Subaru Forester (up to 2005)

veritasusa

One must take into consideration in what parts of the world a particular model is being sold the most when considering on which side to place the fuel door, no matter in which country it is actually made..

 

Your Honda model might be sold mostly in countries in which they drive on the right. It would be interesting to know if the Forester has more sales in left side of the road countries.

dnestr

Hmm..I really never thought why cars have it on the left or on the opposite side.. Who cares where it is when staff puts in gas at most stations over here. But yes all my previous vehicles I can recall now were equipped with their fuel filler doors on driver’s side (the left one for Europe made vehicles and the right one for Japanese ones). As a Forester is orig. built in/for Japan it obviously has the most optimum solution for its own country where it drives on the left.

 

Marco, I also wonder why some US built vehicles still have red turn signals when all other countries use amber ones which are better for safety, no doubt. As far as I know both colors are permitted according with US road rules.

mpgman

I have a champagne gold 05 X. Light gold or beige carpeting is dumb in my opinion since it will show all kinds of dirt. Why doesn't Subie just use charcoal gray or black on all models? Also, the plastic trim on the lower door sill is too skimpy. It should wrap over the top and into the car to join the carpeting on the floor and not on the rise. That would shield a lot of entry and exit marks on the carpet. A little thing but not what I would expect for a "rugged" car.

subarufan5

Hello all fellow Subaru fans/owners. I have an '03 Forester X with about 17.5k on the OD. Love this thing, although no car/SUV/whatever is perfect, right? Although it has quite a few more horses than my old '93 Legacy L wagon (I loved that car), I probably should have got the XT. I didn't for three main reasons: price, insurance and FTPG (full-time premium gas). Still, I can't help thinking I could squeeze more power out of this vehicle. I would appreciate any suggestions (exhaust, muffler, air intake, computer, etc.). My only other gripe about my Forester is actually my fault. Not going for the XS, I don't have heated mirrors and this is a pain in the tail pipe. Can the current mirrors be modified with this option? If not, can I replace them with heated mirrors and what is involved? Can I do it myself?

ateixeira

mpgman: black interiors get hot in the sun. My beige interior actually hides sand and most dirt fairly well.

 

Make your passengers knock the snow off their shoes before they get in! :-)

 

Or maybe get the rubber mats?

 

I agree about the sill protectors. I got some for my Miata (you're gonna laugh) that are actually meant for a full-size GM pickup!

 

I just measured and found a set that covers nearly the entire door sill. The sill itself was already scratched up badly from the previous owner, so I have it covered now and it's also protected.

 

Got it at Pep Boys, pretty cheap IIRC. Stuck on with two-sided tape.

 

Heated mirrors: indeed, a cool feature. Drove up to Philly with Bob a few years back, and besides the heated seats they were the 2nd coolest feature, keeping the mirrors completely clear (amazing really) even on a rainy/misty day.

 

Most of the stereo stuff is pre-wired, I wonder if the heated mirrors would be. If so, it would be manageable. I think if you had to do a lot with the electrical system then it would not be worth it.

 

-juice

subarufan5

Ateixeira,

 

thanks for the reply regarding heated mirrors. I'm in NE Ohio near Lake Erie and park outside so my mirrors are frozen just about every morning. I have a feeling they might be pre-wired also. However, I just thought of another potential and low cost solution: RainX on the mirrors. That might also make them less likely to freeze up. I'll have to try it.

 

I hear quite a few complaints about the heated seats and the auto climate control in the XS so I am still kind of glad I got the X. The only other thing I missed was a digital compass but I added my own and like it more than the one that comes in the rear view mirror.

 

Those sill protectors would be nice. I just try to clean up the area every now and then so the dirt doesn't get too worked in. I use a product called Tough Stuff and it works real well.

mai

I recently purchased an '05 forester x to replace my '93 legacy sedan. In the '93 it had a light in the glove compartment and my new forester does not have it. Does anyone know if this lack of a light is in all foresters?

I tend to keep a lot of junk in there and although it's probably not safe to rummage around in there while driving (a stick shift at that!) I do miss that feature.

hoffmandfl

While living in Germany, we had no problems with our 2002 Forester until 27 Dec 04, when the Subaru dealer discovered a blown head gasket. The car was 3 years old and 48,000 miles.

 

I contacted Subaru of America about warranting the repairs, was informed SOA will not warranty a US-spec vehicle outside the US, and I would have to write the CEO. I faxed a letter the next day. I called on 5 Jan 05 and again on 24 Jan 05 and was told Subaru would not warranty any repairs. They hadn’t gotten around to contacting me. The rep said SOA was a small company, and could not afford to warranty the repairs. I was told there was no study behind the policy; it is just the policy.

 

I was given the runaround by customer service for 4 weeks, then told they would do nothing. I paid for a 5-year/60K warranty and received a 1-year/15K warranty. Also, I have received many mailings from Subaru at my overseas address, trying to sell extended warranties that would be worthless. That could be seen as fraud. Never again a Subaru.

mckeown

I agree, I added a light to the glove box of both my 2002 Forester when I first got it, then to the 2004 Forester. I used parts from a local Radio Shack. (cost less than $5) While I had the glove box out, it looks like there are provisions for a light and switch, but not in the US Spec. I couldn't even find evidence of this on the Aus. spec vehicles. But it looks like it may be available somewhere in the world.

In the 2004 (XS with sunroof) I also added 2 transistors and resistors to the Maplights and connected them to the Dome light. This way there is light in the front when we open the doors at night. again parts from local RS....cost about $6.

p0926

I think it's fairly common across the board (I.e. all auto manufacturers) to have a beige/tan interior in white, red and gold colored vehicles.

 

-Frank

p0926

I'm not surprised by the denial of claim and question whether you'd get better treatment from another manufacturer. Cars sold in the US are designed to US specs and not intended for overseas export. Interesting coincidence, back in the day, I had a blown head gasket on a car I shipped to Germany. It would have still been under warranty in the US but Nissan Germany didn't cover it. Never occurred to me to try and get Nissan of America (or whatever they're called) to cover it. In any case, I suspect the problem was caused by my going 100mph plus on the autobahn during my daily commute!

 

-Frank

maverick1017

Buy the part from the Impreza, it fits perfectly in the spaces provided. a couple of vampier clips and some extension wire are the only other parts you need.

KCRam

Two big reasons SOA won't cover this:

 

1. Parts - European dealers would not have US spec parts and would have to have them shipped - very expensive.

 

2. No dealer contact - SOA has no contact or control over dealerships outside their domain, so they can't guarantee that work done will meet maufacturer standards.

 

kcram

Host - Wagons

ateixeira

I don't think it should be SoA's job, but FHI instead, the parent company, or at least SoJ, the Japanese HQ office.

 

SoA is just the US marketing arm. Once you leave the US, you're completely out of their jurisdiction.

 

Plus, in Europe they market a 2.0l version of the engine that uses different parts. They can't exactly pull them off the shelf.

 

-juice

edunnett

As I suspected, you may have benefited from reading your warranty documentation before shipping the car overseas. It took me about 10 seconds to find this blurb:

 

When These Warranties Apply

These warranties are made by Subaru of America, Inc. (except in Hawaii) and apply only if the car was imported or distributed by Subaru of America, Inc. and sold to the first retail purchaser by an Authorized Subaru Dealer in the United States. Any and all repairs must be performed by an authorized Subaru dealer located in the United States.

mai

Thanks for the tip, I will give it a try. Other than the glovebox light problem, the new subie is fine, no other complaints.

dnestr

“Parts - European dealers would not have US spec parts and would have to have them shipped - very expensive.”

 

Not at all, as OEM Subaru parts are supplied to here from overseas (either Japan or the US), dealers normally suggest US OEM parts if a car is not under warranty anymore/ an owner wants to cut down some expenses/ a dealer would gain a few extra bucks. Of course, I mean parts that are suitable for US and Japan made Subarus at the same time or it can concern only US second hand cars shipped to Europe. Besides, exchange rate of USD/Euro makes US OEM parts to be more attractive for non-Euro area located countries like Russia or Poland. So, we love SoA very much here. By the way, as FHI has been selling Japan made 2.5 XT over here since 2004, these deals would be extended even more than now for several next years, I bet.

ateixeira

The XT is a different block, the gaskets would not be the same.

 

-juice

rhody_marco

Okay...I'm a bit disappointed.

 

Just finished my second tank of gas on my 2005 Forester X Automatic. In mixed driving (50% highway, 40% country roads, 10 % city) it's getting 24.6 MPG. 60 Miles of this was travelled with eight 40-pound bags of wood pellets (320 lbs total) in the back.

 

I've used the remote starter nearly every morning. Idle time was about 10 minutes for each of the seven times I used it.

 

The car has travelled almost 700 miles in total. My first oil change is due soon.

 

I was hoping to get better than 25 MPG. Perhaps the milage will improve after the engine breaks in.

 

Peace.

 

Marco

mnf

You will give it time on my 04-XS I have been getting 26-29 with a worst of 25 during winter with snow tires. You will slowly see the mileage creep up over time... Good Luck.. Matt

bkaiser1

Aside from your winter-formulation gas reducing your mileage, you mentioned having about 70 minutes (!) of idling -- a time when the car is getting 0 MPG because it's burning a lot of gas at startup, but going nowhere. Honestly, 25mpg sounds pretty darn good under those circumstances. My Outback (with the same engine and a manual trans) would never have gotten more than 21-22mpg under those conditions.

 

Most auto experts recommend against letting a car sit and idle to warm up -- just get in, start it, and begin driving moderately (no hard acceleration) until everything comes up to operating temp. Idling wastes gas, increases emissions, and (some believe) contaminates the oil quicker.

 

Neither of my Subaru's ever achieved better mileage as they broke in (60k on my Outback, 30k on my WRX), and neither car has ever been able to hit the EPA highway mpg estimate. In your case, 25mpg sounds just fine.

 

Brian

c_hunter

Brian already hit the key point -- that's a lot of zero MPG time that is weighting your average WAY down (especially if it's a cold start where the engine uses more gas). Considering that, and based on the driving/loads you described, 25MPG is pretty good.

 

Also, at 700 miles your engine is extremely green, not even close to being broken in.

 

We got 28mpg in our 03 Forester XS/auto on a long trip with 3 passengers in the car along with luggage and Christmas gifts. Even encountered stop and go traffic at several points. I was extremely impressed. So, I know the car can give good mileage.

 

BTW, Subaru calls for the first oil change at either 3000 miles or 7500 miles, depending on the model. So check your manual.

 

Craig

leo2633

I recently read that the wear on an engine over one hour of idling is equivalent to approximately 33 miles of driving. This was in a magazine for fleet vehicle maintenance, where vehicles are often serviced according to the amount of hours they operate. Think of how many extra "miles" you accumulate each year by warming the car up for 5 minutes or so every day!

 

Personally, I only warm up my cars for as long as it takes me to start it up, plug in my cell phone and put on my seat belt, generally about 15-20 seconds or so.

 

Len

once_for_all

I am having some trouble getting these tires through Subaru dealers--can you give me a contact so that I can try your dealer?

Thanks,

John

ezshift5

...under those conditions - Marco - ain't to shabby. Given break-in time and under highway point to point usage, I'll wager a bottle of Crown Royal that you can exceed the EPA figure..ez

jbye

I'm impressed with your electrical abilities. Both of these lighting issues bug me on my '05 Forester, especially the thing about the front seat being dark at night. I love the huge sunroof, but it puts the dome light so far back that virtually no light gets to the front seat when you open the door.

 

I would probably blow up the car and myself trying to do this. Is there any place you can have this done professionally?

 

Will the dealer do this? Does it impact the warranty in any way?

mckeown

Jim, Since a kid growing up in the 60's, I've been in appliance and TV/Radio repair. So for me it was easy. Doubt if a dealer would do it for you. When I have had my car in for service, no one seems to notice.................But me.....at night.

If you know of anyone who wants to attempt this, it involves a half dozen solder joints......about $6 worth of parts from Radio Shack......a piece of wire 'fished' from the passenger front

pillar area......and removal of the overhead compartment and passenger front plastic covering the front pilar.

I soldered 1 transistor to each switch on the Map lights.....added a few 'bleeding'resistors....then trigger it with the same signal that operates the Dome light. That connector is behind the passenger

front plastic roof pillar.

Took 2-3 days to design, since I first started with relays.......then realized I was receiving a 'pulse' instead of a constant ON power for the dome light, hence the transistors.

But I would need a good Email address to get this to anyone and that doesn't seem possible here. I can't, or don't understand, how to send a private message to anyone here.

I tried you Email Jim, but it came back invalid.

ryon

recently the alarm on my forester has been going haywire. i haven't had a chance to take it in yet, but while i'm driving, the alarm sets and re-sets itself. i can't figure out what it could be, and today, it actually locked my wife out of the car when she got out and it was running. anyone else have this problem before, and any ideas on what it is?

mpgman

Juice--Thanks for the post. No gripe with the interior, just the beige carpet. Much better if it were dark. I actually had beige colored after market leather installed and it looks great. The biggest gripe I have is that too much carpet area that meets feet is exposed even with the Subie rubber mats that I have. Was thinking of trying oversized mats like you mention. Otherwise loving the car for my first 1,000 miles. Getting about 25 mpg in mostly suburban/highway with the winter blend...about what I expected.

4mygrey

I have the black leather seats and dark grey carpet and all I have to say is...you'd be amazed at how much dirt is light colored!!! I guess it doesn't help that the parking lot at my workplace is made of pulverized oyster shells. And then there's food crumbs, tan dog hair... I guess I need a black dog. Though I personally prefer the overall look of the dark interior (and we actually had no choice as we wanted an XT PP), I sure found it a lot easier to keep my light tan Saturn interior looking clean. It did get some mud spots (which I could wipe out) but it didn't show so much little debris everywhere.

eps105

OK folks, I have a definitive answer regarding the light in the glove box, because I installed the Subaru OEM light in my '03 XS 2 years ago.

 

Back then, I stumbled on information for Forester modifications while searching for "Glove Box Light retrofit", which I am not allowed to link to. (Tidester: Sorry about the previous illegal weblink; it won't happen again!)

 

If you go to your Subaru dealer and order Subaru p/n PN 83081FE000, this is the replacement glove box light, switch, and harness for the Outback, which just so happens to fit in the unused holes in the Forester glove box. (It seems that the Forester was designed to use this harness.) The instructions and photos I found on this other website detailed where to tap into 12V power and what tools are needed.

 

The whole thing cost me about $25 and took about 45 minutes to do, only because I was super careful.

 

As geeky as a project as it seems, my wife has actually complemented me several times for doing it after she has accessed the glove box at night. It's well worth it if you're OCD like me and get a kick out of making little enhancements.

 

Elliot

ateixeira

You can expect about +2mpg once it's truly broken in, by that I mean 15k miles or so.

 

Pulverized Oyster Shells would be a good name for a Rock Bank.

 

-juice

p0926

ateixeira

I've read his books, call it the sincerest form of flattery. ;-)

 

-juice

lark6

I have the black leather seats and dark grey carpet and all I have to say is...you'd be amazed at how much dirt is light colored!!! I guess it doesn't help that the parking lot at my workplace is made of pulverized oyster shells.

 

Sounds like a descrption of coquina. You wouldn't by any chance live in the coastal South, do you? I only ask because I grew up there and saw a lot of coquina used in parking lots and unpaved roads.

 

Ed

grahampeters

G'day

 

You've just reminded me that when I was a kid, our neighbours decided to lay scallop shells as a drive way at their beachside house. He was a scallop fisherman and the shells came cheap a by-roduct of his fishing. However it would have been more desirable if he had used cleaned shells rather than those with remnants of scallop still upon them.

 

In a hot Australian summer, the flies from miles around converged upon our street and the stench was something to behold. Forty years later I can remember the pong which had an almost physical presence to it. We fled our holiday shack and left the balance of the neighbourhood to it. Over time the scent receded, only to reappear after each shower of rain. It was the best part of a year before we felt safe to approach the house too closely.

 

I'd suggest something a little less fishy on the drive paving front.

 

Cheers

 

Graham

mai

Ok, so a previous post said that the part to use was from the impreza, and you're saying the part to use is from an outback?

I was going to attempt this in a week or two but don't want to order the wrong part. Would you happen to know if this is compatible in the 2005 forester x?

Thanks!

psfod3

My 03 Forester x with 69,000 miles on it seems to be all over the road lately. I never got it aligned when I got new tires at 54,000 miles and wish to do so now. Does a Forester need 4 wheel alignment or only two. I usally have the dealer do most work on the car but I feel a tire place may have more experiance with alignments and better equipment. I live in Middlesex N.J. if anyone knows a good place for this please let me know.

bluesubie

I don't know too many details, but I think a front alignment is good and a four wheel is best.

 

I've been going to American Tire/Tire Associates in Green Brook for several years and I'm very happy with their work.

 

-Dennis

jbye

Thanks for your reply.

 

First, the reason my email didn't work was that I canceled that account and forget to update it. Duh!

 

Anyway, after reading your reply I know I don't want to try it myself. But maybe I can find someone else (you don't pass through Cleveland, do you?)

 

If you want you can send the directions to jimbye@yahoo.com

 

Thanks again

tidester

If you want you can send the directions to ...

 

Better yet, update your email address in your user profile and set it to visible. Posting your email address on the public forums invites spam.

 

tidester, host

kavoom

Four wheel alignment. And you got 54,000 out of your original tires??? If they were the Yokohama's you must have the record. I have those on my new Forester and I hear they are horrible. It sounds like you need an alignment, at least. Depending upon the tires you got it could be them as at least part of the problem. Different tires have different characteristics. Is the vehicle bouncy??? Could be struts, but not likely at 69K. I just got rid of my Outback Sport and went 147K on two sets of BF Goodrich TA's and the last still had around 10K on em. I had a lifetime of car alignment deal and kept them aligned. I figure that saved me a set along the way at around 350+...

***************************

 

My 03 Forester x with 69,000 miles on it seems to be all over the road lately. I never got it aligned when I got new tires at 54,000 miles and wish to do so now. Does a Forester need 4 wheel alignment or only two.

rhody_marco

I figured out the exact mileage of my new Forester X over the weekend - the hard way. The low fuel indicator lit up a whopping 17 miles before the car conked out. The manual says that there should be 2.3 gallons left in the tank when the light comes on.

 

No freakin' way.

 

This car just passed 1000 miles. Just wondering if there could be something wrong with the low fuel light. By comparison, the fuel guage had fallen just below "E" when my localised petroleum shortage occurred. At least I know now which indication to trust.

 

I live on hilly terrain. Perhaps the constant up and down fooled the circuit that drives the light. Theres some hysteresis built into the system; The manual claims the light goes out only after the tank is filled above four gallons. This leads me to believe that the light is not directly connected to the sensor. Instead, an intermediate circuit "interprets" the level. This eliminates the on-and-off behaviour caused by fuel sloshing around in the tank. In a Subaru, the light comes on, and stays on...

 

...albeit a little too late in my case.

 

Your thoughts ???

 

Peace.

 

Marco

 

BTW...the car returned exactly 25 MPG in mixed driving this time 'round.

njswamplands

stop at the nearest fuel station. i had the same experience as you

once_for_all

I have run it some 25 miles (highway) after the light comes on, and it takes about 15.3 gallons to refill. The needle was just below the E mark. Done that several times, fortunately not been stranded.

 

John

jbye

I updated my email as soon as I realized the problem. It is fine now. Thanks for the note.

ezshift5

...that is one serious lo-fuel lite.....ez

 

.appreciate feedback (but not the circumstance) ez

mnf

I see on a older post (#15544 C Hunter) information on the homelink auto dimming mirror and a link to MASTRO where they can be purchased. The question has anyone installed it on a 2004 with a current auto dimming and will it work. Thanks for your help.... Matt

Kirstie_H

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ateixeira

The light is supposed to come on when 2.3 gallons are left.

 

-juice