to the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV, it was cheaper. It was a formula that had worked for Hyundai in the past, and it worked again. The Santa Fe was a hit.
This is a pretty fancy Santa Fe, with the V6 engine, what look like leather/suede seats, power windows and locks, functional air conditioning, and that’s not nearly all: “tainted windows.” Sometimes I feel I’ve got to (clap, clap) roll you down… [Editor’s Note: I don’t get the joke. -DT] [Editor’s Note: I’m so not surprised. – JT]
References to ’80s Brit-pop notwithstanding [Editor’s Note: Ah, that explains it. -DT], this ad definitely is not giving us the “Soft Sell.” The listing has lots of capitalization, more than one double exclamation point, and yet glosses over a failing transmission solenoid pack as “needs TLC.” Yeah, that’s a bit more involved than a bath and an oil change. And I bet there’s a warning light or two on the dash because of it. But the seller says they drive it daily “AS IS,” bald tires and all.
Anyway, if you want a little gold-colored Korean SUV crossover thingy, here you go. I give you all an author can give you.
1999 Subaru Forester – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5 liter SOHC flat 4, 4 speed automatic, AWD Location: Healdsburg, CA Odometer reading: 204,000 miles Runs/drives? Yes indeed This is a car I’ve never owned, and almost certainly never will own, but I feel like I know it, or at least I know everything I feel I need to know. First-generation Subaru Foresters are still everywhere here in Portland; you can’t throw a rock without hitting one. (Believe me, I’ve tried). Looking at this car, I can practically see the cloud of vape smoke billowing out of the window, and smell the faint whiff of leaking coolant.
They do seem to be good cars, though. This one boasts over 200,000 miles on its odometer and just made an uneventful trip from Colorado to northern California. It has new tires, and a working tape deck. And it sounds like they’re throwing in some cassettes for it as well, “if you consider this a bonus.” No word on what they are, but any fan of Good Omens knows that by now, they’re all Queen’s Greatest Hits anyway.
Inside, it actually looks pretty good for such an old car. It could use a cleaning, but the upholstery is intact, and nothing looks egregiously broken. The outside isn’t quite as impressive; it has some nasty corrosion in the rear wheel arches, and probably elsewhere as well. That graying black plastic cladding is likely hiding some ugliness. I wonder if one of the included tapes is Rust Never Sleeps?
I confess I am not a fan of Subaru in general, but the people who have these things seem to really love them. I’m not sure this one has two thousand dollars’ worth of life left in it, but I guess if somebody does, more power to them. And that’s what we’ve got to work with: a questionable transmission or early-stage terminal rust. Choose carefully.
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
There are also infinite pages of forums to pour over whenever something goes wrong and a plethora of parts out there. It won’t be a fun car, but it’ll be a car. Even as a current Hyundai owner there’s no way in hell I’d touch a 20 year old one. This gen of Santa Fe has aged better than I thought it would be it’s still a precursor to the overstyled blob crossover hell world we inhabit today, and therefore I dislike it.
But really…if you’re going to buy a Hyundai buy it new. Their current designs are pretty neat across the board and they have some captivating enthusiast options (ask my how I know) in addition to some endearingly weird stuff…but they’re not out of the reliability woods yet by any stretch of the imagination.
Some British DJ found a copy of the single on a trip to the US, and that’s how Soft Cell got a hold of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJKe2j9Wjh4&ab_channel=53jaybop
For some reason, I’ve always enjoyed the design of the 1st gen (SF) Forester. To me, it really captured the look of one of the 90s Japanese SUVs, but with a smaller footprint and better mileage (if only slightly). The basic interior design was a good fit and also something I appreciated, even the wacky upholstery. But man, although this is definitely saveable, it’s pretty far gone. I’d have go to junkyard diving to properly fix up that worn front fascia. I don’t know if the seller liked to tail gravel trucks or what, but geez, that face. Hopefully it’s already had its first HG repair done.
This generation Hyundai Santa Fe never did much to ever quicken my pulse while the interior design manages to be obtrusively plain and boring. That said, I’ve known a few people who’ve owned and operated these for years with hardly any trouble at all. So if you have no passion but still need transportation, well, this is it. Plus, it’s got lower mileage and is cheaper.
Sigh. A begrudging vote for…the Hyundai. Damn.
The Forester was surprisingly snug inside and our elbows were constantly bumping on the test drive. We decided to get a Subaru Legacy wagon instead, and got the joys of head gasket failure without elbows bumping. Has the head gasket been replaced? Do they have records on what materials they used?
The Hyundai V6 of that era has a timing belt with a 60,000 mile service interval. Has it been done recently? If not, discount appropriately. The seat covers look like they were professionally installed, even if they look wacky. Also get it inspected to see if it is just a transmission solenoid.
I would stay away from the Forester just for the head gasket issue. If the Hyundai has had a recent timing belt service, if it is just a transmission solenoid, and the interior and exterior are as clean as it looks, then get it.
The Hyundai is just a an expensive bomb waiting to go off, and a bad transmission solenoid is the hissing of the fuse. Hyundai might have their stuff sorted out now, but turn of the millenium Hyundai? Not a chance. Forester here, easily.
And for that reason alone, this thing should BURN.
And they all drive around with their high beams on at all times, with their 8k HIDs on full blinding blast. But I get flashed and honked at if I throw on my high beams, use the cool little headlight adjustment feature on my Tundra to point em right in their face
I would have never guessed.
That’s to say that the Subaru seller’s cassette tape collection isn’t necessarily a plus, but the tape deck could be, depending upon your perspective.
I don’t have an intelligent opinion on which car I like over the other. I just wanted to reminisce about car audio and assorted janky adapters for a bit.
*You could get one of those FM transmitter deals, but my experience with them has been pretty frustrating. **For the longest time, I never really understood how these worked and assumed them to be some type of black magic. Technology Connections did a nice video relatively recently about just how simply they operate.
Starting in 2001, the Forester became available with a giant sunroof, which they still offer to this day. If I were to get another Forester, it’d be a 01-02 with the sunroof
Here in the States, I always thought they turn into Van Halen (“not Van Haggar!!”) somehow, especially if left in a domestic. And no…if it’s a Camaro or Mustang, that’s how they came in.
KICKSTARMYHAR HOPENAVASTAH!
WHOA! YEAH!
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaby
