Subaru Forester (up to 2005)

kens · May 2003

FM transmitters are a great solution if you don't mind the slight degredation in sound quality. It's probably a good match for playing cassettes.

Ken

joybell · May 2003

I just recently drove a new model Forester (2003). I found that the space inside for cargo at the back was less than the old model Forester (1998-2000?). The salesman said no. I said yes, proove it...do you have an old brochure with the cargo capacity on it. No, he said, but the capacity is the same. So who is right?

74impala · May 2003

I have a 2001 Forester L. The Bridgestones that came stock on it really stunk in wet and snow. I'd like to put something on it that's a bit more agressive. A local tire dealer suggested the Yokohama Geolander. The problem is it doesn't come in a 205/70/15. The H/T comes in a 205/75/15 and the A/T comes in a 215/75/15. The dealer says neither would be a problem. Reading my owners manual I'm not to sure. Anyone have any experience?

74impala · May 2003

The cargo space for a 2001 Forester is list as
63 cu ft and 64 cu ft for a 2003 on the Edmunds website.

ducktapeguy · May 2003

Kajko,
sorry to hear of your troubles. What's the progress with your lift kit? I've only ordered from ISR once, but that will be my last time. Took one month, 10 e-mails, and 5 phone calls to get the right parts, and they still messed up the delivery. And I'm less that 15 miles away, you'd think they could get it right.

joybell,
were you comparing the same models? The ones without the moonroof more space. I think the two are very similar, i actually thought the newer models looked larger because of the redesigned opening.

wantonenow · May 2003

I live in Arizona and need to replace the Geolanders on my '01 Forester S. Although Prescott is mile high, traction in snow snow is not a major issue. A tire that has good tread wear; stands up well to the Phoenix area's 120 deg F summer temperatures is of primary concern.
Choices available locally are:
Three Michelins: Energy MXV4 Plus, Pilot XGT H4; and All-season confidence.
Dunlop SP Sport 5000
Sumitomo SRIXON4
Two Yokohamas: A550V and YK420
Pirelli P3000

I have looked at Tires, Tires, Tires. The discussions there seem to be more in tune with the needs of folks in places that get LOTS of winter snow. I need high heat resistant tires, so that place was useless to me.

Any other desert rats out there with experience on replacements for the 215-60-16 Geolanders in the desert Southwest???

paisan · May 2003

Are my vote, love em on my SVX. They've been used successfully in Blizzards to Track Days @ Limerock Raceway. Excellent tires IMHO.

-mike

once_for_all · May 2003

just curious, what do you not like about the stock Geolanders? I live in Fresno, they seem well suited to the heat.

John

lakepop · May 2003

The Dunlop SP5000s get my vote. I put on 215-65-VR15s and love them.

Of course I get to drive in some serious snow but they are great on the highway also. Got mine at Tire Rack..........$75 per.

lark6 · May 2003

I have them in the OEM size (215/60R16) on my '00S. Quieter and better grip in the rain than the Geolandars, and noticeably better lateral grip in all conditions.

Ed

jtm4 · May 2003

I just put a set of Yokohama Avid Ts on my '98 Forester. I'm very impressed with the smooth, quiet ride. I've heard rave reviews about these tires and they are living up to expectations, so far. This is the third set of tires we've had on our Forester. The OEM Bridgestone tires lasted 27k. After that I tried Discount Tire's Arizonians. They lasted about 40k with a 70k Tread warranty. I rotate tires every 5 to 7k and check pressure regularly. The Yokohamas have an 80k tread warranty so we'll see what happens. For the money, I think the Yokohama Avid Ts are a great deal.

forestergump · May 2003

I just replaced my stock Geolanders with another set of the same after getting 53K on the originals. They seem to be pretty decent all-around tires. Also, since I'll be getting rid of my '99 Forester at the end of the year, I found it hard to justify spending additional money on a set of tires that I'd only get 10K-15K additional miles out of before I got rid of the vehicle.
-Bob

wantonenow · May 2003

John,

The stock Geos are good for only 30K miles, which is what I'm pushing on my '01 S. This seems to be almost a standard on new cars... had same experience with '77 celica and '87 mazda B2000...oem tires lasted only 30k miles.

As I mentioned, am mostly concerned about heat resistance, since we travel to the low desert area on a regular basis. Wet traction and snow is not as critical, although once the summer monsoons hit, I don't want tires that will aquaplane on a damp roadway.

wantonenow · May 2003

You folks that have the Dunlop SP Sport 5000's neglected to tell me where you are located and if you experience the high heat conditions I do. It would also help me if you tell me how many months you've had those tires and how many miles you've put on them.

I know I'm being overly picky, but a $500 expenditure for 4 tires takes a tad of research. Being retired and on a fixed income, we try to squeeze every drop of marginal utility out of every buck we spend. That's one reason we like the Sube.... am getting 26+ mpg and it is pure pleasure to drive.

BTW, I do have the tires rotated at approximately 7500 mile intervals and have an air compressor to assure the proper cold inflation pressure.

sross · May 2003

I've got the SP Sport 5000s on my Audi A4, and they've been great. I don't have the extreme heat that you do, but I also live at altitude (Denver). You didn't care about the snow but I feel I've had both great dry and snow traction. I think I have about 15,000 miles on them over about 15 months.

terry4848 · May 2003

one thing I have noticed on my 2002 that I have owned now for a year is that after it has rained and several days after when I roll the window down and back up the window is wet,is water getting inside the door to eventually rust the inside? I have owned several different cars in my life and don't recall this on my others. This is not a new occurence just curious if anyone else notices. Also had the transmission recall problem fixed at the dealers and ever since the transmission shifts different on the last shift kind of hard. This may sound silly but does anyone have a suggestion for finding an annoying vibration on the dash area of the car that only happens when it is warm outside or the heat is on. When it is cold outside the noise is not there so it must have to do with expansion of materials. Also I have not changed my interior filter since I got the car, it's at 12,000 miles, do I need to be concerned this is not a dusty area. Thanks

ateixeira · May 2003

I am sure the collapsable pedals are to improve the IIHS Offset Scores even more. Even though the Forester earned a "Best Pick" and a Good rating, the foot score was only average.

Pretty impressive that they try to improve an already excellent score.

kajko: bummer about the springs, I was meaning to ask you about that. Still?

So the visors are nicer and it gets those foot pedals, but loses the cassette? I was hoping they'd make the mud flaps standard again.

Terry: look under the glove box, it's just two screws to access the air filter. You could remove and inspect. Even vacuum it if it's not that dirty. But replace it if it is.

I bet the tranny is the placebo effect. I think they just changed a locking pin, it should not affect it's operation.

For any rattle, try putting your finger on things until you quiet the rattle, then you've found it. Often it's just loose items in the glove box or one of the storage bins. Another thing you can do it get self-adhesive felt liner for those compartments, which I did.

Good news - my sister just bought a 2003 Forester X auto yesterday, in silver. She was cross-shopping the Camry, but it kept raining, and the Camry felt disconnected to her. I swear we've had rain for what seems like 3 weeks in a row, Mother Nature just forced her in to a Forester! :-)

-juice

rsholland · May 2003

Juice, you must have an "in" with Mother Nature.

Bob

xccoachlou · May 2003

Went on Saturday in search of a Forester XS in Woodland Green Pearl. Found it through the web at a nearby dealer.

The MSRP with freight was ~24,850 (give or take $20-30). They gave me a $2500 trade in value on my 1999 V6 Contour with 31K miles and initially offered me the car for $21.3K with the trade.

I offered them 19.3K including the trade figuring on a 22.5K invoice and 3K for my trade. I expected them to counter and we would settle somewhere shy of 20K.

Most every place I've been able to check on the web has Forester XS's at or just under invoice, and besides myself, there was only one other couple in the dealership. It was very slow.

I thought it was a fair deal. Apparently the dealership owner did not. That may explain why he still has a 2003 Legacy GT 5 Spd Wagon sitting on his lot with a manufacture date of July 2002.

10years · May 2003

Xccoachlou,
Id suggest expand your dealer search criteria. Compose a brief Bid statement in MS Word, or the like, state you are an immediate buyer of a SUBARU Forester XS and are requesting their lowest one time bid to include the price of the vehicle with the final delivered price. Include the options required and the ones youd prefer plus your Trade situation. Dont state any dollar amounts; let the dealers come to you. Go to SUBARU.COM, enter you Zip Code and the site will post the three closest Subaru Internet manager E-Mail addresses dealers near you, then the next 3 farther out , and the next 3 again. Cut and Paste your Bid statement for each dealer. Initially request E-Mail responses versus telephone. Then wait; it wont be long until you see nuggets in your E-Mail Inbox.

This worked great for me last week on Forester X. It was the easiest and most confident car deal I ever made. Good Luck.

paisan · May 2003

I've had on for ~15K-17K miles on the SVX.
Live in the NE so I don't get the extreme temps you speak of, but I did however run them at the Track (limerock) which builds a great deal of heat during a 1/2hr session.

-mike

lark6 · May 2003

I live in PA, suburban Philadelphia. Temps here are nowhere near as high as yours. Then again I doubt yours get as low as ours; nor, I imagine, do you deal with snow. Having driven in AZ I can say your roads are generally better than ours as well.

I've had the SP Sport 5000s a little over 7 months and have put approximately 7K miles on them.

Hope this helps.

Ed

ateixeira · May 2003

Bummer Lou, maybe the dealer will call you back?

Boy, though, the residuals on that Contour are very low. $2500? Really?

Drive to MD and buy at Fitz, then take a road trip home! ;-)

-juice

p0926 · May 2003

I recently bought a set of Dunlop Sport A2s. I believe for all around use, they actually rate slightly higher than the 5000s. Plus they have a treadlife warranty and higher treadwear rating (420 vs 340).

-Frank P.

p0926 · May 2003

Lou- Did you typo something because I checked Edmunds and a 1999 Contour with 31k miles in just "avg condition" is still worth over $5k as a trade-in. Your invoice numbers on the XS seem to be right so I'm not sure what gives.

-Frank P.

ateixeira · May 2003

For $2500 you should just keep it as a 2nd vehicle, a beater, if you will.

-juice

xccoachlou · May 2003

KBB gives approximately $3800 and the dealers here use the "Galves" book which is substantially lower than KBB and Edmunds.

I can barely find parking for one car, let alone keep another as a beater, especially with alternate side of the street parking.

I think I should keep the car until I get to the point, a few months down the road, when I have to pay the dealer to take it from me. LOL.

I doubt the dealership will call back.

- Lou

ateixeira · May 2003

Have you considered a buying service? Or maybe join ACA or IMBA to qualify for VIP pricing. It takes 6 months to become eligible, but your Contour should last that long.

My sister just bought her Subie hassle-free.

-juice

lfdal · May 2003

Lou - I agree the used car market is terrible - I had to negotiate substantially upward to get to the Galves price when my wife and I each traded last year. One was a 99 Merc Sable which people deride for being a Ford, but the other was a 97 Honda wagon, which is supposed to have great residual value. It was a real fight to get them to wholesale levels.

Good luck.

Larry

10years · May 2003

Lou - Take a couple of weeks and sell the car yourself. A quick look a TMV dealer pricing for 99 Contour is $5,825 - $10,858. Given yours is the V6 with low milage you should ask at least $6,000 even if you got $5,500 you'd be $3,000 ahead, not a bad wage for two weeks work.

daniell · May 2003

Hi all,

My car has almost 20K miles in close to 2 years of ownership, so I thought I'd post my impressions. Since my other car is a 1998 Civic hatchback, I will briefly compare the two.

LIKES: except for CEL, no problems so far. Car inspires confidence in rain or snow. At iddle, engine is the smoothest I have ever had (others were 1985 Pontiac Sunbird, 1988 Ford Taurus, 2000 Nissan Maxima, 1998 Honda Civic), you can barely hear or feel it running. Best brakes of any vehicle I had. Very good visibility. Overall gas mileage 23-25 mpg, with auto transmission - pretty decent for a relatively heavy vehicle with AWD.

DISLIKES: Transmission will hesitate from a dead stop. Transmission usually upshifts at 2500 RPM, maybe 4000 RPM if pressed hard. What good is the 6000 RPM redline if won't let you get there. Engine does not like to rev. Overall, the engine/transmission combo is pretty dissapointing. Leg room in the back is just adequate even when short people (I am 5'7", wife is 5'2") stay in front seats. A rear facing child seat will touch the front seats. I have had a high pitched noise coming from the drivetrain since day 1 (somebody said it sounded like an AM radio between stations. To me it sounds more like a jet engine when revved for take off). Noise comes above 60mph. My neighbor's Outback (auto) does the same. Lots of rattles and buzzes. Rear suspension gets easily upset when going over bumps and in the same time changing direction (rear does not feel planted to the ground).

Main differences vs. my 1998 Civic hatchback: the Forester is much quieter in city driving, at highway speeds slightly quieter. Forester is, and feels, much more luxurious, and safer in rain/snow. The Civic's drivetrain (1.6 l auto) is WAY better. Civic inspires more confidence at higher speed (above 60 mph), since it's lower, with a more rigid chassis. In my opinion, as a "package", and for the money, the Civic is the superior car between the two, mainly because of the superb drivetrain and ergonomics.

sphil907 · May 2003

Does anyone know if the dealer contributes toward the zero percent financing? I need to know if I can get a better deal with cash or if that would not make a difference in the price.

paisan · May 2003

That's all on the financing side IIRC.

-mike

kullenberg · May 2003

This is supported by Subaru, and is done thru a financial institution ( Chase). It's for 24 months, and the minimum amount financed for this period is $7000; more than $10,000, the dealer makes $100 on the deal. Doing the deal for cash won't make any diff., other than you are turning down free money. I know all this, since I just negotiated a deal for my mother. ( Got rid of "Christine" - if you've been watching other boards.)
Cheers
Pat

jimbob17 · May 2003

Took the Forester in at about 10K for an oil change, state inspection, tire rotation and I ordered and had them install the splash guards. Yeesh every time I hit water the splash would fly down the side.
While there I asked the dealer to check the manual tranny for shuddering when wet or cold. They couldn't verify the shuddering but they said the had a memo on, I believe, mostly WRXs but some 03 2.5s depending on the VIN. They are ordering the parts to replace on my Forester. I think they said pressure plate and fly wheel.
Wheel 8-) see what happens. They have been real good to me. A refreshing change from previous experiences with dealers.

mckeown · May 2003

Jimbob, Et All, Subaru USA HAS issued a TSB for MY 1999 to 2002, and some early 2003, for Clutch Shutter. Just had mine replaced at 36K. Clutch, Flywheel, Pressure Plate. Just print out the following URL and present it to the Service Dept.
http://www.mnchopshop.org/images/TSB-03_51_02.jpg

kens · May 2003

I wonder why MY98 isn't included. It surely isn't free from clutch chatter as well.

Ken

rochcom · May 2003

Has anyone replaced Forester brake pads? I am curious as to how many miles they lasted, both front and rear (on the S with rear disks).

My '98 S was in for service at 70,000 and the dealer claimed that I had 20% of the rear pads left and 30% of the fronts. I know that Subaru pads tend to last a long time, so when I went to a muffler-brake shop for a minor muffler repair, I had them check the pads also.

They pulled out a spec book, took off the wheels, measured the pads, and claimed that there was still about 50% of the pads both front and rear and that I should come back in another 30k miles for a free recheck. They did say that runout was just out of spec and recommended turning the rotors. I declined based upon previous experiences with turning rotors resulting in warping within a few thousand miles.

The dealer has always been honest and fair about service, so I do not think they were trying to sell me an un-needed service, and the muffler-brake shop has always done good work for me before, so I do not think they are making an error. But I now worry that I am going to wear out the pads and trash the rotors.

I drive conservatively, keeping well back, so that I make minimal use of brakes, and much of my driving is on expressways. So, I would guess that my pads would last longer than average. But I wonder....

ducktapeguy · May 2003

I replace my rear pads at 75K, almost worn out. I was going to replace the front ones at the same time, but when I took them out and compared them to the new ones, I still had about 50% left. So I probably won't be replacing them until 100K or so. I drive mostly highway, but not very conservatively. I wish I could replace them with stock pads again, never had brake pads last that long.

paisan · May 2003

I replace mine every 30-40K and thought that was long. Although my '97 Rodeo did go almost 70K on the stockers.

-mike

ducktapeguy · May 2003

I forgot to add, thats also with 3 rallies on those brake pads. I bet I used up about 50% of the pads on those 25 hours of driving alone. I wonder how long they would have lasted with normal driving?

paisan · May 2003

you rally your car? Caged out and everything? Cool beans!

-mike

deepdrop · May 2003

When my air conditioning is on recirculate (which it automatically goes to when I hit the auto button) and I push the recirculate button to switch recirculate off to allow fresh air in, I have to push the button twice. I was wondering if this is the normal way it operates. I can't think of a reason why the first push shouldn't switch the recirculation off. This is in a "03 XS.

forestergump · May 2003

I had mine replaced at 45K. But then I do a lot of city driving.

eps105 · May 2003

deepdrop - Pushing the Recirc button twice is correct, and I believe that it is even mentioned in the user's manaual.

IIRC, the reason for this is the first time you press it, it forces the recirc on -- even in Auto mode -- even if Recirc is already on. This way, if you are behind a stinky bus, you can force Recirc without going out of Auto.

The second push toggles it off and takes the system out of Auto mode. Press Auto again to go back to normal.

Elliot

ateixeira · May 2003

lfdal: I did check my interior air filter this morning, and guess what? It's filthy.

I vacuumed it out, but I'll need a new one. I checked, and it was installed on 7/21/2000. I checked it a year later, in 2001, and it was still clean. So I just cleaned it, but did not replace it.

Well, after almost 3 years it's history. The formerly white filter material is gray/black, and there was all kinds of debris in there. Time for me to e-mail parts@libertysubaru.com to get a new one.

But it's doing it's job. I have asthma and I sure am glad I didn't inhale all that gunk! Yuck!

-juice

lfdal · May 2003

juice - thanks for checking. I don't know why mine got so dirty other than possibly due to it being mounted horizontally.

I just went over 10k in my Forester so I think I'll check the engine air filter and hope it doesn't look at all like my cabin air filter.

At least the engine air filter is easier to change than the cabin air filter. Which makes no sense.

ateixeira · May 2003

On the Forester, the inside one is easier. Two screws, all you need is a very short phillips screw driver.

-juice

ducktapeguy · May 2003

I just changed my air filter last weekend too. Just looking at it, I couldn't believe how black it was. For my forester, you don't need any tools at all, just pop off two of the clips and take the filter out. They must've changed the design.

paisan,
these were TSD rallies, mostly on backroads and canyons. First one I did was 16 hours long, and that was a straight 16 hours of intense driving. But it was a lot more fun than I expected. I wish I could invest the money on real rallying, but no funds. But that doesn't stop me from having a little fun on any dirt road I can find.

paisan · May 2003

I tried to do some TSDs, but they were too conf00sing for us. My uncle can't read directions so he got to drive, I kept getting sick reading the direx and we kept finishing worse and worse than we had at the previous event. Gave it up for Track Days and more autoxs

-mike

Subaru Forester (up to 2005)

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