Never Thought I’d Buy a Subaru: An IT Guy’s Car-Buying Journey (Part 1)
To be honest, if you had told me a few years ago that I would end up buying a Subaru Forester, I absolutely wouldn’t have believed you.
Before changing cars, I had been driving a second-hand SsangYong Kyron for almost 9 years. Being an old car (and unpopular) , the engine and gearbox surprisingly had no major issues. But as it aged, the minor headaches started lining up: the sunroof started leaking, and the ABS light would mysteriously pop on during rainy days.
At that time, I was also in the middle of restoring my trusty 2008 Proton Persona. I initially thought it would be a simple touch-up, but as the project went on, the expenses went way over budget. That was a serious wake-up call: if I tried to restore the Kyron as well, it could easily turn into a terrifying money pit.
So, getting a new car was officially on the agenda.
Actually, about a year prior, I had test-driven a Forester by chance and was deeply impressed. But human nature is funny—when it’s actually time to fork out the cash, we tend to compromise with “reality” first. Initially, the Forester wasn’t even on my shortlist. My targets were purely practical: a Honda City Hatchback or a Proton X70 Flagship.
The City Hatchback was quickly eliminated. The reason was simple: with a family in tow, the space was just too tight.
That left the X70. To make sure I wouldn’t regret my choice, I purposely rented an X70 from SOCAR and took the whole family up to Genting Highlands for a spin. After that trip, I’d say the overall experience was a pass. However, it gave me a very strong “Xiaomi phone” vibe—at that price point, with specs fully loaded like that, logically you really can’t complain. But when I was holding the steering wheel, it just felt like something was missing.
Just as I was hesitating about the X70, the pure mechanical feedback from my Forester test drive a year ago suddenly flashed across my mind. Coincidentally, right around that time, I scrolled past an ad showing a massive RM 25,000 discount on the Forester!
I figured there was no harm in just looking, so I walked right into the Subaru showroom.
Little did I know, after that test drive, there was no turning back…
(To be continued: In the next post, let’s talk about what exactly happened during those 15 minutes in the showroom!)
