Rip everything to 320k MP3 (or a lossless format if your head unit supports it) and stop inserting the disks into your car. Or if you really are insistent on using old outdated CD tech, copy your CDs and keep the originals somewhere safe.

It's just a "feature" of slot loading CDs. I don't think you're going to be able to "fix" anything.

 

I also prefer CD's but copy any that I would play in a car. There is just too much that can and will go wrong, a light perpendicular scratch is the least of it. Blank CD media is so cheap now (while it's still available) that copies really make sense.

 

It's the nature of the beast. Every slot loading CD player will leave their mark. Straight lines is the best of the worse out come, as straight lines means the laser pick up won't get interrupted as much.
As to the fix.... you can try getting some 3000 grit sand paper or polishing solution and give that slot a good rubbing.
Or... fingers crossed, invest in a CD resurface machine, if you can find them. I think old vinyl records shops is your best bet.

 

Basic choices are to copy CD's or accept the scratches as part of their use. There will always be microscopic grit in the mechanism. I had a large pile of CD copies that I could just grab when going on a trip.

Actually a better choice in modern times is to rip and load about 100 CD's onto a flash drive and leave that in the USB port. I don't bother with CD's at all...but my wife likes them.

You could always choose a Honda CR-V or one of many other brands that omit a CD player altogether--they won't scratch them.

 

I really wish people stopped defending what is a glaring, Subaru-specific issue as a "feature" and writing it off as "the nature of the beast." It's just not. As a musician, record collector and avid music fan in general, I can attest to the fact that there are plenty of valid reasons to prefer a CD or a vinyl record over electronic music files, which are fraught with their own problems, from the hassle of ripping music media to file management, buggy music software and bluetooth connectivity issues.

More importantly, though, here's the deal: If a brand-new car comes with outdated, yet brand-new equipment such as a CD player, I expect that technology to work, flawlessly. Of course CD technology is "outdated," but so are combustion engines. If we accept Subaru's subbar CD player as a "feature," we might as well accept blown head gaskets as "features."

I observed the exact same issue immediately after buying my 2017 Forester and posted a virtually identical thread. In my lifetime, I've owned various slot-type CD players, and none of them had the issue. I noticed it in our brand-new Subaru at a time when the car was so new there was no way the slot could have accumulated dust and grime, never mind the fact that the scratches I discovered on my CDs were too regularly shaped and too significant to be caused by random dust and grime.

No, my hypothesis, unless convinced otherwise, is that Subaru is installing faulty CD players in their vehicles and nobody bothers to rectify the problem. If Subaru were to do away with CD players altogether, I'd be fine with that. But as long as they offer them, they need to offer hardware that lives up to its task.

 

I really wish people stopped defending what is a glaring, Subaru-specific issue as a "feature" and writing it off as "the nature of the beast."

But this issue isn't Subaru-specific. Every slot loading CD player I've ever used left some tiny marks on the CDs. Heck, if I move my laptop while the half-height CD player is spinning, I can hear the spinning disc touch non-moving parts, and see the resulting scratches. Subaru doesn't make the head units, they're made by major audio companies like Clarion.

 

Have any of you had problems playing the scratched CD's in any equipment? Subaru head units, like those used by every car maker, are made by a major etronics company (I saw Clarion and Matsushitsa/Panasonic labels on Subaru units in Ebay photos).

It's possible that Subaru pre-loads their players with grit given their outdoorsy image.

If you value your CD's, play copies. I remember the CD's looking pretty grisly coming out of our old Mercury Sable 6-disc trunk changer, and I know my Acura TL used to leave little "love bites" on CD's...but it never kept any of them from playing properly.

 

The "fine scratches" are more likely due to the very things that are there to stop dust and micro-particles from getting in the mechanism. There are probably only a few different concepts out there in portable audio systems with this type of slip/slide in CD system. It is what it is. It's not just Subaru. I had this same problem with CD players in my Mazda and both of my Chryslers. It happens more in some geographic areas due to the amount of grit, dust and those micro-particles in the air.

Next time you're on a long road trip, take a look at the "flap" on the back of many RVs. It is usually one of 2 times - the solid rubber flap or the "whiskers". Both are designed to help keep debris from the road that can be kicked up by the passage of the RV from hitting the "toad" (towed vehicle) behind from that debris. The whiskers are just a bunch of flexible plastic ( or some other material ) "strings" hanging from the back of the motorhome; the rubber flap is usually just a single long rubber flap that runs the width.... Both tend to ride just about 6 inches to maybe 12 inches above the road surface. Does it stop a lot of stuff from hitting the toad? Yes. But does it stop everything? Nope.

Or wash your car. Or just drive. You get dust and grit on the paint that will just cause scratches in the finish over time.

Best way around this has been mentioned - burn everything on to playable CDs or onto a thumb drive or - the best option - is a medial player (like an iPod or similar) and then you can sort by artists or create playlists of certain albums or songs or whatever. That's what I do. I have a few thousand CDs - from country to Christmas to dance to disco and beyond. I have most of them on external hard drives that I can then add on the iTunes on my PC and then populate to the iPod and play in my Forester (and then on headphones or portable speakers or __) when I get to where I'm going.

And no matter what - it IS the nature of the beast. CD media is fragile - it's just a sheet of plastic - with a film on there that allows the data to be "added" to that film and stored as "read only" before being packaged and sold. That plastic is not scratch resistant (like a pair of glasses can be) and those fine scratches usually do not impair performance (as mentioned). It's only when the scratches are deeper and can affect the reflected light that reads the data stored on the film.

 

Many (if not close to 100% in a motor vehicle) of the fore mentioned scratches are cause by silica dust, which is hard enough to score/scratch most metals, much less something as soft as plastic. As previously stated, dust is the nature of the beast in a vehicle… it’s always present…even in the space station, just not nearly in the amount found in a car.

Now, if one wants to ride in a “clean room” environment, then they must recognize it isn‘t going to be cheap. Use a CD in ANY vehicle CD player, and it’s definitely going to get scratched…no doubt about it. The only question is to what degree.

I never use CD originals in any vehicle. It’s just good insurance to keep the originals in a safe place and use copies… they’re easy to burn, and very inexpensive. Or, as suggested by others, use an electronic storage device, USB thumb drive or otherwise.

Its a car… not Carnegie Hall. If that’s where one goes to have the highest “professional” listening experience, they probably are going to be disappointed.

 

Its a car… not Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall. I like that.

 

...a literal copy of an audio CD is identical to the original...

Speaking of silica, @DesertTwang, you live IN THE DESERT...I would suggest sand is a "feature" of your chosen environment...

 

I've seen slot type players leave scratches for decades now, I can't see how it wouldn't leave a scratch as it drags it in and out. My first CD is over 30 years old, covered in scraches, and plays well. I wouldn't play any of my rare or irreplaceable discs in the car however, those stay in the House.

 

No issues using the CD player in my '21. Granted I don't use it often. I mostly did just to verify it actually works, before I totally forgot, and the basic warranty ran out.

But I put in a brand new CD, it played fine, hit eject, it ejected, looked fine, I stuck it in the case, took it in the house and ripped it to my MP3 player.

Edit:

Just checked it, and it still looks mint. No scratches that are visible to the naked eye.

I would say if yours is leaving marks that bad, maybe pull it out of the dash and have it serviced/replaced, since being a 2017, unless you have the extended warranty, any issues are no longer Subaru's.

If it has been that bad from day one, and you didn't give Subaru the chance to correct it, then how can you knock them?

 

The elephant in the room is that superficial scratches parallel across the surface of the disk is hardly ever audible. It's when the scratches are deep and/or along the path of the data that it is likely to be an issue.