Another auto opinion question

Jeff B.

Member
I've been looking at buying a 2015 Subaru Forester. Any good points, bad points to look at, or comments? The few folks I know swear by their Subarus, and other than cost of repairs when they need them, they seem to be solid cars.
Anyone out there with personal experience?
 
I have a 2012 Forester. Bought it new in 2012 and have about 47,000 miles on it now.

The only issue I have had was a computer programming error that popped up under acceleration and it was repaired under warranty. I didn't have any problems getting the warranty work done.

The car fits the needs of my family (4 plus a little dog) without a bunch of extra stuff I don't need (TV's, Wi-Fi, etc.). Although, when we got the car we were just 3 plus a little dog and the car seat seems to take up more space than it should. That will be better when I can turn it around and have it be forward facing instead of rear facing. He's 15 months now, so it will be here sooner than I think. Good thing my wife has short legs!

The AWD has been great in the snow, but if we got more snow here I might consider running snow tires instead of the stock tires. I've never gotten stuck though and my only hesitation when the roads are bad are what the other yahoos on the road are going to try to do.

I did not get the turbo. I'm not trying to win any races and it just seemed like one more thing that might cause problems later. My uncle is a mechanic and he said I made a good choice although most of the problems he has seem with them have been from abuse and improper maintenance.

The 2015 has a CVT. It substantially reduced the towing capacity of the car. I'm not hauling tractors with mine, so it probably isn't a big deal, but my little pop-up would be right at the max of a new one, whereas it is about the middle of the rating for a 2012. I only ever haul it 30-60 miles depending on what lake I go to, so I take my time and it works just fine. However, the CVT improved the fuel economy. On long trips the best I have gotten was 26 MPG. The CVT is supposed get upwards of 32 MPG I think.

There have been some complaints of excessive oil consumption on some models. I don't know if that has been remedied in the 2015's. Mine doesn't use a drop in the first 3000 miles after an oil change, but by 5000 miles when I change it (I just can't bring myself to wait 7500 miles like the book calls for), it is about a pint low. I can live with that and attribute most of that to the 0W20 oil it calls for. It is pretty thin stuff, but I like to believe the engineers in Japan know a little more about it than I do, so that is what I use.

Don't expect it to be a luxury car. It isn't, although my 92 year old aunt says it is much easier to get in and out of than the cars other family members have. It is more function than form, but I suppose if I had spent the extra for some of the extra gadgets or leather seats it might feel a little fancier. It does what I need it to do, which is safely and dependably haul my family around. It is as much fun to drive as a family car should be.

It is 4WD, but it is not the the truck I traded in for something the entire family will fit in. But hey, at least I'm not driving a mini-van!
 
I am not a Subaru person. That said if I bought one it would be new or darn near it. Reason: when they get older the engines are a nightmare and lots of loot $$$$$ to deal with. Seen it to many times.
 
My sister bought one NEW a few years ago. Not sure what model year it is, 2013 ? She had a CRV before. She wanted to stay with a manual trans. so Subaru was it. So far I think she has been happy. Looks easy to service yourself.
Also check out Honda CRV and the new HRV. My wife got a new HRV and really likes it then my daughter got one too ! The HRV will get you 31-32 MPG and a CRV will get you 28-31 mpg. These new AWD models get what my little 2 wd 2008 FIT gets for MPG.
 
Impreza and forester are the same platform with minor changes, so I will toss in my 2 cents...

Wife has the 13 Impreza withe the CVT, Cvt greatly improved mileage. The car is at 34.2 for the first 80K(90% 2 lane country roads). the transmission takes a while to get used to, I equate it with having a rubber band for a driveline. Winter driving is incredible, you find yourself doing foolish/dangerous things. No repair issues at all, had first brakes and tires a week ago.

I was concerned by the transmission, so we purchased it from a dealer that throws in a lifetime $250 deductible powertrain warranty with every new car purchase.

Some newer Subarus use oil, be advised, look into it.

Little doubt this car will be replaced with another of the same.


There have been a couple 13 Foresters in the family. One was traded in a year after purchase because the seats weren't comfortable( the ones in the Imprezza aren't for me but my wife loves them). The other has had no issues at 50K, averaging mid 20s for mileage.

Edit to add: Car has also had 2 serpentine belts(started making some noise), and I changed the spark plugs at the recommended 60K. Plugs are homeowner doable, under an hour for 4, plugs are expensive(iridium), $13 on Amazon.

Brake parts are cheap online, not so much locally.

I also do the oil changes at 5K, was using Pennzoil Full syn 0w20, but had a little consumption. I went to a 5W20 Semi syn for warm weather, and my consumption stopped(was a quart at 3500-4000 miles or so). Will go back to the full syn Ow20 for cold weather.
 
jocco is right. I havn't been around them for 10 years, saw quite a few of them when I had the tire shop. Hope they are improved over the ones 10 years ago.
 
This goes back some ten years or more, but I once did some body work on a Subaru that had been in a minor fender bender. The fender was worth saving, but the metal was so thin I couldn't even use regular body tools on it. Believe it or not, I just worked the metal with my fingers.

I finally took a micrometer to it and found the metal in the fender miked 13 thousands of an inch thick. By comparison, a fender on a typical Chevy pickup of the era miked 34 thousands. I said at the time Subaru should be prosecuted for impersonating an automobile manufacturer.

I hope they've improved since then.

My negativity for the day.
 
My wife had an 02 legacy sedan. Only good point was awd. Was not good on gas. Broke all the time. The head gasket started seeping at 100k. She finally hit a deer and totalled it. Was very happy.

Mother in law had an 07 outback. Lots of problems with that one too after about 80k. Not from lack of maintenance either. She's the type that does what the manual says. Thought I talked her out of buying another one, but she brought another new outback home a few months ago. See how this one goes I guess.
 
i just sold a 2001 forester, it had 300,000 miles, and during its life other than the usual oil, tires and 2 batteries, the only big ticket item was the a/c compressor, thats a pretty cheap cost of ownership
 
We bought a 2015 outback last year and love it, have 17,000 miles already. The mileage drops off on high speed freeways, but up to 65 it's pretty good. In the past some were known to use some oil, but ours doesn't. 0-20 full synthetic, 6000 mile between changes and no adding. Also one of the easiest cars I've had in a long time to change oil on. If you buy Mobil 1 on sale you can save a lot by changing it yourself.
 
We have a '10 Forester we bought new at "cash for clunkers" time in '09. Have 151,000 plus miles on it, mostly highway driving. Best car we've ever owned. We've done NOTHING to it but change oil/filters, battery and brake pads, not even tires yet (Yokohama Geolanders), although it's due. Still looks and rides great. Will be buying another one if this one ever dies, which doesn't look like any time soon. Recalls were so minor we didn't bother to get them done (no dealers close to us and we need it everyday to get to work). It does use some oil now. Still getting 30 + mpg, EPA rating is 24/26. They look very simple to work on but don't know about the turbo models. Have you looked at that pancake engine? Physically about the size of something in a SCUT tractor, being a flat 4 it's only two cylinders deep, but wider than a regular 4. I've looked up the cost of replacement engines and transmissions and they are no more than any other 4 cyl. motor. I think the myth of them being hard to work on and expensive is just that, a myth.

Subaru did have some problems with head gaskets and transmissions in the Outback in the the mid 2000s. A friend had one and traded it off for an '08 and he loved it and had no problems with it. He traded that for a Toyota Highlander (his wife wanted a bigger vehicle than the Outback).

I don't think you can go far wrong with the '15 Forester.
 
We had a 2010 Forester for a couple years - purchased new. No real problems other than the bluetooth for the phone was absolutely horrible (might not be an issue to some, and minor inconvenience but she really liked that and wanted to make sure it had that capability when she bought so she was sadly disappointed when it worked so horribly and talking to both Subaru and the dealer, they seemed to have no plan to make better -- was a very common problem). The main reason she traded was room as she always said it always seemed like a "little car" and felt sort of cheap in the interior. She did rave about handling in snow, and we live down a very rural road with steep hills, so 4x4 is almost a necessity if you plan on getting out all year long, and it handled it well with good ground clearance (for a car and I consider it a car), and their 4x4 system seemed to outperform most that are simply based on a front wheel drive car platform. I did do quite a bit of research on them before agreeing with purchase, and saw complaints about head gaskets and oil usage, but since ours was traded prior to ever nearing 50,000, we did not see those type problems, and it was never in for any warranty work. Not sure if the new ones now are still made in Japan but ours was.
 
P.S. I was a bit surprised that my wife complained at the Forester feeling small as she is 5.0 feet tall, and fairly petite. I rarely if ever drove the Forester, so I really cannot confirm. The Forester she bought was to replace a Tacoma that she absolutely loved. She now owns another Tacoma, and seems to like it just as well overall, but she has said she would likely not want another Forester and was not impressed with it. But, I must admit the Tacoma is tough to match on the roads we live on, and seems very reliable, but they are really like comparing apples vs. oranges in my opinion.
 
Our family is Subaru friendly. We have had 5 so far and only one was lost due to a wreck. FF 1100 , A 1400 Wagon and 3 2000 and 2001 Outbacks. All were stick shift. Issues were normal replacement of wear parts. Like clutches and timing belts at 150K. Made in Lafayette Ind. WIll buy more if needed, none needed now. Jim
 
(quoted from post at 20:41:14 08/26/15) I've been looking at buying a 2015 Subaru Forester. Any good points, bad points to look at, or comments? The few folks I know swear by their Subarus, and other than cost of repairs when they need them, they seem to be solid cars.
Anyone out there with personal experience?
A couple of friends have them...later models. One told me she pays $300 for an oil change and tune-up...I assume plugs and ?????. Both have $$$ and I guess it is no big deal to them, but if I couldn't change oil and plugs myself I wouldn't own one.
 
A friend at work bought one to replace his wife's 2000 Highlander. They loved it, until the oil usage began. He is VERY particular about keeping vehicles just so, and adding oil every other week to a vehicle with less than 30K miles really ticked him off. They just traded it. Buying from a dealer 120 miles away in Chicago did not help the situation.
 

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