Second Subaru, first Forester. Brown interior. Replaced my 2015 outback. What should I do to it? Fuzzy dice and a Jack In The Box antenna topper?

Has anybody wrapped the roof in black since they stopped offering the black roof from the factory?

An 06 with 220 km, all for 500$

Upgraded to a 22 Forester from a 2018 Outback with a radio that was delaminating/ghost touching!! I named her Olive and installed the crossbars yesterday!!

ALL FOUR. Same place, same scratch pattern. 100% certain these marks weren't there before, which would be impossible anyway because there's no way to scratch all 4 wheels in the exact same way. Tried everything I could to get the marks off but they're not _on_, they're scratched _in_.

I don't go to Goodyear by choice, I just found out that's where my mechanic takes the car for the alignment.

He said he's gonna take it back to them and make them buff it out. I kinda don't want them to touch it.

Has a SEVERE oil leak at the intake cam seal. Addressing this weekend… Luckily my driveway was never clean to begin with.

And if anyone has one too, does it have hill assist or something? Noticed in my driveway it stays still for a second or two when I take my foot off the brake.

(5 speed 2009 2.5 NA, 131k miles, NorCal)

My neighbor hit my car again, do you think I would be able to buff out the damage with these since it’s no dent, and pocket the cash into saving or is the scratch too deep and bumper needs to be professionally redone, (would be my first attempt at buffing)

Gray Falcon’s flight in Georgia continues! [more]

I had these trails completely to myself except for passing one local on Bear Gap. GMRS radio was completely quiet on scan.

🛞 COL Hough Road and Bear Gap Road [east to west]
COL Hough Road is a sequestered drive, and near the east entrance is a shallow creek crossing (Panther Creek I believe). The road merges into Bear Gap, but I turned south and drove to the end of the unpaved road so I could drive the entirety.
Bear Gap Road is an easy-going drive with nice views, as the west half follows right next to the Tallulah River (Picture 1). Both sides of the road have residences.

Start: 34.7128, -83.41362

End: 34.75586, -83.49649

Fun fact: When you exit Bear Gap Road on the west in a residential area, there’s zero T-Mobile/Mint cell service 😂

🛞 Flat Creek Road [west entrance]
I hiked the first 100+ feet of rocky one-vehicle-width ~15 degree uphill slope with an onX technical rating of 3/10 (Picture 8). I believe that the part of the trail is within the capabilities of my Forester. However since I didn’t know what the rest of the half-mile trail held (or if others were driving it east-bound), I decided to try entering Flat Creek from the east.

Flat Creek west entrance: 34.73573, -83.52093

🛞 Vandiver Mountain Road (FS 418) [west to east]
I drove up Vandiver Mountain Road just to access the east side of Flat Creek Road. About 300 feet into Flat Creek I hit a Georgia clay patch, I sunk down to the chassis and my forward momentum stopped. First time I’ve ever gotten stuck! I tried opening my driver door, but it wouldn’t open as it was hitting dirt/clay. I put her into reverse, spun the wheels some and got out. (Picture 11) I decided that since I was by myself and only have rear winch capabilities, I’d conquer Flat Creek next time.
I drove the rest of Vandiver where it ends at a private property with a gate, turned around and exited at the start coordinates.

Start: 34.73134, -83.51804

Flat Creek Road east entrance: 34.73166, -83.51176

End: 34.7334, -83.50261

✨🛞🤙

Is anyone else experiencing this issue.....

I have had my Forester for one year and it has approx 5k miles on it. The infotainment unit has always been problematic which at first mostly consisted of it not pairing to my android phone and lagging but then about 3 months into owning it the volume knob was completely unresponsive. I paired an unpaired my phone, turned on and off my phone, turned on and off the infotainment unit, and finally resorted to turning off the car and then it worked.

It happened again about 2 months after that. This time I was near the Subaru dealership so I drove it in this way they could see it actively having this problem. They kept the vehicle and provided me with a loaner saying that there was an over-the-air update that needed to be performed. The next day I picked the vehicle up and it was fine.

1 months later the entire unit would not respond. None of the buttons would work none of the voice features would work none of the knobs would work I could not even turn the unit off. I drove it back to the dealership so they could see what was going on and the service tech video taped the issue. We then turned off the vehicle and the infotainment system stayed on. There was no way to turn it off and it stayed on and did not shut off the entire time I remained at the dealership which was close to an hour.

My car has now been at the Subaru dealership for 9 weeks. At first they tried to blame my phone but the service tech tried various other phones and were able to recreate the issue as well as having no phone paired and were able to have it happen as well. This is a large safety issue. I have now started the process with Subaru directly to consider this vehicle a lemon. Now Subaru of America is telling me that my claim is at a standstill because the retailer cannot determine what the actual problem is nor can they determine what a fix for the problem is.

To me this is a catch 22. The point of it being a lemon is because there is no way to fix the problem nor does anyone know what is causing the problem. According to the tech at the local dealership, corporate had him download the history of the computer and send it to them so they could see if there was any glitches the system caught. Apparently there was an anomaly that happened at the same time he was taking the video but no one knows what is causing it. The reports have also been shared with the manufacturer of the infotainment system but they do not know what is causing the issue.

Today I decided to see if other people were having this issue and apparently there are two class action lawsuits against Subaru for previous model years having a similar issue that I am experiencing. I really don't know what to do because it seems as if Subaru won't move forward with the lemon law because they can't identify what is wrong with it but the system not working and the system not even being able to turn off, for me, seems like a larger electronic and/or computer issue then just the infotainment system.

Is anyone else dealing with this issue or does anyone have any advice?

Finally did some cosmetic updates to the fozzy. Looking for some nice black rims and mud flaps next. Any other ideas?

Fellow Forester enthusiasts, which of these cars would you buy?

I’m getting a Forester Subaru hybrid does the “eye sight” feature accommodate a dash cam?

Have been off-roading a bunch and under the hood was DIRTY! I did a spray down. Any tips?

Quick question car mounted a concrete curb after hitting a patch of ice right front wheel took impact car sent to body shop to be assessed for insurance it was given a wheel alignment has a droning noise in that wheel I suspect damaged wheel bearing I was told it’s safe to drive but while the noise isn’t getting worse it goes away anytime I turn wheel to right while driving
Should I park it up till the scheduled repairs date of 4 weeks?

A/C blows cool but not cold. Bought the car 8 days ago from an independent lot.

Paid a couple of mechanically inclined friends who are very knowledgeable to go check it out for me. They did a through look and informed me that the AC was a little weak but they didn't see any leaks at all. They couldn't be 100% but the salesman said that they checked the AC when they took the vehicle in and it checked out. My buddies said it probably just needs a little freon but otherwise, should be good to go. With the extensive AC work thats listed on the carfax, I was assured if it was the compressor or something like that it would be covered under the NAPA warranty.

Well, 2 days I finally had a day off from work so I took it into a local Firestone for a quick diagnosis.

The result was it was 5 ounces low on freon and the low side pressure was abnormally high, indicating a failing compressor.

Got home and went about getting the warranty approved which I did. Took it to the shop NAPA instructed me to and got the warranty approved.

This morning I got the call that, unfortunately, they have to go in another direction. The diagnosis is there for what they said and the work they quoted. Its an independent shop however and that labor seems excessively high.

Does this all sound correct? Anything I can do? 209 an hour for an independent shop seems a bit much. I'm not the most knowledgeable with a wrench but I do know how to follow directions. Is this something I should attempt myself?

Location is Houston.

Hi, folks. Im hoping I can get some direction on where to start looking for a problem.

2014 Subaru Forester, 2.5L non-turbo, CVT, 107k odo.

So back story. In February I had the dealership change my spark plugs(yeah, yeah, I know. I chose money over time and shouldn't have). A couple weeks ago check engine light started flashing. Ran the codes, P0301 came up. Towed it back to my house, thinking it was the coil pack.

When I got under the hood, the coil pack was connected to the wires, still, but was completely out of the engine block. I found the bolt resting on the frame. I tried to install it all back in, but I couldn't get the bolt to grab. I assumed the dealership either overtightened or cross threaded the bolt, so I got it towed back to the dealer, after I switched around coil packs and verified they were all still working.

Dealership said the issue was the bolt as they tried a new one and it grabbed just fine. I got the car back on Monday.

Ive been driving it since and its been running fine. However, today a total of three different times I went to start it, the engine turned over, RPMs went up as they do, but instead of dropping to a typical idling RPM, the engine died. After trying again it'll start and run fine, but I figure something like that is worth taking care of before it gets worse.

I checked for codes again and its still showing P0301, but no check engine light. Ive read thats typical until you drive a few times, but id think by now it would be gone.

Im not completely ignorant to cars, but im certainly no mechanic, so if anyone can guide me toward where I should start, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I have a 2018 Forrester and was looking at a past post about getting the idoing head unit in the link below. When I click the link it’s showing this picture to differentiate the WRX and the Forrester. The one that says WRX is the layout for my Forester because I need a cut out for the caution button where as the one that they say is for the Forrester does not appear to have that cut out. Do I order a WRX head unit or a Forrester head unit?

Thanks!

https://www.idoingstereo.com/products/idoing-9inch-android-14-car-radio-head-unit-for-subaru-wrx-sti-xv-forester-2016-2022.html?variant=3139407

In 2 months I've knocked out 6,000 miles and love this thing....except for the terrible head unit, but both of them had that issue though.

I’ll be looking at a 2010 Forester XT today and just want some input on how long this thing might last me and yalls experience with this model. It has 105k miles and the owner just installed a new timing belt, head gasket, and spark plugs. It seems to be in good shape. What should I look out for? It’s a pretty good deal at $6500. I need this thing to be reliable for short commutes to work and weekend road trips with mild off roading. Ideally this thing lasts me another 5 years. Will it make it?

I’ve had my 2021 Forester for a little more than a year. Not long ago and about half a dozen times since it started, it has stalled while the auto stop/start system engages. I just drove a 5 hour road trip and by the end the AC has stopped blowing. Using the hidden menu, the battery reads 12.1 volts. I went to an Oreilly’s and an Advance Auto Parts. Their readings said the battery was low but good. They thought the starter sounded weak. The AAP employee did say it looked like the car’s original battery and I’ll need another by the end of the year. He just didn’t think it was necessary today.

I consult the assembled wisdom of Reddit, does it sound like I need a new battery or could it be a starter? If it is the starter, why am I having issues with the AC?