Apparently, everyone in Maine owns a Forester. We’re buying a house up there and they are all over the place because they are so good in ice and snow. My in-laws in Sonoma own one, though, as does my mother in Seattle, so they must be good in more temperate climates. I don’t think there’s much leg room in the back, but if you aren’t hauling adults around, you should be fine.
We ended up with a 2016 Outback. I drove the forester, but the outback was much quieter, steadier and the seats are so comfortable. It feels luxurious to drive!
Congrats! I have a 2011 Outback, which replaced my 2001 Outback. I think it went through 2 major redesigns between those years, is much bigger and the seats are more comfy. It’s almost too big for me now. Unfortunately the clutch went at 75,000 miles (I have been driving manual transmission all my life, so it wasn’t me!) Never had the air conditioning drain issue with Subarus that was mentioned, but my H’s Buick has that.
We bought a new Forester last winter and I love it! Never had (or wanted) an SUV, always drove a small economy sedan (Hondas, Hyundais) but I had been doing a lot of driving…80 miles across Appalachian mountains…to shuttle my daughter to ballet. Did research specifically for ice and snow. Even in “normal” hilly situations I feel so much safer and more stable in the Forester. I can see better in fog, as well. I tried the Outback but felt I was inside of a long tunnel. The Forester has much better visibility. Only thing I had to get used to with the bigger, higher vehicle was the bigger impact of wind. Also, we got the flooding on the passenger side floor another poster warned about, but it was a quick fix. Also, I don’t really notice much difference in gas expenditures.
2014 Forrester bought in 2013. Love the rear view camera–I’ll never go without one again.
Never use the Bluetooth. The dealer taught me how to use it but I couldn’t remember 5 minutes later. It doesn’t feel intuitive.
We do not have the GPS system.
We ended up installing roof racks later, so that’s one feature I wish we’d gotten upfront.
The light gray fabric seats stain pretty easily. We have dogs so there are frequently little gray paw prints on it. We did purchase the cleaning/replacement service from the dealer though (about $5 a month) and they shampoo them out whenever we ask. It’s a pain though-- if you have pets, get a dark fabric or leather.
We haven’t had any issues with ours. It handles very well in the winter and it has great visibility.
I feel like it’s a pretty clunky and loud but serviceable car. Gas mileage is meh. All of the Subarus feel clunky to me. But they handle well in winter lands.
It’s pretty tight for 3 sitting in the back seat, and my kids say there are no vents back there. That’s another thing I wish we had (so check that). We have to blow the heater or the AC to the back from the front vents.
I am glad someone brought this up, will be in the market for a new car someday soon and the Forrester is one of the cars I am looking at. All cars can have problems, and things like plastic items , auxiliary jacks, 12v outlets, tend to be relatively fragile and are one of the more common thing to break…also it can depend what year you are talking about, all car makers from time to time have a year or years known for problems, often after they have redone the model.
One note, someone said you need to replace all 4 tires if one of them goes on an AWD car. While that is the safe thing to do in one sense, you may not need to. It really depends on the shape of the remaining tires, if you recently changed the tires and one of them let’s say has a blowout, it could be safe to replace only that one. The key factor is the shape the tread is in, if the tires are older, then the differential between the new tire and the old one is can be large enough that it will cause the center differential (which has a viscuous coupling and computer generated traction control) to put too much stress on one differential or the other, and cause it to fail over time. If the tire place is honest, they should be able to determine if you need to replace all 4 (yeah, I know, diogences searched the world holding a lamp looking for an honest person, when he came to a repair place they stole the lamp…).
It is one of the downsides of AWD, it definitely adds weight to the car, complexity, drops the gas mileage…but if you live in a place with snowy winters and the like, can be a big help, too.
Timely thread. I went car shopping with a good friend yesterday. This car purchase is her first in her life on her own. She is rently divorced. She tried a few different makes in our city but we had to drive 45 minutes to try the Suburu. She went in thinking she wanted the Forrester but ended up buying the Crosstrek. She could not stop beaming she is so happy with her purchase. She loved the big back window of the Forrester but liked the sportier drive of the Crosstrek. She has no children just dogs to drive to the dog park. She got a car with the Eyesight add on even though she was happy with the visibility in the Crosstrek.
Love, it’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru.
We love our 3 kids so much, they all drive Subarus. 
We have a 2010 and a 2015 Forester and a 2013 Impreza.
The Forester’s gas mileage really improved between 2010 and 2015. Good visibility and safety ratings were our main criteria for buying. There have been no mechanical problems, but the 2010 had some part that came loose, causing a noise. The CT dealership quoted over $1,000 to fix the problem, but my son watched a youtube video and fixed the problem for $10. So dealerships can be bigger problems than the vehicles.
I had a 2005 Forester. As a short person, I loved the visibility (rear window size has since been reduced) and being up higher up. However, and this should not affect the OP, it turned out a bunch of Foresters made in the mid 2000s had major engine issues. I had planned to give mine to my D, who was learning to drive eight years after I bought it. However right around then, the engine started leaking oil and it was a $3,000+ repair. I only had about 70,000 miles on it. I decided it was old enough that it wasn’t worth repairing and bought a Honda.
So all those sweet Subaru love ads and the ones where the parents watch their kids grow up in the car now have me cursing at the TV. Too bad, since I really liked the car before it rebelled.
Thank you very much for all the helpful replies.
My mother has owned an early 2000s Subaru for years, and I used to drive it quite a lot. It did have the major engine issues described above which led to breakdown and extremely expensive repairs. However, I’m pretty sure they have since fixed whatever was causing that. Quality of interior construction never seemed that great - pieces of plastic falling off, etc. The seats are wicked uncomfortable for a long drive. Oh, and the gas mileage isn’t any better than my old V8 sedan (yikes - I’m sure they must have changed that!). But it’s a nice car, easy to drive and maneuver, with GREAT visibility (though I think they may have changed that as well since the design looks totally different now). Not what I’d call a highway cruiser - but great for country driving especially with lots of hills and curves.
We tried the CrossTrek and the Outback - we liked the visibility of the Forester. The small side windows on the Outback made me nuts. The 2015 Forester’s visibility is what sold me.
We have owned three Subarus.
First one was a legacy wagon in the '80’s. It had issues…we traded it in for our first van. That car got about 18 miles to a gallon.
Then we got a Legacy sedan…that one had to in the early 90’s. We loved that car. We drove it for 10 years or more, then gave it to DS who drove it during grad school. We then sold it to a friend who drov it for two more years,mand sold it to another friend. It got about 20 miles to a gallon. Pretty lousy.
We now have an Outback wagon. It has 115,000 miles on it, mostly highway miles. It gets about 24-26 mpg around town and 32 plus on the highway. Not bad. It’s comfortable, and roomy.
We have a 2009 Forester. Love it. Love the high driver’s seat. Love the greenhouse windows. Love the capacity for loading garden stuff. Have taken great road trips —the front seats leave a bit something to be desired for long hours. Am doing a 5-tire rotation—which works brilliantly if you blow a tire.
No Forester here. It’s totally on my wish list though! Gimme! Gimme!
Very happy owner of one Outback, then Impreza.
Buy an American car.
What if the Subaru was assembled in Indiana?
Where does the money go?
Who manufactured the parts?
Yeah, I bought a Ford Fusion last year…made in Mexico.
I loved the visibility in the Subaru, but H was scared off by the oil burner stories, cemented by riding in my aunt’s 2014, which smelled like a Vega every time you stopped it.
I would have liked to try our chances because it seemed like a great car for a short person with neck problems who lives in a snowy state.
Are there any American cars?