It could have been your initial alignment. I've heard a lot of people recommend getting your alignment checked when new for a couple of reasons. One is because they have the foresters chained down pretty tight during transport. The other is those truck transport drivers can tend to bang them down on the street pretty hard when unloading them at the stealership.

Hopefully it's just your alignment and nothing serious

 

In general, it is an awful idea to buy tires at any dealership. Not only are there prices on tires usually (always?) higher than many local shops, but also they will not give you free rotations/balancing etc. for the life of the tires which you can get at a local tire store. In addition, to get their "deal" you will let them pick the tires they install (OEM type which are universally awful) and not get the selection of a wide range of brands you can find elsewhere. As for the buy 3 get one free deal, its simply nothing special. Shop around, you will find equal or better deals elsewhere.

 

In general, it is an awful idea to buy tires at any dealership. Not only are there prices on tires usually (always?) higher than many local shops, but also they will not give you free rotations/balancing etc. for the life of the tires which you can get at a local tire store....

Yep. I price compared last night and found SamsClub to be a better overall deal between the rebates, the one price for all the extra installation steps, and the better road hazard coverage. Plus Sams is in my town whereas I have to drive 40 miles to the dealership if I went that route. I am still leaning toward the dealer for the alignment in case there is something wrong with the suspension they can just do that as well.

 

@Vladder1 any vehicle with Independent Rear Suspension needs the rear end aligned. Traditional American cars and trucks had (and trucks still have) a solid rear axle that does not allow or need adjustment.

I agree on dealer tire purchases--usually not a good idea. But if you buy tires elsewhere the dealer may be a little less willing to do a free alignment--but they should have records of your excessive tire wear.

Have you been having your tires rotated regularly? Seems weird to have so much wear on your rear tires in one rotation cycle (6000 miles or whatever). You should go spend $5 on a tread depth gauge and report on tread depth in the center of all 4 tires and at the outside/inside edges.

 

@Vladder1

Have you been having your tires rotated regularly? Seems weird to have so much wear on your rear tires in one rotation cycle (6000 miles or whatever). You should go spend $5 on a tread depth gauge and report on tread depth in the center of all 4 tires and at the outside/inside edges.

The last tire rotation was at 10,000 miles because I have done my last three oil changes. I kept planning to get my car into Sams for a rotation, but things came up a few times and other times I simply forgot. And now I am recalling that you need an alignment AFTER getting new tires anyway. So now I'm thinking I'll get the new tires at SAMS and then take it in somewhere for the alignment have the shocks looked over. There is a foreign car shop up the road that is Subaru trained. Thinking I will just go there after I get new tires to have them do the alignment and suspension check. Then if something is wrong with something under warranty, I will take it to the dealer and have them do the warranty work.
I hate having to balance keeping the dealer happy and involved when they are overpriced and further away. But I don't want to miss out on free work under warranty either.

 

I would align before new tires....have the dealer do an alignment now and tell them you want tires they don't carry. And then get Michelin Defender2's or Cross Climates, latter for more snow, former for long wear, low noise, etc. I think Subaru includes one alignment in the first 3/36 similar to free wiper blades. And then any faulty parts would be replaced.

The alignment is done based on the wheel rims so wear on the tires won't affect readings.

If you want tires to last, rotate them; excuses are not the same thing as having tires rotated If you got bad wear in one rotation cycle that would be scarier. The OEM tires on all Subarus basically stink anyway, possible exception being the Falkens on the Wilderness, but even those are from Thailand or China and are not up to Michelin standards.

 

Original tires usually suck. I put the Michelin CC2’s on my ‘19 Sport at 10k miles because the stock tires had little grip in the rain. The CC2’s are my favorite tires of all time. Great in rain and snow.

I have a ‘21 Crosstrek with 11k on it and it’s getting CC2’s when Costco has their next Michelin sale.

Get tires first, then have it aligned. And I see the dealer only for free warranty work. Fortunately we have a great indy Subaru shop nearby. I don’t save a lot over dealer service, but dealers don’t give a damn and don’t earn your business. They know if you leave, two others will take your place.

 

Alignment before or after getting new tires... - Since you are going to do alignment in the near term, it doesn't really matter as It won't change the alignment, but having a new set already when you get the car aligned will welp you ascertain how well the alignment worked as the dodgy tires will be out of the equation..

The fact that the original tires suck shouldn't be a surprise.
Manufacturers choose sucky tires for mainly one reason - They are cheap.
For test drives they want soft rubber that handles and stops well, but that same formula doesn't last long.

 

I had pretty much decided on CC2s, but when the Defender2 was mentioned above, I am now thinking that direction. I don't do any offroad, I don't go out of my way to drive in the few snowstorm to hit lower Michigan each year, and I prefer comfort, mileage, and long life in a tire. So it looks like Defender2 is the way to go.

 

Got back to the dealer Friday and they verified the suspension system looks fine.... no charge.
So I finally decided on the CC2 over the defender because the CC2 will be more durable for Michigan pothole season (also known as every day of the year). I am OK trading off a little comfort, mpg, and longevity for extra winter safety, extra wet safety, and extra durability.
Will get the alignment done once the new tires arrive and Sams Club installs

 

Good luck with the CC2's. I don't believe the CC2's are any more "durable" than the Defender2's but there is no way to measure that via random road hazards. If you are concerned about chuckholes, you should move to a taller size (225/65 instead of 225/60) for more weight bearing capacity and more distance between the chuckhole and your rim.

 

Got my new cc2s on Wednesday and I got my alignment done today. The alignment report showed the front wheels were off toe by .20 degrees total. And the rear wheels were off toe by .34 degrees total.
Since both of those are in the red zone, I assume those values were pretty bad.
About to go on a 40 mile round trip, so I expect to be able to feel the difference.