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2009 Forester design evaluation

7K views 32 replies 24 participants last post by  ArcadeTom 
#1 ·
Here is my design evaluation of the 2009 Subaru Forester:

The 2009 Forester is overall a great design and I am in general very happy with it.
It is a huge improvement over the previous model. But there are some design flaws,
some of which are dangerous and others merely annoying:

1. There is no on-off light switch for the interior lights! (Map lights)
I never heard of a car designed without a switch allowing the driver to decide
whether to have the interior lights come on automatically when the doors open.
I installed a switch to let me do this.

2. The storage in the dashboard and center console is poorly designed. The glove box is a strange
shape which holds very little, especially considering its outside dimensions, and the
open sides cause loose items to fall out. The glove box in my 1996 Impreza Outback
was much better -- it held more, was easier to access, things did not fall out, and
its outside dimensions were much smaller.

The 1996 Impreza also had a small recessed tray to the left of the driver, which was
called a coin tray but which was a perfect place to put my garage door opener. I have
not yet found a satisfactory place in the Forester to keep the opener. This problem
would have been alleviated if I could have kept the HomeLink feature the car came
with, but Subaru insisted on mounting the HomeLink on the obnoxious automatic rear-view
mirror that I had to replace with a manual mirror (this was much harder than it needed
to be because the two mirrors use different mounts, which is just ridiculous).
The HomeLink on our Honda Pilot is mounted on the roof panel, which is infinitely superior.

Another superior feature of the 1996 Impreza was that it had pull-out cup holders
in the dashboard. Although these were rather flimsy, they held drinks without
interfering with shifting gears; drinks in the holders in the center console get
in the way of the gearshift, as well as being harder for the driver to pick up to
drink than ones in dashboard-mounted holders. In addition, when the drink holders in the
1996 Impreza were pulled out, they obscured view of things in the open storage tray below,
so I could leave things like my cell phone there without them being visible from outside
the vehicle. There is no such view block in the Forester.

The center console in the 2009 Forester is a big improvement over the one in the 2008
Forester, which I discovered in a test drive seriously interfered with the gearshift.
But the 2009 design is still not entirely satisfactory. It is especially a problem
to have the AUX connection inside the storage area: use of this connection is almost
incompatible with using the area for storage. I see no reason why the AUX connection
needs to be hidden like this.

3. The Vehicle Stability Control is a great feature, and it is good to have a button
allowing it to be temporarily disconnected under certain conditions. There needs to be
a similar button (or possibly on the same button) allowing the ABS brakes to be disabled
temporarily too. I almost came to grief a few times on gravel roads in my 1996 Impreza
when the ABS brakes interfered with stopping properly (on a gravel road, you do indeed
want to lock the wheels to stop suddenly). This is a safety concern which needs to
be addressed.

4. I was very disappointed that the cruise control was relocated to the steering wheel.
Having cruise control buttons on the steering wheel is dangerous. They cannot just be
operated by touch, at least not without a lot of familiarity with them, and require the
driver to take his/her eyes off the road to look at the buttons. More importantly,
they can be accidentally pressed. In our Honda Pilot, we have steering wheel button
controls too, and a few times I have accidentally pushed the "accelerate" button while
shifting my hands on the steering wheel during a long drive. The buttons on the Forester
seem to be somewhat better located, and I have not had this problem with them so far,
but it is something I have to worry about as I drive. The stalk control I had on my 1996
Impreza, which was used until this year, was the best cruise control arrangement I have
ever used; it was very easy and comfortable to use, could be used without the driver
taking eyes off the road, and there was no danger of accidental misuse. Subaru should
immediately go back to this arrangement, and should even consider recalling the cars
with the steering wheel buttons to retrofit the stalk.

5. I am very unhappy not to have an on-off switch for the Daytime Running Lamps. Subaru
touts these as a safety feature, and they may be under some circumstances, but in other
situations they are dangerous. For example, I am very uncomfortable driving on rural
two-lane roads with the reduced-intensity DRL's on; an oncoming driver wishing to pass
may see the DRL's, assume I have my headlights on, and think I am farther away than I am.
I also just object in principle to having lights on my vehicle that I cannot control.
DRL's are not required anywhere in this country, and Subaru should accept that they are
controversial and give your customers the option of whether to use them, as Toyota does.
My understanding is that police equipped vehicles have a switch allowing the DRL's to
be turned off, and this switch should be offered to the public too. If I can't figure
out how to install a switch giving me control over the DRL's, I will have to disconnect
them entirely, which I would prefer not to do; and I resent the fact that Subaru has
deliberately made it so difficult to disconnect or switch the DRL's.

6. Subaru should consider adding a small convex mirror to the driver's side mirror to
eliminate the blind spot. The first week I had my 1996 Impreza I almost had two
accidents because I was not used to the blind spot; I then added a stick-on convex mirror
and never had any more problem. The blind spot on the Forester seems to be smaller, but
I added a stick-on convex mirror anyway to eliminate the issue, although the funny
shape of the Forester mirror made this somewhat awkward to do.

7. I don't like the arrangement with the remote entry buttons that only the driver's
door opens the first time the button is pushed, and that I have to push the button a
second time to unlock the rest of the doors. I can accept that there may be people
who like this arrangement, although I can't understand why; but there should be a
programming option to just have all the doors unlock at once so I don't routinely
have to push the button twice every time I unlock the car remotely. I also dislike
that the lights flash when I unlock the car remotely; I was able to reprogram the
remote locks so the obnoxious horn beep disappeared, but not the light flash. This
should be a programming option too, and I'm amazed it isn't.

Thank God at least Subaru has not installed automatic door locks that activate when the
vehicle is driven. These are not only extremely annoying, but also dangerous in my
opinion since a person can potentially be trapped inside the vehicle. If this car
had had such automatic locks, and they could not have been disabled, I absolutely would
not have bought it.

8. I was dismayed to find that the engine runs with reduced smoothness and power when the
air conditioning is on. I had the same problem with the 1996 Impreza. I would not describe
either car's problem as severe, but they are noticeable. I am beginning to wonder if this
is an endemic problem with Subarus. Years ago most cars with air conditioning had this
difficulty, but in recent years I have not encountered it in any vehicles except the two
Subarus.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Here is my design evaluation of the 2009 Subaru Forester:

The 2009 Forester is overall a great design and I am in general very happy with it.
It is a huge improvement over the previous model. But there are some design flaws,
some of which are dangerous and others merely annoying:
Ok, I'll play since I am in somewhat of a sarcastic mood today. Some of your comments are good and some are IMHO from waaay out there. Here is my $.02 worth.

1. There is no on-off light switch for the interior lights! (Map lights)
I never heard of a car designed without a switch allowing the driver to decide
whether to have the interior lights come on automatically when the doors open.
I installed a switch to let me do this.
Ok, I'll agree with you on that one. You can cut off all interior lights except the map lights and it can be annoying.

2. The storage in the dashboard and center console is poorly designed. The glove box is a strange
shape which holds very little, especially considering its outside dimensions, and the
open sides cause loose items to fall out. The glove box in my 1996 Impreza Outback
was much better -- it held more, was easier to access, things did not fall out, and
its outside dimensions were much smaller.

The 1996 Impreza also had a small recessed tray to the left of the driver, which was
called a coin tray but which was a perfect place to put my garage door opener. I have
not yet found a satisfactory place in the Forester to keep the opener. This problem
would have been alleviated if I could have kept the HomeLink feature the car came
with, but Subaru insisted on mounting the HomeLink on the obnoxious automatic rear-view
mirror that I had to replace with a manual mirror (this was much harder than it needed
to be because the two mirrors use different mounts, which is just ridiculous).
The HomeLink on our Honda Pilot is mounted on the roof panel, which is infinitely superior.
Ok I am lost as to why you don't like the auto dim mirror. :crazy: I love my homelink and love the fact that cars I just passed don't blind me with their lights (since this Forester sits lower than the Grand Cherokee I traded in). Just don't understand this one...

Another superior feature of the 1996 Impreza was that it had pull-out cup holders
in the dashboard. Although these were rather flimsy, they held drinks without
interfering with shifting gears; drinks in the holders in the center console get
in the way of the gearshift, as well as being harder for the driver to pick up to
drink than ones in dashboard-mounted holders. In addition, when the drink holders in the
1996 Impreza were pulled out, they obscured view of things in the open storage tray below,
so I could leave things like my cell phone there without them being visible from outside
the vehicle. There is no such view block in the Forester.
Ummm...Its called a console...lift armrest, insert phone inside, lower armrest. :N_poke: I also had a '06 Chevy Equinox-POS that had pull out cup holders that held only canned drinks well and God forbid you got a medium or large size in a drive through as they dripped condensation all over the console and controls below. I assume you never had that problem with dripping onto the open storage tray?

The center console in the 2009 Forester is a big improvement over the one in the 2008
Forester, which I discovered in a test drive seriously interfered with the gearshift.
But the 2009 design is still not entirely satisfactory. It is especially a problem
to have the AUX connection inside the storage area: use of this connection is almost
incompatible with using the area for storage. I see no reason why the AUX connection
needs to be hidden like this.
I agree. :biggrin:

3. The Vehicle Stability Control is a great feature, and it is good to have a button
allowing it to be temporarily disconnected under certain conditions. There needs to be
a similar button (or possibly on the same button) allowing the ABS brakes to be disabled
temporarily too. I almost came to grief a few times on gravel roads in my 1996 Impreza
when the ABS brakes interfered with stopping properly (on a gravel road, you do indeed
want to lock the wheels to stop suddenly). This is a safety concern which needs to
be addressed.
:confused: Uhhh...I don't know about how sand and gravel work out West, but here in Georgia, if you lock down your brakes you will inevitably swap ends and maybe more than once. If it is the rally type driving you crave, you might try pulling the parking brake to kick the rear out on curves, but other than that....

4. I was very disappointed that the cruise control was relocated to the steering wheel.
Having cruise control buttons on the steering wheel is dangerous. They cannot just be
operated by touch, at least not without a lot of familiarity with them, and require the
driver to take his/her eyes off the road to look at the buttons. More importantly,
they can be accidentally pressed. In our Honda Pilot, we have steering wheel button
controls too, and a few times I have accidentally pushed the "accelerate" button while
shifting my hands on the steering wheel during a long drive. The buttons on the Forester
seem to be somewhat better located, and I have not had this problem with them so far,
but it is something I have to worry about as I drive. The stalk control I had on my 1996
Impreza, which was used until this year, was the best cruise control arrangement I have
ever used; it was very easy and comfortable to use, could be used without the driver
taking eyes off the road, and there was no danger of accidental misuse. Subaru should
immediately go back to this arrangement, and should even consider recalling the cars
with the steering wheel buttons to retrofit the stalk.
Ok, you have to put some serious pressure on the buttons for my cruise to turn on or accelerate (more than a casual brush), so I don't think you will have the problem you described. As far as learning the position of the buttons...didn't you also have to take your eyes off the road to learn the positions of the buttons on the stalk?? Furthermore, one of the cheif complaints I have seen posted about the previous stalk cruise controls was that people with larger thighs seemed to brush the stalk getting into or out of the car and were afraid of breaking it off. Just my observations....

5. I am very unhappy not to have an on-off switch for the Daytime Running Lamps. Subaru
touts these as a safety feature, and they may be under some circumstances, but in other
situations they are dangerous. For example, I am very uncomfortable driving on rural
two-lane roads with the reduced-intensity DRL's on; an oncoming driver wishing to pass
may see the DRL's, assume I have my headlights on, and think I am farther away than I am.
I also just object in principle to having lights on my vehicle that I cannot control.
DRL's are not required anywhere in this country, and Subaru should accept that they are
controversial and give your customers the option of whether to use them, as Toyota does.
My understanding is that police equipped vehicles have a switch allowing the DRL's to
be turned off, and this switch should be offered to the public too. If I can't figure
out how to install a switch giving me control over the DRL's, I will have to disconnect
them entirely, which I would prefer not to do; and I resent the fact that Subaru has
deliberately made it so difficult to disconnect or switch the DRL's.
Ok, from reading rants and postings from other web sites (The Speed Trap Exchange | Find speed traps all over the US | SpeedTrap.org and others) I understand there are many people who think it is a conspiracy to put them on cars to aid police to write tickets, etc..ehh..who cares? There's too much safety daa out there that shows lights illuminated in daytime make your car more visible to other in-bred-non-paying-attention-cell-phone-talking-texting-emailing-eating-makeup-applying drivers and reduce the chance one of those idiots will pull out in front of you. Unless you're a teenager wanting to sneak in the driveway since you're late for curfew or dn't want to wake the significant other since you're home late from work, I don't see it being a huge problem. As for police being able to turn off the lights with a switch..on the Chevy PoPo cars, you can pull the fuse maked DRL and it suts them off until you put the fuse back in.

6. Subaru should consider adding a small convex mirror to the driver's side mirror to
eliminate the blind spot. The first week I had my 1996 Impreza I almost had two
accidents because I was not used to the blind spot; I then added a stick-on convex mirror
and never had any more problem. The blind spot on the Forester seems to be smaller, but
I added a stick-on convex mirror anyway to eliminate the issue, although the funny
shape of the Forester mirror made this somewhat awkward to do.
Ummm...$.99 at AutoZone and they stuck on nicely and look fine. Both sides please.

7. I don't like the arrangement with the remote entry buttons that only the driver's
door opens the first time the button is pushed, and that I have to push the button a
second time to unlock the rest of the doors. I can accept that there may be people
who like this arrangement, although I can't understand why; but there should be a
programming option to just have all the doors unlock at once so I don't routinely
have to push the button twice every time I unlock the car remotely. I also dislike
that the lights flash when I unlock the car remotely; I was able to reprogram the
remote locks so the obnoxious horn beep disappeared, but not the light flash. This
should be a programming option too, and I'm amazed it isn't.
:confused: Every vehicle I have driven with remote entry requires you to press the button twice for all four doors to unlock. I think it had something to do with safety from someone jumping into your car from the opposite side in a parking lot and carjacking or whatever to you. Unlock one door and you only have to worry about the sneaky creep coming from behind you or underneath the car. Not too concerned about the beeps or flashes as it makes people look at my Forester - BLING! LOL

Thank God at least Subaru has not installed automatic door locks that activate when the
vehicle is driven. These are not only extremely annoying, but also dangerous in my
opinion since a person can potentially be trapped inside the vehicle. If this car
had had such automatic locks, and they could not have been disabled, I absolutely would
not have bought it.
I know on all my Jeeps you could turn this feature on or off in the menus. I wish I could turn this on with my new Forester. BTW-its an urban legend about being locked in your car by auto-locks. Check out snopes.com: Urban Legends Reference Pages .

8. I was dismayed to find that the engine runs with reduced smoothness and power when the
air conditioning is on. I had the same problem with the 1996 Impreza. I would not describe
either car's problem as severe, but they are noticeable. I am beginning to wonder if this
is an endemic problem with Subarus. Years ago most cars with air conditioning had this
difficulty, but in recent years I have not encountered it in any vehicles except the two
Subarus.
I think that's just a consequence of a four cylinder engine and a compressor that is large enough to cool the vehicle adaquately. Not really keeping me up at night either. :N_poke:
Just my humble counterpoints and agreements with your observations.
 
#4 ·
The one thing I can definitely agree with is the loss of the coin tray and other little cubby holes around the vehicle. I had a '99 forester and it had the coin tray, every door had a little cubby hole under where your elbow would rest, and there was an in-dash cubby hole where the MPG display is on the '09. I realize it sounds silly but I miss all the cubby holes. I had stuff stuck in everything and you wouldn't be able to see anything normally, but then open a little cubby hole and there's the stuff you needed. It worked out great for me.

I also miss all the card holders that were in the driver's visor. I used to leave some cash there along with an old ID and any parking passes I'd get when going into a parking garage, etc. It worked out great for me.

I also miss the little hook on a string that went with the floor of the cargo area, so when you lifted it up to get to where the spare wheel is, you could hook it to the edge of the tailgate opening so that the floor was held up on its own.

Personally there are small things I wish the Forester had, things like a 5-speed auto transmission. I honestly think the performance characteristics of this vehicle could be greatly enhanced (without sacrificing comfort or MPG) with 5-speed auto. I know the 4-speed is tried and true, and Subaru engineers say they didn't get an MPG improvement when testing with a 5-speed, but I personally would prefer one.

I also think a slightly larger rear anti-sway bar would be nice.

I could really start making a dream vehcile and say things like I wish it had LED rear tail lights, and turn signals in the mirrors, etc. but that's besides the point.

At the end of the day, none of these things were enough to sway me off of getting a Forester which is why I have an '09 parked in the driveway right now. I knew all these things prior to buying the vehicle and I still got it. For my money and my needs, it came down to the '09 Forester or the '08 CRV and I went with the Forester b/c I prefer it (though Honda makes a great CRV, I simply loved my old Forester).

With or without these things, the '09 Forester is a great car
 
#6 ·
I think you should have done your homework before you bought the car. You did road test it first right? Most cars that I know of you can't turn off daytime running lights or the ABS. You can disable the ABS if you want to but I really don't think thats a good idea(pull the fuse). If you feel that way I really don't think you should have bought it. Also your compairing it to a 96 Impreza not sure how I feel about that. I think your just used to you old Impreza, give it some time. I really don't think the center console should affect your shifting. The old Impreza(RS) center arm rest extension used to get in the way of shifting but I don't think the new Forester does in anyway.
Good luck with the new car Congrats!!!
 
#7 ·
I doubt any auto maker would put in a switch to allow the driver to disable ABS. Too much lawsuit liability in allowing a safety feature to be manually disabled. I see your point about the gravel, but I bet no other manufacturer offers an ABS disable either.

I actaully find steering wheel mounted cruise control to be more intuitive to operate than the stem mounted type coming off the column. The steering wheel buttons I can twiddle with my thumb very intuitively, although I prefer them on the left side of the steering wheel not righthand.
 
#8 ·
Here are ALL the reasons I didn't buy an 09 and instead picked up one of the last remaining new 08's 800 miles away.

1) No M/T in the XT
2) IMHO you made an ugly car uglier.

Regarding ABS and Stability control. I would like the option of turning those things on/off on the fly. Sometimes I want the added security of such features and other times I prefer that the car does what I tell it to do, not what it thinks is best.

Corvettes have modes that you can toggle through on the HUD that allow you more/less control depending upon your mood. Sadly, I hear you about the liability with manufacturers having to protect us from ourselves.

Fewer cup holders please.

Give me a six speed!

If I can't operate Cruise control by feel or turn my head to check blind spots please take away my license I shouldn't be driving.
 
#10 ·
I love my first Subaru and a Foz at that:woohoo:
With the minor exception of the car's OEM stereo (sound lacking dimension) I don't have issues with anything else.

Shortly I'll install the tweeter kit to remedy the sound issue.
 
#11 ·
Every vehicle I have driven with remote entry requires you to press the button twice for all four doors to unlock. I think it had something to do with safety from someone jumping into your car from the opposite side in a parking lot and carjacking or whatever to you. Unlock one door and you only have to worry about the sneaky creep coming from behind you or underneath the car.
Exactly.
It is massively dangerous for single women in parking lots to have all doors open at once. I took enough self defense classes to know that if a remote opens all doors, that is not the car I want to drive. Too much chance of car jacking/kidnapping.
 
#12 ·
evaluation again

Well, I provoked some discussion, and some people misunderstood me. I did a lot of homework, test drove and compared the 09 Forester with its competition, and bought it knowing most of the things I commented on. I am overall very happy with it and would buy it again. But there are some things I think could be better about it, that's all.

As for turning off the ABS brakes on gravel roads, I stand by what I said. I am no rally car driver - I drive quite cautiously, especially on unpaved roads. We have a lot of unpaved roads in Nevada, and they are probably rather different than the ones in the east. It is DRY here (most of the time), and our roads are rarely slippery except when you hit the occasional patch of loose sand. Our unpaved roads are mostly hard-packed dirt with a liberal supply of stones and rocks of various sizes in and on them. Most of the times I have had trouble with the ABS brakes have been going down a steep hill (of which we also have many) - too steep for even first gear to hold the car back, where brakes are necessary for control, even at 10 mph or so. Vehicles designed for off roading usually have a low gearbox which eases this problem (note that I do not try to take my Subaru off roading.) We used to have a Jeep Grand Cherokee which did have a button for turning off the ABS under conditions like this (as well as a low gearbox). It was, of course, better than the Forester for rough roads, but overall I like the Forester much better for most of my driving.
 
#14 ·
Most of the times I have had trouble with the ABS brakes have been going down a steep hill (of which we also have many) - too steep for even first gear to hold the car back, where brakes are necessary for control, even at 10 mph or so.

Should this become an issue, I believe the hand break is all cable and doesn't run through the hydraulic system at all, thus no ABS affect
 
#13 ·
Can someone confirm whether the VDC OFF button disables ABS functionality, or just the extended stability and traction controls?

Only real issue I've found as yet is that the boot floor, whilst flat, is nowhere near level. It slopes quite strongly to the rear to the extent that the load carried tends to gravitate towards the tailgate...
 
#15 ·
(...)a great design and (...) (it) is a huge improvement over the previous model.
Man, talk about selective editing! That is a very subjective point. I for one prefer the old supped up station wagon of the pre-2009 Forester than the "I'm finally an SUV" design of the new Forester. Too tall, too mehhh, too much like other SUVs on the market. It looks like a Suzuki XL7 to me. The old Forester, there was nothing on the market like it, a tall, go-anywhere station wagon which most often got labeled as a mini SUV because it didn't fit in any other category. Although Subaru has refined the car and improved it in many aspects I believe the Forester has lost some of its unique appeal with the new generation, but, unfortunately, that is the direction that Subaru is taking with its current product line. Just take a look at the Impreza too... I cringe when I think of what the next Legacy will look like, and the prospect that Subaru might drop the Legacy wagon like they dropped the Impreza wagon.
 
#16 ·
My 11 year old base model Camry (in Australia) gives you the choice of programming the remote locking so it opens one or all doors and silently or with an audible warning. So it couldn't be too hard for Subaru to do the same thing that Toyota has been doing for years.

BTW we chose silent and all doors on the first press of the remote. And that is how Aust Foresters are set up as standard too. Must be something to do with market expectations.
 
#18 ·
There is a vehicle available that will satisfy all of your concerns, the Nissan Versa 1.6 Base

No ABS, No power locks, no power windows, no cruise, lots of pockets...
 
#19 ·
+1 on being puzzled by a lot of the original comments but the one that got to me the most was the daylight running lights one. It annoys the crap out of me that people without DRL don't turn on their lights at dawn or dusk or when days are gray. The difference between a car coming at you with DRLs or not is that you can tell pretty clearly the speed and path of the car even at dawn/dusk or in really overcast days when everything looks gray and certain car colors blend into the background. It's about being visible in all conditions and allowing other cars to react appropriately to you.

Around here when snow turns to slush and all cars are gray and so is the background it really helps.
 
#29 · (Edited)
I agree with the Canadians (where DRL's are mandatory), I absolutely loathe the people without their headlights on. Why do motorcycles have a headlight constantly on? Even on a bright sunny day you can miss an un-lighted vehicle at distance as they may blend in with the asphalt, scenery, or heat columns radiating off the pavement. At least when the person decides to pass another car they can see that there is truly another car heading in that general direction. Actually I just leave my low-beam headlights on constantly, they turn off automatically when I take the key out and turn on automatically when I put the key in. They also did this on my '06 Pilot (which didn't have DRL's) and I just left the headlight switch in the "on" position. To turn off DRL's without pulling fuses, just pull the parking brake up one click. It is not enough to engage the brakes and it will kill the lights. Put a piece of black tape over the red parking brake symbol in the gauges. And, hope like hell that the modern distracted driver recognizes there is another car coming at them when they decide to pass.

I'm sad to say that the new design put us off Forester as our next car. The reason we love our 2004 is that it offers exactly what we looked for: A simple, 4WD small wagon with generous ground clearance. Perfect for us to get our sea kayaks down to the water, to get to work safely in winter, to carry our vacation gear etc. We don't need a SUV for that.
I really don't understand as the new Forester can do all of these things with a bit more space and comfort. I can understand you may not like it simply from a design/aesthetic point of view, but really...? It has generous ground clearance, gets you to work safely all four seasons, carries a bit more vacation gear than the previous model, and is not really that much taller than the previous model, so you can load and unload your kayaks with relative ease. I would like to see an apples to apple comparo between the last body style and the new body style to definitively deem that it is less capable. I get the feeling that its modern main-stream look is why it is a very popular vehicle and now many new to Subaru owners are aware of the FOZ's capabilities. Now, it is simply a less-odd duck in the sea of autos.

I respect "bruceb" for posting his opinions, I find a few good and a few askew in my opinion, but that is why he posted. It was for the discussion and feed-back. My opinion would be to have better quality interiors and materials. I cringe when I see all of the dog claw marks on my FOZ's armrest, my Pilot handled this wear nicely.... But, I suppose one's opinion would be to get the cargo area separator for the dog. And, you are entitled to say that. Good luck.
 
#21 ·
Wow, the bashing of Bruceb for his opinions is just ugly... it's kind of like Mac fan-boys when anyone using a PC points out a merit of the Windows operating system.

I agree with some of his points, i disagree w/ some, but overall it is just his opinion.

That said, here's my $0.02


1. There is no on-off light switch for the interior lights! (Map lights)
I never heard of a car designed without a switch allowing the driver to decide
whether to have the interior lights come on automatically when the doors open.
I installed a switch to let me do this..
Agree, that is just stupid.

2. The storage in the dashboard and center console is poorly designed. The glove box is a strange
shape which holds very little, especially considering its outside dimensions, and the
open sides cause loose items to fall out. .
Again, agree. Can't figure out how they thought that design was a good idea.


Another superior feature of the 1996 Impreza was that it had pull-out cup holders
in the dashboard. Although these were rather flimsy, they held drinks without
interfering with shifting gears; drinks in the holders in the center console get
in the way of the gearshift, as well as being harder for the driver to pick up to
drink than ones in dashboard-mounted holders. .
He said it himself, the old ones were rather flimsy; hardly superior. And, as someone else already pointed out, condensation leaked all over the rest of your controls or storage area below.

I haven't figured out how the cup holders getting in the way of the gear shift. Maybe he does the sit low in the seat and lean. (the "driving in the hood" look.) Sorry, i couldn't resist.


But the 2009 design is still not entirely satisfactory. It is especially a problem
to have the AUX connection inside the storage area: use of this connection is almost
incompatible with using the area for storage. I see no reason why the AUX connection
needs to be hidden like this..
A matter of opinion, i guess. I have a MY08 and i HATE that the cord hangs out where anyone walking by can see it. It just screams, "THIS DUDE HAS AN MP3 PLAYER HIDDEN IN THE GLOVE BOX!!! PLEASE BREAK WINDOW AND TAKE IT!!"

my wife's MY07 Legacy has it in the storage area. nice and out of the way. Tucks in there out of sight; without having to unplug it and put it away.

The 1996 Impreza also had a small recessed tray to the left of the driver, which was
called a coin tray but which was a perfect place to put my garage door opener. I have
not yet found a satisfactory place in the Forester to keep the opener. This problem
would have been alleviated if I could have kept the HomeLink feature the car came
with, but Subaru insisted on mounting the HomeLink on the obnoxious automatic rear-view
mirror that I had to replace with a manual mirror (this was much harder than it needed
to be because the two mirrors use different mounts, which is just ridiculous).
The HomeLink on our Honda Pilot is mounted on the roof panel, which is infinitely superior.
I miss the coin tray as well. my MY07 doesn't have it either. As far as home link.... don't have a garage :( so i can't comment on it. But the Auto dim mirror. You do know that you can turn OFF the auto-dim feature, right?

Probably not a big deal. I like it for the Compass. Don't care for the dim part either.... i have tinted windows.

4. I was very disappointed that the cruise control was relocated to the steering wheel.
Having cruise control buttons on the steering wheel is dangerous. They cannot just be
operated by touch, at least not without a lot of familiarity with them, and require the
driver to take his/her eyes off the road to look at the buttons. More importantly,
they can be accidentally pressed. In our Honda Pilot, we have steering wheel button
controls too, and a few times I have accidentally pushed the "accelerate" button while
shifting my hands on the steering wheel during a long drive. The buttons on the Forester
seem to be somewhat better located, and I have not had this problem with them so far,
but it is something I have to worry about as I drive. The stalk control I had on my 1996
Impreza, which was used until this year, was the best cruise control arrangement I have
ever used; it was very easy and comfortable to use, could be used without the driver
taking eyes off the road, and there was no danger of accidental misuse. Subaru should
immediately go back to this arrangement, and should even consider recalling the cars
with the steering wheel buttons to retrofit the stalk..
Don't know about the steering wheel controls. I HATE the audio controls on my wife's Legacy. I ALWAYS change the station on accident while driving. I guess the same could happen w/ the cruise control if they were mounted there.

As far as the Stalk goes, i wish it lit up or something. At night, it is much more dangerous to try to see the small writing on it to know to SET or Coast, where it is located. Dark and Hard to see. Just my opinion on that. Of course either the Stalk or the Steering wheel positions could be memorized to get rid of that problem.

5. I am very unhappy not to have an on-off switch for the Daytime Running Lamps.
.
Don't care about that, but studies would probably prove that they do help more than they hurt.

6. Subaru should consider adding a small convex mirror to the driver's side mirror to
eliminate the blind spot. .

No brainer... $2.00 at Autozone. I, for one, am glad they don't include it... I don't want it. But you can easily add one yourself.


7. I don't like the arrangement with the remote entry buttons that only the driver's
door opens the first time the button is pushed, and that I have to push the button a
second time to unlock the rest of the doors.
Plenty of safety reasons (listed in previous posts) that they operate like this.




Thank God at least Subaru has not installed automatic door locks that activate when the
vehicle is driven. These are not only extremely annoying, but also dangerous in my
opinion since a person can potentially be trapped inside the vehicle. If this car
had had such automatic locks, and they could not have been disabled, I absolutely would
not have bought it.

.
I agree on how annoying that is.... but i don't know about dangerous.


8. I was dismayed to find that the engine runs with reduced smoothness and power when the
air conditioning is on. I had the same problem with the 1996 Impreza. I would not describe
either car's problem as severe, but they are noticeable. I am beginning to wonder if this
is an endemic problem with Subarus. Years ago most cars with air conditioning had this
difficulty, but in recent years I have not encountered it in any vehicles except the two
Subaru's.
I agree 100%. Another poster pointed out that it is only a 4 banger. But you are right... .other modern 4 cylinder cars i have driven do not have this problem. I don't know why Subaru does.



So i guess i am a hyprocrate.. after bashing everyone for bashing the OP i kind of did the same thing!

I think the new Foresters are much uglier than the old ones, but they are growing on me.
 
#22 ·
For all those whom have never heard of not being able to disable the dome light from coming on when opening the door, you must have never driven an american car.

The forester is my first car that has the switch, also my first foreign car.

However, I cannot imagine an instance when I would not want the dome light to turn on when I open the door.

Perhaps if I am a private detective on a stakeout??????
 
#24 ·
You may not want a dome light when...

...you're camping and want to leave a door hanging open for a while (more common with the tailgate, but maybe running a compressor, or just extended unpacking)....and/or if you don't want 10,000 mosquitoes on your nice white headliner...or by Lake St. Clair where I am, fish flies when they're in season.

George
 
#28 ·
I'm sad to say that the new design put us off Forester as our next car. The reason we love our 2004 is that it offers exactly what we looked for: A simple, 4WD small wagon with generous ground clearance. Perfect for us to get our sea kayaks down to the water, to get to work safely in winter, to carry our vacation gear etc. We don't need a SUV for that.
 
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