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What are your pet peeves about your Forester? (merged thread)

964K views 5K replies 2K participants last post by  rule292 
#1 ·
Like you, I love my Forester. She’s quick. She’s agile. But even Romero and Juliet had their dust-ups.
What are your pet peeves about your Forester?
For me, it’s the light display on the radio. Even at it’s brightest setting, it’s invisible during the day. Often I can’t tell if the radio is on or off. If I had turned down the volume and thought that I had turned it off, then I’ll turn it off, thinking that I’m turning it on.
 
G
#2 ·
Without a doubt the biggest complaint of my fxt06 is the fact that the park lights turn off when you turn the car off. Most (maybe all??) other cars the lights stay on when you leave the key in the accessory position. Then if this wasn't bad enough, Subaru decide to put a manual switch for the lights, with no warning lights or chiming to tell you when you have left the switch on. Of course the result of this is a flat battery the next morning!!! really!!!!!????

I need to cross a river to get to my place and have to use a ferry to do so. At night you are requred to leave parking lights on, so the ferry driver can see you waiting. I've already flattened the battery once, and only had the car a matter of weeks. What a total pain in the ar$e!
 
#614 ·
Parking lights left on

Subaru decided to put a manual switch for the parking lights, with no warning lights or chiming to tell you when you have left the switch on. Of course the result of this is a flat battery the next morning...I've already flattened the battery once, and only had the car a matter of weeks. What a total pain in the ar$e!
Alas this happened to me yesterday to the 02 Foz we just bought, while detailing the glass on the dash earlier in the afternoon I must have accidentally pressed the parking light switch - about which I was hitherto unaware. That evening I called my wife to admire the sunset and as we stood in front of our house she mentioned our lights were on. Could we jump start it? $110 to AAA later, this is my only peeve so far. Great fun on Friday night calibrating the compass mirror turning circles in a parking lot. Still lovin it.
 
#3 ·
Unidentified rattle in the cargo area.
Can't drive with just the driver side window down because the resulting airflow is all wrong and will blow my hair into my face.
Not exactly a gas miser.

That's about all I can think of... :shrug:
 
#4 ·
I have a small list of annoyances:

Bigger wheels are needed to get any better tires.

100mph for any kind of distance is uncomfortable due to wind and gearing.

No vital gauges like boost and oil pressure. Even DSM's get that.

Vibrating hood at high speeds. I can literally never look at the speedo and know how fast I'm going, so I guess that's a plus?

That's about it. It's a great car.
 
#6 ·
PNW-06FXT said:
2. stupid dinging when the car is started and the driver seat belt isn't latched while letting the engine warm up for couple of mins in the morning
Your seat belt alarm comes on from starting the car?
Mine doesnt do anything until you are doing about 20km/h (or spinning the wheels the equivalent amount!! - discovered that while trying to bog it in sand on a 4wd training course)
 
#9 ·
1. It's not a manual. [Ducks.] Nah, just kidding, I've got used to it now.

1. I used to get a lot of "Yeow!!!" experiences while getting out, but not much of that recently. The :icon_eek: ones were when I got a spark opening the fuel flap. It just never happened with my previous car.

2. When I open the driver's door (from outside the vehicle) after rain, water drops off the edge of the monsoon shield straight onto the side of the driver's seat.

3. I do prefer my headlights to work when I want them to, even if the key is off. I wonder if that parklight switch could be rewired to simply turn on power to the stalk control...
 
#1,973 ·
Speedo and Tach. What about the fuel guage, the turn signal lights, the miniature clock. When the sky is bright they are all in the black hole. My 2008 has the worst instrument visibility of any car I've ever owned back to my '51 Hillman Minx!. It isn't until the dark of night that I find out I'm just about out of gas.
 
#12 ·
Pastor Spomer said:
For me, it’s the light display on the radio. Even at it’s brightest setting, it’s invisible during the day. Often I can’t tell if the radio is on or off.
Pastor, maybe try this;
Press and hold the volume button - takes about 5 seconds.
It should change your brightness to that of when your lights are on.
Even on a sunny day with the 'roof open mine is ok to read now i learnt that trick.

Justin.
 
#13 ·
hmm....

  • people other than the concerned owner tend to use the glass to close doors, which *can't* be good for it
  • carpet is an unholy jungle of dirt retention... tremendously difficult to clean (and fragile too)
  • what is the point of offering a factory rear diff guard and not a sump guard? on my 4x4 I have skidplates under almost everything except the rear diff, because THAT of all things can put up with the abuse
  • seats fold down to make a cargo area that is almost flat. but not quite.
i'm sure there's more but I haven't driven it today yet
 
G
#190 ·
I know what you mean about the carpets. As a professional Car Detailer I have the task of removing sand from carpet daily. The Subarus in general are pretty bad. I guess that is where Subaru decided to save some money.

Try using a brush with medium strength bristles to pull the sand to the top of the pile. then vacuum and repeat until satisfied. If you are as picky as I am, it will take a few passes to really get good results. But forget thinking you will get it all, its just not possible.
You may find that the pile of the carpet gets a little damaged by brushing, but its better than the abrasive effect that sand has on carpet.
Failing that use floor mats of deeper pile carpet or rubber. They are a lot easier to keep looking good!
 
#1,012 ·
Forester 2005 XS problems....



The worst of all are the windows. I had them all four replaced after 3 years. The still are having raps between the door and the glass. I think that forester 2009 have correct the problem (window frame added). Another problem is the milage which is terrible on highways. The steering wheel is very slow and the hill holder is making things hard when going in reverse on inclined surface.

But the worst of all is a bad odour which is emanated from the air ventilators. I had sprayed inside 3 times, followed the instructions of how to clean the AC system but i have still the same problem.....
 
#1,432 ·
Biggest pet peeve......

See below



Too much fun to drive
:rock:
This is a serious freakin' problem! I haven't sent my first payment, yet, and have 1000mi on the odomoter. My commute to work is 3mi. At 20mpg, my 06 Escape used a tank of gas every payday. At 25-26, my Forester takes a tank a week! And I haven't even tried drifting it, yet. I'll bet the mileage plummets, sideways.

On a less annoying note, the rear gate is inclined to only latch partway, so I have to find that little button thingy and do it again. Also came to really like the option on the Escape of only opening the rear glass. I thought it was useless, until I used it a few times.
 
#18 ·
I too vote for:

More side bolstering (sp?) for the seats, adjuster wheel digs into my thigh too,
Liberty seats but with the Foresters stiffness would be great.

Black backing on Speedo/Tacho is a blatant No! No! can't see a bloody thing on bright sunny days.

Glove box light as standard would be good.

A decent fitting to hold OEM mat on the drivers side.

Vanity light behind the passengers sunvisor for wives like they do in the Liberty.

A 5th mag wheel for the spare tyre so you can rotate the 5 tyres.

A brighter light or more lighting as standard for the rear cargo area, as in a duplicate interior light would great instead of the "rear mount" as is current you can't see a bloody thing once you enter into the rear cargo area to get anything. 2 x side mounted lights above the glass in the cargo area would be good too.

Quality paint for a quality car would be fantastic.

I'll leave room for others to grizzle now :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
#1,530 ·
I too vote for:
A brighter light or more lighting as standard for the rear cargo area, as in a duplicate interior light would great instead of the "rear mount" as is current you can't see a bloody thing once you enter into the rear cargo area to get anything. 2 x side mounted lights above the glass in the cargo area would be good too.
when i replaced my reverse lights with LEDs i simply took one of the reverse lights and stuck it in the cargo light. Perfect fit on the terminals, just cant fit the little plastic cover on. But now when i lift the rear gate its like the sun came out. Ive actually had compliments of how bright it is, since it lights up the ground as well.
 
#19 ·
Peter

I am sure you know this about the MY06 in Aussie

Has glove box light
Has a full size mag wheel as spare
Drivers side mat has a great hook fastener system
Seats seem fine on mine as far as side bolstering (mind you, mine have an extra layer on them)

Agree about the paint, dials and the cargo lighting.
 
#21 ·
No glove box light....for either of our Foresters.

The seat belt warning chime on my XT.......comes on after about 10 seconds when the car is started.......give me a sec to get the belt on! :icon_eek:

Also wish the cargo mat wasen't so slippery when you have stuff back there.

More armrest storage space & actual decent OE tires would be appreciated.
 
#258 ·
4. Now a whistling noise from 4000 rpms on at WOT.

nothing major... good lil subie.
Isn't that normally your turbo? I swear in my Dads works Ford Iveco he sometimes drives around site, when he puts his foot down you can hear a whistling noise from the turbo.

Just a bit curious, what does the standard 2.5 XT sound like at full throttle. We have a V6 mondeo (contour) and it makes a very nice noise indeed :)
 
#23 ·
Hm only a few things:
1. paint!
2. slightly better seats would be nice, miss the power seats on our outback.
3. when closing the doors with the windows down it sounds like smashing glass on pavement.
4. x2 to the airflow with only 1 window down.
5. seems like my car likes to break its windshield. (on its 3rd)


and of course, it's too much fun to drive economically and therefore I have no money for mods after paying for all the gas, but I don't mind paying for the fun factor.
 
#24 ·
1.Horrible performance(or lack there of) in a N/A Forester it has to be about the most gutless car ive ever driven(2001 N/A auto)

2. Paint seems exceedingly thin

3. rattles/ buzzes /clunks coming from god knows where cant find them and they come and go not always there.

4. Realtively poor MPG for a 4cyl car should be upwards of 30 highway 22-23 city. I get more like 19/26

5. The exhaust heat shields have basicaly rusted off the car..one rattling around so much i had to take it off the other coming off while driving to work...VERY shoddy never had another car EVER do that...I expect a bit more from a Subaru.

6. No center console arm rest and no REAL cup holders just the chintzy pull out ones that block all access to HVAC controls when in use(guess this has been taken care of on models newer than min) and NO I should not have to pay extra for a armrest it should ALREADY have one.
 
#2,494 ·
Sadly I traded a Rav4 (Toyota) for the 14 forester!!
where do I begin?
Too small rear camera screen
No glove box light
Mileage indicator between speedometer and tack need to be lighted better!
Shifting from reverse to drive, about a 3 second delay before engages. Dealer says this is normal which I don't believe.
Mileage not like advertised.
Door storage pockets too small.
More things that I won't bore you all about!
I would NOT buy another and will next year go back to Rav 4 (Toyota) 100% better car!
Motor Trend car of the year WHAT A JOKE
 
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