[bvasista]

My Subaru Forester

Thanks to this wonderful forum, it directly or indirectly helped me in many ways to decide a car, helped me to become a better driver and lot of other things, which are not related to a car. I have been a follower of Team BHP since 2008-2009, became a member in 2019. Thanks for moderators for the upkeep and maintenance of this beautiful forum!

I always wanted to write about my Subaru Forester – the first car I ever bought on my name. Hoping that people who stay in USA/Canada would consider this also as one of the options if they have plans to buy one.



This is my first detailed post. Please excuse if there are any grammatical/spelling mistakes!!

About myself:
A normal boy from a middle class family, Hyderabad. As a family, we owned Premier Padmini (1999 to 2000) -> Maruti 800 (2000 to 2004), Maruti A Star (2008 to 2016) -> Maruti Ciaz (2016 -> now). My father till now never allowed me to drive his Ciaz.

My cars - Subaru Forester 2.5 Premium (USA: 2015 – 2018), Tata Tiago XZ (India: 2018-2022), Honda CRV Hybrid Sport (USA: 2023- now)

Year 1999:
I was 11 years old when my love for cars, long drives began. My uncle bought a used White Colored Maurti Esteem. He already had a white colored Premier Padmini maintained impeccably.

Went for a one-day trip to Warangal – Ramappa temple from Hyderabad (~150 Kms) which started at 9 AM and ended by 1 AM (past midnight). Total passengers were 7 – 4 adults and 3 children. I was the one who sat in between driver and passenger seats with my uncle driving, the gear in between my legs. Throughout the whole journey my father (was yet to learn how to drive a car) and my uncle were sharing about their rides/drives to places like Sri Sailam, Mantralayam, Mahabubnagar, Tirupati and many more short & long trips from Hyderabad – on Bajaj Chetak, Rajdoot, Yezdi, Premier Padmini.

My tender mind fixed upon learning how to drive a car, going for long drives after growing up. Since then, I eagerly watched out for traffic rules, mentally drive a car, observe gear changes, and identify the car brands based on the symbol/shape. I forgot now but back then I clearly remembered the gear order for our Premier Padmini, which was a column gearshift.

Year 2009:
I was allowed to learn geared bike + car after completing my graduation. Until then my father never wanted/allowed me to ride his bike or learn to drive a car no matter how many times I requested/demanded/begged. Many of my friends knew and used to take their bikes/cars to college. I too wanted to do the same but till then I did not have license so went around on my Mother’s moped - Bajaj Spirit within the colony roads and never beyond.

Got my car license + geared 2 wheeler license towards the end of 2009 and started driving our Maruti A Star.

Years 2014 – 2018: USA
In December 2014, moved to USA (Thanks to my MNC company!!), got USA license in April 2015. Monthly rented a small sedan - Kia Spectra starting from April till October 2015.

November 2015:
The first car I ever bought – brand new Subaru Forester in my name. As they say, first ever things are always special; this was my moment of happiness after about 16 years of burning desire to buy and drive a car of my own (on loan, of course)

After lot of inputs from my bunch of friends, online reviews, test-drives for Honda CRV, Toyota Rav4, Ford Escape, Nissan Rogue – finally decided to buy Subaru Forester - 2.5i Premium Trim 2016 model, which is probably 2nd or 3rd from the base version at that time.

My friends who came to USA for their Masters preferred to buy brands other than Honda/Toyota, to be a bit different and they insisted me to do the same. Well, anyway I liked the test drive of Subaru Forester. In the known circle of mine, none had a Subaru.

Price:
Took a full loan of $29375 (on road price). Monthly payment was $494 for 65 months, monthly insurance was around $110- $120. Do not remember interest rate – may be 2.25 or 3.25%

About Subaru Forester:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Forester

I am not a fan of cars with fully digital speedometer/consoles, lots of features, touchscreens. But these days some are default and we do not have option of avoiding them.

I loved how simple Subaru Forester was when compared with Honda CRV or Toyota Rav4. I felt very solid, stable when driving Subaru Forester. Did not like Honda CRV’s looks, the very light Toyota Rav4, huge blind spots for Nissan Rogue, cramped Ford Escape. For the same loan amount, I could have bought a better featured car from a different brand – like leather seats, in built navigation (which was very important at that time), good music system, Auto AC, rear AC vents but heart was stuck on solid Subaru Forester.

All Subaru cars (except one maybe) are All – Wheel drives by default. I have seen multiple YouTube videos where Subaru Forester was outstanding in driving on snowy conditions when compared with similar family cars with optional 4 wheel/all wheel drives. This was one of the main reasons why I bought Subaru since I knew I would be moving out of Arizona to Connecticut State shortly where snow is seen every year.

What I loved:
Some of these features were overwhelming for me since I was coming from driving humble cars

• Plain design, analog speedometer indicating both Miles & Kilometers
• Boxier shape
• The digital display at the center on the dashboard. The toggle button included many options which is visible for others also, apart from the driver
• Stable drive – Usually drove + 5 MPH of the prescribed speed limit on highways. Only once touched 100 MPH to see how the car is doing
• All round visibility from my driving position – including end of the bonnet
• Rear wiper – realized how handy this feature is when I had to drive in rains and decided that it is a must have on any car which I may buy in future
• Top safety scores
• Heated front seats
• Power adjustable driver’s seat
• Big trunk space
• Panoramic moon roof (rarely used it though)
• Subaru Safety Feature – Eye-Sight (twin cameras facing the road). I loved how they looked from outside
• All-wheel drive – which really assured me a safer drive with a good grip on the road for handful of rainy and snow time drives
• TPMS
• All 3 Auto dimming rear view mirrors- Night drives was very much strain free

Dislikes:
• Not enough under thigh support – but I was used to it, did not feel discomfort/strain even after 3+ hours of driving without a break. Would have loved more though. My friend used to complain
• Music system- realized mine was pretty basic. But I am not into too much of music. Just something to listen while driving alone, so okay with it

Ownership Experience:
I am not a technical guy to know the mechanics of the car but made sure the service is done at the suggested manufacturer intervals, basic checks before long drives, maintain the car clean from inside also. Subaru Forester was companion for my absurd, abrupt short & long trips. Since I was alone for a while, I used to go for a drive whenever I want to. Just take the car keys, leave at 4 AM, fill the gas and go for a drive of 14 hours to meet a friend, have lunch, watch a movie. Pure Bliss!

Use Case for All-Wheel drive:
• On one occasion during early 2016 after a visiting my friend, I landed at Newark Airport, New Jersey. After taking the car from prepaid airport parking, I had to reach my home in Enfield, Connecticut – close to 3 hours of drive. It was raining at the beginning but later started snowing quite well once I entered Connecticut State. Since this was first time I was driving during snowy conditions, I was a bit worried and was thinking to stop and wait. Slowly realized the car is doing well, going well on the road, I proceeded to reach my home safe and sound.
• In early 2017, my office declared holiday due to severe snowfall in Stamford, Connecticut. Good thing about the places in USA (where snow is expected every year), there would be periodic snow cleaning vehicles and then spray salt on main roads. I wanted to see if Subaru Forester could drive through the snow filled roads, that was not yet cleaned and visit a friend nearby. No problem to come out of parking place and driving around the city roads that was still very well covered, of course it was not regular city speeds
• Same case in 2018, my office colleagues wanted to go for a spin when it was snowing early morning on an office holiday due to weather. They had Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, and Honda Accord but still wanted to go in my Subaru Forester because it had good GC and all wheel drive

Problem? No problem !
Absolutely no issues for 2 and half years of covering 45000 + Miles. Only a flat tire, towards the end of 2017 which maybe due to my mistake. Instead of pressure going in, the air pump sucked it out. This spoiled my plan of a one-day trip to Niagara Falls (about 6.5 hours drive from my place) and watching it during the snow time having visited it already in summer. Had to leave the car over night because the winter weather was becoming worse, come back the next morning to change the tire to a spare.

Photos are from a combination of Google Nexus (2013), Iphone4, Iphone6, and Canon DSLR

New car:









One can see the analog speedometer with miles & kilometers:





First short drive in 2016: Arizona




First time snow in 2016: Connecticut



Virginia Trip in 2017:




For a few days after getting Subaru home, I was over thinking what should I be hanging in my car at the rear view mirror. Luckily my wife stumbled upon a globe – the one that is used in Christmas tree decoration and suggested that I should have this. Perfect!

One can see the cameras on either side of the interior rear view mirror


We can feed dates for the car to remind:


My preferred display option:


Early 2018 trip to Charlotte:


Pittsburg Temple:


May 2018- Time to sell
I know that I have to move to India and have probably 2 or 3 weeks time to clear out my household things, including my car. Otherwise the plan was to use it for a long term.

Had a quote from CarMax (Like Spinny in India) for $16000.

Few days before selling the car:





Posted ad on multiple places:
Interested buyer 1: My colleague’s friend was interested and we went out for a test drive with him driving the car. The way he treated the car, drove it - absolutely hated it. Immediately decided not to sell him even if he offered a good price (he offered $15000 even when I told him that I had a quote ready for $16000). Case closed.

Interested buyer 2:
• Seeing the ad on my office portal, a guy from a different office location of my same office was interested. He turned up promptly at my house at the decided time and test-drove the car. I loved the way he drove, checked the engine bay, the scratches on the bumper (parking mistakes), tire life. He requested to share the VIN# to verify car history from CarFax.
• I was expecting atleast $17500 to a private party but he was not offering more than $16200. Decided to wait for some more time and said No for this price.
• A week later I bumped into him at my office and he was checking if my car was sold. Later that evening I made up my mind, texted him that if he is okay with $16700, then we have a deal. He agreed for it.
• Since this is selling to a private party, I was confused of the process, getting the registration of the car transferred. Thanks to him, the whole process went smoothly in exactly 4 or 5 concrete steps in about 4 business days.
• We then decided - I would drive the car to an office garage he was working at; hand over both the keys, papers to him on the 6th business day.

The night before, I went to a gas station, filled up half a tank of gas, vacuum cleaned the interiors, wiped them clean. On the 6th day morning, went for an automated car wash.

The next morning, I would say it was an emotional moment personally when I gave the keys, opened the doors for him. He was glad that it was clean inside. I told him about service records, manuals in the glove box and then handed over the papers. He then left because he had a meeting to attend.

I waited for about 5 minutes for my colleague to pickup me up and go to my office. Looked back once again at my car for one last time, with a lump in my throat left the place in my colleague’s car. I was mostly silent for the rest of the day.

Later that evening, shared him the link for Subaru portal, and explained how to register and login to check the service history. He replied me back “Don’t worry, going to take good care of the car”.

That was the end of my ownership of Subaru Forester.

[bvasista]

Ending notes:
If I had a Honda/Toyota and if my mileage was around 30000, the price would have easily been $19000+ but I was happy that the loan was repaid with nothing going out from my hand. No regrets in buying a brand new Subaru Forester and enjoy all the long drives in it, covering 45000+ miles during my 2 and half years of ownership. Accomplished something, which I always wanted to, as an 11-year-old boy.




Finally went to my college in my own car Tata Tiago – nearly 13 years after graduation



My current car – Honda CRV Hybrid Sport version – 2023 model:

[shankar.balan]

That was a very good choice you made. The Subaru Forester AWD is a really accomplished car and when they released the older generation one in India in 2000-2001 (badged as Chevrolet), it was too far ahead of its time. The generation of Forester which you owned was superb indeed. Spacious and full of useful features including keyless entry and heated seats and all that. An excellent and responsive Petrol engine too.
I enjoyed renting the same model in 2011 or so from a private rental in St Albans in the UK and on a week long roadtrip around the Northern UK the heated seats really made a great deal of difference to our comfort and the responsive engine was lovely on the motorways and on the country roads. The AWD and traction control and hill-hold was really useful on the green lanes in the countryside especially on some of those the wet grassy slopes that we drove on, getting to our B&B’s. On light snow, slush and black ice too, the confidence that car inspired, was amazing. A very accomplished Crossover indeed. Anecdotally, Toyota Motor Co actually has had a small stake in Subaru (which is owned by Fuji Industries).

[najib1312]

Awesome choice. Subaru remains an underrated choice, especially among Indians where the brand awareness is generally Iow.

I'm based in Malaysia and have been eyeing the Forester for my next car. Been comparing this with the new Honda CRV 2WD 1.5 Turbo (non-hybrid). But the Forester we're getting here comes with only 2.0 NA Engine (156PS, 198 Nm) and missing out some features like ventilated seats and sunroof. Still, it fills my criteria of a Practical family SUV. Still drives nice due to the AWD.

The only feature I wish the Forester has from the CRV is memory seats. The Forester only comes with powered seats for both front occupants but no memory functions.

Can I get your opinion on which of these 2 would you recommend?

There's about 10-15% price premium with the Honda CRV, and the Subaru even comes with 5 years Free Service. That makes the price gap even wider.

Please suggest which is better for a long term use.

[Fuldagap]

The Chevrolet Forester in India came with a boxer engine.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

The Chevrolet Forester in India came with a boxer engine.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Indeed it did. You’re right.

[subie_socal]

Being a Subaru fanboy , I was excited to see someone pen a review about a Subaru product. Glad that it never disappointed you

Forester has created an identity of its own like the Impreza WRX (or just the WRX now).

[poised2drive]

Thank you for the review!

I think this is the first Subaru Forester Review on the TBHP !

Glad you enjoyed the drive !

I heard so many rave reviews about Subaru especially its renowned capabilities on the snowy surfaces and your review points it out straight away!

[bvasista]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

That was a very good choice you made. The Subaru Forester AWD is a really accomplished car and when they released the older generation one in India in 2000-2001 (badged as Chevrolet), it was too far ahead of its time.

Thank you so much and full agree on what you told about the car. Sad that it was way ahead of its time when it was released in India. Unlike in the current times, during 2000s, I believe India was not a good market for such cars/cross overs.

Originally Posted by najib1312

Awesome choice. Subaru remains an underrated choice, especially among Indians where the brand awareness is generally Iow.

Can I get your opinion on which of these 2 would you recommend?

Yeah rightly said about brand awareness. Even I was not even aware of Subaru until 2015. Some of my colleagues were surprised that I bought Subaru instead of Honda/Toyota.

Between Honda CRV & Subaru Forester -
Features - like ventilated seats/memory seats/sun roof are something good to have, and yes definitely gives you the comfort but I personally feel they should not be a deal breaker. Subaru is known for its AWD. Please do checkout YouTube for comparisons with similar cars from Honda, Toyota , Mazda, Nissan if you are looking specifically for a AWD and decide.

In terms of reliability, still today I see older generation of Subaru Forester still on the roads. (obviously Honda CRVs also). So it should not be a concern in terms of reliability even if you pick Subaru.

Please check the safety ratings as well.

There is no doubt that Honda CRV is one of the best & top selling family cars here in USA. It has completely redesigned interiors and exteriors in 2023 and given that it commands a strong brand value and resale as well, definitely a good choice to pick for your next car.

Did you do a test drive and able to decide which one felt better while driving ? You can probably take an extended drive if possible to narrow down your choice.

It would be a choice between heart vs mind

Note: If not for a hybrid, I would have bought Subaru Forester/Outback this time as well.

[km283]

Aah….the good old Subaru Forester. Your post brought back my own old memories and it is amazing how much our journeys have in common. Although I am much older than you

My first ever car was indeed the 1999 Subaru Forester, bought used from Northern Virginia for $7400. Beautiful fulltime AWD that I drive in the snow all over the East Coast, great body control and tight steering. Like you I eventually traded for a Honda CRV. And like you have spent time in both Charlotte (where I met my wife) and Pittsburgh with many many drives to the famous temple

[DevD]

Glad to see a Subaru Forester review. Congratulations to your first automobile ownership on this gem of a car. Subaru Forrester is the most preferred choice of vehicle in Car Rallies competition in USA.


My first car was Subaru Legacy L.


I had travelled to Bloomington, Illinois on company work in 1998. This place gets snow 3-5 months in a year. Before purchasing this car, I had travelled to and from office in this car for few months as it belonged to my colleague and we stayed in the same condominium. When he wanted a mini van and was looking to sell of this car, I decided to purchase it. It was just 1 year old and was in immaculate condition. I had driven it a couple of times too. I did look at other cars Corolla, Civic, Mazda 626 and Subaru Legacy and Forester. But I was totally sold on Subaru cars.

Subaru's main USP was the Boxer engine.



Subaru Boxer Engine explained

This allowed Subaru cars to have lower center of Gravity and lower overall height without compromising the ground clearance. With Always on All Wheel Drive the car can handle turns at higher speed without fear of toppling over or skidding. No wonder Subaru Forester and Legacy was Rally driver's preferred choice.

Subaru Legacy came with 2.0L Boxer engine, all wheel drive and ABS. Due to it's all wheel drive, it takes off effortlessly from standstill. It was a joy to drive in snow conditions, traction was always available to all four wheels and ABS helped with braking in snow/slippery conditions. Driving on hilly roads was pure bliss.

In six years of ownership of this car, I raked up 81000 miles with couple of long tours. I had to sell it off just before I returned to India in early 2024.

Forgot to mention - This car had frameless window on all the 4 doors. When window glass is rolled down and you open the door, it looks like a door of a convertible.

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

The Chevrolet Forester in India came with a boxer engine.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

General Motors brought Subaru Forester to India as Chevrolet Forester. There was not much change to the car except the badge and position of steering wheel.

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by DevD

General Motors brought Subaru Forester to India as Chevrolet Forester. There was not much change to the car except the badge and position of steering wheel.

Thanks.

Many superior cars/bikes in India have failed to make an impression on the Indian automobile market. Forester is there just at the top. As mentioned previously by shankar.balan it was way ahead of its time.

I remember reading about the Forester in the ACI magazine probably more than 20 years back. It was a mesmerizing article with the drive done in Goa/Konkan. Never saw even one Forester on the road though. People in general couldnt care less for a boxer engine even today. What sells today are 'internet inside' and cosmetic accessories/features. A Maruti with a Fiat engine sold like hot cakes but a Linea or Punto went rather unnoticed with their great chassis, driveability and not to mention the solid built quality.

Talking of Forester another car that comes to mind was the Accord Station Wagon. Shut production in 2015 but what a gem of a car it was. Wasn't introduced in India though.

[subie_socal]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

Thanks.
Never saw even one Forester on the road though. People in general couldnt care

I was lucky enough to spot one in a busy town north of Trivandrum (of all places!) and it had a Subaru badging as well! I still recall that moment when I was astonished to see an uncommon but a familar badge and silhouette, 2-3 cars ahead of me in traffic. It was unfortunate that I couldn't click any pics of it as traffic started moving just as I was being in the moment of seeing my first ever Subaru .