Subaru Forester (up to 2005)

hypov · October 2001

I had this similar problem with my '98 OB, veering left. Took 3 tries to get it straight. On the last try, the Tech said he'll zero out everything. What he meant I don't really know, but it worked.

-Dave

jei · October 2001

My '99 S was misaligned from the word go, and wore its rear tires unevenly (thereby noisily) before I found out. The dealer said they checked alignement and it was OK. When I rotated tires, the wear noise showed up again. That time I took it to my local independent tire & suspension shop, who found it was off and aligned both ends properly. 25,000 miles later the new alignment was still OK. I'm well out of warranty and now go to my independent mechanics.

Subaru and its dealers should take alignment issues more seriously, starting at the factory. I've seen quite a few posts about alignment problems and related dealer inattention. This is a known quality issue that could be easily taken care of.

ateixeira · October 2001

I agree. Alignment is tricky to get right, but who is better prepped to deal with this than dealers?

-juice

drew_ · October 2001

Why not pass the Forester to your wife and then you can get the GT sedan for yourself? ;-)

Drew
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kens · October 2001

Hey, does anyone know why Edmund's didn't include the Forester in their 2001 Mini SUV test? It was there in the previous test and make no mention as to why it wasn't in the latest one.

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/comparison/articles/47012/article.html

Ken

stever · October 2001

Good question Kens. The editors lumped it in with the Escape/Tribute in the recent Top 10 Most Fuel Efficient Trucks article.

Too many cars, too little time?

Steve
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ateixeira · October 2001

I don't know if I'd have the heart to give up Sandy. She's been a loyal friend, you know?

I'd take a WRX over a GT. For me, any how.

Edmunds didn't like the Forester nearly as much as C&D, CR, Motorweek or just about anybody else. Until the new one arrives, I doubt they will retest it.

-juice

drew_ · October 2001

Ken, same reason why they didn't test the CR-V, I suppose. These press vehicles also have to be booked in advance, so that may be another contributing factor?

juice, you'll be loaning her, not giving her up :-). Besides, you've had her for a while now too, heh heh. Any word on the tranny?

Drew
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p0926 · October 2001

Ken- The article mentioned that they were only testing new or significantly updated (I.e. RAV4)mini-SUVs. However, I'm not sure that the next Forester will be included in future comparisons since it appears that Edmunds has changed its mind and decided to classify the Forester as a wagon. A mistake IMHO since it's frequently crossed shopped with other mini-SUVs and meets the needs of the vast majority of shoppers in this category. I.e. light off-roading, all-weather capability and cargo carrying utility.

-Frank P.

ateixeira · October 2001

Forester finished 3rd last time Edmunds compared them and has not been redesigned since. At least it took 2nd in terms of Editors' choice. They mentioned only the winner and new models were invited.

Maybe they'll test the new Forester against the Protoge5 and Matrix? I dunno, the OBS seems like a more natural competitor.

The wife drove it yesterday, against my recommendations, and the light didn't come on. Tomorrow I have the day off, so I'm doing the BMW Ultimate Driving Experience in the AM, and then the tranny fluid change in the PM. I'm hoping that solves the problem, given there are no other symptoms.

If not, I don't feel like investing $2 grand in a vehicle worth about $6 grand. I'll have to wait and see.

-juice

p0926 · October 2001

paisan · October 2001

I've been wanting to do a test-drive type thing that all these companies run (BMW, Isuzu, etc) but they seem to elude me... I guess my reputation preceeds me.

-mike

asplundh · October 2001

Just a pet peeve of mine but does anyone know why the car alarm that Subaru has sets with the sound of the vehicles horn. I have a 2002 L and when I ordered my alarm with my new Forester I assumed it would set with a somewhat quieter "chirp" sound. I was suprised to find it the way it is. If anyone is standing nearby when I alarm or disarm they are definitely startled by the loud horn.

Can the sound level be adjusted on this?

armac13 · October 2001

It is loud, isn't it. No the sound level is not adjustable to my knowledge. You can, however, do as I did and turn off the sound completely. To do this simply hold down both buttons on your remote for about 2 seconds. The instructions are in your manual. Hope this helps.

Ross

zipsnis · October 2001

We bought a 2002 ForresterS Premium. Our last new car was an 84 Stanza that finally needed to be retired.The "Silver Sub" now has three K on it and we have had no problems.
We live in Washington State and as all know it is very wet here.Can the Sun Roof be partially open in the rain?. Will it self drain out the back or drain into the interior?
Enjoy the site.
Steve&Gini

drew_ · October 2001

...at 6-7pm Pacific/9-10 pm Eastern. Hope to see you there!

http://www.edmunds.com/chat/subaruchat.html

caperosier · October 2001

Bridgestone Dueler HT tires are OEM standard on the Forester L. After only 28,500 miles, the treadwear indicators are showing, and this tire is unsafe. During the past normal winter in New England the Duelers were completely unsafe in any snow, on ice, on slush, in cold rain. We often had to use our FWD Honda for safety in light snow.
Why would Subaru sell what is otherwise a fine vehicle with tires that are unsafe in most New England winter driving conditions?
BTW: no reply from Subaru.
To their good credit, Bridgestone has offered a 50% discount on any of their tires under a generous warranty.
However, there does not seem to be any Bridgestone all season tire that is safe and highly rated for the normal winter here. We've used Nokian winters for years on the Honda.
We finally chose a set of Michelin Symmetry tires . Anyone have winter experience with the Symmetry?
And please all you Subaru fanatics: explain why such a poor choice was made for the Forester? This ain't Dallas or Orlando.

tinindiana · October 2001

Has anyone changed their own auto transmission fluid or flushed the cooling system?? I'd like to do it myself if it's feasable. Thanks.

Tom

suvshopper4 · October 2001

caperosier: I also got the Bridgestone Dueler H/Ts, they came with my '01 RAV4. After only 13k miles, I'm thinking they are not the best tires, and will need replacement before 20k, for my peace of mind (last week I hopped sideways on a wet curved on-ramp). I guess they are pretty inexpensive, and that's why they are OEM.

But then bretfraz on the Tires thread recently wrote he had good luck with them. Go figure.

betty13 · October 2001

I have a 2002 Forester L which came from the dealer with 45psi pressure in the tires. I deflated the tires to 30psi to get closer to the Subaru recommendation on the door frame(29psi). After doing that my gas mileage went from 29mpg to 24mpg. Can the tires have that much effect? Is 30psi too low? Last night I increased the pressure to 38psi but now I'm worried that this may not be safe. Anyone have recommendations?

ateixeira · October 2001

No, Frank, only 4 cylinder autos use Ford trannys (CD4E). It was just a warning light, so I'm hoping the gear oil was low, or spent. I did the swap yesterday and the stuff coming out was black, and seemed thinned out too. I hope the Mobil 1 synthetic 75w90 GL5 stuff I put in there helps. There were never any symptoms, just the light.

paisan: I'm not sure how I got on their mailing list, but I was sent an invite. I bet it's my Autoweek subscription, since most subscribers are very affluent (and own 5.2 cars on average).

Congrats on the new Forester, Steve & Gini. I wish I had the same moonroof so I could offer my opinion on it! :-)

caperosier: my Duelers lasted 28k miles exactly. OEM tires are always a compromise. I thought they were actually not bad in the snow, better than the touring tires I have now for sure.

Tom: I drained and refilled the coolant. It's not quite a full flush, because not all drains out, but I have photos and tips here.

Betty: dealers pump up the pressure to avoid flat spots. They are supposed to deflate them at the PDI (pre-delivery inspection). Try 33psi, which is a good compromise. It may explain a 1 or 2mpg change, but I'm sure other factors contributed.

Hey, 24mpg is still great. Edmunds got 12mpg on premium with their XTerra in the recent comparo.

-juice

hciaffa · October 2001

I recently did both. To do the auto tranny I went out an bought the tranny filter about 40 bucks and only available at Subie dealer. I believe this filter is on 99 and up models. the filter is noticeable when you drain the the tranny. I was told by tranny shop to do it cold so most of the fluid will drain down in the pan and and out of the converter. I replace with 6 1/2 qts of Mobil 1 tranny fluid which is compatible to the regular and can be mixed. This leaves about 2 1/2 qts of regular. I have been running now for about 6 months and can tell a difference. Much smoother in shifting. Now for the cooling system I got a Prestone flushing kit and spliced the filling T into the upper heater hose. Do this when the coolant is cold. From front of engine the hose enters the firewall on the passenger side behind the air chamber. It will have an arrow on it showing the coolant going in to the heater this is the hose to splice. zi spliced it on the driver side near the brake booster, easier to service. After this just follow the instructions and this will allow you to back flush the system. I ran through this several times because I replced my coolant with DEX-COOL which has no harmfull silicates to damage the water pump and seals. hope this helps.

kens · October 2001

A friend of mine drives a Forester L and his Duelers wore out pretty quickly too. Like juice pointed out, OE tires are usually not very good. I own a Forester S and it came with Yokohama Geolandars. I believe these are much better than the Duelers (hey, I paid more afterall ;-) ) as they lasted me about 45K miles.

My Forester L friend swapped to a set of Michelin Symmetrys and seem to be enjoying them in year-round conditions. We sometimes go snowboarding together and I haven't heard him complain.

There are lots of choices out there for your tire size. Try looking at the Tire Rack for more tires.

Ken

sandhurst · October 2001

I am leaning toward buying a Forester S. In looking at another Forester message board, I discovered several posts by owners reporting spontaneous acceleration. There is even a website about this:

http://home.sprynet.com/~mklphoto/SUBARU1.HTM

Has this been discussed here? Does anyone have a sense of how many Foresters have this problem? Thanks for your help.

Bob

ateixeira · October 2001

I've never heard that on these boards. Must be rare, or even driver error.

The only spontaneous acceleration I get is when I hit the throttle - on purpose! :-)

-juice

drew_ · October 2001

The Rally of New Zealand is showing tomorrow at 5pm Pacific.

Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards

armac13 · October 2001

I have been reading the same board and am very suspicious. I've had zero problems with my 2001 S (16 months) and none of the others who frequent this board seem to know of such difficulties. Big feet, close pedals seems much more likely the cause.

Ross

kens · October 2001

Nope, never heard of the spontaneous acceleration. I think there was an incident limited to Legacys in Japan a few years ago, but nothing here.

Ken

sandhurst · October 2001

Thanks to you all for responses on spontaneous acceleration. The fact that this hasn't come up on this board is reassuring. Big feet might explain one or two instances, and the troubling website could have been created by trial lawyers preparing the ground for action.

Bob

p0926 · October 2001

Hoo boy! Talk about suspect information. A good indication is towards the end of the page under the Theories link the author states:

"Also there seems to be a disturbing trend among other car makes exhibiting the same behavior pertaining to lack of brakes, along with unexplained, unexpected acceleration. Some BMW, Audi, Honda, Ford, Chevy cars & Trucks to name a few."

That's it! There's a vast conspiracy by all the major auto manufacturers to kill us! (Ross, I'm sure there's a term for this?)

But my favorite quote is under the driver complaints link for '98 Foresters:

"BRAKES ARE SO WEAK THE ABS CAN BE ACTIVATED ON DRY PAVEMENT"

Duh! If the ABS doesn't engage when max pressure is continuously applied to the brakes, then there's a problem. The pavement being dry has nothing to do with it. Yes the ABS would normally engage sooner on wet pavement but if the driver stays on the brakes the ABS will eventually engage regardless.

What I got out of that web site is that if a manufacturer sells enough vehicles, the laws of probability and simple human nature dictate that a certain percentage of owners will become disgruntled and dissatisfied. Yes a few lemons have and will come off the production line but I'm willing to bet that Subaru's average is less than the overall industry's.

-Frank P.

armac13 · October 2001

Who listens to you if you say "I drive a ____ and it works the way it should." Don't forget that drivers are never at fault for the misbehaviour of their vehicles. "It must have been a design flaw that made my SUV roll because I could always take that bend at 85 in my Porshe."

I did a little experiment with Rufus yesterday. I positioned my foot half-way between the accelerator and the brake pedal and pushed hard. Guess what? I got braking and engine revving. Should I call my lawyer?

Ross

p0926 · October 2001

Ross- You should immediately call 1-800-GET-RICH to sue the pants off Subaru since it's obviously a design flaw that allows you to accel and brake at the same time. ;-)

So tell me, are Canadians as sue happy as us greedy not-my-fault litigation-loving Americans?

-Frank P.

armac13 · October 2001

seem to be about 20 years behind Americans in litigiousness. I'm afraid that there is an attempt to catch up. We see too much American news and talk-show junk. A lot of Canadians believe that American law is Canadian law. I blame Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) who was from New Westminster, British Columbia. :~)

Ross

jordieh · October 2001

I am comparing a Suburu Forester with a Jeep Liberty... besides the price... does anyone have any input on the comparison?
Thanks!

p0926 · October 2001

Jordie- The Forester and Liberty are at opposite ends of the mini-SUV spectrum. The Forester is car based and handles like a tall sports car. The Liberty meanwhile was designed to tackle extreme off-road situations and therefore drives much more like a truck.

Pros for the Forester include:
Car like handling and performance
Excellent MPG
Superior AWD (on-road)
Record of reliability

Pros for the Liberty include:
Far more capable off-road
More traditional SUV image
Superior towing capacity

Since you're considering the Forester I'll assume that you're not in the small minority of drivers who enjoy heading well off the beaten track. Therefore you won't have occasion to use many of the Liberty's strengths but will have to put up with its weaknesses (ride, MPG, etc) on a daily basis. Of course the vast majority of SUV owners really didn't need an SUV but bought one anyway (I'm not passing judgment here but merely stating a fact). So if you want a real SUV, the Liberty is an excellent choice.

One other thing to consider is that Jeep has a reputation of poor reliability throughout its product line. However, the Liberty is a first year model built at a totally new state-of-the-art plant so it's hard to say what its reliability will be. Some owners have reported problems but they currently appear to be in the minority.

I certainly recommend that you drive both so you can see the differences for yourself. Best of luck and let us know which you end up buying.

-Frank P.

reefaroo · October 2001

I know I saw a post on here about putting 16" rims on a Forester, but I can't seem to find it. I recently asked a tire dealer (Tire Pros) about putting them on my "98 Forester L and he said I would see a noticeable loss of power and the speedometer would be off. My concern is the loss of power. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Ted

armac13 · October 2001

You may need to find another tire dealer. The Forester S comes with 16" wheels. The correct tire size with these wheels is 215/60 - 16. These tires will give the same speedometer readings and acceleration (a power loss is totally unrelated to tire size) as with the original 205/70 - 15. Snow performance should be better with the 15" tires, general handling better with the 16". Hope this helps.

Ross

pattim3 · October 2001

Hi all. Well, I can't comment TOO much about the site posted, but I can say that I am familiar with the person that has this site. I appreciate the careful use of question marks throughout that help give him the appearance of not being able to make a factual statement. "Could it be....?"

There is another side to this story, but I try to refrain from commenting on specific customer (or non-owner)commentary. Suffice it to say, if there was an issue like this, Subaru would not sit idley by. We're much too careful for that.

Patti

ateixeira · October 2001

Hmm, I think those posts can be attributed to the law firms of Duey, Suem, & Howe. ;-)

Forester or Liberty? Nice pair, IMO. Liberty is my favorite truck in the small SUV class. If you really and truly will use its capabilities, then go for it. The styling is really cool, but I hated how things are packaged and pricing gets steep if you add what you like.

The Forester is more user friendly, fuel efficient, and handles much better on pavement. Also, the full-time AWD system works to create a neutral handling package that is fun in dry or snowy conditions.

I've had my Forester on the beach, on orchards, and on sand/dirt trails, and never found the need for the extra capability the Liberty offers. So even if a Liberty can out-do my Forester on the rare off road trip, I get even at the gas station every week.

Ted: I did a Plus One on my L and got 16" wheels. Here are photos. I've had them for 14k miles with no problems whatsoever. In fact, I think the tires were a big improvement in handling and quietness.

-juice

tinindiana · October 2001

Great pictures! By the way, where are you buying your parts now. I called Darlene and the number was disconnected. Thanks.

Tom

ateixeira · October 2001

I'm trying to find a decent supplier. subaruparts.com is not interested in my business. They took 3 weeks to get a quote complete, and then have not processed my order in almost a month.

Here I am, trying to give them my money, and yet they won't take it. Silly me, I guess.

-juice

pkleung · October 2001

well, i brought my S+ 5sp back in Feb and my car actually rev the engine up by itself (when it's cold) a few times! i, of course, took the car to the dealer and they said the car is still breaking in and go back to them if it happens after the first 1k mile. it was kind of scary at that time, but the problem never occur again (well, the weather changed too) and i'm happy so far with 9500 miles on my car. will see if it happens again this winter...

koshka · October 2001

Hello!
I have not been here recently and was happy to see that this topic is alive and well. I need help. I think it was juice that had given me Darlene's e-mail address. She use to sale Subaru parts wholesale. I bought from her a headlamp last year. But today when I called her 800 number it was not working. I need several parts to my 2000 Subaru ASAP. Please, help! Thank you.
koshka

ateixeira · October 2001

I'd love to know that myself. Subaruparts.com has been super-slow in responding to my orders. Terrible, I mean weeks and weeks waiting.

-juice

paisan · October 2001

I never got a response when I was desperately looking for rear suspension parts for my XT6. Try flemington subaru. They'll ship anywhere, and are very helpful, even faxed over diagrams so i got the right parts.

-mike

ateixeira · October 2001

Number or URL please?

-juice

pat88 · October 2001

Hi!

I posted a note on one of these boards about ordering filters and crush washers for my Forester. I got the information from a note from Colin that he posted earlier.

"Again, I still feel loyalty to Darlene because she helped me immensely, but I do want to point out where I would get parts right now: Lisa (aka "Sugar" on the iclub) from Troncalli Subaru in Georgia. Her email address is sugar30041@yahoo.com or you can private message her (userid = sugar) if you are a member of the iClub messageboard."

I found her to be very helpful and I got the parts in just about a week! It only cost me $3 for the shipping. This is where I will be getting the parts for my Forester.

Hope this helps...

~~~Pat

ateixeira · October 2001

Thanks, I e-mailed her. We'll see.

-juice

kens · October 2001

juice,

Keep us updated. I'd like to have a second source for my parts.

Ken

ateixeira · October 2001

Well, she got back to me quickly, but her price was about 10% higher. I'm giving subarupart.com one last chance. 15 days with no response, so I sent a follow-up message.

-juice

Subaru Forester (up to 2005)

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