Does anyone rate the Subaru Forester?

[Wulbert]

I've been browsing the posts on these pages. Lots of mentions of various Land Rovers, Jeeps, big Japanese Pick-ups etc.

I haven't seen anyone recommend or praise the trusty Subaru Forester though. This seems a bit strange given how very capable they are, both off-road and as a real "driver's car" on-road. They come in diesel (not so good) and petrol (better, more reliable but less torquey) versions. The 2 litre manual models have a low range gearbox and the 2.5 turbo has a very powerful motor.

There are loads of YouTube videos of Forester's trouncing much more macho looking off road vehicles. It does have a rep as being expensive to run ( suspension parts & exhaust system) but surely no worse than some of the Landy models?

I'm just curious about why it isn't a more quoted car on here? Any one have an opinion?

[Pica-Pica]

Foresters do not come in diesel any more from new. They come as a petrol or a petrol-hybrid. 2-litre only, the Outback is 2.5 litre only as new now.
You will find within many other threads, people often reply to a question about what is the best semi-off-road, the answer will be ‘Subaru Forester’. They are very much liked by their owners. I always fancied one, but got a 335d instead! As I say, those who have a Forester, love them.

[SidJames]

I had a 2.5 on an 07 plate from memory. Engine was spectacular, but drinks oil like it's going out of fashion.

The only time I tested the 4WD in 2 years was the single time it snowed. Did a reasonable drift on std tyres.

[wombleh]

I fancy the STI one!

[cailean]

It doesn't get spoken about on here because Brits love LRs too much :-)

My wife has had one for 6 years and we love it. No issues with it, still drives like new. The CVT isn't great though.... Very well put together and handles well due to its low CoG, but good clearance. I have all terrain tyres on it, have taken it greenlaning and to pay and play offorad sites (Slingdon), it never got stuck.

Thinking of changing it to a new'ish XT version and putting skid plates, new sway bar, strut brace, AT tyres, lift kit on it. Lots of US and Aussies seriously kit them out for overlanding and as adventure vehicles. The XV/Crosstrek is also popular to modify. Warn have even just released a winch kit for them:
https://international.warn.com/semi-hidden-grille-...

[Jag_NE]

I had a new one as a rental for a couple of days, a few months back. Road use only, granted, but utterly awful in every respect. Reliability may be better than average but unsure. They aren’t cheap either. Absolutely awful interior, used loads of fuel, very dated looks. But a 330d with x drive.

[CypSIdders]

I've had a 2011 diesel from new, never let me down on or off road.
Lots of torque, a true workhorse, even with the back seats folded down and loaded to the gunnels!

[Wulbert]

Jag_NE said:

I had a new one as a rental for a couple of days, a few months back. Road use only, granted, but utterly awful in every respect. Reliability may be better than average but unsure. They aren’t cheap either. Absolutely awful interior, used loads of fuel, very dated looks. But a 330d with x drive.

I suppose I'm basing my query on pretty limited knowledge of only one, nine year old, model. I have no idea what the new ones are like, especially compared with their modern competitors. Glad to see that some folk rate them. I agree about the poor interiors ( flimsy & rattly compared to my Honda CRV and Honda Jazz) and can imagine that if you never took one off-road then there might not be much to get excited about.

I like the low C of G and feeling of being glued to the road, but I have not driven any other 4 x4's ( unless you count the CRV, which I don't and which handled very stodgily indeed) so there may well be better out there.

I'm pleased with my old Forester though and have just, this afternoon, hauled a trailer load of logs out of a muddy, soggy woodland without even a wheel spin.

[Wulbert]

They are pretty ugly; "designed by committee" comes to mind. Bland and generic looking. Although I think the pre-2009 models are ruggedly handsome.

[Pica-Pica]

Wulbert said:

They are pretty ugly; "designed by committee" comes to mind. Bland and generic looking. Although I think the pre-2009 models are ruggedly handsome.

..um. I would say designed by engineers, rather than by marketing/styling departments.

[Bansheemax]

SJ XT and love it, even with a CVT box.

[ericmcn]

Wulbert said:

They are pretty ugly; "designed by committee" comes to mind. Bland and generic looking. Although I think the pre-2009 models are ruggedly handsome.

As opposed to designed by marketing bods who release dozens of cars every few years with questionable reliability and shoddy aftercare service? Of which gullible people snap up of course.

I'm not a fan of a CVT box but a Forester STi is a beast, if you can get one.

[GIYess]

The project I work on has one (2018, 2.0D) which I do quite a lot of miles in. Its quite nice though I see a lot of troubling things starting to go wrong. It only has 11k miles and there is a wheel bearing noise. The small triangle pieces of black trim on the rear doors is sort of deformed out too. Perhaps most worryingly, I think there might be a bit of slack developing in the DMF too as it will kangaroo very easily.

Comfortable enough though.

[Pica-Pica]

GIYess said:

The project I work on has one (2018, 2.0D) which I do quite a lot of miles in. Its quite nice though I see a lot of troubling things starting to go wrong. It only has 11k miles and there is a wheel bearing noise. The small triangle pieces of black trim on the rear doors is sort of deformed out too. Perhaps most worryingly, I think there might be a bit of slack developing in the DMF too as it will kangaroo very easily.

Comfortable enough though.

Again, Subaru no longer make diesels.

[designforlife]

My colleague has a lightly fettled XT, sounds awesome and goes like absolute stink, however it looks boring as hell, nice sleeper.

If you are into tinkering they can be made very quick for not a huge amount of money.

[ericmcn]

GIYess said:

The project I work on has one (2018, 2.0D) which I do quite a lot of miles in. Its quite nice though I see a lot of troubling things starting to go wrong. It only has 11k miles and there is a wheel bearing noise. The small triangle pieces of black trim on the rear doors is sort of deformed out too. Perhaps most worryingly, I think there might be a bit of slack developing in the DMF too as it will kangaroo very easily.

Comfortable enough though.

The Subaru boxer diesel engines are woeful, the EZ30 is a completely different animal and my preference for all the Subaru engines. The turbos used in the Forester Sti can get over 300bhp but I am more comfortable using an understressed flat 6 N/A lump

[ericmcn]

Pica-Pica said:

GIYess said:

The project I work on has one (2018, 2.0D) which I do quite a lot of miles in. Its quite nice though I see a lot of troubling things starting to go wrong. It only has 11k miles and there is a wheel bearing noise. The small triangle pieces of black trim on the rear doors is sort of deformed out too. Perhaps most worryingly, I think there might be a bit of slack developing in the DMF too as it will kangaroo very easily.

Comfortable enough though.

Again, Subaru no longer make diesels.

perfectly understandable as they were terrible, just like Lexus wisely ditched them. The Lexus is220 or whatever it was called was embarrassing for a brand like that - what were they thinking of

[GIYess]

ericmcn said:

Pica-Pica said:

GIYess said:

The project I work on has one (2018, 2.0D) which I do quite a lot of miles in. Its quite nice though I see a lot of troubling things starting to go wrong. It only has 11k miles and there is a wheel bearing noise. The small triangle pieces of black trim on the rear doors is sort of deformed out too. Perhaps most worryingly, I think there might be a bit of slack developing in the DMF too as it will kangaroo very easily.

Comfortable enough though.

Again, Subaru no longer make diesels.

perfectly understandable as they were terrible, just like Lexus wisely ditched them. The Lexus is220 or whatever it was called was embarrassing for a brand like that - what were they thinking of

Maybe not but I wasn't sure if he was looking for second hand. This must have been one of the last diesels, the shape before latest.

[cailean]

I thought they stopped diesel Foresters some time before 2018

[GIYess]

Excuse for a picture?


Performed admirably up a couple of very muddy, rough tracks yesterday. Should have had a dash cam to film it. (Not pictured)