Subaru frequent problems

I am looking to buy an suv and like the Forester for it's style, size and fuel economy that I can live with.
However, after reading as much as I can I noticed there seems to be a problem with head gaskets and auto transmissions that caused a lot of owners to hand over lots of money to get these defects fixed.
My budget will stretch to an '06 XS Or an '07 if I'm really lucky.
So my question is : do these problems only apply to the earlier years ( I read that the transmission was updated around '05 )
I have a tight budget and would rather buy a different vehicle than risk a possible financial nightmare !
Any words of wisdom on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

I read from another forum that generally 2004 and up are less likely to have head gasket problems, the gasket design/material was changed.