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Subaru Forester

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  • phil2000phil2000 Member Posts: 195
    http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.ef0d013/19155

    This is where most of the dicussion are.
  • vtdogvtdog Member Posts: 163
    '02 Forrester with just over 100k miles. Had a CEL come on. Dealer claims that it is the CAT converter. They want almost $ 1000 to fix. Anyone have a comment or advice about this?
  • verbmomverbmom Member Posts: 4
    My husband is looking to buy a 2011 Forester 2.5x in the next week or two. Inventories are limited where we have looked, and we were told at one dealership that we could put a small deposit down on one slated for delivery to the dealer anywhere from now until the end of August. Has anyone been able to negotiate a good price this past week?
  • aathertonaatherton Member Posts: 617
    "'02 Forrester with just over 100k miles. Had a CEL come on. Dealer claims that it is the CAT converter. They want almost $ 1000 to fix. Anyone have a comment or advice about this?"

    Our '03 Buick had a CEL come on a year ago. An independent shop diagnosed the converter. Fortunately the car only had 60,000 miles and the emissions warranty was still in force. We took it to a dealer, who confirmed the diagnosis and replaced the whole exhaust system including converter, pipe and muffler. He said the claim was $1,400.

    As to why the converter should fail, I theorize that it was stressed by the effects of water in the gas. A year earlier, the Buick received so much water in the gas that it would barely run, made it 20 miles to home, had to be towed to a shop, which removed the gas tank and showed us a jug of gas floating on water. They purged the tank and fuel system. It cost $900 which the gas station paid, saying they paid a dozen other similar claims.

    The 20 miles of missing and bucking and stalling probably put unburned gas and a poorly burned mixture through the converter, shortening its life.

    Another way of shortening converter life is long warm ups in winter cold. A person who used remote start to do this had his Forester converter replaced under warranty after three years. It takes a long while to warm up at idle, prolonging the time that the converter must handle a rich mixture.
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,790
    Most likely, the system showed the P0420 code, "CAT Efficiency Below Threshold."

    It is possible that the cat is bad, but also could be a selection of other issues, and the code could likely return shortly after replacing the cat.

    I recommend that you get a code reader (fairly cheap these days) and monitor the situation yourself. After the second time you get a CEL and check/reset the codes, the reader paid for itself. If the code only sets once in a while and you are not seeing any drop in fuel economy, I wouldn't worry about it. If the code is setting each time the drive cycle sets (every day or two), then you probably do have a real issue and should get it addressed.

    Again, though, it is likely there could be other issues at play in addition to (or in place of) the catalytic converter, so don't be surprised if you continue to see codes.
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    There's little supply right now, so I doubt you'll see any big discounts.

    My brother had to wait a month to get a manual trans Premium AWP, and that was BEFORE the quake!
  • exchngcarinfoexchngcarinfo Member Posts: 12
    I have an 01 Forester with 70k miles and I am having the head gaskets replaced also. I had a oil leak on both sides. It seems that age does it. They had a problem in 01 and extended the warranty on them to 8 years or 100k whichever comes FIRST. Oh well. :-(
  • 4thsubaru4thsubaru Member Posts: 1
    My new forester is covered in scratches and areas where the paint is worn off to some undercoat. I noticed when looking at new and used cars on the lot there seemed to be a finish problem on these cars. The dealer said don't worry there is a lifetime warranty on the paint. I brought my car for the 3700 mile check and asked what they could do about the paint problems. Where the scratches are it the paint and clear coat together are thinner than a single coat of nail polish! The dealer told my they couldn't help me with the scratches, it must be my driving. I am 53 and I have not done anything different in this car than my past cars which had no scratches! I turned in a 10 year old outback with no scratches. While I was there the dealer went over to another car to compare scratches .....I suspect the person had a similar complaint! I believe some of the scratches were there when I bought it. Honestly I believe a few trips through a car wash will leave it stripped to the metal. Can we get a separate topic for 2011 paint problems so we can see how others are resolving it?
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    There is a warranty if there is a perforation due to rust, not on the paint finish itself.

    Our blue '09 looks fine, FWIW.
  • azplayerazplayer Member Posts: 1
    Stumbled across this post and joined the forum just to confirm. My 2011 Forester is camellia red and is covered in scratches on one side from my other car's door hitting it in the garage. Seems like all I have to do is touch it with the other door and it's down to the metal. This never happened with the '97 Outback I had before it!

    Maybe this explains why, when I went in for my first oil change (and before the problem was noticeable), the service rep walked around the car inspecting it for scratches, which I thought was a bit peculiar. I had bought it the first day they showed up on the lot and was the first one in for service (the mechanic told me they'd been looking forward to seeing one), so they obviously knew about this issue from the start.
  • kuperlenkuperlen Member Posts: 2
    My brand new 2012 Outback also covered with micro-scratches all over car's body.
    I picked it up at the dealer's last night and noticed the scratches in the garage. Scratches look as though my car was cleaned with something abrasive. Dealer Singer Subaru of New Hampshire claims that they did not use carwash while preparing my car for the delivery. They offered to polish the car for me free of charge next week.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,707
    I'd first have a good coat of wax put on it, that might conceal some of the scratches. Polishing removes the scratches by removing some of the clear coat, I sure wouldn't want to do that unless I had to.
  • kuperlenkuperlen Member Posts: 2
    Thanks, I'll ask them to do that first. I am shocked, however, that new paint can all get swirled up like that from the hand wash.
  • maybesubie1maybesubie1 Member Posts: 30
    I have had my 2011 Forester, non-turbo, for a little over 14 months and thought I would post a report. So far I'm very happy with the car. No mechanical problems. It pretty much has performed as expected. Not too big, drives fairly nice, and extremely versatile. Audio system is only fair, but I knew that would be the case and it's not a big deal to me. It does seem to pick up very light scratches easier than it should, but not too bad. Maybe they would show up more but my Forester is white. Interior has held up very well. I had been concerned about going from 6 cylinders to 4, but the power has seemed completely adequate. I think the little extra torque in the newer engine made a difference. The auto transmission is fine but not silky when it shifts, and it could use another gear, but again I knew that going in. I'm hoping what the tranny lacks in refinement it will make up for in reliability.
    I'd say the only thing I'm not too happy with is the mileage. Getting right around 21.5 mpg even though most miles are highway and I am very light on the throttle. I really like having Subaru AWD and new it wouldn't be a high-mpg car, but the way I drive I'm really surprised to be getting close to the bottom of the expected mpg range. I will post more about that in the mpg thread.
    All in all, I'm really happy w/ the Forester. For the price, I still think it was one of the best values available, which was really important to me.
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