sounds like you have a mechanical problem. anything can be wrong with a 10 year old car.
rotted weatherstipping, wheel bearing, loud tires.

So while a new one will be quieter
Its similarly an econo cuv
so maybe step-up to an outback.

 

The newer Foresters are probably quieter, I know ours are quieter than my 2010 Impreza was.

One thing to note: With my Forester, if you have the sunroof closed, but the headliner slide open, there is significantly more wind noise. The sunroof seal is far from air and water tight.

It's the nature of the beast. While water doesn't come pouring past it, it can seep by. If the seal worked better, it would probably eventually wear away the paint where it contacts.

I generally leave the slide closed if I want a quieter ride.

If you want some sunshine, it comes with a little more cabin noise. If the glass is open, forget about a peaceful quiet ride altogether.

My wife and I have no issues having a conversation in a normal voice in either of our Forsters. My wife even has mild hearing loss, and she has no issue hearing me.

The best bet is to test drive one, and take it out on the freeway, for noise at speed, and down some chip and seal roads to see if the sound damping through the tires and suspension are acceptable.

On rougher pavement, it is a bit louder, but I think you're going to have to spend an extra $20,000 or more for a vehicle that is going to be dead quiet on those surface at speed.

 

Having owned these vehicles: 2001 Forester, 2013 Nissan leaf and 2014 ML 350 Bluetec, 2011 VW Touareg TDi. I will tell you there is a substantial difference between the German vehicles and Japanese vehicles in terms of sound dampening or lack thereof. But this sound dampening also comes at a price: WEIGHT of vehicle. The ML 350 Bluetec is a heavy vehicle, but it's an extremely quiet vehicle.

You're adding easily an extra 50-100lbs if not more of sound dampening. When I went to change the battery on my 2013 ML 350 Bluetec, it's sitting under the front passenger seat. One has to cut this carpeting the first time you do this. WOW, is all I can say. Not only was there carpeting, but there was some sort of carpet cushioning/backing, unlike the very thin carpeting with out the cushioning of say my 2013 Nissan Leaf.

This sound dampening comes into play with respect to road noise, tire noise, engine noise, etc..Wind tunnel work helps dramatically with respect to wind noise.

The reality is you get what you pay for. IMHO if you want a nice living room sound environment, you bought the wrong vehicle.

 

Our '17 is noticeably quieter than our '09 was. Your '13 is the same body as the '09 but has the FB engine. There is insulation in areas under the hood in the '17--so much that I was almost bummed the engine noise was so quiet. And the windshield (and maybe front glass? I forget) are acoustic glass. I can only be certain that the newest generation is even quieter as long as you stay away from the AT tires on the Wilderness.

My daily driver is a Nissan Murano, which is one size larger than the Foz and more of a luxury vehicle, and that is noticeably quieter than the Foz. I enjoy the Murano on our trips these days. My wife and I are both over 70 and our conversations frequently involve saying "what?" a lot. I guess I was just a child of 55 when I got the '09 in 2008.

 

There are dozens of sound-deadening products - even Amazon has a Basic. Tons and tons of YouTube videos, and the web is full of specialists willing to sell you stuff or do your vehicle for you.
You should also search this forum - folks have been there before.

 

A 2023 is likely to have some improvement in noise and harshness compared to a 2013. Tires can make a big difference. Forester OE tires have long been Yokohama Geolandar which are sort of all-terrain with a noisy tread design. Changing to an all-season tire known for quietness makes a big difference. When my Forester was still new I replaced the Geolandars with Michelin MXV4 Primacy and continue with Michelins now.

 

I feel as if my 2021 Forester Premium is a fairly quiet vehicle, especially while cruising down the highway at 75 to 80 mph. I have complained before about many Japanese auto brands (Honda and Toyota mainly) about how noisy they can be at highway speeds. I really have no complaints about the noise levels in my Forester. Now, the engine itself is noisy, and you can hear it especially at startup and when accelerating (sometimes it reminds me of a tractor engine), but cruising at highway speeds, I feel it’s fairly quiet. Not luxury car quiet, but fairly quiet for a mid priced vehicle. Much more quiet than many of the older Honda’s that I have owned. As vintage42 states above, I think tires can make a big difference. To me when replacing my tires I always do some research (consumer reports) and choose a tire that has a decent noise rating.

 

If you can't hold a conversation then something is wrong with the car.

Noise loud enough so that occupants can't hear each other talk is not a condition endemic to a 2013 Subaru Forester.

 

If you can't hold a conversation then something is wrong with the car.

Noise loud enough so that occupants can't hear each other talk is not a condition endemic to a 2013 Subaru Forester.

You are making your judgment based on your own, probably youthful, hearing. I am 71 years old and played LOUD rock and roll in the late 1960's and 1970's. Like a dimed 100 watt Marshall. And I owned 426 Mopar Hemi cars with barely any mufflers. And I did 500 mile drives in English roadsters and Corvettes with the tops down.

Most of my musical friends seem to need hearing aids these days. I just went for a walk with a friend this morning and he had to do some do-si-do's to make sure I was on the side with his hearing aid.

Our '09 Forester (same platform as the '13) was pretty loud and I liked the engine sounds because they reminded me of a Cessna. But when my wife and I drove 4500 miles to Florida in 3 weeks in 2016, I probably said "what?" about 5000 times. Our '17 Foz actually disappointed me a bit because I couldn't hear the engine's presence nearly as well, but it has ended up as my wife's car. It's easier to hear one another when we are driving.

The Forester is probably not the place to look if you want a really quiet car, but the new ones are better than the older ones.

 

Go test drive it for yourself.
My 2017 Forester was vastly quieter than my 2013 crosstrek (if your 13 forester is anything like my 13 crosstrek was.
2021 wasn't much different from the 2017, modest improvement.

edit: Echoing above sentiments about aging weather sealing and tires. My crosstrek had geolandars, the foresters have had bridgestone in 2017 and faulken in 2021.

 

Do you have a smart phone? If so, install a dB app. Drive your current car normally with the phone by the passenger's ear. Then do the same with a new car. You'll get readings to compare. You should be able to see and hear the difference.

 

Going back to the original post -

Will the SK generation be quieter than the SJ? Yes.

But there are a lot of variables that we just don't know about on Don's current ride... Roof cross bars add wind noise, tires add road noise, open sunroof or windows add noise.

Truth is - the Forester is a box... it's 2 boxes, really. And boxes are generally not aerodynamic. The sides and underside are relatively smooth and flat - this can cause more vibrations and noise; think of a stretched piece of material vs a loose piece of material - that tight piece of material will vibrate more and can cause more noise.

The Forester is - at the core - a small/mid sized SUV - not designed to be a luxury car. Sound deadening materials -whether stick-on tar or rubber sheeting or foam/spun fabric in a bag - adds weight which steals MPGs.

A Forester is not a Cadillac nor aimed at a more high-end, luxury market.

 

Each person has their own perception as to what's "loud" -- I've spent years in various audio forums and you've got some people that think that a stereo playing at 80 dB is really loud yet others aren't happy unless they are breaking 100 dB. Lots of other variables involved as many have noted above.

Short answer -- the ONLY way to find out if the newer models are more acceptable to you as respects their noise level is to drive one yourself.

For me, I just got rid of my VW ID4 EV (which was super quiet) and now have a 23 Forester. Certainly a bit more engine noise that what I had before, but overall I'm quite pleased with the noise level of the Forester.

 

I just drove my wife's new 23 Forester Sport and it was definitely quieter than my 18 Forester with sound deadening added. I imagine the new 25 will include the 24 Crosstrek's new quieter materials as well that people are raving about. It just keeps getting better.

 

I've owned a 2012 Forester (gen3), 2014 Forester (gen4), and now a 2023 Forester (gen5). I am sensitive to road/wind/exhaust/engine noise. I can tell you with certainty each newer model was quieter than the one before.

 

I just came from a 2009 Forester to the 2023 Touring model. Yeah, it's a lot quieter and smoother too. I realize my 2023 FT is not a luxury car (maybe a premium-level vehicle?), but from where I come from, it sure is to me.