[lirong]

I'm considering a Forester purchase.

When reading the reviews on Edmunds it seems A LOT of peeople have been complaining about rattles all around the vehicle.

Does anyone have insight into this? Is this an accepted issue with the forester? Are these outliers? It sounds like it elevates from nitpicky to being quite annoying and disruptive - should I be concerned?

Thanks.

 

[rusty jake 11]

Mine is pretty quiet. I've had her since Dec. Maybe I'm lucky, knock on wood. Of course, if mine did rattle too much, I'd just turn up the volume on the stereo to cover it up.

 

[lirong]

Did you upgrade your stereo?

 

[rusty jake 11]

Just the tweeter upgrade.

 

[lirong]

you found that worthwhile? Ive heard such bad things about the stereo...

 

[rusty jake 11]

It depends on what you are used to. If you're last ride's licence plate rattled to the bass booming, then you will be dissapointed in the stock sound. If you're like me, as I grew up listening to cassette tapes in my 1978 Toyota Celica, then the new Forester OEM stereo is pretty decent.

 

[newpost]

I heard about possible Rattling for the 2010 Forester on Edmunds also. I asked the Dealer about it before buying a new 2010 Forester 2.5X Premium. They assured me if anything like this happens, it will be covered under the SOA Manufactures Warranty and they (or any Dealership) would take care of it. So far - I've owned the Forester for 3 days now - one rattle - but it was the passenger-side visor that had been moved and not re-locked into place. Then the middle-rear seat belt hardware rattled when I released it to the roof (not using it). Problem solved by pushing the belt clips up more snugly into the opening. So far, no additional Rattling... Nice quiet ride.

 

[AzNFoLife924]

At times the car may rattle... so What I did personally was start my install of dynamat on the doors.... and I'm planning on working on the trunk as well. This makes a WORLD of a difference in how quiet the cabin becomes.

Also, when I took apart the door panels, I noticed a few things. First, there's plastic clips that attach the trim to the door... these pieces rattle. Second, there are these white plastic checkerboard baffles installed on the door panel that may cause the clattering as well...

As for the sound system, the tweeter and subwoofer kit from Subaru do a decent job in rounding out the system, as long as your not picky. If you're a real audio enthusiast like myself, and demand perfection, I can guarantee you it will NOT satisfy you. However, it's real easy to upgrade the system... and easily manageable as a DIY job. This was my first time modding a car, and I've caught the modbug and it's now a hobby of mine...

Heres a few threads of mine you can feel free to checkout.

Door Dynamating

My Mod Journal

Hope that helps!

 

[Wyldcat89]

I've had mine for about a month now.. and yes it rattles...it rattled from the day I drove it off the lot. However, the rattles I have can be fixed cuz they're from those little white baffles on the inside of the doors. It's well documented here on the board and if you ask the dealer, they'll fix it for you. I don't have any other rattles to speak of...so far.

Here's my advice.. take an extended test drive, not just a trip around the block. Drive it like you would your own car and don't worry about anything except how it feels, how it drives and how you feel about how it drives. I actually liked another vehicle more than the Forester at the time, but I couldn't get a great deal like I could on the Subaru. It came down to the most car for the money and the Forester won. Now that I have it, I couldn't have made a better choice. The only thing I really regret was not getting blue. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Blue Fox]

I bought my car with 68,000 miles on the clock and it never squeaked or rattled one bit. After a couple of harsh corrugated dirt-roads and off-roading adventures, it rattled a lot. I remedied the rattles by having someone drive the car and I pin pointed the rattles. Most of them were simple panels that just needed to be re-seated. Some were in need of some small bits of foam-tape on their backsides to keep from rattling. One was the sunroof-bracket under the headliner. My car is now rattle and squeak free at 99,500 miles.

ALL cars rattle. My buddies' 07 Silverado's door cards started to rattle within the first 1000 miles and haven't stopped, even with us trying the foam tape. And you should hear my friends' Toyota Tundra.....rattle central.

 

[jtl]

Rattles

In my new 2010 Forester I have had several rattles/noises.
The headliner is loose and caused a noise at the dome light, unscrewed dome light and packed area with foam. No headliner movement and no noise.
The rear trunk hatch had a small rattle, unscrewed inside small plate and pushed foam updwards, no noise.
In the floorboard area where the two brake lines go through the fiewall was a loose clip, placed a piece of flat foam under the brake lines at the highest point. Done.
The baffles on the front doors are causing a noise and I will let the dealer fix, I will take in the Tech Tips Nov 08 Article Code 12 that is provided in the is site.

jim

 

[maya]

buzzes....

My plastic instrument face plate just started buzzing...I'm thinking of pushing
a little foam into the gap, anybody have this..its an 08 forrester.....

 

[Wessneroo]

I wouldn't let this minor detail turn you off from the Forester. The pros of the car outweigh this one con. If you do stumble across a rattle, its nothing 10 minutes and a bit of foam tape can't fix. :biggrin:

 

[Lone Ranger]

My rattles consisted of the known issue of the honeycomb plastic filler panel inside the front doors resonating/rattling -- fixed myself on passenger door and driver door not rattling yet, a rattle in the center console more of a resonating buzz on and off -- fixed myself by remving console (super easy to do) and applying some 3M foam tape, and the dash cover where it meets windshield rattled -- fixed easily by taking a length of automotive engine vacuum hose (I think 3/8" diameter) and shoving down in the space betwen windshield and dash cover where it was making the noise... no more rattle.

Ultimate test is this one asphalt road where they are doing construction and the asphalt is chewed up by the steel-tracked bulldozers and etc driving on it. If your car has a rattle, a ride down this road will bring it out. So far so good, I can crusie down it rattle free. Now that I have bragged I'm sure I've probably jinxed it, lol.

 

[2010LTD]

I have an annoying rattle around the sunroof. I haven't been able to pin point it yet but if I touch the glass it stops. Not sure if they can do anything about it, oh and it seems to be worse when it's cold outside.

 

[LOUROK]

seem like my roof rails are rattleing

 

[irish_flu]

My factory cargo-area cover rattles occasionally on bumpy roads, but for all I know I don't always get it set back into the holes right or something.

The only unwanted noise I get from my '03 Forester is excessive wind noise around either the front windows or the mirrors. Everything else is fine.

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

The only unwanted noise I get from my '03 Forester is excessive wind noise around either the front windows or the mirrors. Everything else is fine.

Take a look at this thread. It may help resolve your wind noise problem. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]

 

[irish_flu]

Take a look at this thread. It may help resolve your wind noise problem. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]

BIG BIG thanks for passing that thread along to me! I'm gonna try it. Wow, this forum is awesome.