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No check-engine light? That surprises me.
Not exactly sure what causes it but have noticed it usually happens when de-accelerating.
I asked my dealer about it but drew a blank. Will keep an eye on it and see if it gets any worse.
The '09 Forester impressed us. The Subaru's have a great reputation.
I have a concern about maintenance costs however. I've read some posts comparing costs, but not actual prices. How much higher should your normal factory suggested maintenance costs and frequency be for the Forester, than say a RAV4, CRV for example.
I'd appreciate any feedback.
How about resale value, are all three brands comparable?
I learned when we looked at cars last summer, and the reviews for the Forester caught our eye, did some research and Subie's have a loyal following. One of my son's has the Subaru with the bed, an '05 possibly.
It would also depend on the dealers service department. I've always went by the owners manual for maintenance schedules. And a lot of service departments want to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the mix.
I'll have to check the Porsche recommendation for plug change for a comparison of the boxer engine. I spoke recently to a long time reputable garage owner in town, and he said the 100K plug change recommendation on most cars is a reliable indicator.
I do know one thing, I've been very contented with my current Maxima, it has served us well.
there is a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) #16-72-07 for the Automatic Transmission Learning Control Procedure which may apply to your transmission concern.
The dealer can apparently reset the transmission so it can relearn shift behavior.
And yes Porsches cost plenty to maintain, though I'm not sure if the boxer engine is the primary reason.
But overall I agree with the suggestion to get a Chase Subaru credit card and get all your maintenance for free. BMW offers 4 free years, but whoop-de-doo, we've already accumulated $400 since we got our 2009. It caps out at $500/year, so in those 4 years I'll have $2000 worth of free service, more than I spent in 9 years maintaining my 1998 Forester.
I do the easy stuff, like oil changes, but this is my wife's car so I'll probably let the dealer do the 30k, 60k, and 90k services. Even at full retail prices that would be completely free of charge for us.
Funny thing is I own a Toyota as well (Sienna), so the question is, how am I going to pay for maintenance on that van, since they do not offer such a program?
PS Your son must have the Baja. The never sold well but owner's love them - it won the JD Power APEAL study among pickups.
That Chase Subaru card sounds like a worthwhile deal, and I'm gun shy about credit card companies now. I've had a Citi card for quite a few years, good credit. And the first thing they did after the bailout was to jack the interest up about 6 1/2%. An appreciative bunch of thieves aren't they? Off the subject.
When do the new models come out? I would doubt there would be any discounts on the Forester though, as every time I drive thru the lot, they have fewer on hand. Three to be exact on Sunday. None our preferred color.
If there are any changes to the 2010 Forester, they will be minor. If you're on the fence about 09 vs 10 models, I think you should wait for the 2010. The 09's have been around for nearly 1 1/2 years already. There were very few 08 Foresters - as the old style (same as 07s) were discounted to make room for the 09's in January of 08 - a full 1/2 year before normal model year introduction. With no incentives to buy a 09, I would wait for the 2010 when they arrive in July or August.
The Outbacks are a different story. The 09's are being discounted with $2000 rebates combined with 2.9% financing (not as good as my wife got on her 07 Forester which was rebate + 1.9%). This is being done to make room for the all-new 2010 Outbacks. Generally, Subaru offers the best deals on the last of a generation before a new design is introduced. New ones should be at dealers by July.
I am not exaggerating here, I really have earned $6000 through end of 2008, and already $300 in bucks this year. In fact I applied for, and got a 4th Subaru card a few months ago as every year I maxed out all three.
Now, I am not the weathiest person around, and I do pay my credit card bills always within the the grace period. I am proud to say I have never paid one ounce worth of finance charges on any credit cards my entire life (64 right now)
I do a fair amount of travel for work, and many of my expenses are reimbursed. Think about it, at 3% you need to spend almost $17,000 per year to get back $500 in Subaru bucks.
We have a few gasonine credit cards, like a Shell that always pay 5%. Had a Hess card that until recently also paid 5% but since they changed it to 3% I have closed that account. Have a Mobil Exxon card that they had a special on a few months ago, gives 15 cents a gallon with no time or amount limit. As long as gas remains below $3.00 per gallon, that is my best deal. Also have a Sears Master Card that gives 5% on supermarkets, drug stores and gas stations & can earn up to $300 per year rewards for those cards. Must difficut part is wifey remembering which card to use!
Here in Massachusetts you can pay car insurance via credit card. Same for homeowners. Oil deliveries, propane, doctors, etc. My wife now on Medicare and any who knows when you are in the "bubble" expenses for drugs can easily come up to $5000 - $6000 a year. That's $200 in Subaru Bucks.
The list goes on and one... When I got my Forester in March I had accumulated $1200 in bucks which I used at the time, already have $300 in bucks and next month should max out that card, then switch to another one.
We also use the ExxonMobil card strictly for gas, and the BP which, paying 5%, is better when gas gets over $3 (it also pays 2% for travel and restaurants). I find myself using BP gas more than Exxon because our BP has slightly lower ethanol content than our Exxon (I occasionally test the ethanol content).
There's enough to worry about at the checkout line just making sure everything rings up correctly - so its understandable that your wife might not remember which card to use. My wife made a chart that she printed out & we put it in our wallets, so we can refer to it wherever we are to use the right card.
We used $1400 worth for our Forester and have $400 already for service, though I'm sure the next $100 will come soon.
For us it takes about 6 months to max out on the Chase Subaru card, and like you my wife puts her business expenses on there, and gets reimbursed.
When we hit that limit we use our Shell card, which only gets 1%.
I guess we're not maximizing our rebates for the whole year, but we don't want to have any more lines of credit open because we're in the process of re-financing the mortgage.
Shell did, at least until recently have cards that paid 5% for all gas purchases. Had a Hess as well but discontinued it because they dropped to 3%.
I just hope the Subaru cards continue with all that is happening in the credit card industry a lot of these programs will probably be discontinued. Discover also has a card that pays 5%, but only on certain items that change every three months. Sometimes clothing, sometimes motels, sometimes restaurants, etc., but I have enough going on already that becomes too complicated.
I open and close credit card accounts all the time. Go to a Penny's or Macy's or Kohls & they beg you to open a new account and get 10%, maybe 15% off entire purchase for that day. I use it once, then cancel it.
I know for younger people, or those without the good credit I have that would cause a problem opening and shutting accounts like I do, as that would surely have a negative effect on their credit score, but at this stage of my life I am not worrying about being turned down for credit. Interesting, I just went on line last week to get "free credit reports" Of course once you sign up, if you do not cancel within a week or so they will automatically bill you every month for their services.
I checked my credit scores & cancelled immediately. By the way, pretty proud of what I have, Trans Union 768, Experian 780, and Equifax 806. I really don't know why there is such a difference between all three, as they all show essentially the same info.
To clarify - the Shell card gives 5% back on Shell gas purchases, not any gas purchases, AFAIK.
Our credit score was quite good so the re-fi should go through without a hitch, hopefully.
Yes Subaru PLEASE keep the deal alive with Chase, it's a sweet benefit for owners! :shades:
All those credit cards certainly sound too complicated to me. We use only our Subaru card, though we typically max out the rewards after five to six months. I *wish* it took us a whole year to do it, but I usually put all my expenses on there, and those can be substantial during the building season.
I did not know you could have more than one Subaru card, but I may look into that in order to maximize my benefit. Once I hit the cap on the rewards, using the card provides no benefit other than the convenience of consolidating my month's expense under one account. A second card will come in real handy after we finish paying for our house in a few more years, since we will probably be tripling our building expenses for a year or two after that to finish construction.
I'm almost embarrassed to say that I have no idea what my credit score is; I suspect it is decent enough. I do that free credit check once a year to verify the activity on my reports, but it does not provide a score.
occking, do you simply submit another application for a Chase Subaru card?
Warning:
This was advice provided to me, and I take no responsibility for any drivability issues that may result from it. You might want to verify this info with your own service adviser before attempting it.
1. Remove (-) (black) cable from the vehicle 12v battery.
2. Turn ignition key to ON.
3. Depress and hold brake for 2 seconds. Repeat this several times.
4. Reconnect the (-) battery cable to the 12v battery.
What happens?
All the computer memories in the vehicle will be erased. IE, all stored radio stations are deleted, altered factory presets are reset to defaults, all engine and transmission "adaptive knowledge" deleted, etc.
The vehicle basically starts from "zero", and as you drive it, it will relearn your behaviors and adapt the transmission and engine responsiveness parameters appropriately.
The brake trick is just a way to speed it up, so any residual power dies down and it truly resets. We used to tell people to wait 20 minutes.
A couple of caveats:
* you'll lose your radio's memory, so preset stations are gone
* have the remote handy, you may need to lock/unlock if the alarm goes off
* first tank will have poor mileage, it starts rich and leans the fuel mixture gradually
I would also capture any error codes if you have them first, else they are lost.
Do you think this one will fit on 2009 Limited
http://www.perrinperformance.com/products/show/463/Strut-Brace-Front?category=8&- - model=31
It is listed for 2009 XT. Also, do you have any other suggestions from your own experience?
Thank you all
If equal length exhaust headers improve performance, would it really cost Subaru _that_ much to outfit its engines with them from the beginning?
Wrt the strut brace, Perrin's been around for some time, and appears to be a favorite of some of the rally teams in the Portland OR area. That's sort of a left handed way of saying the product will probably do what it claims.
However, I suspect you would have to be driving the Forester XT really hard (like on a rally circuit or race track) to notice any real difference.
Basically you're bracing up the front suspension. The Forester is very rigid already, as crash tests on the front, side, and even roof have proven, but more rigidity can't hurt.
Remember we're talking about an H4, so that means 2 seperate 2-into-1 headers, one for each side.
Compare this cast one (not from a Forester, this is likely one side of a V8):
To this mandrel-bent equal length usually nicely coated header (gorgeous one from an in-line 6, or V12?):
But my Forester is warranted for 6 years and 100,000 miles, so there won't be any mods to its engine anytime soon.
OE is always a compromise, especially when they're trying to keep the price reasonable.
A lot of these engine mods go for big boost and the classic "turbo rush".
For me, that's hell in daily driving. The rush in the Outback XT was one reason I chose the Forester over it - XT's far more predictable.
The trick is for the car to be responsive, no matter what.
AWD makes a big difference there. I've seen many FWD / RWD cars smoke their tires and drift just trying to merge with traffic. Not so with the Subie - it just goes where pointed with little drama.
Is anyone here aware of any trend with these engines, and what to watch for?
I've been very careful wrt following oil changes, and use a proven additive to help protect the turbo.
I'm a total newbie (to this forum and to forester turbo engines) so I may well have missed something so I'm totally curious about your comment about warnings. I've taken it in to dealer for both services required for it's mileage (11000km) and I tried to follow all the break-in rules and I've only ever filled up with 91 octane or better. Is there something else? I want to know otherwise I'm just going to trash the new engine.
BTW, do you guys know the VIN range of the early turbo you say were subject to a recall order? I'd like to check against mine.
Thanks
It does not sound like you did anything wrong with your engine, and the fact that it is being replaced on the manufacturer's dime supports that. However, that does not necessarily give you any peace of mind concerning this same failure happening again, now does it?! I wish I could find that post to give you more specific information, but there are a lot of XT owners out there; Not only are many of them are highly knowledgeable about their cars, but they are happy to share their knowledge.
Good luck to you, and please let us know how the repair turns out.
The other known engine problem is Recall ID 08V460000 and reads as follows:
Recall Date:
SEP 11, 2008
Model Affected:
2009 SUBARU FORESTER
Summary:
SUBARU IS RECALLING 16,715 MY 2007-2008 LEGACY SEDANS AND WAGONS, MY 2008 IMPREZA SEDANS AND WAGONS, AND MY 2009 FORESTER VEHICLES. SOME VEHICLES MAY HAVE THE CYLINDER HEAD-SIDE OIL SUPPLY PIPE AND TURBOCHARGER-SIDE PIPE IMPROPERLY ASSEMBLED.
Consequence:
VIBRATION WOULD OCCUR WHILE DRIVING AND, OVER TIME, COULD EVENTUALLY RESULT IN CRACKING THE PIPE WHICH WOULD ALLOW OIL TO LEAK. IF LEAKING OIL CONTACTS COMPONENTS OPERATING AT HIGH TEMPERATURES, AN ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE COULD OCCUR.
Remedy:
DEALERS WILL INSPECT FOR CRACKING OR AN OIL LEAK AT THE OIL SUPPLY PIPE AT THE CYLINDER HEAD-SIDE. AN ADDITIONAL BRACKET WILL BE INSTALLED TO INCREASE RIGIDITY OF THE PIPE AND THE PIPE ASSEMBLY WILL BE REPLACED WITH A MODIFIED PART. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 20, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SUBARU AT 1-800-782-2783.
Potential Units Affected:
16715
Notes:
SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. WVF-16
Any ideas on how to reduce the glare without damaging the paint on the fake aluminum?
I notice that the high end model with leather seats has the vertical strips in fake wood veneer, less distracting. But we have the middle model with fake brushed aluminum.
I really love the storage under the floor in the back. I'm able to stow my headrests there, since I need to remove them for car seats (for top tether use). I can also store my extra diaper bag there without taking up room elsewhere. Big thumbs up!
I hope that someone from Subaru is reading this so that they can address these nuisance rattles.
Thanks for the tip on the headrest, I think our kids are too short (will measure) and it may aid visibility to remove them.
My servicing dealer got a 2010 in and could find no changes from 2009.
Some of the options packages are different, and hopefully some of the TSB's have been addressed.
The X Premium model gets a power driver's seats.
Blink and you'll miss all the changes. At least they didn't cut out content, and in another thread someone mentioned prices did not go up.
I just got the 2009 All weather premium package a month ago and it rides like a dream- had my last one for 8 years
Hope you'll be back on the road soon-past the old Valcour is my favorite road
23 Grace
Anyone catch any other changes?
http://media.subaru.com/index.php?s=43&item=77
Bob