[ncridgerunner]

Last spring the we bought a 2018 2.5i Forester for my wife to drive. We really loved the vehicle. It did very well on rough muddy roads and in the snow. Our daughter who graduated from college loved it so much she wanted to buy one. Since she had saved us a great deal of $ by working hard and landing a full ride to NCSU we decided to sell her ours at a great price and buy another for my wife. Unfortunately all the 2018's were gone so we decided to buy a 2019 2.5i.

The vehicles look similar but are very different. The ride in the 2019 is definitely more smooth and it feels more "solid" as it travels on the highway and on back dirt roads. The 2019 has many more electronic features standard as compared to the 2018. These features include the eyesight system, lane departure, distance pacing cruise control, android play and auto start/stop. I like the android play so google maps can be better used. The jury is still out on the lane departure and the distance pacing cruise control as they seem ok but can be annoying at times especially on some of the curvy mountain roads where I live.

The auto start/stop feature was not listed as a feature on the dealer's website when I was researching the vehicle. I should have done more due diligence in my research but did not discover this feature until after the purchase. Coming from a background that included a number of vehicles that I had to work on the keep running I am programmed to feel that when a vehicle "stalls" on the road or in traffic it is a safety and mechanical problem. There is a button to disable auto start/stop but the default is to turn the feature back on after each time the vehicle is cycled off and back on.

The 2018 has a very touchy acceleration. If you do not feather the accelerator pedal when starting from a dead stop, you enter a stage I call "warp factor" which is a sudden "jackrabbit" type acceleration. After some experience we got used to this and it ceased to be a problem. The 2019 does not exhibit warp factor and has smooth acceleration.

It may be my imagination but the paint on the 2019 seems a little better quality as it seems to have a more mirror or deep shine type finish. This of course is very subjective.

I think the alloy wheels on the 2018 are better looking and are easier to clean and wash.

My wife likes the look of the 2019 better than the 2018 but they are so similar to me that I don't see much difference unless they are side by side.

I hesitate to buy the first year of a redesigned model but a 2019 was our only option in a new vehicle. In fact we usually do not purchase new vehicles but the Forester is my wife's "retirement car".

Overall the 2019 would be my preference if it were not for the auto start/stop. Every time we forget to disable this feature and it kicks in my heart skips a beat and my stomach tightens up as I hope that the vehicle will restart. I have even found myself reaching for the key to restart the vehicle before I realize what is going on.

As it is, I wish we had bought a used 2018 because the auto start/stop feature has denied us the enjoyment of a new vehicle.

 

[mymiforester2019]

You can shut that feature off every time you get in the car (push the A in the circle button for 3 seconds) or do what I do, I try to make sure the defrosters are on.

 

[Greengarden]

Like you I was on the fence between the 2018 and 2019 for my first Forester. I ran out at the end of October and purchased the last 2018 touring model in my area. I'm very happy with the deal I received and the zero percent interest was a factor. I was able to get all the upgrades i could dream of and in the end I am pleased with my decision. i even think I like the 2018 styling a bit better - something about the hood and the smaller windows in the 2019.... all that being said I still wonder about missing out on the new platform. Hope you can get used to the auto off/on feature - gotta be good for the environment as more and more cars are featuring it.

 

[hoshie]

Agree. The 18s look much better all over/exterior. I think the back of the 19’s are particularly terrible. Wheels as well.

You will get used to turning off the ss soon enough. You will condition yourself

 

[Sdcerreta]

The 2019 Sport was the first Forester I was excited about in the last ten years. I love my 09 Forester. Also a first year model and has 171k. Still a great car. In 2014 the Forester got fat with bug eye headlights and rear tailights and lost the scoop hood on the XT model. 14-18 is the ugly version IMO. The 19 got skinny again in the lamps and the Sport model is wicked sharp. Much faster at start and high speed passing too. I love the 19. My dealership tried selling me an 18 with zero APR and I laughed at her. Why would I want last years car when I have been waitign for the 19 since the debut in New York back in April 2018 or so.

Loving it.

 

[burdicda]

13 Dec 2018 I went to my local dealership and test drove both the 2018 and 2019 2.5 and immediately knew and refused to have anything to do with a 2019. I bought the very last 2018 they had, fortunately it was exactly the color and wheelbase I was looking for. I had bad juju first hand with all that electronic "overwatch", I wanted carplay so bad I test drove the 2019 just to try it, it immediately loaded up all my gps addresses and phone numbers and I told it to take me home and it started talking and within 100 feet of entering the Interstate it dropped my phone connection (which was usb cable) and locked up my phone so hard I had to power cycle the phone to get it back (oh and it was a brand new galaxy S8). The car was noticeably longer and felt like a old school buick, lincoln, or caddie in length compared to the 2018. I then drove it down an older road where the white line on the right side paint was faded and the car went crazy trying to tell me I'm driving off the road when I wasn't. It killed the engine the first time I pulled up to a stop sign and hesitated, and it "paused" the car just as I was going to leapfrog into close in traffic to pull back into the dealership during rush hour...

I guess if all these "godfather protect me from myself" electronics are mandatory starting in 2019, it's a good thing I bought a 2018 brand car that is world famous for being tough and lasting a looooonnnngggg time...so I won't have to worry for the rest of my days about being "forced" to live with that "sh*t.

 

[badtlc]

I avoided the 2019 specifically due to the direct injection engine.

 

[ForesterBill]

I was planning on keeping my 2010 until 2020 and was maintaining it accordingly. Two "features" of the re-designed 2019 prompted me to buy a new Forester two years earlier than planned - Auto Stop/Start and Direct Injection. I'm really glad I bought a 2018 and have never regretted my decision.

 

[Mcflip78]

Agree. The 18s look much better all over/exterior. I think the back of the 19’s are particularly terrible. Wheels as well.

You will get used to turning off the ss soon enough. You will condition yourself

I actually think the 19's look pretty good. I saw a dark blue sport the other day and I think it looks sharp. Love the blacked out look. Although I don't like those orange pin strips on the exterior. Overall I think the 19's is now a more modern/refined car being on the new Subaru Global Platform. The interior is modern and up to date and ride quality is much better than the 18's. I did however pick up an '18 XT for 2 reasons. The turbo and Start/Stop feature. I had to have the turbo before they were all gone and I just don't like the Auto/Stop feature. It's not a horrible feature, but Subaru should really give us the ability to disable it permanently.

 

[Kevin]

Auto stop start posts moved here: https://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f335/auto-stop-start-feature-merged-thread-768306/

 

[daklakfoto]

Love the new SGP on the ascent and Forester but decided to go with light weight yet full power on 18 FXT.

It works for me.

 

[Natedog]

I guess if all these "godfather protect me from myself" electronics are mandatory starting in 2019, it's a good thing I bought a 2018 brand car that is world famous for being tough and lasting a looooonnnngggg time...so I won't have to worry for the rest of my days about being "forced" to live with that "sh*t.

This. I hate all the self protection, electronic gadget, touch screen junk, which also drives up the cost of the car and increases potential maintenance and failures down the road. Love my CVT, but very glad I've got a couple year old Forester without the added junk. Just want to black out my grill lol, but that's minor cosmetics.

 

[FozzieBalou]

I guess if all these "godfather protect me from myself" electronics are mandatory starting in 2019, it's a good thing I bought a 2018 brand car that is world famous for being tough and lasting a looooonnnngggg time...so I won't have to worry for the rest of my days about being "forced" to live with that "*****.

This. I hate all the self protection, electronic gadget, touch screen junk, which also drives up the cost of the car and increases potential maintenance and failures down the road. Love my CVT, but very glad I've got a couple year old Forester without the added junk. Just want to black out my grill lol, but that's minor cosmetics.

Sadly guys this is the wave of the future... Or should we say the wave of the present. As these lovely compact computers we hold in our hands everyday - whether a phone or a tablet or an iPad - become more and more prevalent... I mean really who doesn't have a smart phone or a tablet anymore? Anyway as these devices become something everyone has, the integration of these devices into the vehicles we drive everyday will become more commonplace as well.

Whether you like it or not, touchscreen integration is now and is the future. I should say that I am an IT Tech geek and have been for many years. But I also remember the days of the green screen and having to type in commands to tell the computer exactly what you want it to do. Then Apple came along with the first mass-produced GUI interface that people were accustomed to and - bam! - we have smartphones and tablets. We have Android auto and Apple carplay.

And of course, because of this new touch screen technology, and people taking their eyes off the roads, we now have to have all of these nannies governing our driving. We have to have blind spot detection and automatic braking for both forward and reverse gears and all the rest. Why? Because too many people are paying too much attention to too many touchscreen devices in their car and in their hands.

If you don't like it, there's really only one true way to get rid of it. And that would be to move to a deserted island where it is just you and maybe your family that live there with nobody else on the roads.

While much of this technology is valid and worthwhile, there's some that is a little overprotective. I also wonder whether it is as reactive as you or I may be. My 2014 Limited does not have eyesight or automatic braking. Well it does, but it's my eyes and my foot on the brake pedal. The other day I was in a loner - a 2018 Limited - that did not have eyesight or automatic braking. However it did have blind spot detection which I found both interesting and annoying at the same time.

As I was backing out of my driveway, there was a car moving on the other side of the street - on the other side of a parking divider in the middle of the street - and the blind spot detection stuff went crazy. There would have been no chance for me to back into that car unless I backed up and over a curb across the sidewalk over some plants and down the other side and travel another 8 ft. But the blind spot detection was beeping and blinking like there was no tomorrow.

In some cases the blind spot detection is valid. Think about being in a crowded parking lot in a shopping center in backing out of a parking spot. Somebody then is walking down the aisle not paying attention to your car backing out. The blind spot detection will at least alert you to their presence and you can stop.

When it comes to eyesight and the automatic braking features, I'm sure that they can also be a benefit. As the Subaru commercials always show us, and as a few people on this form can probably attest to, the automatic braking feature is valid and has probably saved them once or twice. Of course paying attention and applying the brakes yourself will do the same thing. The other day in the same loaner as above, I was driving down the road when a woman in - ironically - another subaruforester cut across the lanes of traffic right in front of me and then stopped because there was another car in the driveway she was turning into. I was able to stop the car because I saw her and reacted much the same way that eyesight would have seen her and reacted. Or at least much the way I hope that eyesight would have seen her and reacted.

As much as many of us may not like all of these gadgets and devices, they're here to stay. Do they add levels of complexity? Sure but they also make things simpler. As now every car will have this type of stuff in the near future.

PS - you can also blame this on the "I'll sue you!!" concepts so prevalent in the U.S. today.

 

[DockingPilot]

I agree, the stern on the 19’, to me, looks bulbous. Not impressed.


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[hoshie]

The back is terrible for me. Overall (front to back), it just looks cheap and dated and the wheel choices are terrible for a new platform. I like the interior better though...minus the orange bizznizz

 

[DockingPilot]

The stern is the back hosh. Lol
I agree with you.


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[ncridgerunner]

I realize we cannot escape from the onslaught of new technology but it would be good to have the option to refuse the "nanny" technology.

 

[Mattdhaines]

I’ve only had it for 4 days,but I “love” every thing about my 2019 limited. Except the color. Should have got silver.

 

[adc]

What color?

 

[Mattdhaines]

Dark gray

It’s really the wife’s car. She picked the color. Lol!