Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Subaru Forester (up to 2005)
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
The 2.5T is more than just powerful, it actually has the ability to slow down time, freeze the universe around you, pass it by, you will.
Go on, you must, young Jedi.
-Yoda
-Frank
P.S. Two Foresters, six years of ownership and over 100k miles and not a single cracked windshield :P
-Brian
-juice
Impreza gets redesigned first, and we haven't even heard about spy pics for that yet. Can they have a new Forester ready by summer, when the 07s come out? I say no way, impossible.
Tires - it's not just a speed rating, it's a rating that measures resistance to heat.
Just look at the UTGQ ratings, 460AA for instance means:
460 - tread life compared to a base tire rated at 100
A - traction rating (AA, A, B, C)
A - heat resistance rating
Just do not go with a tire with a heat rating of B or lower. The Firestones on the Explorers that blew up were rated poorly, for instance.
-juice
Thanks for all the great feedback!
I have a 1999 Forester L. I bought it new and have logged 155,000 miles on it. The only problems I've had is the Air Bag light coming on twice (fixed under warranty), and one replacement of the front right axle.
Once the car gets warm, the temperature gauge had always stayed right in the middle. Lately, if I drive at or above 55 MPH the needle goes very close to the red zone. When it gets too close, I turn on the heat at the maximum fan speed and temparature, and after about 2 minutes the needle goes back to the middle.
If I drive below 50 MPH, the needle stays in the middle.
Has anyone experienced this problem?
Any suggestions?
nubenco
It could be minor, old coolant, possibly bad thermostat, possibly failing water pump, but there's been scads of failed head gaskets.
Is you coolant maintaining the proper level? Is there any discoloration of the coolant? Any new odors?
If you can still mitigate the problem by doing what you're doing with the heater, your engine may not be damaged yet if it is a head gasket issue.
Just my 0.02
Larry
psfod3: wax the rims, seriously.
wbasler: I've only seen Subarus for rent in Colorado.
I live not too far from the Blue Ridge Mountains, and haven't seen or heard of any places in the MD/DC/VA area that rent Subies. Hopefully someone else will chime in.
-juice
Bob
My dad used to work on 13th and NY, but he retired a few years ago, so I haven't been in that area since.
-juice
Mark
My wife and I will be driving away on Monday with our first Forester.
Should she get her first oil change at 3K or later? I think I read that the first one is at 7,500 miles. Is that right? I have a 99 Civic I bought with 18K. This brand spanking new car thing is new to me. Help me please!
Thanks!
If it bugs you, change at 1,000 miles. I did that with my Forester and have been on a Mobil 1 diet every since, every 7,500 miles.
It's cheap to change the oil, especially the first one. Do it early.
John
Cars made to run on E85 are specialized, the ethanol is corrosive to some of the seals that regular gas-powered cars use.
Keep in mind that while E85 is cheaper than gas, it also contains less energy, so your mileage drops by about the same amount. In the end, it costs you about the same per mile but you lose a lot of range. No real savings there until they can get the cost down a bit (this despite subsidies).
In Brazil, they produce ethanol from sugar cane, and can do so at a competitive price. The US mostly uses surplus corn crops.
-juice
Thanks Matt
-juice
Thanks.
'01 - drive train probably includes the wheel bearings. We did see a lot of those failures, but they changed the design in '03, so if you're shopping used I'd suggest an '03 with more miles.
-juice
Len
I have had repetitive problems with engine seal leaks, although all of these were under warranty.
I have had repetitive problems with EGR system clogging. The dealer now has a fix for this, adding an aftermarket filter. Because of labor resulting from inaccessability, this cost nearly $180 each time. In my old car, the EGR valve was an $8 item replaceable in two minutes.
The clutch was replaced under warranty after numerous trips to the dealer to complain about it not engaging properly (chattering) under cool, wet conditions. The problem started again within 10,000 miles and has been a constant annoyance since. This was reported by many Forester owners over 4 to 5 model years. The manual clutch is included under drivetrain at CU (no longer a separate item since manuals are so rare).
What is truly annoying is that many of the problems experienced by early Forester owners were not corrected until 5 or more years later, resulting in multiple repairs for the same problem.
I will be buying a new vehicle next year, and while I truly love many of the features of my Forester, especially its handling and performance, I have to consider overall cost of ownership, and that has been high. I had expected to pay part of the cost of the new vehicle with SubaruBucks certificates from the credit card program, but I have used up all of them on unexpected repairs and then paid even more out of pocket.
Still have $600 saved up, too.
Ken traded his Forester in for a Legacy, Frank got a Forester XT, lark6 got a Forester XT. Kate's Forester has well over 100k miles and counting. Hutch trade in for a WRX, though he's traded that in now.
Most of the regulars here had a good enough experience that they either own another Subaru or still have the original one.
My sister's 03 Forester has been perfect. By then all the issues you bring up where pretty much ironed out.
Any how, overall, Consumer Reports still recommends used Foresters as a Best Bet.
-juice
-juice
tidester, host
But I did not report all of the problems. When the brakes were replaced, the rotors were too thin to turn and had to be replaced too, then a caliper problem wore the fronts out and damaged a rotor prematurely 20,000 miles later.
Other problems included a failed speed sensor, failed airbag steering contact, both fairly expensive. Then there was the gas tank leak at the seam, the deteriorated flange on the exhaust system (the dealer wanted to replace the rear exhaust section at $500+ - I had a muffler shop weld a new flange for 1/10 of that,) the cracked front exhaust pipe, and the belt that cracked a few thousand miles after it was replaced. Granted it has 125,000 miles, but my 4 previous vehicles, Saabs, were more reliable and less expensive (even considering inflation) to drive similar mileages. Since the Forester was maintained by the book, never driven off road and about 80% of the driving was on expressways, I really expected better.
Especially with that exhaust, we hear complaints about loose heat shields, but I've never heard of another complaint like yours.
-juice
I am still condsidering a new Forester. I am waiting to see what experience that a friend has - one who drove mine and liked it enough to buy one the next week.
Am actually looking forward to buying quieter tires, but it's too expensive driving around the countryside trying to wear them out
John
Don't forget the chipmunk incident! He ate up my plug wires, blew up the ignition coil and threw a check-engine light. He started chewing on our Legacy's wires, too!
But yeah, reliability has been great. It's 9 years old and it's only been to the dealer once, for a recall. My wife, sister, and brother have had luck as well. My dad has had noisy brakes on his Outback, but it's just noise, and only first thing in the AM.
-juice
Ah well, time to be a little harder on them I guess. :shades:
Doug
The key for longevity on these Geos is to run them at 35 psi. Otherwise the edges go fast and they lose cornering ability.
Joh
The key for longevity on these Geos is to run them at 35 psi. Otherwise the edges go fast and they lose cornering ability.
I'm running mine 36/35 front/rear, and they seem to be wearing pretty evenly (which isn't really what I want if I'm looking to replace them ).
MSNBC photo
This is the latest K-car from Subaru, which is only sold in Japan. It's tiny, so much so that parking a Mini next to it would make the Mini look like a Caddy Fleetwood.
Bob
Has anyone read up on the Ford Edge SUV coming out in November? I'm curious how it will compare to the Forester.
Ford can't compare to Subaru. I wouldn't bother.
I can't seem to wear these Geos out. 54 k now.
John
-juice
But with all of 54 HP (Fred Flintstone powered), it'll be a hard sell. I suppose they're looking at release of most recent minis by Honda, Toyota, and the like and want to get into the market
I could see a AWD supercharged 900cc version here. Now that would be a hoot!
Bob
Kevin
-juice
>
I have a found a dealer I like that doesn't charge as much as the other dealers around here (SF Bay Area). I go to Santa Cruz Subaru. They have been maintaining this car since ~30,000, and get it for all 15K increments. Maintance cost on this car (scheduled maintenance) has been high, but not as high as other cars. I'm sure I could have saved money by using an independent, but I really trust this dealer, and it has lead to a very reliable experience.
>
Since I bought it 102K miles ago, the only unscheduled maintance have been:
(1) Front Axle Joints leaking grease. Fixed under warranty
(2) @75K Check engine light ... replaced O2 and Knock sensor ~$200
(3) @30, 60K warped front rotors. Free the first time, ~$200 the 2nd time. This has been my only disappointment with this car. It seems to me that they have used undersized rotors, as they have warped twice during my ownership
(4) Rear electric window. Failed @3K, fixed under warranty.
Other than that ... no problems.
Notes:
When I bought the car, I was coming from an Audi, and felt the interior was cheap, and I doubed it would last all that long. I have been stunned that there have been no problems . Even the flimsy plastic cupholders still work! The 6 Disk changer still works fine, and sounds as good as when I bought it. The paint ... still shines up, and several people have told me that the car still looks new. I don't agree with them, but I am very satisified with how the car has aged.
Consumables:
Tires: OEM Geolaners were bald at 37K, replaced with Continenals Conti-Tracks. HATED THEM, noisy and didn't hold the road well. Replaced them at 83K with Yokohama Avid's. Love this tires ... very sticky and make the car much more fun to drive.
Brakes: 30K 60K, (front), 90K (rear). See notes about warped rotors ... seem to be a problem for my car.
Lights: Still original headlights ... tail lights have failed me once
---
I tend to swap cars out alot, and this is the first car I've elected to keep for 100K miles, and I plan to keep it for at least 20K more. During my ownership of this car, I have put 40K on my other cars, but even my 2005 Accord EX V6 coupe doesn't bring me as much joy as this car.