Subaru Forester Problems

AM radio is a very low priority for most makers these days. They are far more focused on digital audio. It's great to see you got what you wanted for radio reception, even if it meant a change of cars and brands.

Definitely not a Chery but a Subaru Forester would be an excellent choice with five-star safety for you, good reliability and a wagon tail for travel.

The Mazda CX-5 is my top pick and I also like the Hyundai ix35 for value, the Honda CR-V as a city runabout, and the base-model Subaru Forester as a family car.

A Mazda CX-5 would be the best bet, and gets The Tick, but also look at a Subaru Forester which is more car-like and will be better around town when you're not towing.

A well-designed seat should not need extra lumbar adjustment. I've spent the past week in an Outback and found the seats excellent in their shape, support and padding.

The current car is less than halfway through its lifespan, so it's about three years until the next all-new model. But we're expecting a minor tweak later this year.

The dealer could refuse to do it. He’s got the oil on hand and he wants to make a dollar out of supplying it, that’s how he makes his living. If he doesn’t want to do it, then that’s his prerogative. Yours is to take it somewhere else, or change the oil yourself.

There are dozens of boxy SUVs but if you already have an all-wheel drive wagon then I'd recommend the Subaru Outback. It's the bigger brother to the Forester, close in size to your Volvo, but cheaper to run.

The best value is the ix35, based on the warranty and service package at Hyundai, but the CR-V is the better drive. Both get The Tick but my heart says Honda and my head says Hyundai so you should crunch your numbers and do the best deal for you.

The salesman is right you really do need to run them over long distances to get the most out of them, and they can be noisy, although modern diesels are less so than old ones. You really need to do the maths on the running and servicing costs of the diesel versus the petrol to see which is best suited to your use. Diesels generally cost more to service, and they are prone to blocking of the diesel particulate filter if not used in a way that allows the automatic regeneration of the filter to happen. I would buy the petrol engine.