GreyingJay

It's the head unit. Upgrade to something aftermarket and you'll find an instant improvement in the sound quality even with the stock speakers. That was my case (after doing lots of reading on the forums), and I didn't even get a very fancy unit.

Agreed, every time I hit the odometer button I either seem to activate my horn or spray the windshield with fluid. Wouldn't dare do it while driving lest I break my arm and flip the car at the same time!

But if you switch to the "main" odometer (not trip A or B) does it not show you the instantaneous MPG readout? It does on mine. Could be a difference between Canadian and US markets though.

Mark29

Could be...on my Limited, the MPG readout is shown only on trip A or trip B.

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Mark
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2011 2.5x Limited
Paprika Red

infinitempg

Must be, only MPG on Trip A and Trip B, nothing on main odometer. Hmmm, wonder if that's a RAM flash update?

After market stereo would need to cable in properly so could still use console USB, steering phone controls and Bluetooth. Hmmm, maybe one with SAT "BUILT IN"....

GreyingJay

Steering wheel audio controls and Bluetooth are certainly doable, you just need a head unit that supports them, and an adaptor box like the Metra Axxess ASWC ($50). There's a user on this forum by name of SVXdc who is very helpful and can sell you the wiring adaptors necessary, should you decide to do an upgrade. He might have something to say about the console USB as well, not sure (mine doesn't have one :( )

Check out his website: Subaru radio and radio wiring harness information.

MXForester

I have 30k miles on my '12 since purchasing it new June 1st. My peeves in no particular order...

1) Paint is the softest I've ever seen on a vehicle. It scratches when the wind blows.

2) 5-speed needs to be a 6-speed...or have a different ratio in 5th. It screams at 70mph. It's annoying at speed.

3) I'd like a bit more HP. Not much more, just a bit more for trailering and acceleration.

4) The carpet is about as durable as a wet paper towel.

5) No diesel option in the U.S. is absolutely ridiculous.

1stSub

We must be separated at birth. I came off of an older BMW E30, so I was used to the engine screaming at 3,500rpm, in 1989 soundproofing technology.

The paint is soft, and the sheet metal seems to be quite thing. It dents easily. I enjoyed it dent-free for two years, but now I have a parking lot ding. Very shallow, but I know where it is.

As for the carpet, get some floor mats ASAP. The factory mats are crap, as the driver's side piece is ripping apart where I have my right heel rested.

MXForester

I came from an Avalanche, and a string of full-size pickups prior to that. This is the first non-V8 vehicle I've ever owned.

I run the factory rubber mats. So far, so good. But the areas that the mats don't cover the carpet seems thin and cheap and where my left foot rests has already worn badly.

Mark29

This is fixed for 2014, the manuals are 6-speed.

Same power for the 2014, unless you move up to an XT. But then the only tranny available is the CVT.

That hasn't changed, it appears there still won't be a diesel.

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Mark
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2011 2.5x Limited
Paprika Red

Aran

I haven't driven it since before Thanksgiving. And only touched it once since then.


But I should have it back next week... hopefully.

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'02

daviddeep

I noticed some complaints about the cheap carpeting in the SH Foresters and I agree with this. What's weird is that in the course of our recent new car shopping, we noticed this same junky carpet in a number of other cars, notably Mazdas. Also the styrofoam supports for the rear cargo floor seem quite common in new cars (saw this also in the Mazda CX-5 and Scion xB). It's disappointing that automakers are using such cheap and evidently not durable materials in cars. I'm sure this saves weight and a few dollars per car, but I don't like seeing such measures compromise quality.

And GreyingJay, I have also noticed the "new glasses" effect caused by a distorted side view mirror. My car has this effect with both the driver's side view mirror and the rear view mirror.

Also I agree that the base sound system is terrible, but it is much less terrible if you get the tweeter kit that is standard in the Touring models. It's fairly obvious tweeters were simply omitted in base and Premium models since the standard audio system is glaringly missing any hints of treble, and of course the tweeter wiring is right there in the doors. Is Subaru punishing people who don't want a leather interior?

The instrumentation is rather inadequate. Even my previous Dodge Caravan had a water temperature gauge. Why don't Subaru XTs have an oil pressure gauge and a boost gauge?

As a final gripe, I looked at the three or so Forester XTs that were available in my area, and all were saddled with a bunch of factory or "port" installed options that I'd never have ordered. For example, mine has the annoying audible backup warning sensors, and the (to me at least) silly puddle lamps. Mine also came with the factory splash guards (or "scoops" as some have called them), the auto-dimming rear view mirror, and the fog lights (which I admit at least look better than the black plugs you get in their place). If I'd wanted any of this stuff, I could have ordered it after taking delivery. Car dealers used to load cars up with goofy options in the 70s to gouge extra money out of customers, but I thought that practice died out ages ago. I guess not.

Despite these complaints, I really do like this car a lot. It's quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites. It's such a perfect size, drives and handles darn well for what it is, and is reasonably comfortable. I like the extra power of the turbo a lot too.

mark johnson

[QUOTE=GreyingJay;1335076]It's the head unit. Upgrade to something aftermarket and you'll find an instant improvement in the sound quality even with the stock speakers. That was my case (after doing lots of reading on the forums), and I didn't even get a very fancy unit.
QUOTE]

What did you replace it with? How hard was the new unit to install?

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fishtherainy - 2010 Premium all weather!

dawgMobile

And buy his harness. It has the SWC wires which crutchfieds connector lacks.

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2014 forester ltd
prev: 2010 Foz Prem w/AWP

dawgMobile

[quote=mark johnson;1341197]I got a pioneer avhp3400bh. Problems: the usb is up front and I want to use my iphone as my player and so I've landed up having to set up a spot to velcor it in place out of the way (on top by the mph meter so that it doesn't get in the way of the hvac controls). I just didn't want more than that and wanted something so that I could just carry some thumb drives with me with my favorite audio if I needed it.

It was a pain to put together, but I've never done it before + I'm color blind so when someone says the brown - red wire I say what the @#$@#. I got connectors from crutchfield, cause I didn't want to solder. Made it really easy to correct screwups to. It's a pain all the wiring, and for god sakes test the stereo before screwing everything back together (another greenhorn mistake I made), but popping off the trim is easy (I just used a computer trim tool I had), uncoupling is easy.

Final thought, it depends on how good you want it to look at the end. At some level I don't care, there are 1000 scratches all over the place in my car. So I didn't even bother to cut the frame that pioneer sent with it. It bulges out and I kind of like the look. It wouldn't be up to OEM fit and finish in any case.

Only thing that I don't like other than lack of place to put the iphone (can't use the given aux and usb, but probably could if it had the ports on the back and not the front) is that I have to wait for the bluetooth to synch 15-20 seconds before plugging in my iphone or it cuts out the audio.

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2014 forester ltd
prev: 2010 Foz Prem w/AWP

GreyingJay

I bought an Axxera X2DMA500 from Crutchfield (which is apparently now discontinued; figures).

Axxera X2DMA500 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

It came with a wiring harness, but as I was soon to learn, the harness Crutchfield provides does not include the two or three wires (depending on your Forester) needed to interface with the steering wheel controls.

Contact SVXdc and he can sell you a properly wired harness. You will also need another little interface box called the Metra Axxess ASWC. (I know, Axxera, Axxess, it's a little confusing). This is about $50 and it goes in between your car harness and the stereo head unit.

The trickiest part was connecting up the wires but that was mostly an exercise in color identification and reading comprehension, e.g. connect the black wire to the other black wire, after confirming that both companies agreed on what black was used for. David (SVXdc) will give you detailed instructions too, which are very helpful.

The install itself was very simple. Gently pry off the faceplate, unscrew the original head unit from the car, unscrew the brackets, gently unplug everything, then install the brackets into the new head unit, plug the connectors in, set it all back into the car, screw it down, replace the faceplate.

There is a lot of good info and support on this forum if you want to do the upgrade. Honestly I think the hardest part will be deciding which unit you want. Pioneer? JVC? Alpine? GPS or no? DVD or no? USB ports? etc.

Timmsy

It's well known that the stock Forester speakers are quite lame. I replaced my front speakers with a set of Alpine speakers with built-in tweeters for just over $100 (USD) and am loving the difference in sound quality...

Thanks to the useful threads on speaker installation of course!