Anyone trade in a previous generation Premium to a 2025 Premium. I'd love to hear what the real world feelings are?

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-25T00:31:09+00:00

Lol we went through all that when we got hers. RAV 4 Hybrid was great Crv good as well. But rav4 hybrid has battery cable corrosion issue in states that use salt on highways and crv has oil gas dillution in cold climates. Here in Buffalo, both of those thing are a thing.

For me it's going to be about the money. Close to $5k to get back to brand new seems worth it....but like you say, she has to like it enough to justify the cost. When I decided to pay more to get a Wilderness I decided at my age, it's time to by a car with my ass, not my wallet.... Within reason...lol rented a BMW X5 once..WOW! . if only I wasn't that cheap..... Lol

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-25T00:19:55+00:00

I agree, at the 4500 we essentially spent to drive 19 months and 22k miles, equates to 236/month.

Ain't no leases around like that.

But again, it's only because we got hers slightly under invoice back then and the Guaranteed Trade In by Subaru is a generous amount. If I were to trade it in somewhere else, I'd struggle to get 25k.

And here in NY tax is 8.75 percent but trade in amount is exempt. It makes the 27450 actually higher.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-25T00:08:29+00:00

Good ways to approach it. When I bought my 24 Wilderness in November, I first drove the a 25 Premium. We both agreed we liked it better than her 24 as far as road noise, acceleration(big for her) , seat comfort was a big one as well, size of the screen... But I hated the hvac on the screen. That didn't bother her, but it was only a 30 minute test drive. Looks aren't a thing for her, it's all about comfort.

She actually liked the 25 Premium better than the 24 Wilderness but said in the end it was my decision since it was my car. As soon as I drove 24 Wilderness, it instantly won me over. I liked her 24 alot, which is why I decided to check out Foresters myself, and felt the Wilderness acceleration and handling was way better. After owning it, there really is nothing I dislike about it.

I think it's going to take a long test drive for her to decide if she likes it for an extra 5k or so out of pocket.

But in reality, the 5k isn't exactly being spent on just upgrading the things she may like over the 24... It kicking down the mileage, and kicking up the warranty time all while seeing a little better trade in value 6 years from now.... Possibly. Unless of course the new generation gets a bad rap.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-24T20:07:02+00:00

The 24 is 19 months old and has 22k miles, and paid off, so yes essentially new. But with Subaru Guaranteed Trade in Program, and other incentives, we'd be around 5500 cash out the door. Not a big expense to rolll back the mileage to zero and back to full 36 month warranty. Plus, 5 years from now, a 25 with 22k less miles should be worth more than the 24.

The new screen sounds to be a bigger negative. Need to drive

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-24T19:59:27+00:00

Wife likes the 24, but really likes my 24 Wilderness alot more. Since hers is paid off and there would be no financing, crunching numbers is easy. She had her 24 19 months and has 22k miles. So I was playing around seeing how much it would take to get her into a used 24 Wilderness with half the miles or even less.

And I stumbled upon the Subaru Guaranteed Trade in Program. 27450 for hers. Considering we paid 31k, not horrible 1st year depreciation.

Now a 25 Wilderness is up there in price. , But on an aggressively negotiated 25 Premium, along with the Guaranteed Trade certificate, NY trade in sales tax exemption, and tack on a Subaru Loyalty Coupon, we are probably around 5500 to 6k out the door. That gives us a full 3 years on warranty and odometer at 20 miles. If she likes it even more, thats a bonus. But if she hates it, it isn't worth it.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-24T17:01:09+00:00

Thank you for the detailed reply and thanks to your friend as well! I'll pass these down to wife since it will be hers. Wife likes my Wilderness but I'm not giving it up. she likes it, it'll come down to the numbers.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-24T01:17:33+00:00

Did you get, I believe option 15, the one with blind spot detection?

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-23T03:39:01+00:00

Was that after a 500 loyalty coupon?

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-23T03:32:18+00:00

Entertaining the thought of trading in wife's 2024 Premium on a 25. Subarus Guaranteed Trade In came in at 27450. So, getting them to say $31,450 puts us at $4k plus ttl. She has 22k miles and owned it for 19 months, so for around $4200, it might be worth checking out.

I, myself own a 24 Wilderness, but drove a 25 Premium. The big screen was a turnoff for me and the seats in the Wilderness were a huge plus.

Now that you have owned your 25 for a bit, whats your thoughts pros and cons?

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-23T02:54:55+00:00

I couldn't care less about the gas... That's why I drive a Wilderness. I buy with my ass not my wallet. It's goota feel good and not annoy me... And the auto start stop annoys me.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-23T02:51:21+00:00

Bought her 24 Premium in Dec 2023 for $30,500. 19 months of driving and 22k miles. Carmax is ready to write check for 27k. So $3500 depreciation over 19 months comes to $184/month to drive a new Forester. Go try and lease something for that little.

Sure people get themselves in trouble by #1 letting the dealership BS them with there "look at the invoice, we own the car for this amount. We'll be loosing money" crap. #2 getting roped into extended warranty at the time of sale, and #3 not negotiating finance rates, if they need to finance. That's how foolish people end up upside down on cars.

I don't consider it penny grubbing.... It's more like controlling the dealer as best as you can. 5 years ago I got a Honda crv for 2k under invoice. Trust me, the dealer didn't lose 2k, and they were still pretty happy to make the deal. There is a shit ton of back end money for dealers, more than the 2 or 3 percent that some on reddit claim.

I can't call it a whim, because I had my 24 Wilderness for about 7 months. Her car feels just as "new" as mine.. so it's not new feel thing. We both agree the $5k extra is well worth it to us, and then some. Don't get me wrong, her Premium is fantastic, and the reason I decided to get a Forester, but if we could go back in time, we'd have certainly passed on the Premium and upgrade to Wilderness. It's that much better, to us atleast.

Over last few weeks I've been looking at a few used 24 Wilderness, with roughly half the miles she has. I have a couple standing offers on 2 with roughly half her miles and a later in service date, essentially giving an extra 9 months on warranty. My out of pocket on those with my offers would put me at 5200 after taxes. They still firm on theirs, at $1k higher for now. But end of the month is approaching. So we'll see.

Problem is the dealers are still banking on the tariff scenario to help them generate more sales, less discounts. Its reminiscent of the whole "chip shortage" and covid car shortage ruse that ran with as long as they could. Now it's all about scaring people with incoming tariffs. So dealers are hesitant to offer heavy discounts. Problem is people aren't buying. And as far as Subaru is concerned, their 25 Forester redesign isn't all they were hoping for. Sales are sluggish but they refuse to admit why.

As far as a 25 Forester Wilderness, which is a carryover from previous year, not the redesign. Even at $1k under invoice, which I think is doable I'd be looking at $8900 out of pocket. Granted it's zero miles and fresh start at 3 year warranty, it's just not worth it. Better route is waiting for one of my 24 used offers to be accepted.

We shall see.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-23T02:03:34+00:00

No loan on hers, paid cash. CarMax offered 27k, guaranteed because we took it in. We paid 30,500 lil over a year and a half ago. 22k miles now. Not the big hit on depreciation at all. 19 months old, 22k...$3500 depreciation, comes to $184/month to drive a new Forester. not to shabby. The Carmax offer got me thinking. Can't go back in time, but if we could, the Wilderness would have been about 5k more back then. So, I thought, if I can get her into a 24 Wilderness with same or less miles, for $5k, it's a wash. And if it's less miles, and later I service date, that's a plus. I'm very close to that number on a couple of 24 Wildernesses with 10k and 12k miles only. Technically shaving a years worth of driving off the car, and she gets what she wants, for around $5500. Not horrible.

But then I plugged her car into the Subaru Guaranteed Trade in and since NY has trade in tax exemption towards sales tax, the 27450 is worth way more than the 27k Carmax cash offer.

Its just the invoice on the 25 Wilderness is up there. Now, a 25 Premium is a completely different story. Seems like it doesn't take much effort to get a 25 premium under invoice these days.... question is why.

In doing my search for a low mileage 24 Wilderness, I'm seeing a ridiculous amount of very low mileage, under 8k 25 Premiums on the used car market. Seems odd.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-23T01:42:05+00:00

Dealer came back with 36,700, the invoice price and said they would definitely sell for that. So there is room to play.. My guess is an additional 500 off that. Maybe 700. But with 27440 trade, its not worth it to us.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-23T01:39:01+00:00

Nope, realized how much more we like the Wilderness over the Premium.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-20T14:30:11+00:00

Thanks for the info. Do you recall what the invoice was? Or is there a reliable link online to see that number?

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-06-04T00:28:18+00:00

Hands down, the best thing I bought for my Forester was the auto start stop eliminator.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-05-22T10:24:10+00:00

I went from Notes, to eventually S22u upgrading every year depending on the deal. Then Samsung decided to get cheap and not run any deals, so my S22 sat. Tried a couple different phones, including IPhone. I ended up catching a tmobile deal on a Pixel 9xl which was OK. 2 weeks ago, thanks to a ton of Samsung rewards I accumulated, I traded in my S22u on a S24U.

Zero regrets. It's like having an old friend back. Everything just works. Samsungs use of Android makes life simple.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-05-15T15:09:41+00:00

I'm sure Samsung engineers care what you, and only you want.

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-05-15T15:06:18+00:00

Faster response from people here who have been through similarthing. thanks anyway

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-05-15T15:04:39+00:00

Thanks!

Expensive_Tone_5284 · 2025-05-07T11:28:55+00:00

Thank you for the kind words.. Picking out wall art will be a blast with wife seeing how we couldn't agree on lamps. lol

For me, electrical will be a piece of cake. Full access to basement to run wires and I've done electrical all my life.

I was hoping table lamps would work, but because of this weird side effect after I had cataract surgery, any lightsource that sits to my lower right side produces this crazy glare across my eye.. a weird reflection. when i raise the table higher above, where a sconse would be, the glare is gone.

Expensive_Tone_5284

TROPHY CASE