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Comments
Recently replaced a '90 Accord LX with an '01 Forester. Was very attached to the Accord, particularly its handling and road feel. I'm very happy with the Forester as its replacement. Considered another Accord, RAV4, CR-V, Rodeo. In the end, Forester was at the top of our list in terms of safety, handling, power, cargo hauling & flexibility, visibility, ease of entry/exit, driver position and comfort, and how much fun it was to drive.
Take your time in deciding. Initially I wanted another Accord and was opposed to getting an SUV, but as we did the research, reevaluated our current needs, and learned what was out there, we were able to find the right vehicle for us. Good luck in your search.
I have my Forester 2001 for 1.5 yrs and 26K mi. It's an absolutely lovable car, but I also experienced that *very randomly* pulling you've mentioned, when braking. It feels like someone is jerking steering wheel to the right just when car is about to stop. It happens very seldom.
I could not reproduce it myself, and dealer (of course) could not either. I've noticed it happens on bumpy roads, so maybe it's just a coincidence of breaking when a wheel gets in a rut?
At this point, since I cannot reproduce it, I've decided to just live with it. Otherwise, I absolutely love my Forester, even 1.5 yrs after the purchase. Just waxed it yesterday (yet again :-).
-Frank P.
Does any one either recommend this or not recommend this?
Also, I was wondering if it requires any drilling. The dealer wants $40.00 to install it, and I am not sure I want drilling on the car.
Thanks
While the hood guard is great for bugs, it is difficult to wash around. I also had a stone tossed up from a dump truck that smashed right through the guard, scratched my hood and put a chip in my windshield. With only 7,000 miles on my 2001 S+ Forester, I'm upset the guard didn't stop a silly little stone. The guard now has a nice hole taken out of it.
It's also noisy. If you've had one before you might be used to it, but I don't care of the whining wind sound myself.
-Mark
-mike
The reason behind my question is that I had an accident on a freeway last Friday, when I was going at a very moderate freeway speed (not over 60 mph, because I had just merged onto the freeway). I steered rather sharply left to avoid an obstacle and almost immediately lost control. I struggled but ended up doing a 180 and smashing hard into a guard rail. Fortunately, there were no other cars involved and no major injuries -- but after 37 years without an accident, this was a shocker! I am wondering if I alone was at fault, or if the sometime-weirdness of my Forester's steering while braking had anything to do with it.
Alice
-Frank P.
Not a lot of S's on the lot, most were either L or S premium.
I could not wait for the 2003 Forester, I needed reliability now, and I thought AWD and heated seats would be nice.
IMO the CR-V is a good contender, but I could not stand for paying MSRP or more, and I did not want to be the guinea pig for the peek-a-boo wheel wells.
Could I get recommendations for buying after market parts? I would like to get an armrest, rubber floor mats, and wheel locks. I looked at subaruparts.com and the price for the arm rest was the MSRP in edmunds.com listing of a Forester. Any others?
Congrats to Betty as well. It's pretty standard for a dealer to charge for installing accessories, after all he has to pay his staff. I'm envious of that moonroof, though!
Another Dave! Welcome! We joke that all Soob owners are named Dave, just becuase there are so many Daves among us.
Ed: they really get arm rests like that in the UK? We want some too!
Mayme: resale value is, IMO, excellent. In my case, I paid $19,200 plus only tax back in 1998. After 3 years, I see Forester like mine selling for about $15k.
My rule of thumb is this: you lose 10% immediately, and another 10% of its value every year after that. So mine should have lost 40% of its original value. That would make it worth $11,520 on average. $15k is way, way better than average, so I'm thrilled. But it doesn't matter because I'm not willing to sell it! ;-)
Forester, Passat, or Highlander? Nice choices. Passat is solid, but reliability to me is a question mark. Other than that it's a fine car. Highlander is solid, just pricey if you're not very careful with the options sheet. All are fine choices. Please pop back in to let us know what you end up with, okay?
Bud: Forester has excellent head room, and the seat is low and far back, so you may find leg room good, too. Look at a Forester L or S (not Premium, which has a moonroof) and maybe a base Outback wagon, too. I suggest you go to a car show, because you can sit in and sample dozens of cars with no sales pressure. That would help you narrow it down, for sure.
Alice: pulls to the right when braking? Well, there is a slight crown in the road. I would check tire pressure, wheel balance, alignment, things like that. Try rotating the tires and adjusting pressure first, which is quick and easy. Mine stops straight every time.
-juice
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They are covered in fabric to match the upholstery.
Ed
I just purchased a white, mt, Forester S & love it. My sister has had a Forester for 3 years & has loved it as well. I did a lot of research before buying & decided this was the best vehicle for me. It also helped to read all your interesting posts. I'm very careful about making sure that gas cap is tight!! :-)
My question is very simple: what size speakers can I put in the front doors? The Crutchfield website limits the 6-1/2 speakers to 1-11/16" deep. However, I've read in prior posts about Polk speakers & they're 1-15/16. I'm ok on the back. According to Cruchfield I can get the 5" Polks.
thanks so much for your help!
I am looking for a forester '01 or '02...is there much difference between them...are there any '01 even left out there...
I am going brain dead from research...I have seen a few messages concerning what people are paying...$200 over invoice, $500 over etc...
I do not want to get hosed on this deal...I have looked at the crv, outback, and even the Xterra...but the forester seems to fit the bill as far as practicality, economy and power.
Also I invite anybody's input on trade in's ...sigh...I know this is an easy place to hide numbers and get hosed...but because of circumstances...it will be part of the deal...any suggestions...so I don't go "ouch" too much
Thanks, Yowzer
Here in Australia, the Forester is supplied with narrow armrests which are fold down from the inner edges of the front seats. Actually surprisingly comy although only about an inch wide. Do not interfere witth the centre console at all.
Cheers
Graham
Here is the link to the site:
http://www.subaruwrxparts.com/index.html
and here is the Forester page directly:
http://www.subaruwrxparts.com/acc_forester.html
Regards,
Frank
Ed
You may be able to get those Polks in there with little or no modifications. I replaced my fronts with some Sony Xplod V1621 that are 1 3/4" deep and there is still some clearance to the speaker covers. Also, the front speakers mount to some plastic brackets -- I'm not 100% certain but you may be able to remove these and somehow mount the speakers directly to the door liner.
Crutchfield has a great return policy. I'm sure they'd take them back if they didn't work.
Ken
Bob
Chuck
I just purchased my first Subaru, a 2002 Forester L, and I think it's a great vehicle. A guy named Bud was asking about the headroom but that is exactly why I bought one! I'm 6'6" tall with a 36" inseam so I'm concerned with head and leg room. I tried the Pathfinder, Highlander, Xterra, and Explorer and ONLY the Forester had the room I needed. I opted for the "L" model because it didn't come with a moon roof, which reduces headroom, and because, and I think this is very important for anyone considering going off-road, it doesn't have monochromatic bumpers. The gray/black rubberized bumpers of the "L" model are not going to "nick" at the first road stone and are going to look alot better alot longer than the ones that come on the "S" and the "S" Premium models. It's too bad that virtually every car/van/SUV in America come with matching bumpers. There isn't enough touch up paint in the world to keep up with the care these will need!
As far as price goes, I only added the Group4 package which includes the HEPA filter for cabin air, the cargo net, and the raised and padded center console. I also chose the Premium Sound package which includes single cd played, tweeter kit, upgraded speakers and sub woofer/amplifier. After the car was delivered with these items I had the dealer install leather. The great thing about doing it this way was that I had 10 to 12 different shades of gray the choose from, so I could match the interior of the Forester exactly. When it was all said and done I paid $300 over invoice, and that included the extras, I negotiated the deal to sell me the car with options all at invoice and then add $300 profit. In reality the dealer made another $650 dollars in hold back because he will get 3% of the total selling price from Subaru. So it was a good deal all around, no hassle for anybody, I did the whole deal over the phone and only met the guy when I picked out the leather. Good luck and go for the Subaru you won't regret it! 165 horsepower and good mileage to boot!!
It's been a while since we heard from you and I was starting to worry. We miss having your Aussie perspective on the various topics.
-Frank P.
Also, I've noticed that my rear window washer either doesn't work, or takes a really long time to get washer fluid to the back window. When activated I can hear the pump running but nothing happens before I lose patience sitting there holding the switch (I've held it for about a minute with no results). Anyone else noticed this or have advice on what to check?
Steve
Mayme: Resale value should be excellent, partly because people who buy these vehicles tend to keep them, making supply of used ones scarce. Was recently on carmax website. They had 100's of Explorers, but only 3 Foresters of ANY vintage on the entire east coast.
Steve: Rear wiper on my '01 L works intermittently like yours. No problems with fluid delivery, though. Good luck on tracking down the problem.
Bruce
Ross
-Brian
sierratrip: congrats on the purchase! Did you get any photos of the leather install? How much did you pay? Is it heated?
Yowzer: the 2002s arrived early, so I doubt there are any 2001s left. The 2002 costs only $30 more (freight went up), and the extra features mean you're really getting it cheaper.
tank girl: congrats to you, too. I think Hutch got some speakers that required a bit of trimming, but they did fit. I swapped for the premium sound speakers, so I didn't have that problem. It's easy to do, the covers just pop off. I have photos here.
-juice
What do you think?
Ron
-juice
Ken
-juice
I just had my '01 S+ in the shop 2 weeks ago for some routine maintenance, and also had them look at the rear washer, which wasn't working. They told me it was plugged, although I couldn't tell you where. Maybe you could call your local dealership service department; if it's something they see frequently, they may be able to tell you what to try so you don't need to make a special trip just for that.
My rear wiper also operates like yours - swipe, pause, swipe, pause.... I think that's what it's supposed to do.
Has anybody replaced the stock tires with something else that they feel was an improvement?
I'm concerned mostly with packed snow and ice traction, but I value dry road handling and ride too.
Thanks
Try TireRack for owner surveys instead. The tires on the L were fairly good in snow, IMO, but braking in the rain was poor, and handling only OK.
I replaced them with touring tires, but they are lousy in the snow (that's OK, I wanted dry and wet traction).
-juice
I'm old fashioned, and older, and I like one-color paint jobs. I dislike two-tone paint jobs on almost any vehicle I can think of - especially the ones with the dipped-in-cladding-up-to-the-door-handles look.
One advantage of saving up to buy a car for cash is that I can afford to have the bumpers painted whenever I like - heck, or the whole car every three or four years if need be or if I ever get tired of silver. The '86 was silver too
As the former owner of a 14-year-old Subaru, be warned that the black plastic starts bleaching out and fading after 5 or 10 years if you leave it in the sun constantly.
John
Leo
Thanks
I would strongly recommend that you drive both vehicles. They are built on different chassis and really drive and handle differently. I really like the handling characteristics of both my OB wagon AND Forester. They are just different. The Forester is fun to kind of toss around and feel very comfortable with how it will respond. Compared to the OB, I would say that the Forester is more of a 'drivers' vehicle whereas the OB (both sedan and wagon) is more refined, quiet and "Camry-like" in its handling.
In terms of reliability, I'd say it's a toss up. Both have been reliable although we have only had the Forester for 6 months.
Now, in terms of parts availabilty, it is true that many parts are not stocked by dealerships. I have run into this and I would say that it is one of the few criticisms I have of SOA. Usually it takes a dealer 3 to 4 days for a dealer to receive their parts order. Fortunately, Subes are so reliable that this should not be a major factor and furthermore, has not been a serious negative factor during my ownership experience.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Both are made in Japan and some parts do need to be shipped from Japan, though I've never had a problem waiting long despite dozens of accessories I've put on my Forester (too many to list).
Quality and reliability should be similar, they are built side-by-side in Gunma, Japan. Same engine and tranny, even. Foresters outsell the rest of the Impreza line about 3 to 2, but it used to be 3 to 1 before the WRX arrived, so yes they are more common.
My guess is you'll be happy with either, so pick the one that brings you the widest smile. Drive a WRX wagon, too, so you'll have no regrets later.
-juice
As for parts availability, a dealer can usually get any part within 2 weeks, if it's not already in stock.
Ken
leather and it looks and feels great!
Have fun.
-Donn
-Frank P.
-Frank P.
Thanks
Mudd
Ross
We live in a colder climate and I find the unheated leather on our 2 Mazdas a bit brisk in the winter, plus in the summer if you wear a tank top you get sweaty because ours don't breathe. You could have gotten better quality leather, though.
If the trailer itself weighs 1500lbs and you add 2 snow mobiles, you'd be pushing the limit even with trailer brakes. I think for that kind of heavy duty towing you'd be better off with a truck, to be honest.
(paisan will chime in any minute now...)
-juice