Subaru Forester (up to 2005)

stever

There's a teaser that Forester sales were up 26% year to date, but the Yahoo link is busted. Oh well....

Chat starts in ~20 minutes - link is at the top, left, etc.

Steve, Host

forestergump

The cruise control on my 99' Forester has always worked perfectly. In fact, I always get a kick when I hit the <resume> and it starts to accellerate to its previous speed - just seems to do it so smoothly!
-Bob

joseph50

Any news as to the particular vehicles that will consitute the test group, besides the Forester?

ateixeira

Barkley: per Polk registrations, Forester has the best owner loyalty in its class.

When you consider how tiny Subaru is, with 1% market share, and fewer dealers than almost everyone else, that's impressive.

Duck: I've never seen them mounted behind the grille like that. Kinda stealthy.

Casey: my cruise is excellent, in fact it's very consistent in holding the set speed. Also, you can tap the knob up and down, to speed up or slow down by about 1 mph. Cool feature.

I think the issue might be the new throttle mapping on Phase II engines.

Subaru made the throttle mapping less linear with the Phase II engine. It's much harder to be smooth with the throttle on my wife's 2002 Legacy than it is with my 98 Forester. The cruise encounters the same issue, is my guess.

I recall Subaru saying there was 50% more torque at half throttle, sure, at that throttle position, true. But overall torque is only slightly better.

Real World it's a very minor issue. It manages to hold its speed even climbing hills, it's just not as smooth about it as my Phase I Forester.

Bob has complained about abrupt throttle mapping, too. I think newer Nissan VQ engines have the exact same issue.

-juice

jamiek1

just picked up my my 03 Forrester one week ago..have had to go back to the dealer 3x already...squeaky noise coming from rear passenger seat belt area...that was fixed...then seat belt would not function..had to order the part...but the most disappointing thing is the keyless entry/alarm system...when we went to pick up the car the salesman told me that i might have a few problems with it in my area...Boston south and west..i have more than a few problems...in order for this to work..one has to go right up to the car and aim the remote directly at the red light on the dash...no walking up to your car in either the front or back and having it work...none of this "aluminating the way to your car"... and sometimes it doesnt work at all and i have to manually lock the doors....it is a totally unacceptable situation that now my salesperson tells me that a lot of his customers are having this problem...the service dept says it is because of cell phone towers...well hello...cell phone towers have been around for a long time and will continue to be....I think Subaru is aware of this and is selling a defective product...i would like to hear from anyone else in the Boston/ New England area that has experienced this problem..i want to love this car but am having a hard time right now...

c_hunter

I have a hard time believing that cell phones can interfere with the keyless entry. For what it's worth, we took a jaunt into the Boston area while visiting my parents in CT over Christmas. I don't recall the keyless entry behaving any different than it normally does. Has always seemed OK to me. 03 Forester XS.

Do both remotes have this problem? Any chance the batteries are weak? Do they work any better when you're sitting inside the car?

Craig

ateixeira

Try holding it up to your chin, your body acts like an antennae. Worth a try, if you can stand the silly look.

-juice

forestergump

I've never heard that excuse before, and I live in Chicago, which is almost as condensed as Boston. I've had the same problem happen in two year intervals - but only when the battery in my keyless entry ran out. Try replacing the battery, and maybe that will help.
-Bob

beachfish

After a year and a half of seeing my '02 at family gatherings and such, my cousin bought her CR-V when the lease ended and traded it on an '03 XS. Very nice looking - it's silver, just like mine. About the only things she didn't spring for were the sunroof and the leather. I like the upholstery in hers, but I like the leather better.

No problems at all with the cruise on either one so far.

My remote still works from any direction at 50 feet or more.

John

casecom2

Joseph: The CR people made it into a bit of a guessing game so I'm not 100% certain on the rest of the lineup, but it looks like the Forester, Sorento, Element, Outlander, Aztek and Baja.

joseph50

casecom2,
That would be some lineup. Maybe somebody else can make some sense out of it. I can't.

armac13

Goodness, that would be apples & oranges (and lemons & okra & corned beef).

Ross

bj02176

I'm in the Boston Area and I agree on the remote, it stinks, came out of the Dentist office today, couldn't get the remote to work. Had to open the door with the key, this on a residential street in Arlington. This also happens at the Stop and Stop in Malden. I want my Camry back. Bad in the snow (except deep snow), bad gas mileage, lackluster merging on the highway. I'm already looking at the Highlander and the Pilot.

c_hunter

I guess I could understand if you're having some problems, but there's no chance you're going to convince me the Forester is bad in snow. I've driven a lot of different cars in snow over the past 15-20 years, and the Forester is among the best.

Craig

lakepop

Sorry you are having trouble with your remote....BUT comparing a Camry to a Forester in ANY kind of snow condition is soo far out of bounds that it defies logic.

  So you liked/miss your Camry...OK it is a popular car...but don't elude to the Forester being bad in the snow. I live in the snow belt in the southern tier of WNY. Snow is a way of life here in the winter. I can't fathom you comparing a camry to my Forester in our conditions. Zero credibility!

  Venting about your issues will not get you a huge amount of sympathy. If you need some help/advice about resolving them....well this is a pretty good place to post.

jim259

Does anyone have experience with the moonroof air deflector on the '03 forester? I was thinking of getting it to reduce wind noise - though the moonroof is so huge, I wonder if it will help. Also, should I install it myself or ask the dealer to? I see it being sold on subaruparts.com for $61.

Thanks,
Jim

mutcth

That line-up mentioned above is right; the article is a round-up of new smallish SUVs, with the Baja treated as a sidebar. (I work for CR, testing automotive accessories, among other things.)

The ratings order (but no further details) has already been published in a special publication available on newsstands that compiles a bunch of our road tests - the 2003 Forester is currently our top-rated small SUV. Can't give any more details until the July issue hits newsstands. (The rule is once we get the actual bound issue of the magazine, it's open for discussion.)

All opinions my own, not CRs. (BTW, no complaints about our 2002 OBS's remote....)

Tom

joseph50

Tom,
Your confirmation is welcomed.
(I had no idea the Aztec shrunk so much -- the rare ones I have seen so far seemed quite massive in comparison to my Forester.)

xccoachlou

Tom,

If you can, I'd greatly appreciate knowing how CR gets the Fuel economy numbers.

If I understand correctly, the city/highway numbers represent the actual numbers attained by CR in city and highway driving. The 150 mile trip number is pretty self explanatory.

How are the overall number, and cruising range arrived at?

Thanks,

- Lou

forestergump

My other car is a Camry (my wife's), and there is no comparison in terms of snow capability. I love her car, but our Forester is the vehicle of choice when the snow falls here in Chicago. I also have driven numerous 4-wheel drive vehicles over the years and the Subie is on the top of the list in terms of performance.
-Bob

deepdrop

I just bought an "03 ForesterXS w/ leather. I got a good deal from the dealership and the whole transaction was extremely pleasant. I love the car. It seems really well put together and very well laid out. This board was my inspiration for choosing this car and I wanted to thank you all for the effort and thought required to share so much useful information.

grahampeters

G'day

I must be bored or something. We seem to have had more trouble with flamers and trolls lately. Wonder why?

I tracked a couple of the odder messages back across these and other boards. Was fascinated to discover that the same general theme pops up on other boards from the same participants. I do not understand the mentality of stirring without reason.

Useful pointer is to look for posters who seem to offer non-specific complaints or views which seem radically different from what you would expect (black versus white). A look at the poster's details is often revealing. For example, why would you flame Hyundai when you own a Jeep, etc.

At a more practical level, is it feasible that an AWD Forester would underperfprm against a 2wd Toyota. Probably not.

Cheers

Graham

mutcth

LOL - I guess we had a hard time figuring out what the Aztek was too....

We install a meter into the fuel line and then drive the car on a designated city and highway loop - the mileage isn't the overall mileage over the test period.

All opinions my own and not CUs.

Tom

c_hunter

Glad to hear you bought a Forester. I'm sure you will love yours as much as we love ours! It's a really great car, and loads of fun to drive.

Craig

oregonboy

I thought that I read somewhere that the Aztek was scheduled for termination... it doesn't fit in the group (not new or small) and a lame duck, so why bother???

-james

speterson1

If you haven't seen it, check out the bottom right-hand corner of the main Town Hall page. A nice write-up for this forum's (and likely many others) most frequent, informative, and helpful poster.

maverick1017

Okay, installed the cruise control on my 98 this past saturday. Everything went fine untill I tried to connect the cable to the throttle (spelling?): it was too short! The cable would hold the throttle almost wide open if I connect it. I know cables will streached out but it seems like the amount of streaching required to return the throttle to idle position in this case would be alot. The instructions that came with the kit don't help, anyone have any ideas how to get more cable to the throttle? or anyways to adjust it?

Thanks!

Mike

ateixeira

Forester, Sorento, Element, Outlander, Aztek and Baja? OK, besides the first two, all others are majorly extroverted. :-)

They should have tossed in a Scion xB while there were at it! LOL

My little sis' is comparing a Camry to a Forester, and while she's getting some pressure to pick the Camry, she drove both in heavy rain and already felt the difference. The Camry felt "disconnected" in her words, while the Forester tracked straight and offered more feedback for the road.

We drove a 2002 Camry SE when my wife was shopping, the manual shifter was so clunky that just about ruled it out right there, plus it was nearly impossible to find an SE 5 speed with ABS (I searched the inventory of 4 dealers). For snow, how can you even compare a FWD, open diffy, non-ABS (often) model to a Soob? Not in the same league, even.

Tom: top rated? Sweet, so it passed the RAV4 again. The '98 was on top until the recent RAV4 redesign, now Subaru leap frogged them and took the lead back (in CR ratings).

Congrats Daniel.

Steve: thanks.

Mike: I did tighten the throttle cable on our Miata. Is there slack at the very end? If so, give is some more slack, then retighten after the cruise is installed. Take a note of how much slack there is to begin with, of course.

-juice

jason_els

Hi all,

Are there any good aftermarket Subaru parts and/or tuning sights? I'm curious about how to replace the 90 missing HP from the upcoming XT and an LSD for the front.

Many thanks!

xccoachlou

I was lookin thru inventory on a dealer lot and noticed the blue is now called Reddish-Blue, or vice-a-versa. What happened to Pacifica Blue?

- Lou

ateixeira

Check out the WRX thread, I think on Friday they posted a complete list of tuners' web sites. Most also work on the 2.5l engine. Off the top of my head:

Quaiffe (front LSD)
Rallispec
Vishnu
Ludespeed
Primitive Racing
iSR Subaru

Ludespeed sells a complete bolt-on turbo kit, how much HP depends on how much you have to spend, the sky's the limit.

Lou: you mean 2004s?

-juice

xccoachlou

At least I am pretty sure it was a 2003...

subearu

I just went over to http://www.subaru.com and see that the current X and XS (non premium) get Pacifica Blue. Looks sharp, will have to see it in person. Doesn't appear to be offered on the Premium though. Maybe they'll have a different set of colors for the XT.

-Brian

jason_els

Thanx Juice, you're a scooby god.

ateixeira

I like rally blue, put that on an XT and I'll bring one home. :-)

-juice

maverick1017

Juice: there is no slack in the cruise cable at all. If I start the car with the cruise cable connected the engine revs to over 5krpm, at idle! I checked the accelarator cable, there is the recommended amount of slack there, it seem to be adjusted correctly, I just can't figure out how a subaru part can be so out of sync with the design of the car? Maybe I'll just have the dealer figure this one out, most of the labor is done, just the cable is not connected.

Mike

ateixeira

OK, I was mixing up my cables, sorry.

I did have cruise installed on my Forester after delivery, but by a dealer. Not sure what they did.

Can you find a same year Subie, and check out what the end product looks like? Maybe that would provide a hint.

-juice

maverick1017

for the suggestions Juice!

Any edmunds.com members with cruise in their Pre 2000 Foresters live by me?? Amherst, NY? North towns? south towns? I am willing to drive!!

Any one willing to take an up close picture of their engine bay with cruise, prefer phase I engines, and send it to me??

Thanks
Mike

ateixeira

Go see one, I'm not sure that photos will be enough. Check out a dealer for used ones, maybe.

-juice

rmd122

I just bought a 98 Forester. How can I tell if it has the optional air filtration system?

sfdriver

My Forester is missing the fuel lid tether pictured in page 7-5 of the owner's manual. When I called my dealer's parts dept, the service person said it does not show up on his computer, and that parts of the manual was "generic" and that picture was probably for another Subaru vehicle. Do you have a fuel filler lid tether? Maybe some Foresters have it & some don't??

lfdal

My 03 XS has it. I would think they all do. I know they put one my my wife's 03 Outback as well. Try leaving a question at the mysubaru.com website. So far I've had great luck with them being able to answer difficult questions.

FYI - for the do it yourselfers on the 03 Foresters - If you lose one of the six removable pins for the access plate for the oil filter and plug, they didn't show up on my dealers parts breakdown (he even showed it to me). However, one of the mechanics recognized it as being the same pin used to attach the mudflaps.

Larry

c_hunter

Our 03 XS has one.

Craig

kajko

SFdriver: So does our 03 X...

dgsteven

just bought a 2003 subaru forester x in the states. i understand that all forester models have side impact airbags in addition to the front. on the car we test drove, i remember noticing a plastic/vinyl patch on the front seats from which the air bags would be deployed. i dont see this on the car that we brought home. the seat looks like a normal seat with regular upholstery. the seats do have a tag on the side that says SRS, though...does anyone have any thoughts on this? thanks.

rjweiss

OK, we are picking up our new 2003 XS Premium tomorrow morning, what should I check for besides high tire pressure and oil levels?

Got the car at $200 above invoice which is a decent price but very disapointed in the trade in value for my 98 Forester S with 5 speed, only $6,500. Of course it does have 76,000 miles and the manual tranny hurts. I know I could have gotten a lot more selling it on the outside but the hassle of doing so just makes it alot easier to leave it at the dealer. Plus I save some on sales tax.

Wish us luck !

Ron & Liv

ateixeira

Rich: look under the glove box, in the passenger foot well. You'll see a cover with rubber gaskets, held in place by 2 screws. If it's not there, you don't have it. You might notice a plastic cover with cut-outs (for removal when you do get the filter), but it would still be in place.

Back then I'm not even sure it was offered from the factory, so I doubt you have it.

Tether here too.

As for the side air bag, did the vehicle you test drove have a differen fabric or maybe leather? That might explain the different look.

-juice

maverick1017

I was half asleep last night and a thought came to my mind (don't ask me how) I could cut the rubber housing for the cable short and move all the hardware back, then I would have more cable! I can't believe I didn't think of this before, funny how the mind works. I wish I could get all the answers to problems this way, hehe.

Mike

ateixeira

Careful cutting, and you may want to wrap it later with some type of protective cover.

Good idea, though.

-juice

tpat3

My wife and I are thinking about getting a Forester. One reason is to get the kids out onto a local beach that limits access to 4wd/awd vehicles with beach permits.

The access road is no problem, but there is a pile of loose sand to keep the 2wd vehicles out. Any information on how the Forester handles this type of driving would be much appreciated. Thanks.